University of California. 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 DR. FRANCIS LIEBER, 
 Professor of History and Law in Columbia College, New York. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 LEL REESE, 
 
 T Of San Francis. 
 
 1373. 
 

 HISTORY 
 
 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
 
 COMMENCEMENT IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1685, 
 TO THE YEAR 1842. 
 
 TO WHICH SEVERAL 
 
 APPENDICES ARE ADDED, 
 
 CONTAINING- THE CONSTITUTION OF THE FIRST SYNOD, AND STATISTI- 
 CAL TABLES OF THE NUMBER OF CHURCHES AND MEMBERS IN CON- 
 - NEXION WITH THE DIFFERENT ACKNOWLEDGED LUTHERAN 
 SYNODS ; THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES AND OTHER 
 INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE CARE OF THE AMER- 
 ICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, AS ALSO THE 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE GENERAL SYNOD. 
 
 ' ERNEST L.HAZELIUS, D.D. 
 is 
 
 Prof, of Theology in the Theo. Sem. of the Luth. Synod 
 of South Carolina. 
 
 ZANESVILLE, O: 
 
 FEINTED BY EDWIN C. CHURCH. 
 1846, 
 

 Copy right secured. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 page 
 
 From the first settlements of Germans in the British colonies 
 of North America to the arrival of Pastor Melchior Muh- 
 lenbergin Philadelphia From 1685 to 1742. i 47 
 
 SECTION i. The political and geographical state of Germany 
 at the time of the first emigration of Germans to the Brit- 
 ish North American Colonies. Page 1 16. 
 
 SEC. ii. Religious state of Germany at the time of the first 
 emigrations of Germans to America. Page 17 21. 
 
 SEC. in Causes of emigration from Germany to America, and 
 first settlements of Germans in the British colonies, p 22,3 4. 
 
 SEC. iv. Moral and religious state of the first emigrants. 
 p. 3547. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 From the arrival of Dr. Melchior Muhlenberg in Philadel- 
 phia, to the first Synod of the American Lutheran church 
 held in Philadelphia in the year 1748 from 1742 to 
 1748. 4865 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 From the first Synod of the Lutheran church in North Amer- 
 ica~to the declaration of the Independence of the United 
 States from 1748 to 1776. 66-104 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 From the declaration of the Independence of the United 
 States of North America to the commencement of the 19th 
 century From 1776 to 1801. 105-123 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 From the commencement of the 19th century to the estab- 
 lishment of a General Synod From 1801 to 1821. 124-158 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 From the establishment of a General Synod jto the centen- 
 nary year 1842. 159-260 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 1. Ministerial regulations of the German Evangelical Luth- 
 eran congregations in Pennsylvania and the adjacent 
 States. Being the ground work of every Synodical con- 
 stitution since formed. 261-279 
 
 2. Statistical table of the American Lutheran church, co- 
 pied from the minutes of the different Synods of the latest 
 dates that could be obtained, given in the order of time, 
 
 in which these Synods have been formed. 280-282 
 
 3. Statistical account of the Theological Seminaries of the 
 American Lutheran church, and of other Literary institu- 
 tions in connexion with said church, in the order of the 
 time of their establishment. 283-295 
 
 4. The constitution of the General Synod. 296-300 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN a historical work is offered to the public, the inquiry is 
 just and equitable, are the sources, from which the information 
 is drawn, which is given, authentic or not ? And it is the duty 
 of every author to satisfy the reader, that he is not perusing a 
 fictitious story, but authentic facts. We therefore deem it like- 
 wise our duty, to say in a few words, from what sources we have 
 drawn our information. 
 
 The Geographical and Statistical notices of the first section of 
 the first chapter are translated extracts from Bushing's large Geog- 
 raphy and Statistics of Germany. The second section of the 
 said chapter, containing a brief account of the religious state of 
 Germany in the 17th century and earlier, is chiefly taken from 
 Arnold's Church History. The contents of the third section are 
 principally drawn from the letters and accounts of the first min- 
 isters sent to America collected in two works, the one bearing 
 the title: " Nachrichten aus P ennsylvanien, " i.e. "Accounts 
 from Pennsylvania, 9 ' given by Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg and oth- 
 ers to the Theological faculty at Halle in Germany, as well as 
 to private friends, collected and edited by the superintendents 
 of the Halle Orphan house ; the other bears the title: "Nach- 
 richten von der ersten Niederlassung der Saltzburger Emigranten 
 in Georgien," i. e. "Accounts of the first settlements of the 
 Salzburg emigrants in Georgia, " likewise edited by the;0rphan 
 house of Halle. The narrative of later occurrences in the 
 church is drawn from the Synodical minutes of the different 
 Synods, from the Lutheran Intelligencer, the Lutheran Magazine, 
 the Lutheran Observer, the Lutheran Standard ; and 1 embrace 
 this opportunity also, to express my thanks to those brethren, 
 who have been kind enough, to furnish me with interesting 
 sketches of the lives of departed ministers of our church, which 
 
VI RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 
 are faithfully given in the work, now offered to the Lutheran 
 church and to all others, who desire to become truly acquainted 
 with a body of Christians, who have but too frequently been con- 
 sidered by their Protestant brethren as next door neighbors to 
 Romanists. Our sincere desire is, that the Christian spirit, ap- 
 parent in the lives and labors of the Fathers of the American 
 church, may animate its present and future Pastors, to tread in 
 the steps of zeal and devotedness, exhibited by these faithful 
 servants of our Redeemer, and that our beloved people may 
 learn from the same source, that they are built "on the founda- 
 tion of the Prophets and Apostles, of which Jesus Christ is the 
 chief corner stone, so that they may not be driven to and fro by ev- 
 ery wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning crafti- 
 ness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but may grow up unto 
 HIM, in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the 
 whole body fitly joined together and compacted, by that, which every 
 joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure 
 of cvej'y part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself 
 in love." 
 
 Should this work add its mite to so happy a consummation, 
 the author will consider himself fully recompensed for his labor. 
 ERNEST L. HAZELIUS, D. D. 
 
 Professor of Sacred Theology in the Lutheran Theological 
 Seminary at Lexington in South Carolina. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Of Rev. Dr. Bachman, Charleston, S. C. 
 
 I have read with interest and instruction the manuscript of 
 the history of the American Lutheran Church by Dr. Hazelius. 
 
 Whilst a work of this kind is especially valuable to the mem- 
 bers of this branch of the Christian church the earliest in the 
 Reformation, it cannot fail to possess much interest to Protes- 
 tants in general. It is characterized by great fairness and can- 
 dor, and with a desire, to perpetuate truth. It gives evidence of 
 minute and discriminating research, and from the author's long 
 labors as a clergyman and Professor of Theology, and his gene- 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. VII 
 
 ral acquaintance with the Evangelical Lutheran church and its 
 ministers in America, I am warranted in saying, that no one is 
 better qualified to fulfil the delicate and important, but arduous 
 task, which he has undertaken to accomplish. 
 
 I cheerfully recommend this work to all, who are desirous of 
 becoming acquainted with the early history of the Lutheran 
 Church in America, and more especially to those, who are mem- 
 bers of that communion. 
 
 JOHN BACHMAN, D. D. 
 
 Charleston, July 6, 1846. 
 
 Recommendation of Rev. Stephen A. Mealy. 
 I have attentively read the manuscript of the history of the 
 American Lutheran Church by Dr. Hazelius ; having been en- 
 gaged in superintending the progress of a considerable portion of 
 it through the press, and can cheerfully recommend it to all, 
 who are desirous of obtaining accurate information of the im- 
 plantation and subsequent history of the Lutheran Church in 
 America. From my personal acquaintance with the learning, 
 research and industry of the author, I am persuaded, that his 
 church history will fully meet the expectations of his friends, 
 and prove at once a source of instruction and benefit to that 
 branch of the church of Christ especially, of which he has long 
 
 and deservedly been the ornament. 
 
 STEPHEN A. MEALY. 
 Zanesville, July 20, 1846. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS OF GERMANS IN THE 
 
 BRITISH COLONIES OF NORTH- AMERICA, UN^TIL THE 
 
 ARRIVAL OF DR. MuHLENBERG IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 FROM 1685 TO 1742. 
 
 SECTION i. The political and geographical State of 
 Germany at the time of the first emigrations of Ger- 
 mans to the British North-American Colonies. 
 
 The peace of Westphalia, between Austria, Spain 
 and the Catholic States of Germany on the one part, 
 and France, Sweden, the United Provinces of Holland 
 and the Protestant States of Germany on the other 
 part, had, after protracted deliberations in the cities of 
 Munster and Osnaburgh, for seven years, settled the 
 affairs of Germany, and given to that country the po- 
 litical aspect, which, with few exceptions, it retained, 
 until the French revolution. 
 
 Since the accession of Arnulf of Carinthia, grand- 
 son of Lewis sur-named the pious, Germany had 
 been an elective monarchy. At first all the States of 
 the Empire enjoyed and exercised the right of voting 
 at these elections. But after the great interregnum 
 from A. D. 1197 to 1272, the highest dignitaries of 
 2 
 
10 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the Empire claimed the exclusive privilege of electing 
 the Kings of Germany and Roman Emperors, and 
 had assumed the title of Electors. Three of them 
 were dignitaries of the church, viz : the Archbishops 
 of Mainz, Trier and Coeln ; and four were secular 
 princes, viz : the Duke of Saxony, of Bavaria, of the 
 Palatinate and the Markgrave of Brandenburg. The 
 famous golden Bull published during the reign of 
 Charles IV. in the year A. D. 1356 had confirmed the 
 privilege of election to the above named dignitaries 
 of the empire, and the city of Frankfurt on the Mayn, 
 had by the same document been fixed upon, as the 
 place of election. On every such occasion, the first 
 object of the assembled princes was, to circumscribe 
 the Imperial power, and to enlarge their own rights 
 and privileges. As the election might fall on any 
 prince of the German States, the conditions of election 
 were mutually agreed upon before the election itself 
 took place. The prince elect was bound to subscribe 
 the articles of election, previous to his being proclai- 
 med Emperor. Previous to the reign of Lewis of 
 Bavaria the Papal assent and coronation had been dee- 
 med necessary for the confirmation of the election, but 
 at the accession of that prince to the Imperial throne, 
 it was resolved, that the person elected by a majority 
 of the votes of the electoral princes was the legitimate 
 Emperor, without the interference of papal author- 
 ity. The coronation was performed by the Archbishop 
 of Mainz, assisted by those of Trier and Coeln. With 
 the imperial government there was connected a con- 
 gress of the States, composing the empire, denomina- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 11 
 
 ted the diet. This body decided on the question of 
 peace or war, and every other subject of sovereignty, 
 which either had not been reserved as an imperial 
 prerogative, or which had not been usurped by the 
 States, as exclusively belonging to their jurisdiction. 
 The States of the Empire, having a seat and vote in 
 this body, assembled during the earlier times of the 
 commonwealth twice a year, and more frequently, 
 whenever deemed necessary. One or the other of the 
 free imperial cities was the place of meeting. Since 
 A. D. 1663 the Diet was permanent at Ratisbon until 
 1806. This body consisted, previous to the dissolu- 
 tion of the Germanic empire by Napoleon, of the am- 
 bassadors of the princes, spiritual and temporal, and 
 the delegates from the free imperial cities. The mem- 
 bers were divided into three colleges, viz : the electoral 
 college, the college of the princes of the empire, and that 
 of the free imperial cities. In the second college the 
 counts of the Empire had their seats, though without 
 individual votes, being subdivided into four voting 
 benches, viz : the Wetteravian,* the Suabian, the Fran- 
 conian and the Westphalian. In like manner the Ab- 
 bots, Provosts and Abbesses in possession of indepen- 
 dent ecclesiastical territories, voted together in two 
 benches, viz: the Suabian and Rhenish bench. The 
 emperor presided either in person or by an imperial 
 commissary. The electors and princes might appear 
 either personally or by ambassadors. The elector and 
 Archbishop of Mainz as arch-chancellor of the empire 
 
 *The Wetterau is a country on the Rhine comprising parts 
 of the duchy of Nassau and the Prussian province of Westphalia. 
 
12 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 was director of the diet, to whom, as well as to the im- 
 perial commissary, the credentials of the different States 
 were to be delivered, and all the business, which was 
 to come before the diet, must first pass through his 
 chancery, from which the different documents passed 
 into the hands of the individual States for inspection 
 and action. Insignificant was the influence of the im- 
 perial free cities in this body ; the deliberations being 
 carried on in the separate colleges ; and whenever the 
 majority in each of the two first named colleges had 
 decided a subject, a conference between these two 
 colleges took place, the resolutions of which were 
 communicated to the college of the imperial cities, 
 their assent or dissent was minuted, but otherwise dis- 
 regarded, notwithstanding, that the articles of the peace 
 of Westphalia had secured to the college of the free 
 cities a full vote in the Diet. The acts of the electo- 
 ral and princely colleges were sent to the emperor for 
 assent and ratification ; and when so ratified, were ter- 
 med a conclusum, i. e. a law of the empire, and the 
 sum of all these law r s passed at one session of the Diet 
 was termed 'the recess of the empire .' Questions of 
 war were introduced by the imperial commissary, and 
 decided by a plurality of votes. Whenever the con- 
 clusum was in favor of war, all the States within the 
 bounds of the empire were bound to send their res- 
 pective contingents, though they might have voted 
 against the measure. The internal regulations of the 
 States were left to the individual governments, in as 
 far as they did not contravene the laws of the empire. 
 Differences between the States themselves were to be 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 13 
 
 brought before one of the imperial courts at, Vienna 
 and Wetzlar. The assessors of the first named cham- 
 ber were nominated by the emperor; the court of 
 Wetzlar was composed of judges, some of whom were 
 appointed by the emperor, the residue by the electors 
 of the empire. This court received appeals from all 
 tribunals, excepting those of the electors and of a few 
 other States, who enjoyed the privilege* of supreme ju- 
 risdiction within their own dominions. In regard to 
 religion, the States of the empire enjoyed, since the 
 peace of Westphalia, theright\ of reformation in their 
 respective territories; i. e. each state possessed the 
 privilege of introducing or of * tolerating either of the 
 three confessions, the Catholic, the Lutheran and the 
 Reformed, with this proviso, that if any State refused 
 the professors of one of the afore mentioned denomi- 
 nations the free exercise of their religion, the public 
 authorities were bound by the articles of the peace of 
 Westphalia, to allow their subjects of that denomination 
 the right of emigration, and the space of five years, for 
 the settlement of their affairs or those of their ances- 
 tors, who had lived in the State and enjoyed the right 
 of the free exercise of their religion, previous to the 
 normal year 1624 ; and the space of three years, if 
 they had been settled in the bounds of the State, since 
 the conclusion of the peace of Westphalia. 
 
 Since the commencement of the 16th century, Ger- 
 many had been divided into ten circles or territories, 
 viz : the Austrian, the Bavarian, the Franconian, the 
 
 *Privilegium de non appellando. 
 tJus reformandi. 
 
14 AMERICAN LUTHERAX CHURCH. 
 
 Suabian, the Upper Rhenish, the Lower Rhenish, the 
 Westphalian, the Burgundian, the Upper Saxon and 
 Lower Saxon circles. The kingdom of Bohemia, the 
 duchy of Silesia, the Markgravates of Moravia and of 
 Lusatia, as well as a number of smaller sovereignties 
 and lordships in almost every part of Germany, were 
 connected with the empire, without however being in- 
 cluded in any of the ten circles. The circle of Austria, 
 with the exception of the Bishoprics of Trient and 
 Brixen, was under the rule of the house of Habsburg, 
 from which the emperors had been elected, with a few 
 exceptions, since the year 1272. To the same house 
 were also subject the kingdom of Bohemia, the duchy 
 of Silesia,* the Markgravates of Moravia and Lusatia ; 
 the circle of Burgundy, or what now forms the king- 
 doms of Holland and Belgium, and considerable ter- 
 ritories in Suabia. The larger portion of the circle of 
 Bavaria was subject to the house of Wittelsbach, dukes 
 of Bavaria ; the Upper Palatinatef in the Northern part 
 of that circle, the Bishoprics of Salzburg, Freysingen 
 and Passau excepted. The circle of Suabia contained 
 besides the portions thereof, in possession of Austria, 
 as observed, the duchies of Wurtemberg, the Mark- 
 gravates of Baden, the Bishoprics of Augsburg and 
 Constance, twenty-seven abbeys, thirty small princi- 
 palities, landgravates and independent lordships, and 
 thirty-six Imperial cities, among which were the cities 
 of Augsburg and Ulm. 
 
 *Lusatia was ceded by Austria to Saxony in 1634. Silesia was 
 ceded to Prussia in 1742. 
 
 fThe Upper Palatinate came however likewise during the 30 
 years war in possession of the dukes of Bavaria 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 15 
 
 Franeonia contained the Markgravates of Anspach 
 and Bayruetz, the Bishoprics of Wurtzburg, of Bam- 
 berg and Eichstaedt, the county of Henneberg; the 
 principalities of Hohenlohe of Schwarzenberg, several 
 other small independent lordships and four Imperial 
 cities, among which was Nurenberg. The Upper 
 Rhenish circle embraced the duchy of Deux-ponts, 
 the principalities of Simmern, Lantern, Veldanz, Spon- 
 hime,Salm, Nassau-Usingen, Weilburg, and Saarb- 
 ruck, the Landgravates of Hesse, and their dependen- 
 cies, the Bishoprics of Worms, of Spire, of Fulda, of 
 Strasburg of Basel,* together with the free imperial 
 cities of Frankfurt on the Mayn, Spire, f Worms, Fri- 
 edberg and Wetzlar. The Lower Rhenish circle em- 
 braced the Electorates of Mainz, Trier and Coeln, the 
 Palatinate and some smaller territories. The circle of 
 Burgundy embraced the Austrian Netherlands; the 
 circle of Westphalia contained the Bishoprics of Mun- 
 ster, Paderborn, Liege or Luttich, Osnaburg, the Ab- 
 beys of Corvey,-Stablo and Malmedy, Werden, Essen 
 and Thorn ; the Duchies of Cleves, Juliers, Berg and 
 Oldenburg; the principalities of Nassau-Siegen and 
 Dillenburg, East-Friesland, Minden, Verden, Moeurs, 
 Lippe, Benthime, Hoya, Taklenburg and Lingen, as 
 also a considerable number of smaller sovereignties, 
 and the free Imperial cities of Coeln, Aachen or Aix 
 la chapelle, and Dortmend. The circle of Lower 
 Saxony embraced the Ekctorate,J now kingdom of 
 
 *Not the canton of Basel, which belongs to Switzerland. 
 tThe cities of Spire and Worms were not included in the Bish- 
 oprics of the same name. 
 JThe present kingdom of Hanover was constituted the eighth 
 
16 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Hanover, the duchies of Magdeburg, Holstine, Mek- 
 lenburg, Brunswick, the principalities of Hildeshime, 
 and Halberstadt; a few smaller territories and the free 
 Imperial cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, Goslar, 
 Muhlhausen and Nordhausen. The circle of Upper 
 Saxony embraced the Electorates of Brandenburg and 
 Saxony, the Duchies of Pomerania, of Weimar, Gotha, 
 Coburg, Altenburg ; the principalities of Anhalt, of 
 Reuss, and some smaller territories. 
 
 Electorate of the German empire, A. D. 1692 ; after the peace of 
 Tilsit in 1807, it was incorporated with the new kingdom of West- 
 phalia ; by the treaty of Paris it was restored to the house of 
 Brunswick, reigning in England. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SECTION n. Religious state of Germany at the time of 
 the first emigrations of Germans to America. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Austrian, Burgundian and 
 Bavarian circles professed with few exceptions the re- 
 ligion of Rome, and Protestants were barely tolerated 
 under great restrictions ; the Suabian, Franconian, Up- 
 per and Lower Rhenish as also that of Westphalia, had 
 a mixed population of Catholics and Protestants ; un- 
 der Catholic rulers the Protestants were generally op- 
 pressed, but in the Protestant States of these circles, 
 except in the Palatinate, both churches enjoyed the 
 free exercise of their respective creeds. In Upper and 
 Lower Saxony the Protestant religion prevailed, but 
 Catholics everywhere enjoyed the uninterrupted exer- 
 cise of their religion. The reformation had indeed 
 penetrated into the Catholic parts of the empire ; and 
 even previous to that era, the doctrines of the Walden- 
 ses* in France, of the Vallenses in Piedmont, and of 
 the followers of Huss in Bohemia, had made deep and 
 
 *It is an error not unfrequently committed, to confound the 
 "Waldenses of France and the Vallenses of Piedmont with each 
 other ; the former derive their origin from Peter Waldo, a weal- 
 thy merchant at Lyons in France ; the Vallenses are immigrants 
 into Piedmont from the East, and receive the name Vallenses, be- 
 cause they inhabit the Alpine valleys of Piedmont. 
 
S AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 lasting impressions on thousands in different parts of 
 Germany. 
 
 Wic/cliffe of Lutterworth in England had, during the 
 reign of Edward III., by his translation of the Scrip- 
 tures into the vernacular language, and by his sermons 
 against the abuses prevailing in the church, diffused a 
 light not only over his native country but also over 
 Germany ; a light, which the persecutions and con- 
 demnations of the Roman clergy w r ere unable to ex- 
 tinguish. 
 
 Anna, wife of Richard II., successor to Edward III., 
 was a Bohemian princess, sister of Wenceslaus, king 
 of Bohemia. With her many Bohemians came to En- 
 gland, and through them the doctrines of Wickliffe 
 reached that portion of Germany, in which the Papal 
 power had never been able to gain a complete ascen- 
 dency. The Bohemians, having received the first ti- 
 dings of the gospel through missionaries from Greece, 
 had, notwithstanding the violence of Roman persecu- 
 tions, retained the scriptures, and divine service was 
 performed in the language of the country and not in the 
 Latin. In the 12th century the persecuted Waldenses 
 and Albigenses* in France had found a welcome asy- 
 lum in Bohemia, and their doctrines extended thence 
 into Silesia, Brandenburg and Pommerania. During 
 the 14th century men of fervent piety and unblemished 
 character, a Conrad Stickna, John Militsh and Mat- 
 
 *Albigenses, a name, not denoting one particular class of her- 
 etics, so called by Romanists, but embracing all those, who under 
 various names in the South of France, in the neighborhood of Tou- 
 louse and Albi, resisted the tyranny of the Roman Priesthood, and 
 were endeavoring to purify the church from papal corruptions. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 19 
 
 thias de Janow, manifested a becoming zeal against 
 the corruptions of the clergy, the orders of mendicant 
 friars, the withdrawing of the cup in the Sacrament 
 from the laity, and the arrogant claims of the papal 
 power in general. Under these circumstances the 
 doctrines of WicklifFe, with which the Bohemians had 
 become acquainted as above stated, were received with 
 enthusiasm by the people. 
 
 There was a chapel at Prague, the capital of Bohe- 
 mia, in which according to the testamentary will of the 
 founder, a sermon was daily to be preached in the 
 language of the country by the appointed chaplain. 
 John Huss was that chaplain, a man, who had drunk 
 deep into the doctrines of the English reformer, and 
 who, consequently directed all his zeal and energy in 
 his frequent sermons, against the superstitions of the 
 age. He went so far, as openly to preach against the 
 power of the pope, to style him the Antichrist, and 
 zealously to oppose the sale of indulgences. 
 
 The council of Constance, which had been called 
 together in 1414, to put a stop to the great schism, 
 then existing in the papal hierarchy, a council, which 
 had maintained its authority against papal arrogance, 
 appeared to John Huss as an ecclesiastical body, be- 
 fore which he might defend himself with some confi- 
 dence, and from which he might expect a favorable 
 sentence. But he was arrested soon after his arrival 
 at Constance, notwithstanding the letters of protection, 
 which he had received from the emperor Sigismund, 
 whom the council informed, pretending to act under 
 the inspiration of the holy Spirit, that no faith ought 
 
20 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 to be observed towards a heretic. His condemnation 
 and execution, which took place July 6th, A. D. 1415, 
 excited his countrymen to war and open rebellion, 
 which lasted until 1436, the council of Basle having 
 succeeded, in consequence of intestine dissentions 
 among the Hussites, to bring their strongest party to 
 terms of reconciliation with the Roman church by gran- 
 ting them the use of the chalice in the administration 
 of the Lord's Supper, whence they received the name 
 of Calixtines. The other party, denominated Tabor- 
 iteSj from a mountain near Prague, on which they had 
 established themselves in a fortified camp, not being 
 satisfied with any thing short of a complete reforma- 
 tion of the church, continued to hold out, and from this 
 party arose the society of the Bohemian and Moravian 
 Brethren, who finally obtained (from Sigismund and 
 his successors ) liberty of conscience ( ) which howev- 
 er was violated, as often as circumstances permitted, 
 until thousands of them were compelled in the 17th 
 and beginning of the 18th century to leave their coun- 
 try and flee to Poland and Germany, in which latter 
 country count Zinzendorf collected many of the refu- 
 gees, and established the Moravian church, of which 
 congregations exist also in the U. S. They have been 
 instrumental in the hands of the Lord, to awaken the 
 missionary spirit in the protestant churches. 
 
 Exactly one hundred years after the condemnation 
 and execution of the martyrs, Huss and Jerome of 
 Prague, a reformation, which by the Bohemians had 
 been attempted through force of arms, commenced in 
 Germany in God's own way, by choosing his own in- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 21 
 
 struments, to effect, what kings and nations had not 
 been able to accomplish by the arm of flesh. 
 
 The light of the word of God arose over one half of 
 Germany, and the precious seed promised an abun- 
 dant harvest. The enemy however failed not to sow 
 tares among the wheat. Christian charity had not yet 
 taught the children of light to distinguish between 
 mere externals of religion and those doctrines, which 
 are always to be considered as fundamental. Sects 
 arose, and with them disharmony and persecution. 
 Protestant persecuted Protestant, dissentions and dis- 
 putes on idle questions, or on subjects of minor impor- 
 tance engaged the attention of all, the religion of the 
 heart was neglected, and the fruits of the blessed refor- 
 mation were nearly blasted. Men loved their creeds, 
 but not God; they adhered to orthodoxy, but not to 
 the Saviour of repeating sinners. For creeds oceans 
 of human blood were shed, countries laid waste, cities 
 destroyed and their inhabitants reduced to poverty 
 and want. This was especially the case in Germany. 
 Rulers frequently changed their creeds ; and having 
 done so, they demanded their subjects to follow their 
 examples. No portion of Germany suffered more from 
 these evils, than the countries on the Rhine. Exposed 
 to the hostile armies of France, as well as to the tyran- 
 nical influence of their princes, the inhabitants of the 
 Palatinate and the subjects of many of the petty sove- 
 reigns between the Rhine and France, were driven to 
 despair, and sought for asyla in other countries. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SECTION in. Causes of emigration from Germany to 
 , America, and first settlements of Germans in the 
 British colonies. 
 
 Before America was generally known as a land of 
 refuge for the oppressed, Protestants of both parties, 
 Lutherans and Reformed, were received in the domin- 
 ions of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg, in 
 which countries colonies from the Rhine, Bohemia, 
 Moravia and Silesia, then under Austrian sway were 
 formed ; Poland also and Russia received large acces- 
 sions of industrious citizens from Germany ; the settle- 
 ments of the United Provinces of Holland in Asia and 
 Africa were filled with German emigrants, others fled 
 into Turkey, and sought under the sceptre of the Sultan 
 of Constantinople, at least some portion of that liberty 
 of conscience which had been denied them at home. 
 
 When Penn invited settlers to Pennsylvania, grant- 
 ing an unrestricted liberty of conscience to all colo- 
 nists, promising, that no person, who acknowledges 
 one God, and lives peaceably in society was to be 
 molested for his religious opinions or be compelled to 
 attend or assist in maintaining any ministry whatso- 
 ever, these glad tidings reached the oppressed Ger- 
 mans likewise and soon brought numerous colonies 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 23 
 
 from the banks of the Rhine and Wurtemburg to the 
 land of Penn. Many of the colonists had been mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran church in the Father-land. On 
 their arrival in the new world they found brethren in 
 the faith in the Swedish colonists, settled on the eas- 
 tern and western banks of the river Delaware. But 
 the difference in the language, in some measure es- 
 tranged the German Lutherans from their Swedish 
 brethren, though, as we shall notice in the sequel, each 
 part considered the other as fellow-worshippers, and 
 both attended for many years the respective Synodical 
 meetings and conventions. Through the obstinate 
 adherence of many of the German Lutheran ministers 
 to their native language, for which the Swedes had 
 gradually substituted the English in their service, the 
 Swedish churches were compelled to cast themselves 
 into the arms of the English Episcopal church, the con- 
 nexion with Sweden and the support of the Swedish 
 churches from home ceasing, during the struggle of 
 the American revolution. 
 
 The war, which had succeeded the death of Charles 
 II., king of Spain, between France on the one part, 
 and England, Austria, Holland and most of the States 
 of Germany on the other, known under the name of 
 the war for the Spanish succession, again compelled 
 thousands of Germans on the borders of the Rhine, in 
 Wurtemberg and Baden, the inhabitants of which 
 countries were most exposed to the ravages of that 
 war, to seek an asylum in distant lands. 
 
 Between the years 1706 and 1712 emigrations to the 
 colonies of New York and Pennsylvania became fre- 
 
24 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 quent, and very many industrious families settled in 
 the counties of Duchess, Ulster, Rensselaer and Scho- 
 harie, as also on the fertile banks of the Mohawk in 
 the then province of New York. In the city itself a 
 number of Lutherans from Holland had taken refuge, 
 and were joined by many emigrants from Germany 
 and Protestants from France, during the time, that 
 Holland held possession of the colonies planted at the 
 mouth of the river Hudson. These settlers from dif- 
 ferent countries had formed themselves into a congre- 
 gation and built a church, in which service was per- 
 formed in 4he Holland and French languages and 
 occasionally also in the German, by ministers from 
 Holland, who remained in spiritual connexion with 
 the Lutheran consistory at Amsterdam. This was 
 likewise the case w r ith the Lutheran emigrants from 
 Holland and Germany to the West-India islands un- 
 der the government of the United Provinces in St. 
 Martins, Curacoa, Jlruba and in the Dutch colony of 
 Paramaribo on the continent of South America, as also 
 in the colony of the cape of Good Hope, so long as 
 that territory was in possession of the Dutch ; and so 
 far as we have been informed, this connexion with 
 the authorities of the Lutheran church in the mother- 
 country is still subsisting in all the colonies under the 
 authority of the kingdom of the Netherlands. 
 
 During the reign of Queen Ann provisions had been 
 made for the support of the schools and churches of 
 the Lutheran emigrants to the colonies of New York 
 and South Carolina. In the province of New York, 
 that tract of land, on which the towns of Newburg and 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 25 
 
 New- Windsor have been, built, was allotted for the 
 purposes already named, and it is remarkable, that the 
 patent expressly stipulates, to be granted for the main- 
 tenance of Lutheran parish schools and ministers for 
 the Germans, who either had settled or who might 
 hereafter settle an the neighborhood of the river Hud- 
 son. Had the beneficent views of the British queen 
 been carried into effect by the officers of the crown in 
 the colonies, the Lutheran church in the State of New 
 York would be in possession of a fund, more than suf- 
 ficient for the support of her schools and churches. 
 But the colonists, scarcely informed of the benevolent 
 designs of the queen, and chiefly intent upon the cul- 
 tivation and improvement of their farms, afforded op- 
 portunities to avaricious men at the helm of State, 
 to change the present of the queen into a subject of 
 speculation, allured to the commission of the crime 
 by the fertility of the land, its convenient situation for 
 commerce and the indifference of those, who would 
 have reaped the rich benefits of the grant. 
 
 In a similar manner was that land wrested from the 
 Germans, which Queen Ann had allotted to them on 
 the banks of the Congaree, in the colony of South Car- 
 olina for like purposes ; a tract of land still known 
 by the name of the Saxe-Gotha tract. It appears, that 
 at the same time, when German colonists settled on 
 the banks of the Hudson, another part directed their 
 attention to the sunny climes of South Carolina, and 
 at an early date formed settlements on the banks of the 
 Congaree and the forks of Saluda and Broad rivers. 
 
 We have no other account of the origin of German 
 3* 
 
26 AMERICAN LUTHREN CHURCH. 
 
 settlements in South Carolina, except the information 
 we have obtained from the oldest inhabitants, who 
 state that their ancestors chiefly came from the neigh- 
 borhood of the Rhine, Baden and Wurtenberg, coun- 
 tries, which had been the home of the early settlers in 
 the northern province. This information is strength- 
 ened by the circumstance, that we have met in the 
 South with many family names which were familiar to 
 us in the North. 
 
 Schoharie in the State of New York likewise had 
 received, besides its first settlers from Holland, a con- 
 siderable number of German emigrants, of whom many 
 were attached to the Lutheran church. This took place 
 about the year 1720. In their first attempts to form a 
 settlement, they experienced many difficulties and pri- 
 vations, which for some considerable time prevented 
 the colonists from making the necessary arrangements 
 for religious instruction and public worship. But 
 even if their external circumstances had permitted 
 them to make these provisions, they would still most 
 probably have remained destitute of gospel privileges, 
 in consequence of the scarcity of suitable instructors. 
 This spiritual want being deeply felt by them, they 
 agreed to meet every Lord's day for mutual instruc- 
 tion and edification, by appointing one of their own 
 number as reader and to perform such other devotional 
 exercises, as were deemed profitable for edification. 
 Private houses and barns ,were the usual places of 
 meeting. From time to time they received occasional 
 visits from the Rev. William Chr. Burkmeyer, who 
 was stationed at Lunenburg on the river Hudson, and 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 2* 
 
 who during these visits performed divine service and 
 administered the ordinances of the church among the 
 settlers. The first minister, who w r as regularly called 
 to serve the congregation at Schoharie, was the Rev. 
 Peter Nicholas Sommer, a native of the city of Ham- 
 burg in Germany ; he received his call on the 7th of 
 September, A. D. 1842. On the 21st of the same 
 month he was ordained in his native city as pastor of 
 the Lutheran congregation at Schoharie, then included 
 in the county of Albany in the colony of New York. 
 Detained by various circumstances, he did not arrive 
 at Schoharie until the 24th of May, 1743, being joy- 
 fully received by his congregation. The first officers 
 of that church, whose names appear on record, were 
 Abraham Berg and Michael Freymaurer, Elders ; 
 Henry Shaefer and Peter Loewenstine, Deacons.* 
 
 On the llth of March 1734, the first colony of 
 Salzburgers arrived in Georgia, with two ministers, 
 Bolzius and Gronau. They settled about 24 miles 
 north of the city of Savannah, on the banks of the 
 river of the same name. 
 
 For the better understanding of the causes, which 
 led to their emigration, we have to return to the days 
 previous to the reformation. The persecutions, to 
 which the Vallenses in Piedmont had been subjected 
 for centuries, by the bigoted Dukes of Savoy, had in- 
 duced many from time to time to emigrate into other 
 countries. But all western Europe being under the 
 tyranny of the Bishop of Rome, they could not expect 
 to preserve their lives, as well as their religion, dearer 
 
 *From the Lutheran Magazine. Dr. Lintner, Editor. 
 
29 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 to them than life, anywhere, but in the most inacces- 
 sible mountains of Dauphine* in France, and the Alps 
 of Switzerland, Salzburg and Tyrol. Thither they 
 fled, and for better than a century not only preserved 
 their religion unmolested, but enjoyed opportunities 
 of communicating the Scriptures and their doctrines 
 to the inhabitants of those mountainous region's. 
 
 However about the year 1620 they were discovered 
 by the Roman Priests, and were subjected to the most 
 inhuman tortures. Anthony Bassus, one of their prea- 
 chers, was decapitated, and his head nailed to his 
 pulpit. Another minister was whipped to death ; in 
 short, all the faithful shepherds of this pious flock, 
 who fell into the hands of the priests, were inhumanly 
 murdered. No less cruelly did they treat the lay 
 members of these churches. Many were despatched 
 by setting fire to the gun-powder, with which their 
 mouths had previously been filled, others were driven 
 into houses and barns, and suffocated by the smoke 
 or were burnt io death. Nevertheless a seed remai- 
 ned, who, evading the vigilance of their enemies, faith- 
 fully adhered to the gospel, amidst great poverty and 
 constant fear of death. 
 
 In the year 1684 some of their retreats in the valley 
 of Tefferek, Archbishopric of Salzburg, were again dis- 
 covered, and new scenes of distress and persecution 
 ensued. However the protestant States of Saxony and 
 Brandenburg interfered, so that the persecution did not 
 
 *Dauphine, a province of France, at present comprising the 
 three Departments of Isere, Drome and Alpes Superieurs. Gre- 
 noble being the largest city in that part of France. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 29 
 
 assume the same violent character as before. As soon 
 as rest had been in some measure restored, the word 
 of God again manifested its blessed power, in bringing 
 thousands of the inhabitants of the valleys of Salzburg 
 and Tyrol to the knowledge of the gospel and a sub- 
 mission to its truths. 
 
 Forty years had passed away in comparative peace, 
 when Leopold, count of Firmian, Archbishop of Salz- 
 burg, having discovered, that many of his subjects had 
 forsaken the faith of Rome, determined to extirpate 
 all the heretics in his dominion. Wherever Bibles 
 were found, they were taken and destroyed, their ow- 
 ners were whipped and incarcerated, children were 
 torn from their parents and put into monasteries for 
 education, the property of the incorrigible heretics 
 as Protestants were styled was seized, and the peo- 
 ple forcibly expelled. This took place between the 
 years 1729-'32. Many of these persecuted Christians' 
 found asyla in the neighboring protestant countries and 
 cities, in Wurtenberg, Baden, the city of Augsburg 
 and other free cities in Suabia. Twenty thousand 
 found a home in Prussia. Pastor Urlsperger in Augs- 
 burg applied to the London society for the promotion 
 of Christianity in favor of the persecuted Salzburgers. 
 His representations of their distresses were effectual, 
 money and articles of clothing were transmitted to 
 him for distribution among the destitute, and an asy- 
 lum was offered them in the new colony of Georgia, 
 which then began to be settled under the auspices of 
 General Oglethorpe. They were promised a free pas- 
 sage to America, and means of support in the colony, 
 
30 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 until they should be able to live on the productions of 
 their own lands. The first colony consisted of 91 
 persons ; they passed through Germany and Holland 
 to England, in the summer of 1733. Two pious min- 
 isters of the Gospel, Bolzius and Gronau, accompa- 
 nied them. They embarked, Nov. 27th 1733, in one 
 vessel, after one of their ministers had exhorted them 
 to confide in the Lord, who had hitherto saved them 
 out of great distresses, and who would not forsake 
 them in the untried dangers of the ocean, as well as 
 in those, which might await them in the land of their 
 pilgrimage, provided, they would trust in him. His 
 text was: Isaiah, ch. 49, v. 10; "He that has mercy 
 on them, shall lead them." 
 
 After a stormy passage of 104 days, the emigrants 
 landed at Savannah, the capital of the new colony. 
 During the long and protracted passage no one had 
 been seriously ill, and all w r ere able, after a few days 
 of rest, to take possession of the tract of land on the 
 Savannah river, which had been assigned them. 
 
 In consequence of the gracious assistance of the 
 Lord, which they had experienced, they resolved to 
 celebrate the llth of March, the day on which they had 
 landed in the new world, yearly as a festival of grati- 
 tude to the Lord for the gracious leadings of his divine 
 Providence, and gave the name of Eben Ezer Rock 
 of Help to their settlement. In the year 1735 ano- 
 ther colony followed the first, and in 1736 and '41 two 
 others. 
 
 Difficulties of a serious nature soon appeared. Few 
 of the emigrants being mechanics, they were unable 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 31 
 
 to erect saw and grist-mills, though Ebenezer creek 
 afforded them the best opportunity for such a purpose. 
 All their provisions were to be transported from Savan- 
 nah to Ebenezer, but there was no boat in the colony, 
 and no carpenter, to build one. The colonists were 
 therefore obliged, during the first years of their resi- 
 dence in Georgia, to rely upon the occasional loan of 
 the government boat, which however could not always 
 bring the stores to the Ebenezer settlement, and the 
 poor imigrants were not unfrequently obliged to carry 
 the necessaries of life on their backs to their homes, 
 sometimes for a considerable distance. In the build- 
 ding of their huts they likewise passed through various 
 trials. The planks and timber, which the colonial 
 government had provided, were not in sufficient quan- 
 tity to procure shelter for all, especially after the arri- 
 val of the second party of imigrants amounting to 57 
 persons. Happily there were among that number a 
 few not unacquainted with the use of tools. Planks 
 were either split or sawed by hand. The soil, allotted 
 to them was generally poor, horses and cattle scarce, 
 and at the close of the first year they discovered to 
 their sorrow, that their industry alone, could not as 
 yet supply them with bread stuffs and that they would 
 have to depend still longer on the bounty of the En- 
 glish nation for the means of subsistence. Sickness, 
 produced by over exertions in the warm climate, to 
 which the colonists were unaccustomed, was alarm- 
 ingly spreading through their camp ; no physician was 
 there to administer suitable remedies, the ministers 
 had to supply the place of medical men, and adminis- 
 
32 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ter to their flock those medicines, with which they had 
 been supplied from the large Druggist establishment 
 of the Halle orphan house. These medicines were 
 blessed by the Father of mercies to the restoration of 
 the health of many, though a considerable number 
 found an early grave during the first year of their res- 
 idence at Ebenezer. 
 
 During the third year of their abode in Georgia, the 
 colonists were enabled to procure a boat for their own 
 use ; and in 1737 God blessed their labors with an 
 abundant harvest of corn and sweet potatoes. They 
 assembled on the Lord's day for worship in'the tent of 
 Mr. Bolzius, as \vell as on other occasions, until a hut 
 could be prepared for that purpose. The walk and 
 conversation of the people in general, appeared to be 
 in conformity with their profession, and the ministers 
 omitted no opportunity, to feed the flock, with the 
 bread of life, over which the Lord had made them 
 overseers. As many Germans resided in Savannah, 
 Purisburg and Charleston, the ministers of the Ebene- 
 zer congregation administered the consolations of re- 
 ligion as frequently as possible to the German inhabi- 
 tants of these towns. 
 
 Men, who have enjoyed an uninterrupted state of 
 prosperity, or who have met with no troubles in life, 
 more formidable than those cares, to which humanity 
 in general is an heir, would have sunk under the accu- 
 mulated evils and hardships, which' our imigrants to 
 the wilds of Georgia were suffering. But they, who 
 for the sake of the gospel had forsaken home, lands 
 and houses, and of whom many had rather suffered 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 33 
 
 their dear children to be torn from their parental bo- 
 soms, than forsake that faith, which they deemed scrip- 
 tural and leading to eternal life, felt little difficulty in 
 overcoming trials, which in comparison to those they 
 had borne in Europe, were considered light and bear- 
 able. But in the midst of severe deprivations they also 
 experienced that the all-seeing eye of the Father of 
 men was watching over them, the consolations of the 
 religion of Jesus were their support, they rejoiced, that, 
 though poor, they enjoyed the unspeakable privilege 
 of serving God according to the dictates of their 
 conscience and of experiencing the hopes of the word 
 of salvation. The Lord also awakened friends to 
 them, both in Europe and America. Collections of 
 considerable sums were made in Germany, and trans- 
 mitted to the Salzburgers by their faithful friends, Se- 
 nior Urlsperger in Augsburg, and Dr. Franke in Halle. 
 Many individuals in England, as well as the society for 
 the propagation of Christianity, relieved the wants of 
 the colonists ; and last, though not least, the British 
 Parliament voted the large sum of 26,000* = $ 109,- 
 473,69, for the relief of the Salzburg emigrants. 
 
 By means of these rich contributions not only the 
 immediate wants of our Brethren were supplied, but 
 they were also enabled to establish an orphan 'house 
 at Ebenezer, in which children, bereft of their parents 
 found instruction. The Rev. Mr. Whitfield likewise 
 took a deep interest in the welfare of our friends ; he 
 lived on the most intimate footing with the ministers of 
 
 * This statement is taken from the letters of Mr. Bolzius to Se- 
 nior Urlsperger. 
 
34 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 that congregation, and assisted them and their flock 
 by collections made in various parts of America. 
 
 From the forests of Georgia we turn to the distant 
 northern climes and forests of the province of Maine. 
 The continual wars between Germany and France had 
 left the inhabitants of the border provinces no hope of 
 living in peace on their native soil. About the year 
 1738 or '39 German emigrants landed near Broad Bay 
 and the Muscongus River in the province of Maine, 
 and named this new settlement Waldoborough, from 
 the name of the principal original proprietor of the 
 soil, General Waldo. These emigrants were protes- 
 tants, both Lutheran and Reformed. The vessel, in 
 which the first settlers crossed the Atlantic, to escape 
 the ravages of war in Europe, was the harbinger of 
 letters of marque and reprisals to New-England from 
 the British government against the subjects of Spain. 
 In a few years the number of German settlers had so 
 much increased in number, that the Legislature of Mas- 
 sachusetts, with which Maine was then connected, 
 granted them 75 in aid of their efforts, to defend 
 themselves during the war with Spain. As soon as 
 France had taken part in the contest against England, 
 their respective colonies in America likewise became 
 involved in the hostilities. The eastern and Canadian 
 Indians, taking sides with the French, as they usually 
 did, determined to destroy the young settlement at a 
 single blow. They fell upon it in the month of May, 
 1746, reduced the dwellings to ashes, and either kil- 
 led the people or carried them away captives. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 SECTION iv. Moral and religious state of the first em- 
 igrants. 
 
 From the different circumstances, under which the 
 emigrations to America had taken place, as noticed in 
 the last section of this chapter, it will be apparent, that 
 the moral and religious character of the colonists must 
 have varied in many respects. All indeed had severe- 
 ly suffered from tyranny at home, but we cannot sup- 
 pose, that persons, undergoing hardships from political 
 oppression alone, should entertain feelings in complete 
 accordance with those, who had considered the suf- 
 ferings from external tyranny light, in comparison to 
 those, by which they had been deprived of religious 
 liberty. One part had sought an asylum in America 
 to escape royal oppression, and were for a season sat- 
 isfied, with having found the blessings of freedom in 
 
 ' o O 
 
 the land of strangers ; another part however would have 
 valued these blessings alone as insufficient, unless they 
 were permitted to enjoy them in connexion w r ith the 
 consolations of that religion and faith, which had sup- 
 ported them under all their deprivations. 
 
 A brief review of the early actions of the emigrants 
 will show the correctness of our statement. In the 
 colonies of New York and South Carolina ample pro* 
 
36 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 visions for the support of school and religious instruc- 
 tion had been made by Queen Ann, but no eagerness 
 was manifested on the part of the German colonists to 
 improve the offered opportunities. Intent on private 
 gain, they left the means, which the providence of God 
 had provided for their spiritual welfare and that of their 
 children and distant posterity, to become the prey of 
 avaricious men, and did not feel the loss, until an ab- 
 solute spiritual starvation had created a hunger and 
 thirst in their hearts for the word of God. It may be 
 urged by way of excuse, that all efforts to procure in- 
 structors and ministers of the gospel, would most pro- 
 bably have proved abortive ; still the fact, that such 
 efforts were not made, sufficiently manifests the indif- 
 ference to the cause of religion, which ought not to 
 have existed in hearts, who had abundant reason to 
 overflow with gratitude to God. To this indifference 
 toward religion is also to be ascribed the acceptance 
 of immoral men who had obtained some trifling edu- 
 cation, as the instructors of their children, and their 
 preachers. Gradually however the people began to 
 feel, that without the blessings of religion, civil liberty 
 itself becomes a curse. The children grew up with- 
 out education, or what was worse, with an education 
 received from irreligious teachers ; English instructors 
 found no access to the Germans, because they were 
 tenacious of preserving the language of the father-land, 
 and for this purpose they formed their settlements dis- 
 tinct and separate from those of the English population. 
 The consequences of such a state of things soon be- 
 came apparent, and the people remembered the servi- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 37 
 
 ces in the house of God, as enjoyed in the home of 
 their ancestors. 
 
 It was natural, that their minds should be directed 
 to their Swedish brethren in the faith, who, having re- 
 mained in connexion with their native country had 
 thence been provided with pastors and the means of 
 erecting houses of worship. Their application was 
 received with satisfaction by the Swedish ministerium, 
 and some of their number, acquainted with the Ger- 
 man language, labored some time among them. How- 
 ever, few only of the Swedish ministers being suffi- 
 ciently acquainted with the German language, so as to 
 preach in it, and the field of labor being too exten- 
 sive, the German settlers soon perceived, that, unless 
 they could obtain assistance from the father-land, their 
 spiritual wants w r ould in a great measure remain un- 
 supplied. Applications were therefore made to Dr. 
 Ziegenhagen, the German court preacher in London, 
 as early as in the year 1732, by the German Lutherans 
 in the city of Philadelphia ; others addressed themselves 
 to the Theological faculties of Halle and Tubingen, 
 to obtain suitable men, to feed them with the bread of 
 life. The situation of the Lutherans in the city of 
 Philadelphia will appear from an extract of a letter, 
 addressed to Dr. Ziegenhagen, from which the reader 
 will infer, if such was the spiritual condition of the 
 German Lutherans in the growing city of Philadelphia, 
 what must have been the situation of the people, scat- 
 tered over a large territory in the country. " Living 
 in a land, in which divisions in religious opinions are 
 
 almost countless, and being destitute of that food for 
 
 4* 
 
38 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 our souls, which we need, and unable to find ways 
 and means in our own community, to supply our wants, 
 we pray God, to shew us through our friends abroad, 
 what may be done for us. The great body of our 
 young people, bewildered by the multitude of opin- 
 ions, and in absolute want of schools and religious 'in- 
 struction, will go astray, and be led into paths of error. 
 The Lord, the searcher of hearts and the trier of the 
 reins, alone knows, how greatly we stand in need of the 
 assistance of fellow- christians, and that in asking our 
 friends to lift collections for us, we have nothing else 
 in view, but the honor of God, and the spiritual wel- 
 fare and eternal salvation of our fellow-men. We do 
 not ask for such contributions, to enable us, to build 
 stately edifices and temples ; no ! we shall be fully sat- 
 isfied, if we can obtain sufficient aid, to erect plain 
 places of worship in different parts of the country, 
 where we may meet for prayer and praise, and for the 
 religious instruction of our youths. And we trust, 
 that a merciful God will not forsake us, but will excite 
 the hearts of our fellow-christians, to assist us in our 
 great spiritual distress, and that your Reverence will 
 grant us that aid, which we so much need." 
 
 Several letters and petitions of this kind were ex- 
 changed between America and Europe, but it seemed 
 for a long time, as if no suitable persons could be found, 
 to supply the spiritual wants of the Lutheran churches 
 in the American colonies of New- York and Pennsyl- 
 vania. The Theological faculty of Halle sent mean- 
 while a large supply of Bibles, Testaments, hymn and 
 prayer-books to the destitute colonists. But in the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 39 
 
 year 1741 the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, pas- 
 tor of Hermersdorf in Upper Lusatia, and Inspector of 
 the orphan-house in that place, accepted a call as min- 
 ister of the Lutheran church in Philadelphia, and in the 
 succeeding year the Rev. Peter Nicholas Sommer, 
 from Hamburg, was called as pastor of the church at 
 Schoharie in the colony of New York. 
 
 Far different was the state of the German colonists 
 in Georgia. They were abundantly supplied with all 
 the means of grace, having two faithful witnesses of 
 the truth in their midst, and having been taught through 
 the severe persecutions, they had endured, to value the 
 privilege of worshipping God according to the dictates 
 of their consciences, more than all earthly riches. A 
 few extracts from letters written by them to their friends 
 in Germany, and of testimonials of their faith on a dy- 
 ing bed, preserved in the journals of their ministers, 
 will afford the reader a better idea of the spiritual state 
 of the Salzburgers at that time, than any description, 
 that might otherwise be given. 
 
 Extract of a letter of John Moshammer to Senior Urlsperger in 
 1734. 
 
 After having expressed his gratitude to the Rev. 
 Senior and all the other friends in Germany for their 
 kindness towards the Salzburg exiles, he says : " The 
 greatest blessing however is, that God has provided 
 us with two pious pastors, who proclaim to us the word 
 of God in its purity. We sincerely wish, that you 
 could prevail on Mr. Pfeffer, to undertake a journey 
 to Salzburg, to tell our friends there, that, though we 
 
40 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 have passed through various trials, we have reason to 
 be thankful, that God has saved us from them all, and 
 we trust, he will not forsake us in future ; and we be- 
 seech our friends, for the sake of God and our common 
 salvation, to seek conversion from darkness, to shun 
 no dangers and sufferings, but to follow after Christ. 
 For since the word of truth says, Who denies me be- 
 fore men, him will I also deny before my Father, but 
 who confesses me before men, him will I also confess 
 before my Father and his angels ; and inasmuch as the 
 present life is short and uncertain, we shall act wisely, 
 if we do not neglect the day of salvation, but like the 
 lost son, return to our Father." 
 
 Extract of a letter signed by both the ministers, Bolzius and Gro- 
 nau, dated Ebenezer, Feb. 13, 1738. 
 
 "With great satisfaction we perceive, that through 
 the grace of God general contentment prevails among 
 our people. The longer they are here, the better they are 
 pleased, and we are sure that their utmost wishes will 
 be gratified, when they shall be able to live by their 
 own industry. In their letters to their friends they do 
 not persuade them to follow them, but content them- 
 selves with the simple statement, that they are satisfied, 
 because they are enjoying the privilege, they had long 
 sought for in vain, to hear the word of God in its pu- 
 rity. Our faithful heavenly Father will perhaps pro- 
 vide the means of building a house of worship and a 
 school-house ; at present we meet in the orphan-house, 
 and feel that God is with us." 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 41 
 
 Extract of a letter from Barbara Rohrmoser to Peter Pfeifer, in 
 Augsburg, Sept. 5, 1736. 
 
 "The providence of a wise and a gracious God has 
 directed me and my children, to go with other Salz- 
 burgers to America. During our passage we frequent- 
 ly asked ourselves, what the designs of our heavenly 
 Father probably were in regard to us, but now, since 
 he has brought us across the ocean, we discover, that 
 he intended to make the doctrine of Christ's atonement 
 truly precious to our souls, that we might find our hap- 
 piness in it during our present life, might die hap- 
 pily, and live forever in the enjoyment of bliss and 
 communion with him. In order to obtain this precious 
 boon, God gives us so many opportunities in this 
 country, that we can really wish for no more, but have 
 only to supplicate him for his aid in the improvement 
 of these blessings. Please inform my husband and 
 children in Salzburg, that I am anxious, they also 
 should leave that country, the Lord would not forsake 
 them, but grant to them in the enjoyment of the gospel 
 and in Jesus Christ far greater treasures than they 
 could obtain by amassing the whole wealth of Salz- 
 burg." 
 
 These extracts of letters will show the reader the 
 religious state of the Salzburg church at that time ; a 
 few examples of the happy departure of several of the 
 members shall close this statement. 
 
 Under date of April 2, 1735, Pastor Bolzius writes 
 as follows : " Mrs. Geshwandel departed this afternoon. 
 It had pleased Almighty God, to lead her through tedi- 
 ous and painful hours previous to her death. She im- 
 
42 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 proved the passion week to derive spiritual strength 
 and comfort from the contemplation of the sufferings 
 of her Saviour, and would have been rejoiced, had the 
 Lord called her home on the anniversary of his death. 
 The Lord Jesus was her all in all, hence she not only 
 received my visits kindly, but waited for them with 
 anxious expectation, to learn more of the kindness and 
 mercy of her gracious Lord, as she was wont to call 
 him. She had made a faithful use of the hymn-book, 
 for the edification of others, with which we had pre- 
 sented her, a short time previous to her illness. She 
 had marked those hymns, which had afforded her heart 
 special comfort. No complaints escaped her lips, and 
 when visiters noticed her bodily distress, she used to 
 say : Our Lord is kind to me, he can restore me, if he 
 will, and resignation to that will, is all I desire. She 
 was aware, that a Christian is exposed to many dan- 
 gers even to the moment of his departure, and that we 
 have to pass through severe trials and contests, if we 
 will not lose Christ and with him our salvation, and 
 God granted her under all afflictions great comfort du- 
 ring the last moments of her life. 
 
 Mentioning a visit to another sick person in the 
 same month, the pastor says: "After our forenoon 
 service I visited our sick friend, Mr. . He ex- 
 pressed his dissatisfaction with himself, on account of 
 his negligence and carelessness towards all that was 
 good ; he observed, that the zeal, he had felt during 
 the persecutions in Salzburg, had left him, which grie- 
 ved him very much. He spoke a great deal of the 
 love of God, manifested in the mission of his Son, how 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 43 
 
 he had given him up for us unto indescribable suffer- 
 ings as well as unto death, and complained, that he 
 did not feel that love on his part, which he ought to 
 feel for so amazing mercy. He mentioned, that Arndt, 
 in a certain chapter of his work entitled " True Chris- 
 tianity" had stated, that for Christ's sake we should 
 be made like unto angels, yea, even similar to Christ. 
 These blessings are so great, as to exceed the highest 
 honours here on earth, and yet, though aware of this, 
 he observed his love and gratitude for this unspeak- 
 able favor was very weak and feeble." Mr. Bolzius 
 further states : " that as this man bore a truly Christian 
 character, he endeavored to console him with the pa- 
 tience, forbearance and long suffering of God, and that 
 he hoped, God would forgive him his backwardness 
 and want of gratitude, because he felt contrition on its 
 account. A friend of the sick man, who was present, 
 confirmed what I had said, from his own experience, 
 which he observed had taught him, that so long as 
 a person does not give up all, but cleaves with his 
 heart and members to earthly or sinful things, it was 
 impossible to enjoy a reasonable service, ( Romans xii. 
 i.) in that case there was no divine blessing in the at- 
 tendance on public worship, and the fundamental doc- 
 trines of Christianity, as well as the treasures of divine 
 grace, were a sealed book to these persons. But if we 
 in child-like confidence follow the directions of holy 
 writ, we soon find the way, on which even the fool 
 cannot err. He remembered perfectly well he said 
 how the most ignorant people in Salzburg, had fre- 
 quently assembled in mountains, and among the cliffs 
 
44 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 of rocks, for the purpose of singing, praying, and the 
 reading of the scriptures, being full of hunger and 
 thirst after the word, and how they had experienced 
 the goodness and mercy of God in these meetings. 
 Mr. Bolzius remarks, that this recollection of former 
 sufferings on account of religion, led the persons pre- 
 sent, to think of the great blessings and benefits, which 
 God had graciously bestowed on them in this wilder- 
 ness, both in spiritual and temporal things. One of the 
 company then quoted the 119th Psalm, v. 36. Incline 
 my heart unto thy testimonies , and not unto covetousness, 
 and observed, that God was denying temporal blessings 
 to man, to which we were clinging with too much te- 
 nacity, and was exercising us in crosses, that the heart 
 might learn to incline to the testimonies of the Lord." 
 
 In another part of the Journal Pastor Bolzius re- 
 marks : 
 
 " To-day Mrs. Schweigert departed this life. In the 
 midst of great pain her rest and confidence was in the 
 . will of the Lord, and she was anxious to be with him." 
 Being on a visit to a sick man by the name o*f Shof- 
 pach, the pastor remarks : "I found him very low spiri- 
 ted, spoke to him about our dear Saviour, setting forth 
 to him, how w T e might both live and die happily in 
 communion with Christ. He assented to all I had 
 said, but finally exclaimed: Oh thou gracious and 
 merciful God ! and observed, that since his last parti- 
 cipation of the Lord's Supper, he had passed through 
 many internal trials. He was troubled by the sins he 
 had committed in the days of his youth, and their re- 
 membrance was almost depriving him of the hope of 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 45 
 
 his acceptance with God. He was now experiencing 
 that man in himself was nothing at all, that sin was the 
 greatest of all evils, and that it was necessary, to trea- 
 sure up much of the grace of God and of Evangelical 
 comfort, for the contest of the last hour. Great indeed, 
 added he, is the mercy, that we have Christ and his 
 gospel. I am deeply grieved, that many things, hostile 
 to God and his word enter my mind, I pray against 
 these temptations, and believe God will not suffer me 
 to be tempted above what I am able to bear. I then 
 informed him that the remembrance of his youthful 
 sins, ought to teach him to abominate sin and its ruin- 
 ous effects. It is terrible indeed, said I, to offend God 
 \vith wilful sins, and to sin in hopes of his mercy ; I 
 called to his mind, that thousands were going to hell, 
 while flattering themselves with this promise, and even, 
 if the eyes of some were truly opened, and their hearts 
 were converted to God, and they had received the 
 pardon of sins in the order of true repentance and faith 
 in Christ, that God would nevertheless frequently cause 
 them to feel the neinousness and guilt of sin. But 
 since he had made a solemn and penitent confession 
 of his sins, it behoved him to trust more to the word 
 and promises of God, than to the insinuations of his 
 reason, and the reproaches of his conscience. God is 
 willing to forgive sins, and to cast them into the depth 
 of the sea. He would certainly remember the decla- 
 ration of the Apostle John, " If any man sinneth, we 
 have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins, and not 
 for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world." Ah I 
 5 
 
46 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 good God ! replied he, this declaration of holy writ is 
 shamefully abused in the world. I replied : it is written 
 for poor distressed souls, and especially for those that 
 are tempted. This seemed to console him, and he said, 
 yes, indeed, it is the greatest promise in the Bible next 
 to this word : So, so has God loved the world, that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, that all, who believe in him, 
 might not perish, but have everlasting life. I answered : 
 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
 that Jesus Christ is come into the world to save sinners. 
 He assented and added : Yes, Christ the Lord has cal- 
 led the poor sinners to himself, when he says : Come 
 unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I 
 will give you rest. I replied : Yes, the strong need not 
 a physician, but those, that are sick, I came to call sin- 
 ners to repentance and not the righteous. Careless and 
 froward men are indeed presuming upon Christ and 
 his merits, without seeking conversion, but he calls 
 those, who labor and are heavy laden, and if they 
 come to Christ, anxious for their souls salvation, the 
 tempter w r ill interfere and deprive them of the grace in 
 Christ. But we ought to lay firm hold of him and his 
 merits, because he is not only the beginning, but also 
 the finisher of our faith, and his honor is concerned, 
 to finish the work, he has begun. The love of Christ 
 to a soul is so strong, that he will not forsake her ; the 
 devil and his power are already overcome, and the 
 honor of believers consisted in being soldiers of 
 Christ, and conquerors in his strength ; that the hu- 
 miliation of Satan and his disappointment will be ihe 
 greater, being overcome by instruments so weak, as 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 47 
 
 believers had to acknowledge themselves to be. Ha- 
 ving prayed with him, I left him, in hopes, that the 
 Lord would bless that visit." 
 
 The next day pastor Bolzius was again called to the 
 patient, whom he found weaker in body, but stronger 
 in spirit. The promises of God had comforted and 
 strengthened him in the faith, for which grace he could 
 not find words sufficient, to express his gratitude to 
 the Father of mercies. 
 
 A few days afterwards the minister learnt, that Mr. 
 Shofpach had departed in the faith on the atonement 
 of Christ. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ARRIVAL OF DR. MUHLENBERG TO THE 
 FIRST SYNOD OF THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH, 
 HELD IN PHILADELPHIA. FROM 1742 TO 1748. 
 
 We remarked in the first chapter by anticipation, 
 that the flourishing settlement of our brethren in the 
 province of Maine had been destroyed by the Indians 
 in the year 1746, and that those, who were not slain 
 on the spot, were taken into captivity, during which 
 many perished in consequence of hard usage, others 
 escaped, and were lost among the population of Can- 
 ada. During the period, of which we are now trea- 
 ting, no attempt was made to re-establish the German 
 settlement in that region. 
 
 At Schoharie, in the State of New York, the Rev. 
 Mr. Sommer was laboring with success and the bles- 
 sing of God. The field, assigned for cultivation to this 
 servant of the Lord, was very extensive ; but no dis- 
 tance, no travels through forests, never before entered 
 by white man, deterred him from visiting the Luther- 
 an settlements at Stone-Arabia, Little Falls, and Cana- 
 joharie, on the Mohawk river ; at Albany, Helleberg and 
 Beaver dam, in what is now called Albany county, in 
 Lunenberg, Claverak, Hossack road, Rhinebeck, East 
 and West camp. All these places were visited by him 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 49 
 
 at stated periods, to announce to the people the glad 
 tidings of the gospel ; though he considered himself 
 more particularly engaged to the congregation at Scho- 
 harie. At the first Vestry meeting of that church, of 
 which any record exists in the annals of the Schoharie 
 congregation, June 8th, 1743, it was resolved, to com- 
 mence the building of a parsonage house, as a place of 
 residence for the minister, and of worship for the con- 
 gregation. On the 3d of July, 1743, the Sacrament of 
 the Lord's Supper was for the first time administered 
 by the Pastor, one hundred members attending to that 
 ordinance on that solemn occasion. On the 12th of 
 September in the same year, the first public worship 
 was held in the new parsonage* house ; and here the 
 congregation continued to assemble during several 
 succeeding years, for divine service. 
 
 Many of the German settlements, in which Mr. 
 Sommer labored, were severe sufferers during the 
 Spanish war ; by some called the first French war. 
 The friends, who had settled on the Mohawk river and 
 its immediate vicinity, endured the greatest hardships. 
 In 1746 a company of volunteers, members of the Lu- 
 theran congregation at Schoharie, having assembled 
 in their place of worship, previous to their joining the 
 army, were addressed by their pastor and partook of 
 the Eucharist. 
 
 The letter written by Mr. Weissiger, in the name 
 of the Lutherans in Philadelphia, of which an extract 
 has been given in the 4th section of the first chapter, 
 had presented the spiritual state of our church in Penn- 
 sylvania as by no means flattering, but Dr. Muhlenberg, ; 
 
50 
 
 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 on his arrival in America, April 17, 1742, found it far 
 worse than he had anticipated. There was -no house of 
 worship, either in Philadelphia or Providence ; in New 
 Hanover a wooden building had been erected, but 
 even this was untenable. No provision for the instruc- 
 tion of the rising generation had been made, no school 
 house was built. The first step he took, was, to build 
 places of worship and school houses, with the money 
 he had received from Germany, and these resources 
 failing, he hesitated not, in reliance on the aid of Pro- 
 vidence, to contract debts for the finishing of the buil- 
 dings. Previous to his entering on the discharge of 
 his official duties, he went to Georgia, with a view to 
 consult with the Brethren Bolzius and Gronau on the 
 affairs of the Lutheran church in the American colo- 
 nies. After his return he commenced his pastoral la- 
 bors in the three congregations of Philadelphia, Pro- 
 vidence, and New Hanover. Until the commence- 
 ment of 1745, Dr. Muhlenberg labored alone in this 
 extensive field. In that year he received an agreea- 
 ble assistance in the Brethren, Brunholz, Schaum and 
 John N. Kurtz. Their arrival enabled him to extend 
 his labors to Germantown and to Cohansey in the col- 
 ony of New Jersey. 
 
 The ignorance among the rising generation was very 
 great indeed, few of them were able to read, and teach- 
 ers of a suitable character could not be procured; Pastor 
 Muhlenberg had therefore to become himself an in- 
 structer in the very rudiments of learning. He express- 
 es himself on this subject in a letter as follows : "Neces- 
 sity has compelled me, to become a teacher of children. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 51 
 
 One week I keep school in Philadelphia, the next in 
 Providence, and the third in New Hanover ; and I 
 think, God's grace is visiting us. It was however high 
 time, that I should come. If affairs had remained a 
 few years longer in the same state, in which I found 
 them, our poor Lutherans would have been scattered 
 or turned into Heathenism. There are many married 
 persons, that have never been baptized, and numerous 
 sects and opinions fill the country." 
 
 In another letter he describes the state of religion in 
 the country as follows : " Atheists, Deists and Natu- 
 ralists are to be met with every where. I think, there 
 is not a sect in the Christian w r orld, that has not follow- 
 ers here. You meet with persons from almost every 
 nation in the world. God and his word are openly 
 blasphemed. Here are thousands, w r ho by birth, edu- 
 cation and confirmation ought to belong to our church, 
 but they are scattered to the four winds of heaven. 
 The spiritual state of our people is so wretched, as to 
 cause us to shed tears in abundance. The young peo- 
 ple are grown up without instruction, and without 
 knowledge of religion, and are turning into heathen- 
 ism." 
 
 Sad as this picture is of the state of the church, still 
 Dr. Muhlenberg trusted in God, and gave not way to 
 despair. Preparations were made for the building of 
 a church at Providence. The corner stone was sol- 
 emnly laid May 2d, 1743, and on the 12th of Sept. the 
 first sendee was held in the new building. In Phila- 
 delphia, however, the difficulties appeared for some 
 time insurmountable ; especially in obtaining a lot for 
 
52 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the erection of a house of worship. Lots were high, 
 and difficult to be procured. But the Lord assisted 
 the exertions of the lovers of Zion. The church coun- 
 cil purchased at length a lot for .200 currency. The 
 corner stone was laid April 5th, 1743 ; and the build- 
 ing was finished in 1748. It was called St. MichaeVs 
 church, and is still in use as a place of worship of the 
 German Lutheran congregation in Philadelphia. 
 
 After the arrival of the Brethren Brunholz, Schaum 
 and Nicolaus Kurtz of whom Mr. Brunholz had been 
 ordained by the consistory of Wernigerode in Germa- 
 ny ; the other two arrived as candidates of the minis- 
 try ; the circle of pastoral activity could be conside- 
 rably enlarged. Mr. Brunholz accepted the call as 
 second minister in the churches, among whom Dr. 
 Muhlenberg had hitherto been laboring alone. Mr. 
 Schaum was appointed schoolmaster in Philadelphia, 
 and assistant of Pastor Muhlenberg in preaching. 
 Both the Doctor and Mr. Brunholz bear ample testi- 
 mony in their letters to Germany of the faithfulness 
 and success of the labors of their colleague. Mr. Kurtz 
 was sent in the same capacity to New Hanover , with 
 direction, however, of attending also to the congrega- 
 tion at Tulpehoken^ and to preach in such other places, 
 where the ordained ministers could not attend. Dr. 
 Muhlenberg found, in Mr. Brunholz, a man of God, 
 and expresses himself respecting him in a letter dated 
 Nov. 1, 1745, as follows: "My dear Brother takes 
 heed unto himself, unto the doctrine, and the destitute 
 flock. The grace of God is strong in him, notwith- 
 standing his bodily infirmities. He is able to suffer, and 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 53 
 
 yet to fight, to pass through honor as well as dishonor, 
 through good and evil report, in reliance on that grace. 
 The Lord grants him the favor of the people, and crow- 
 neth the word with his blessing. 
 
 There were many citizens at Chester, Pennsylvania, 
 who had been members of the Lutheran church in 
 Germany ; Dr. Muhlenberg visited them in the spring 
 of 1745; preached to them, and formed them into a 
 regular congregation. Being as yet unable to recom- 
 mend a pastor to them, he exhorted them to meet on 
 the Lord's days, for singing, prayer, and the reading of 
 a sermon ; promising to send them a collection of suit- 
 able discourses. Pastor Muhlenberg, in mentioning 
 this people in his letters, expresses himself as follows : 
 " They stood around me and Wept like children, or 
 rather, they came around me, like a flock of sheep, who 
 had lost their shepherd, and had found him again." 
 
 Several years previous to the arrival of Dr. Muhlen- 
 berg in America, the Lutheran inhabitants of Lancas- 
 ter, Pennsylvania, had made application to the Arch- 
 bishop* of Upsal in Sweden, for a minister. About the 
 same period of time, when the Philadelphia congrega- 
 tion was applying to London and Halle, the Arch- 
 bishop had sent Pastor Nyberg to Lancaster, where 
 he met with the most affectionate reception. But soon 
 the enemy began to sow tares among the wheat. Dis- 
 sentions and dissatisfactions sprang up in the congre- 
 
 * The inhabitants of Sweden are Lutherans, and have retained 
 the Episcopal mode of church government, though they do not, 
 like the English Episcopal church, reject Consistorial or Synodi- 
 cal ordination. 
 
54 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 gation. They appear to have originated on the part 
 of Pastor Nyberg's strong attachment to the Moravian 
 Brethren ; a society, but lately established in Pennsyl- 
 vania, who adhered to the confession of Augsburg, 
 and among whom Luther's catechism was used as a 
 book of instruction in the principles of the Christian 
 religion. The only differences of any note between 
 Lutherans and Moravians are, in the first place, the 
 observance of a very rigid church discipline by the 
 latter ; in the second place, in a singular separation or 
 division of their congregations into choirs, according 
 to sex and age ; and thirdly, in a lively missionary spi- 
 rit, which in the colonies manifested itself in strong 
 efforts made for the conversion of the Aborigenes, up- 
 on whom the other Christian denominations were ra- 
 ther looking with suspicion, and whom they viewed as 
 a people, against whom the decree of heaven had pas- 
 sed, like in days of old against the Canaanites. In these 
 sentiments the members of the Lutheran church parti- 
 cipated. We should suppose that denominations, so 
 similar in doctrine, though differing in regard to mea- 
 sures, w r ould cheerfully have gone hand in hand, to 
 promote the work of the Lord. But noticing in our 
 day, that Christian societies, whose religious sentiments 
 approach as near to each other, as those of Lutherans 
 and Moravians did, a century since, manifest no bro- 
 therly spirit towards each other, except in so far as a 
 hope is entertained of making proselytes, we need not 
 be astonished, that those very distinctions, peculiar to 
 the Moravian society, filled the Lutherans with distrust 
 towards a sect, whose proselyting spirit they feared the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 55 
 
 more, the closer the resemblance was in other respects. 
 Pastor Nyberg saw in the Moravians naught but a con- 
 fessional relationship, while many of his people, who 
 had lived a long time in the midst of various sects, 
 looked upon them as dangerous to the peace, welfare 
 and growth of their church. In a short time the dis- 
 agreement between minister and congregation assumed 
 so threatening an aspect, that a reconciliation became 
 impossible. In this state of things the congregation 
 called upon Dr. Muhlenberg for aid, who prevailed on 
 the Theological faculty at Halle, to send Pastor Hand- 
 shuh to America, who arrived in 1748, and was in- 
 stalled as minister of the church at Lancaster. 
 
 In the colony of New Jersey, Protestant Germans 
 had settled in the counties of Hunterdon, Morris, Som- 
 erset, Sussex and Bergen ; the Lutherans in the last 
 mentioned county were, generally speaking, emigrants 
 from Holland, living in the neighborhood of Hacken- 
 sack and Ramapaugh. Dr. Muhlenberg visited these 
 settlements occasionally, and in 1746 Mr. Kurtz was 
 sent thither, to collect the scattered flocks and to in- 
 struct the young. According to the accounts of those 
 times, his labors were owned and blessed by trie Lord. 
 
 After some time Pastor John Christopher Hartwig 
 who was the stated minister of the congregation in the 
 city of New York, attended also to the churches in 
 Hackensack and Ramapaugh. This gentleman had 
 come into America as field preacher to a German reg- 
 iment in the service of England during the Spanish 
 war. He also occasionally attended the congregation 
 at Rhinebeck, Wurtemberg, East and West Camp, in 
 
56 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Duchess and Ulster counties in the colony of New 
 York. 
 
 Mention is also made in the records, of several con- 
 gregations in Maryland, especially of one at Frederick- 
 town^ but no definite statement is given of the situation 
 and spiritual condition of that church. From the few 
 hints thrown out respecting it, we have reason to fear, 
 that the house of peace was not there. We also dis- 
 cover traces of Lutheran churches in Virginia ; but 
 their pastors appear to have been of that class, of whom 
 many, previous to Dr. Muhlenberg's arrival in Amer- 
 ica, and, alas ! too frequently since, have been scatter- 
 ed over the land ; men without morality and religion, 
 and addicted to gross vices. 
 
 Very different was the aspect of affairs at Eben 
 Ezer in Georgia. The two faithful servants of God, 
 Bolzius and Gronau, continued to labor together for 
 some years in that portion of the Lord's vineyard, 
 which he had planted in the wilds of Georgia. His 
 blessing accompanied the labors of his servants, so 
 that believers were strengthened, the wavering sup- 
 ported, the erring recovered, and many sinners brought 
 to the knowledge of their sins, as well as to the Sa- 
 vior of repenting sinners, and the hope of eternal life. 
 Still, in the midst of these encouraging prospects they 
 also found frequent causes of grief and sorrow. They 
 as well as their flocks were poor, destitute of many 
 conveniences, and even necessaries of life. The mem- 
 bers of this congregation looked to their pastors for 
 help, who were themselves in straitened circumstan- 
 ces. However, the acknowledgment of the parishion- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 57 
 
 ers, as stated in the printed accounts concerning the 
 Salzburgers in America, manifest that these ministers 
 of God had learnt, " that it is more blessed to give than 
 to receive," and that their poverty was only then felt 
 by them as burdensome when they felt themselves un- 
 able, to relieve the wants of their dear people. If 
 there was any other circumstance which could afflict 
 them more deeply, than the one we have mentioned, 
 it was the grief they experienced, when one or the 
 other of the flock, entrusted to their care, was turning 
 into the forbidden paths of sin. 
 
 October 4th, 1742, Pastor Muhlenberg arrived in 
 Eben Ezer. Great was the joy of the brethren, to be- 
 hold the face of a friend, who had been dear unto them 
 in the Father-land, and who had come to the new 
 world, with the view to gather the scattered German 
 Protestants in the northern parts of the American col- 
 onies, as they were endeavoring to do in the South. 
 After a stay of six days, during which they had cove- 
 nanted anew, to devote the powers of soul and body 
 to the service of the Lord, and having confirmed this 
 covenant by the participation of the Lord's Supper, 
 Dr. Muhlenberg returned to the field of his activity, 
 Pastor Bolzius accompanying him as far as Charleston. 
 Pastor Gronau notices the departure of Dr. Muhlen- 
 berg, in his Journal, in the following words: "Oct. 
 11. This day my dear colleague and Mr. Muhlenberg 
 were to start for Charleston, but evening came on, be- 
 fore every thing was ready. The day had, however, 
 not been spent in vain. The preparations for the 
 journey having been made, my colleague took leave 
 6 
 
58 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 of us in a prayer. Several of our people were present. 
 All accompanied our departing friends to the river, 
 where we once more bade them adieu, recommending 
 them to the protection of God. Pastor Muhlenberg 
 sung the German verse : 
 
 So lasst uns dann dem lieben Herrn 
 
 Mit Seel und Leib' nachgehen, 
 
 Und wohlgemuth, getrost und gem 
 
 Bey ihm im Leiden stehen. 
 
 Denn wer nicht kaempft, traegt auch die Kron' 
 
 Des ew'gen Lebens nicht davon. 
 
 We all joined him, deeply affected by the whole scene. 
 I trust, the good Lord will in his own time bring us 
 again together. Never before have we spent so bles- 
 sed and so happy a season in Eben Ezer. For the 
 Lord had never before permitted us to embrace a dear 
 friend from our native country, in whom we found a 
 real brother in Christ. My desire and hope is, that 
 our connexion will become still more intimate, and 
 that God will grant his blessing to the labors of our 
 brother, so that through the preaching of the way of 
 salvation, a church may be built up in Pennsylvania 
 with which we can join hand and heart." 
 
 From the Journals of the ministers, laboring among 
 the Salzburgers, it is evident, that their aim was, to 
 direct their flock into the narrow path, that leadeth un- 
 to life. Though they were anxious, to direct the mem- 
 bers of their church to the observance of an external 
 decorum, and to the submission of external good 
 church discipline ; and though, according to the testi- 
 mony of their neighbors, the inhabitants of the villages 
 round about them, and those of Savannah, as also to 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 59 
 
 that of the colonial government, this congregation was 
 distinguished in that respect ; .and though the pastors 
 were also desirous, that the people should be duly af- 
 fected by the preaching of the word, yet it is evident 
 from every statement they make, that they were labor- 
 ing to impress this truth deeply on the minds of the 
 congregation, that neither an external observance of 
 order, nor an excitement of mere animal feelings in- 
 sures us the high title, of being the Sons and Daugh- 
 ters of God, but the approach of the heart and mind 
 to the character of our great prototype, the Lord and 
 Savior Jesus Christ, as well as to have a conscience 
 void of offence before God and man. 
 
 Many examples of that tender conscience among 
 the Salzburgers are exhibited in the Journals of their 
 ministers, of which we shall copy one, as proof of our 
 previous assertion. " On the 15th of June," says Mr. 
 Bolzius, in his Diary of 1743, "a little girl came to 
 me, confessing with many tears, that she had stolen a 
 peach, and that conscience disturbed her so much on 
 that account, that she could neither sleep nor work. 
 I related to her, what I had lately read in Pastor Bren- 
 er's account of the Salzburgers, settled in Prussian 
 Lithuania. A female had found a large iron nail in 
 the street, and had sold it; in consequence of which 
 conscience soon awoke, and besides chiding her for 
 the sin, she had then committed, brought to her re- 
 membrance another sin, which she had committed 
 long before ; so that she was thereby almost driven to 
 utter despair. I further informed the girl, that when 
 the commission of what is generally considered a light 
 
60 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 sin, disturbs our conscience, a fire begins to burn 
 within us, like the fire of hell, and then we no longer 
 think of a distinction between gross and trivial sins. 
 I advised her to learn from the quoted example, that 
 God frequently improves the occasion of a wrong 
 lately committed by us, to bring to our mind the mass 
 of sin, that fills our hearts, so that we may repent, and 
 ask his forgiveness for Christ' sake. Finally I dismis- 
 sed her by bringing the following text to her recollec- 
 tion : "Ifwe confess our sins, God is faithful and just, 
 to forgive us our sins, and to purify us from all ini- 
 quity." 
 
 German settlers on St. Simon's island, about 150 
 miles South of Savannah, in and near a town called 
 Friederica, having applied for a preacher to the En- 
 glish society for the propagation of Christianity, Pastor 
 Drieslerw&s sent to them in 1743. In Feb., of the 
 succeeding year, he visited the brethren in Eben Ezer, 
 and Mr. Bolzius gives him the following testimony in 
 a letter dated Feb. 24th, 1744. "Mr. Driesler arri- 
 ved yesterday. He labors with the blessing of God 
 in his small congregation at Friederica, consisting of 
 62 souls. The commandant of the Fort, Captain Hor- 
 ton, gives him an honorable testimony, and we trust, 
 our friend will be an instrument to the salvation of 
 many souls. Next Lord's day he is to preach in Sa- 
 vannah, this day he preaches here, both in Zion and in 
 Jerusalem church." 
 
 In the spring of that year a Spanish fleet and army 
 attacked the Fort and town of Friederica, threatening 
 also Savannah and Port Royal, but were defeated. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 61 
 
 In the month of January, 1745, it pleased the Lord 
 to call his servant, Pastor Israel Chr. Gronau, from 
 his labor to everlasting rest. Pastor Bolzius describes 
 the last days and hours of his beloved Christian brother, 
 in a letter to Senior Urlsperger, in Augsburg, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Last Friday, the llth of this month, at 10 o'clock, 
 P. M., it pleased the Lord to call my dear brother and 
 colleague to his rest. He fell asleep full of joy in his 
 Savior. On a stormy and rainy day, nearly a year 
 since, he was preaching to the Germans in Savannah. 
 On that occasion he caught a severe cold at church, so 
 that he with great difficulty performed service here on 
 the succeeding Sunday. Notwithstanding the use of 
 the best means in our power for his recovery, his weak- 
 ness increased and his health declined. During the 
 last six weeks of his life he was afflicted with a con- 
 tinued fever. The time of his illness has been a source 
 of edification to us, who were daily about his person. 
 His heart continually enjoyed communion with his 
 Redeemer, nothing troubled him, for he tasted the 
 reconciliation with God, and the joy and peace of the 
 Holy Ghost. He was always engaged in prayer and 
 praise of his Savior. Every text, treating on this sub- 
 ject of all his desires, left deep impressions on his 
 heart, and was the nourishment of his soul. He was 
 perfectly resigned, received the medicine, that w r as ad- 
 ministered, as well as every kindness shewn him, with 
 gratitude to God, and was delighted, when visiters 
 prayed with him. A few days previous to his depar- 
 ture, he participated in the solemn memorial of his Sa- 
 6* 
 
62 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 vior's sufferings and death, with a longing desire. 
 Four days previous to his departure, the fever became 
 so violent, that he was frequently delirious. On re- 
 covering from a paroxysm, he expressed his fears, of 
 having perhaps unconsciously said something unbe- 
 coming the Christian. But this was not the case, since 
 even his imagination was filled with his Savior, and 
 all his conversation during his mental absence, had 
 reference to that Redeemer, in whom centered all his 
 affections. On Friday evening, his friends supposing 
 that his end was approaching, I was sent for, and of- 
 fered up a prayer at his bed-side, and though my dear 
 brother was then so feeble, that he could scarcely 
 breathe, he still pronounced every word of the prayer 
 after me very distinctly and with deep emotion. I 
 then pronounced the Lord's blessing upon him, and 
 took leave of him in these words : " Love makes us 
 acceptable." He still recognized all the neighbors 
 and friends, who stood around his bed, calling upon 
 them to praise God. To his wife he observed, " she 
 ought to be the first," but we know not, whether he 
 meant, that she ought to be the first in praises to God, 
 or that he hoped, she would be the first of the bye- 
 standers in following him to eternity. When one of 
 the Salzburg brethren took hold of his hand, which 
 Mr. Gronau had lifted up in praise to God, to cover it 
 with the bed-clothes, he desired, that the friend might 
 support his arms, in the uplifted position, in which he 
 had held them. This being done, he exclaimed : 
 Come Lord Jesus ! Jimen, Anen. With these words 
 he closed his eyes and lips, and entered into the joy of 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 63 
 
 his Lord, full of peace." So ended this servant of the 
 Lord ! May our end be like his ! 
 
 The following extract of another letter of Pastor 
 Bolzius is characteristic of his Christian humility. It 
 is addressed to Senior Urlsperger, in Augsburg, con- 
 taining the request for a brother clergyman in the 
 place of his departed friend and brother, Gronau. 
 "May God send me a faithful and good man," says 
 he, " in the place of my departed friend. Will you 
 have the goodness to select such a one for me, in as 
 much as I shall not be able for any length of time to 
 bear the burden of business, that overwhelms me. I 
 too feel the approach of age, and may unexpectedly be 
 called away. Could I have my own wish, I would 
 ask the favor of you to send a Pastor primarius to this 
 place, so that I might take the station of my departed 
 brother. My mind has frequently dwelt on this sub- 
 ject, especially during the last illness of Mr. Gronau ; 
 and I can assure you, that I would prefer, by far, be- 
 ing adjunct to the new pastor, to the retaining the sta- 
 tion I now hold ; for I am too weak, to stand in the 
 front of the battle. May God make an arrangement 
 of this kind practicable." 
 
 The southern portion of the church met with another 
 loss during this period. Rev. Mr. Driesler departed 
 this life at Friederica in 1744. He had attended for 
 some years to the congregation at Friederica on St. Si- 
 mon's island, as observed before, and had occasion- 
 ally preached in Savannah and Charleston. He had 
 drawn his support from no society in Europe, but from 
 the English commanding officer in the fort near Fried- 
 
64 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 erica. On his arrival he found his parishioners nearly 
 in the same condition, in which Dr. Muhlenberg had 
 found many congregations at the North. The pastors 
 of the Salzburg congregation at Eben Ezer give him 
 the testimony of a faithful servant of the Lord. After 
 his departure a Mr. Zuebli, from Switzerland, seems 
 to have had the charge of that church, but it does not 
 appear, that he was in any way connected with our 
 Ebenezer brethren. 
 
 Their Journal of that time mentions among other 
 things, that many Lutherans were settled in and about 
 Orangeburg in South Carolina, and that their preacher 
 resided in the village of Orangeburg, however no men- 
 tion is made of his name, nor of any thing else, connec- 
 ted with his office. From one circumstance mentioned 
 without particular reference to that congregation we 
 have to infer, that the spiritual slate of that church 
 was by no means pleasing. A Mr. Kiefer, a Salzburg 
 emigrant and member of the Ebenezer congregation, 
 was living on the Carolina side of the river Savannah, 
 whose mother-in-law resided at Orangeburg, whom 
 he occasionally visited. On one occasion he remar- 
 ked after his return to his minister, Pastor Bolzius, that 
 the people at Orangeburg were manifesting no hunger 
 or thirst after the word of God, he was therefore an- 
 xious that his mother-in-law should remove to his 
 plantation, so that she might enjoy the opportunity of 
 attending to the preaching of the word of God, which 
 she greatly desired. 
 
 In 1746 the Rev. Mr. Lembke arrived in Ebenezer, 
 as assistant preacher. Pastor Bolzius received him 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 65 
 
 with open arms. After some time he married the 
 widow of his predecessor, Pastor Gronau. Mr. Bol- 
 zius expresses his great satisfaction at the choice the 
 friends of Ebenezer in Europe had made in the person 
 of Mr. Lembke, both in his Journal and in private let- 
 ters. Not less pleased were the members of the con- 
 gregation with their new minister, and it was soon 
 apparent, that the Lord granted his blessing to the 
 ministration of his word through the instrumentality of 
 his servant. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 From the first Synod of the Lutheran church in Amer- 
 ica, to tfie Declaration of the Independence of t/ie 
 United States. From 1748 to 1776. 
 
 The work of the Lord among the Protestant Ger- 
 man population in the North American colonies, re- 
 quired new laborers from time to time. It was not an 
 easy task to the friends of the Lord's cause in Amer- 
 ica, to supply the wants of the German church with 
 suitable Pastors. This difficulty induced the Theo- 
 logical faculty of the university of Halle to propose to 
 Dr. Muhlenberg the formation of a Synodical body in 
 Pennsylvania, with power to examine and ordain the 
 ministerial candidates already engaged in the service 
 of the American church, as well as to take, in future, 
 such other measures, as may advance her interest. 
 This Synod met, Aug. 14th, 1748, in Philadelphia. 
 The ministers present were : 
 
 DR. HENRY MUHLENBFRG, REV. MR. BRUNHOLZ, 
 REV. PROVOST SANDIN, " J. C. HARTWIG, 
 
 " MAGISTER NAESMAN, a HANDSCHUH. 
 
 Provost Sandin and Magister Naesman were of the 
 Swedish Lutheran church. Both participated in the 
 conferential consultation, as also in the examination 
 and ordination of the proposed candidates; conse- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 67 
 
 quently these Swedish brethren, though the govern- 
 ment of the Swedish Lutheran church is Episcopal, 
 acknowledged the actus ministeriales of the German 
 Lutheran church, in which the mode of inducting min- 
 isters into the clerical office is consistorial. 
 
 Besides the above named ministers, the lay dele- 
 gates from the respective churches, and the candidate, 
 John JV*. Kurtz, were present. Some of the occurren- 
 ces which signalized the first American Lutheran Sy- 
 nod are so remarkable and important, that an extract 
 from its proceedings cannot but be interesting to every 
 member of our church.* 
 
 The members of the Synod having assembled in the 
 parsonage house in Philadelphia*.,- Aug. 14th 5 1748, 
 proceeded thence in procession to St. Michael's 
 church. After the singing of a hymn, a letter of con- 
 gratulation from the first Swedish minister, was read, 
 whom business prevented from attending in person. 
 Dr. Muhlenberg was elected President of the Synod. 
 The first Synodical business seems to have been the 
 solemn dedication of St. Michael's church as a house 
 of worship for members of the Lutheran communion. 
 After two addresses from Pastor Muhlenberg and Pro- 
 vost Sandin, to the assembled congregation, in which 
 the Speakers directed the attention of Synod and peo- 
 ple to the fact, that the corner stone of this church had 
 been laid, that the building erected on the same should 
 be an edifice, in which the doctrine of the Ev. Luthe- 
 
 * This extract is taken from " Nachrichten aus Pennsylvanien;" 
 i. e. Accounts from Pennsylvania, published at Halle, from let- 
 ters and journals of Dr. Muhlenberg, and others. 
 
68 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ran church, built upon the ground of the Prophets and 
 the Apostles, should be taught according to the unchan- 
 ged Augsburg confession, and the other Symbolic 
 books ; the church was solemnly dedicated to the use of 
 the preached word and the dispensation of the holy Sa- 
 craments in conformity to the Symbolic books, and the 
 church council were earnestly admonished to watch as 
 long as Almighty God should protect the building a- 
 gainst accidents, that this house might be preserved and 
 kept for the above named purposes to the latest gene- 
 rations. After the singing of some verses, both minis- 
 ters, lay delegates and people, knelt in prayer before 
 God. One of the Swedish and one of the German 
 ministers addressed the throne of grace fervently ; the 
 former in the Swedish, the latter in the German lan- 
 guage. After the prayer, Baptism was administered 
 to an infant, after which Pastor Handschuh delivered 
 a sermon, at the close of which all the ministers, dele- 
 gates, and a number of the congregation, surrounded 
 the Lord's table. In the afternoon of the same day 
 Pastor Hartwig preached on the text: "His blood 
 will I require at thy hand." Ezek. xxxiii. 8. After 
 sermon the ordained ministers, both Swedish and 
 German, surrounded the altar, the formulary of ordi. 
 nation was read, and under the imposition of hands of 
 all the ministers, the candidate, JV. Kurtz, was sol- 
 emnly set apart for the work of the ministry. 
 
 The settlement at Waldoborough, in Maine, was 
 lying waste, as already observed, until after the peace 
 of Jlixla Chapelle, in Oct., 1748; when the tragic 
 story of the destruction of the old settlement, or some 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 69 
 
 other incident turned the thoughts of other Germans 
 towards the same region for a place of refuge. Sym- 
 pathies have strong attractions, and the soil, that had 
 drunk the blood of their martyred brethren, was to 
 them consecrated ground. Hence a German gentle- 
 man by the name of Crell, early in 1750, made a voy- 
 age across the Atlantic, on an errand of inquiry, what 
 places would be found most eligible, and what en- 
 couragement could be given to emigrants. He pre- 
 sented a memorial to the General Court of Massachu- 
 setts, in which he proposed to remove a considerable 
 number of Protestant families from Germany to this 
 country, provided a favorable prospect offered, of sup- 
 porting themselves here. The Governor recommen- 
 ded the petition to the Legislature, stating that he 
 deemed it important to encourage the settlement of 
 these Germans among us, as they would introduce 
 many useful manufactures and arts. The Legislature, 
 being of the same opinion, adopted provisional mea- 
 sures for their accommodation and comfort ; for natu- 
 ralizing them and their families, and for encouraging 
 their ministers and interpreters on their arrival. The 
 next year, 1751, between twenty and thirty families 
 came over, with Mr. Etter, their interpreter, and their 
 necessities were relieved the ensuing winter at the 
 public expense, as well as by private charities. Even 
 beds, bedding, and other articles were furnished them, 
 till their removal to Broad Bay, and other places of 
 residence. Thus the German settlement was revived 
 at the present Waldoborough in the spring of 1752. 
 At the same time, Gen. Samuel Waldo, principal pro- 
 7 
 
70 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 prietor of the Muscongus patent, seized upon the oc- 
 casion as a favorable one, to increase its settlement, 
 and sent his son to Germany, who issued circulars, 
 promising every man, who would emigrate, and reside 
 upon his patent, a hundred acres of land, and also as- 
 sistance on the soil to make beginnings there. 
 
 Encouraged by these offers, about 1500 Germans 
 emigrated, from time to time, and settled at Broad 
 Bay and at Broad Cove, on the westerly side of the 
 Muscongus river. In the outset some of the settlers 
 had brought money with them, and lived comfortably, 
 while the living of others was very poor, and their 
 sufferings great. Early in the French war, which 
 commenced, 1755, they were attacked and cruelly 
 treated by the Indians, some being killed and others 
 carried alive to Canada. But the war was hardly clo- 
 sed, when this quiet and excellent people were per- 
 plexed with troubles from another and unexpected 
 quarter. By the report of a committee, Feb. 3, 1762, 
 accepted by the Legislature, the Waldo or Muscongus 
 patent was confined between the rivers Penobscot and 
 Muscongus ; and consequently all the inhabitants on 
 the westerly side of the latter river, which constituted 
 the greater part of the plantations, were without any 
 title to their lands, as the deeds from Waldo gave 
 them none. Hence they were liable to lose their buil- 
 dings and improvements, and be turned out of doors. 
 In this dilemma, the troubled settlers at once, to the 
 number of 50 or 60 families, re-purchased their lands 
 in 1763-4, and took deeds of the Drowne proprietors, 
 who had established their title to them, under an old 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 71 
 
 patent of 1631 ; granted to Eldridge and Aldsworth. 
 At the same time a possessory right, called the 
 " Brown claim" was raised to the same lands, in vir- 
 tue of ancient settlement and occupancy ; and many 
 attempts were made to establish this title. Others of 
 the German settlers had made their improvements 
 within the bounds of the Waldo patent, as recognized 
 by the Legislature ; yet, not having obtained any deeds 
 from General Waldo previous to his death in 1759, 
 they were molested by his heirs. Thus they were left 
 in the midst of extreme affliction, contrary to every 
 principle of justice and good faith, without the least 
 remuneration or indemity for all their losses. Justly 
 affronted by such neglect, ill treatment and injury, dis- 
 appointed in their expectations, displeased with the 
 climate, and determined to be rid of law suits, a large 
 number of families resolved to leave the settlement for 
 a Southern climate. They sold their rights of posses- 
 sion for what they could obtain, and in 1773 removed 
 from Maine, and joined their German Brethren in 
 South Carolina, under the benevolent auspices of its 
 Legislature. It was with the deepest regret, that their 
 neighbors and brethren parted w r ith them. Nay all, 
 who knew any thing of them, lamented their remo- 
 val, for they were mostly husbandmen of excellent 
 moral character, and considerable agricultural skill, 
 distinguished for their industrious and economical ha- 
 bits. Of those who went to Carolina with Rev. Mr. 
 Silly ) their pious clergyman, some remained in the 
 South, most of them, however, returned ; the ex- 
 pense incurred, and loss of time, having greatly in- 
 
72 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 creased their indigence. But they were received with 
 open hearts and open arms. These emigrant settlers 
 came originally from different parts of Germany. 
 When they first settled at Broad Bay, now Waldobo- 
 rough, they formed a church in two branches, of Ger- 
 man Reformed and of Lutheran professors of religion. 
 Though at first destitute of a minister, they appear to 
 have met on the Lord's day, for mutual edification. 
 It seems, that previous to the removal of a number of 
 these Germans to the South, they had attended the 
 ministry of Mr. Silly, and after his departure they ob- 
 tained the services of the Rev. John M. Schaeffer, in 
 year 1762, w T ho continued to officiate for them until 
 his death in 1782. 
 
 In the commencement of 1750, the congregation at 
 -Schoharie resolved to build a house of worship. The 
 corner stone was laid by the Pastor, Mr. Sommer, 
 with appropriate solemnities, May the 10th., 1750, and 
 on the 6th of May, 1751, it was dedicated to the wor- 
 ship of Almighty God. Towards the close of the 
 same year, he took farewell of the congregations at 
 Stone- Arabia, Little Falls, and Canojoharie, and gave 
 these churches into the charge of the Rev. John Fred- 
 erick Rees. But let us not suppose that Br. Sommer 
 left these charges, because he hoped to lessen his la- 
 bors ; no, his sole aim was, to turn his attention to 
 places still destitute, as soon as he saw one portion of 
 the church provided with the bread of life. In 1758 
 he took charge of a newly formed congregation in the 
 town of Cobleskill. He continued his extensive ac- 
 tivity until 1768, when, by a dispensation of Divine 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 73 
 
 Providence, he was deprived of his sight. He still 
 continued, however, to attend to the duties of his of- 
 fice with great faithfulness in the Schoharie congrega- 
 tion, not without blessing, for twenty more years. 
 During his ministration he received 443 persons by 
 confirmation into the church at Schoharie. 
 
 In the year 1748 the Lutheran inhabitants of the 
 town of Reading, in Pennsylvania, had formed them- 
 selves into a congregation, and applied to the ministe- 
 rium, assembled in Synod, for a Pastor. The Rev. 
 John Albert Wygandt, who some years before had been 
 engaged by a colony of Germans, from the Palatinate, 
 as their preacher in America, though only a candidate 
 of Theology, was sent to the congregation in Reading 
 by the ministerium, as preacher and instructor of the 
 young, with the hope that, meanwhile, salutary and 
 scriptual order would be introduced into that church, 
 so that an ordained minister might be sent to them. 
 
 Pastor Hartwig was the minister of the Lutheran 
 congregations in the county of Hunterdon, Ne\v Jer- 
 sey, but soon after the first Synod, accepted the call 
 as minister of the congregation in the city of New 
 York.* This congregation consisting of members from 
 
 *New York having been taken possession of in 1613, the Re- 
 monstrants, or followers of Arminius, being deprived of many of 
 their rights as citizens in Holland after the Synod of Dortrecht, 
 1618, sought for new homes in various parts of the world, and 
 some of them came to New York, then called New Amsterdam. 
 After the repeal of the edict of Nantes in France, Protestant 
 Frenchmen united with the refugees of Holland in the building 
 of a house of worship. When England had taken possession of 
 the colony, 1664, German Protestants from the Rhine settled in 
 7* 
 
74 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 three nations, Hollanders, Germans, and French, had 
 not been united heart and hand, because the members 
 of each nation were desirous that service should be 
 performed in the language of the respective countries, 
 from which they had proceeded, each party being too 
 weak to form a church, and it was almost impossible, 
 to obtain one minister, able to do justice to his office 
 in three different languages. To all this is to be ad- 
 ded, that since the beginning of the 18th century the 
 number of German members had increased so much 
 as to constitute by far the majority of the congrega- 
 tion, and consequently they were desirous of having the 
 service performed in the German language, while the 
 original constitution or charter of the church prescribed 
 that it should be performed in the Holland or Dutch 
 language. In consequence of these bickerings and dis- 
 agreements, Pastor Hartwig, soon discovering his ina- 
 bility to produce harmony and friendship among the 
 members of a church so distracted, requested Pastor 
 Muhlenberg to visit this congregation, with a view to 
 restore harmony. All the faithful members of the 
 church united their entreaties with those of Pastor 
 Hartwig, so that the Doctor resolved to pay them a 
 visit; previously, however, another Synod was held 
 in May, 1749, at Lancaster, during which Candidate 
 Schaum was ordained pastor of the church in York- 
 town. The ministers present at this Synod were, 
 Muhlenberg, Brunholz, Handschuh, N. Kurtz, and 
 
 New York, many of whom understood either the Dutch or the 
 French language, and therefore united more readily with their 
 Protestant brethren of these nations, than with the English. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 75 
 
 Schaura. It appears, from the Journals of that time, that 
 there were Lutheran congregations in the State of Vir- 
 ginia, in as much as it is stated that Rev. Mr. Klug, 
 from Virginia, paid a visit to Dr. Muhlenberg. During 
 the visit of the latter, in N York, he perceived that the 
 Rev. Mr. Hartwig was not calculated to restore peace 
 to the distracted congregation of New York, and pre- 
 vailed on him to accept a call from the congregations 
 in Duchess county, viz : Rhinebeck and the Camp. 
 About this time, the congregations on the North river 
 began to discover the importance of the grant of lands 
 made to them 50 years before ; but these lands had been 
 seized by the colonial governors, and by them had 
 been converted into objects of speculation. Remon- 
 strances were made, but empty promises of grants of 
 land in the western portions of the colony, in exchange 
 for the lands on the Hudson, were all they could ob- 
 tain. Pastor Muhlenberg succeeded during his visit 
 in New York to restore peace to that congregation, by 
 stipulating that in Grace church the services should be 
 conducted in the Dutch language, agreeable to the 
 charter, and the church agreed to aid the German 
 part in the erection of a new building in William, cor- 
 ner of Frankfort street, in which the word of God 
 should be preached in the German language. 
 
 Among the remarkable occurrences of 1749 we no- 
 tice the printing of the first American edition of Lu- 
 ther's catechism, published in Franklin's printing 
 office, Philadelphia. In the same year a new Luthe- 
 ran church was finished at New Germantown, State 
 of New Jersey, and solemnly dedicated to the service 
 
76 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 of God by the Brethren, Brunholz, Handschuh, Hart- 
 wig, Schaum and Kurtz. This building is still in use 
 as the place of worship of that congregation. In the 
 middle of the 18th century the number of German 
 Lutheran ministers ordained in the English North 
 American colonies, excepting Nova Scotia, amounted 
 to sixteen, of which eight were connected with the 
 Pennsylvania Synod ; of the others, four resided in the 
 colony of New York, one in Maryland, one in Virgi- 
 nia, and two in Georgia. Although distance of resi- 
 dence prevented half of their number from a personal 
 attendance at the yearly Synodical meetings, still a 
 brotherly connexion was maintained between these 
 brethren, by mutual correspondence and occasional 
 visits. 
 
 As an evidence of the harmony still existing between 
 the Swedish, Dutch and German Lutheran ministers 
 about that time, we mention, that at the meeting of 
 Synod in 1754 at New Hanover, ministers of the 
 three nations not only participated as members of that 
 body in its consultations, but they also agreed to keep 
 a day of humiliation, prayer and thanks, in their res- 
 pective churches, at the time apppointed by Synod. 
 Other proofs of this existing harmony occurred seve- 
 ral years later, of which notice shall be taken in the 
 proper order of time. Difficulties had arisen in the 
 congregation at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania, between 
 their minister, Pastor Handschuh, and some members 
 of the church ; attempts at a re-union and restoration 
 to order having failed of success, Pastor Handschuh 
 left that congregation, and accepted the pastoral care 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 77 
 
 of the church in Germantown, near Philadelphia. At 
 the Synod held in Philadelphia in 1751 were present, 
 Muhlenberg, Brunholz, Handschuh, Hartwig, Kurtz 
 Wygandt, and Shenk. Rev. Mr. Schaum was unable 
 to attend, on account of illness. These Synodical 
 meetings were attended with many blessings. They 
 served on the one hand to strengthen the bonds of love 
 and Christian fellowship between ministers and people, 
 and on the other the public services on these occasions 
 were blessed to the awakening and edifying of many 
 of the hearers. Towards the close of the year the 
 Brethren, Heinzelman, FT. Schulze, and Gerok, arri- 
 ved in Philadelphia, from Germany. The Brethren 
 Heinzelman and Schulze had been ordained by the 
 consistory of Wernigerode, in Lower Saxony, and 
 Pastor Gerok by that of Darmstadt, in Hessia. Pas- 
 tor Heinzelman became the assistant preacher to Pas- 
 tor Brunholz, in Philadelphia, Pastor Schulze accepted 
 a call from the churches at New Goshenhoppen and In- 
 dian field. Pastor Gerok was invited to take charge 
 of the church at Lancaster. 
 
 We observed above, that the number of regular Lu- 
 theran ministers in the North American colonies, No- 
 va Scotia excepted, amounted in the middle of the I8lh 
 century, to sixteen ; they administered to the spiritual 
 wants of about forty organized congregations, scattered 
 over the large continent from Maine to Georgia, of 
 whom twenty-three were in connexion with the Synod 
 of Pennsylvania, the others being at too great a dis- 
 tance to derive any benefit from that connexion. The 
 state of the church was by no means what it ought to 
 
78 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 have been. The ministers frequently complain of the 
 worldly spirit ruling among the flocks entrusted to their 
 charge, and justly ascribe this lamentable state of things 
 to the want of instruction, which had existed previous to 
 the organization of the churches, and to the scarcity of 
 ministers to supply the spiritual wants of the people. 
 Notwithstanding the faithfulness and persevering ef- 
 forts of the ministers in the discharge of their duties, 
 they were unable to attend to the scattered churches 
 as they desired, and as the situation of the people re- 
 quired. The natural inclination of mankind to worldly 
 objects, and consequent aversion perseveringly to at- 
 tend to the concerns of the immortal soul, also greatly 
 impeded the effects of the word of God. Pastor Brun- 
 holz says in a letter to a friend in Halle, written in 
 1752 : "I cannot say much in favor of the large body 
 of our people. The Lord has given me a gleaning 
 in some few, who have been awakened by the word, 
 to seek the paths of peace, and who are anxious to be 
 prepared for the rest of God. Among our young 
 people I have been able to labor with greater satis- 
 faction. The instructions given them, have been 
 peculiarly blessed. Many of our youths take their 
 Bibles to church, look for the quoted passages, and 
 give suitable answers to the questions proposed." 
 The first heralds of the gospel in our American church 
 manifest in all their actions a strong desire for the in- 
 troduction of church discipline. The church regula- 
 tions, introduced by Pastor Muhlenberg into the con- 
 gregations which he was instrumental in forming and 
 organizing, contain the foundation of an excellent dis- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 79 
 
 cipline ; all our Liturgies, both ancient and modern, 
 refer us to the existence of a church discipline in the 
 reception of all new members, to whom the privileges 
 of the church are granted, " so long as their conduct 
 shall correspond with their profession." These very ex- 
 pressions manifest, that we acknowledge the existence 
 of a body in the church, which has power to say, 
 whether the walk and conversation of the members 
 does correspond with their profession, and this power 
 is in the church regulations of Pastor Muhlenberg, 
 vested in the church councils and the congregations 
 in the first instance, and both practice as well as the 
 statutes of the Pennsylvania Synod shew, that the ex- 
 ercise of such discipline has been sanctioned by the 
 Synod, and that in cases of any unbecoming or immo- 
 ral conduct of minister s, the Synod and Ministerium 
 were applied to as judges. The objections to church 
 discipline frequently made in modern times, and sup- 
 ported by the assertion, that such discipline is not re- 
 cognized in the European Lutheran church, is inappli- 
 cable to America. For in countries, where church 
 and State are united, the powers of jurisdiction are 
 altogether in the hands of the civil law, and the con- 
 sistories and Synods are not permitted to interfere, 
 except in Holland, where the Lutheran church being 
 merely tolerated, and consequently without provision 
 by law, was, in regard to discipline, wholly subjected 
 to the rules of the Amsterdam consistory, which exer- 
 cised a spiritual control over ministers and lay mem- 
 bers, connected with the church in the Netherland 
 dominions. But according to the free institutions of 
 
80 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 our own country, the civil arm has no connexion or 
 authority over the church, which is left to manage its 
 own affairs. A church government, unconnected with 
 the civil authorities, is therefore absolutely required 
 among us, and' consequently also bodies, to exercise 
 the same ; and unless unlimited power were granted 
 to these bodies, a code of laws is as necessary in the 
 church, as it is in the State. 
 
 There are also other reasons why a church discipline 
 in the American Christian denominations should be ac- 
 ceptable and dear to their respective members. In Eu- 
 rope, the people are, by birth, members of some Chris- 
 tian denomination, as they are, by the same, citizens or 
 subjects of some realm ; but in America \ve become 
 members of a church by our own choice, and there- 
 fore ought with the same readiness take upon ourselves 
 the obligations of that society \vith which we volunta- 
 rily connect ourselves, which we exercise in acquies- 
 cing in the civil institutions of our country, which the 
 forefathers of the American people have framed for the 
 good of the whole and of each individual part, as well 
 as for the preservation of our liberties. But it is time 
 that we return from this digression, and take up the 
 thread of history. 
 
 Pastor Wygandt, who had for some time ministered 
 to the congregations in Hunter don and Morris coun- 
 ties in New Jersey, but had accepted a call. to serve 
 the congregation in New York city, and the churches 
 situated in Bergen and Rockland counties, was labor- 
 ing in this field with the blessing of God ; so that 
 when Dr. Muhlenberg re-visited these congregations, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 81 
 
 he found them enjoying spiritual peace and prosperity. 
 Pastor Schenk was his successor in Hunterdon county. 
 Not so pleasing were the circumstances in the town of 
 Reading, Berks county, Pennsylvania. A call had 
 been tendered to a Magister Wagener, which had been 
 accepted. Disharmony, however, soon arose between 
 him and the congregation, in consequence of which 
 the connexion was dissolved, and Candidate Schu- 
 macher was finally chosen pastor. This took place 
 in the year 1752. About the same time, Pastor Hou- 
 sil took charge of the congregation of Fredericktown, 
 in Maryland. This brother came from Nova Scotia, 
 whither he had been sent by the Lutheran consistory 
 ofRotterdanij in Holland. The accounts published at 
 Halle, in Germany, concerning the Lutheran churches 
 in America, make frequent mention of German settle- 
 ments in that British province, and also, that Pastor 
 Muhlenberg received a call from that quarter, which 
 he, however, did not accept. Later dates not only 
 confirm the existence of Lutheran congregations in 
 that country, but add, that they are numerous, and 
 that a Bishop, ordained in Sweden, superintends the 
 churches, the greater part of which are situated West 
 of Halifax, in the county of Lunenburg. It is deser- 
 ving of notice, that the congregation of Frederick stip- 
 ulated in the call presented to Mr. Housil, that he was- 
 to form a connexion with the Synod of Pennsylvania ; 
 a circumstance which evidently proves that this con- 
 gregation considered a Sy nodical bond of union essen- 
 tial to the welfare of the Lutheran church. We have, 
 on several occasions, in this volume, given examples 
 8 
 
82 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 from which the harmony and union between the Swe- 
 dish and German Lutheran pastors and churches ap- 
 pear in the clearest light. This bond of union not 
 only continued, but seems to have been strengthened 
 toward the close of the sixth and during the seventh 
 decennium of the 18th century. At the funeral of Pas- 
 tor Heinzelman, in Philadelphia, Provost Acrelius, of 
 the Swedish church, preached the funeral sermon in 
 English, baptized his son, who was born 24 hours af- 
 ter the death of his father, and stood God-father on 
 that occasion; and when, after the departure of Pastor 
 Brunholz in 1757, Pastor Handschuh was for some time 
 the only German Lutheran minister in Philadelphia, 
 Provost Wrangel, of the Swedish church, assisted 
 Pastor Handschuh for some time, by preaching Ger- 
 man in St. Michael's church every Sunday evening. 
 During the year 1760, a Synod of the united American 
 Lutheran church of the Swedish and German nations, 
 was held at Philadelphia. Provost Wrangel, read the 
 instructions, which he had received from the Swedish 
 Archbishop of Upsal, in regard to the brethren of the 
 German church. The most important articles thereof 
 are, that he, together with the Swedish ministerium in 
 America, should endeavor to live in brotherly harmony 
 and friendship with the German American ministerium, 
 that they should attend its yearly Synodical meetings, 
 and invite the German ministers to participate in the 
 deliberations of their conventions, and that the Swe- 
 dish ministerium should assist the German Brethren 
 in promoting the welfare of the united American Lu- 
 theran church of both nations. Pastor Wrangel acted 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 83 
 
 in conformity to these instructions, not only during 
 the sessions of that Synod, but during his stay in Amer- 
 ica. He was present at all the meetings of the Ger- 
 man Synod, with those of his brethren, who understood 
 and spoke the German language ; they assisted in the 
 examinations of the candidates and in their ordinations, 
 and in one case, Provost Wrangel ordained a German 
 Lutheran minister. We mention this circumstance to 
 show, that, though the Swedish Lutheran church is 
 Episcopal in its Government, it nevertheless recognises 
 the ordination of the German branch of the same church, 
 and its consistorial mode of setting apart and of induc- 
 ting Pastors into the ministry. During the sessions of 
 this Synod, the English translation of Luther's smaller 
 catechism, by Dr. Wrangel, published that year for the 
 use of the Swedish Lutheran churches, was approved 
 of by the ministerium of the German nation, and rec- 
 ommended for introduction in those churches, in which 
 the English language began to prevail. The ministerium 
 of the united church likewise decided, during this mee- 
 ting, several important pastoral questions, of which the\ 
 following are peculiarly deserving the attention of min- 
 isterial brethren of the present day. The first was : 
 " Is it expedient, to continue the yearly meetings of pas- 
 tors and lay delegates ?" The decision by vote, was 
 as follows : " It is highly expedient and useful that la- 
 borers of one master, and in one vineyard, should be 
 intimately acquainted with each other, that the bond 
 of Christian love may be cemented, that ministers may 
 consult together on the extension of the kingdom of 
 God, and each one, according to the measure of grace 
 
84 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 received, may labor for the common good that they 
 may encourage, exhort and comfort each other, de- 
 cide questions of conscience, in love, with mildness, 
 simplicity and Christian humility : that they may dis- 
 cover and amend mutual failings ; settle differences and 
 causes of suspicion, in as much as a family or king- 
 dom at variance with itself cannot stand ; and as a 
 spiritual union and harmony among ministers is calcu- 
 lated to make a deep impression on the minds of 
 friends and foes, a Synodical meeting is calculated to 
 keep out of the church disorderly men, pretending to 
 claim the ministerial office, and by its means our young 
 ministers may also enjoy opportunities to learn from 
 the experience of the elder." 
 
 The second question was : " Where shall this yearly 
 Synodical meeting be held 1 ? " Reply : " Change is ne- 
 cessary and useful ; our congregations have an equal 
 right, none is subject to the other, next year the Sy- 
 nod shall be held at Lancaster." 
 
 The third question: " Which is the best method of 
 instructing children in the doctrines of religion*?" 
 Answer: "The same catechism is to be introduced 
 into all our churches ; the congregational schools are 
 to be frequently visited by the pastors ; in the families, 
 meetings for private edification are to be attended to, 
 as also catechisation of the young people in the presence 
 of their parents, the religious truths are to be presented 
 to the household in a simple, plain and impressive 
 manner, and the young are to be directed to the proper 
 Scripture proofs. Excessive memorising is to be dis- 
 countenanced, and whatever children do memorise, is 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 85 
 
 to be explained, so that the Christian doctrines may 
 not only be instilled into the memory, but also be com- 
 prehended by the understanding and tJie heart. During 
 Pastoral visits the minister ought also to exhort the 
 members, not to introduce any injurious books into 
 the family. Both ministers and school teachers should 
 earnestly strive, that the word of God may continue 
 to be held in the highest estimation by the people con- 
 nected with our church." 
 
 The fourth question: " Which is the most advantor- 
 geous method of preaching the gospel?" Answer : "A 
 chapter of the Bible ought always to be read, the sermon 
 ought never to last longer than three quarters of an 
 hour, and it ought afterwards to be reviewed by ques- 
 tions and answers. Depth of learning ought not to 
 be brought into the pulpit ; the preacher ought to con- 
 descend to the comprehension of the most illiterate ; 
 subjects ought not to crowd each other, but should be 
 fully proved, and practically applied to the heart. Per- 
 sonalities should never be brought into the pulpit, but 
 be settled during pastoral visits ; the ministers ought 
 to sow in tears, keep in view the edification of every 
 individual member of their flock, and to take heed to 
 themselves and the doctrine." 
 
 The fifth question: " What have ministers to observe 
 in regard to the doctrine of the Lord's Supper?" An- 
 swer: "The doctrine of the Lord's Supper is by no 
 means to be neglected, but is to be explained agreea- 
 bly to the word of God. This doctrine is frequently 
 handled in a cold and indifferent manner, sometimes 
 also too high and incomprehensibly, and by others 
 8* 
 
86 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 with too much neglect. If this doctrine is properly 
 understood, and applied as the best friend of man de- 
 sired it should be, it becomes a consoling means of 
 grace, an assistance in our conversion, a practical ap- 
 plication of the doctrine of the atonement, an essen- 
 tial part of the new covenant, a treasure exceeding 
 all other treasures." 
 
 Messrs. William Kurtz and Paul Brizelius were ex- 
 amined before the Synod, and received candidate li- 
 cense to preach and to administer the Sacraments. 
 Pastor Muhlenberg was during the recesses of the 
 Synodical meetings, unremittingly engaged in build- 
 ing up the Redeemer's kingdom within the precincts 
 of the American Lutheran church. In Hackensack, 
 Bergen county, he introduced Pastor William Graf, 
 as minister, organized the congregation of German 
 Valley, in Morris county, of the same State, and in- 
 ducted Mr. Brizelius into the ministerial office of this 
 and the New Germantown congregation in Hunter- 
 don county. The congregation in Fredericktown, 
 Maryland, was also visited by him about that time. 
 It appears from the records, that both in Virginia 
 and Maryland, a law had been passed, which oblig- 
 ed all the inhabitants of these colonies, to what church 
 soever they might adhere, to pay a ministerial tax, 
 from which the English Episcopal clergy were to 
 receive their support. The German congregations 
 in those regions applied to Pastor Muhlenberg to in- 
 tercede for them, that a portion of this tax might 
 be applied to the relief of the German Lutheran cler- 
 gy, whose congregations could not be benefitted by the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 87 
 
 services of the Episcopal ministers, on account of the 
 difference in the language. Dr. Muhlenberg did make 
 application to the colonial government during his visit 
 for that purpose, and obtained the promise that <600 
 currency should be paid by the proper officer to the 
 Lutheran clergyman as German county minister, and 
 the Doctor was invited to accept this situation. The 
 congregation in Frederick united their wishes with 
 those of the government, but Pastor Muhlenberg did 
 not see fit to accede to the wishes of either. In 1760, 
 the church in Yorktown was set apart for the service 
 of God, by Messrs. Wrangel and Borell, of the Swe- 
 dish Lutheran church, and Messrs. Gerok and John 
 N. Kurtz, of the German ministerium. At the Synod 
 of 1762, held at Philadelphia, ten German and three 
 Swedish Lutheran ministers attended with their lay 
 delegates ; Provost Wrangel opened the Synod by an 
 address in the German language, and Pastor Muhlen- 
 berg was elected President of the German and Swedish 
 Lutheran ministerium. The congregation at Winches- 
 ter, in Virginia, applied during this session for connex- 
 ion with the Pennsylvania Synod, and was admitted. 
 The church regulations, which about this time were 
 introduced into the congregations of New Providence, 
 Philadelphia, New Germantown, in Jersey, and in 
 other places some of which are extant to this day 
 those of the Philadelphia congregation were printed in 
 the German language, in the accounts from Halle, to 
 which repeated allusion has been made in this volume, 
 and which we would cheerfully translate, did we not 
 fear to enlarge this work too much, we say, these reg- 
 
88 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 illations afford us another proof of the deep felt anxi- 
 ety of the fathers of the American Lutheran church, 
 to bring order into the affairs of the different con- 
 gregations, by the introduction of mild, but thorough- 
 going rules for their government. The printed regu- 
 lations of the Philadelphia German Lutheran church 
 will readily convince every reader of them, acquainted 
 with the German language, of the sincerity and truly 
 Christian disposition of those servants of Christ, who 
 endeavored to introduce them into the churches, and 
 no less of their deep knowledge of man, which preven- 
 ted them from asking of tlieir fellow-worshippers, more 
 than wisely could be demanded, under existing circum- 
 stances ; and yet so constructed, that a truly Christian 
 mind will, by a careful reading of these church rules, 
 discover but very few omissions of any importance in 
 regard to church government. But our fathers in the 
 ministerial office not only manifested a noble anxiety 
 to promote good order within the pale of the church, 
 and to live in brotherly harmony with the Swedish Lu- 
 theran ministerium in America, but they also loved 
 and esteemed the servants of Christ in other Christian 
 denominations. Both Swedish and German ministers 
 manifested by brotherly visits to the clergy of other 
 confessions, that they were liberally disposed, and 
 were desirous of maintaining a Christian friendship for 
 and with all, who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity and 
 truth. This course of conduct failed not to produce 
 a reciprocal good will among the servants of our Lord 
 in other churches. Brotherly kindness was, on all 
 sides, extended to our preachers ; they received the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 most friendly invitations to attend the conventions, 
 conferences, associations and Synods of Sister chur- 
 ches, which civilities they, in their turn, cheerfully re- 
 ciprocated. Pastor Muhlenberg, for instance, atten- 
 ded, by special invitation, a convention of the English 
 Episcopal church, and was' received with distinguished 
 kindness. On another occasion the celebrated Pres- 
 byterian minister , Tennant, paid Dr. M. a visit, con- 
 cerning which the latter expressed himself, in a letter 
 to a friend, as follows: "The visit of Rev. Mr. Tennant 
 I considered as a season of spiritual refreshment. An- 
 other time the Brethren, Muhlenberg, J. N. Kurtz, 
 Wrangel and Brizelius, attended the solemnities of the 
 commencement of Princeton college, by special invi- 
 tation. In 1763, three ministers of the Episcopal 
 church, Messrs. Durkee, Richard Peters, and Ingliss, 
 three Presbyterian clergymen, Dr. Tennant, Dr. Fin- 
 lay, President of Princeton college, and the Presbyte- 
 rian minister at Newark, in Jersey, and Rev. M. Whit- 
 fiel'd, delighted our German and Swedish brethren with 
 their presence and attention during the Synodical ses- 
 sions. Mr. Whitfield preached on that occasion, at 
 the express request of the Lutheran ministerium, and 
 also attended the examination of the children of the 
 Philadelphia congregation in the truths of the Christian 
 religion, at the close of which he endeavored, in his 
 own happy manner, to impress the mutual duties of 
 parents and children, on the hearts of all present. 
 Rev. Mr. Eager arrived in 1762, from Germany, and 
 was recommended by Drs. Wrangel, Muhlenberg, and 
 Gerok, to the congregation in the city of New York. 
 
90 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 In October, 1764, the Lord called his servant. Pastor 
 Handschuh, after a labor of 16^ years in the German 
 Philadelphia congregation, into his eternal rest. In 
 consequence of his departure and the translocation of 
 other ministers, partly to newly formed congregations, 
 Philadelphia and several other old established churches 
 became almost destitute. Assistance could only be 
 looked for from Germany, and Dr. Muhlenberg lost 
 no time in representing to the Theological faculty of 
 Halle, the pressing wants of the American Lutheran 
 church. In May, 1765, the Rev. Messrs. Voigt and 
 Krug, and in Oct., Rev. Christopher Immanuel Schulze 
 arrived in Philadelphia, from Germany. Pastor Voigt 
 received a call to Germantown, near Philadelphia, 
 Pastor Krug to Reading, and Pastor Schulze was ap- 
 pointed second minister in the Philadelphia congrega- 
 tion. The numerical strength of that church may be 
 gathered from the circumstance, that after the adoption 
 of the aforementioned church regulations, more than 
 700 heads of families signed the same. Forty congre- 
 gations, situated in Pennsylvania, Jersey, New York, 
 Maryland and Virginia, were at that time in connec- 
 tion with Synod. 
 
 The external increase of the Philadelphia congrega- 
 tion made it necessary to think .of the building of an- 
 other edifice, as in St. Michael's church the half of the 
 members found no longer accommodations. The cor- 
 ner stone ofZion's church was therefore laid with great 
 solemnity, in 1766. Among the documents deposited 
 in the same is one, which gives an account of the ori- 
 gin and progress of the Evangelical* Lutheran church 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 91 
 
 in Philadelphia. The closing paragraphs of this doc- 
 ument richly deserve a place in the history of our 
 church, in as much as they are chiefly addressed to 
 posterity. "And now, dear children and children's 
 children, we commend you to God and the word of his 
 grace, who is mighty to build you up, and to give you 
 an inheritance among all, who are sanctified. We con- 
 fidently trust, that we are not guilty of your blood, if 
 you neglect your salvation in the wilderness of this 
 world. Small has been our beginning, and even now 
 our prospect is by no means flattering, in view of the 
 great undertaking before us. But the whole congrega- 
 tion has cheerfully offered its gifts with the utmost libe- 
 rality. Observe therefore, diligently and carefully, your 
 church regulations, that, in virtue of them, you may al- 
 ways be provided with pastors and teachers, who take 
 heed to themselves and the flock, over which the Holy 
 Ghost shall have set them as overseers, that they may 
 feed the church of God, which he has purchased with 
 his own blood ; and act towards these your teachers so,, 
 that they may discharge their duties with joy and not 
 with grief, for that is unprofitable to you. Take heed al- 
 so through the grace of God and his means of grace, 
 that you may become and abide fruitful branches in 
 Christ, the true vine, children of light, members of his 
 spiritual body and living stones of the heavenly Zion. 
 Suffer no disharmony or party spirit to arise among you, 
 but quench its first appearance with Christian love and 
 mildness. Act kindly and neighborly towards the mem- 
 bers of our sister churches, and do to them, as you wish 
 that they should do to you. Hold fast what you have, 
 
\yZ AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 that no one may take your crown. Let that mind be in 
 you, which was in Christ Jesus, and walk, as he did 
 walk. And if in following after him, you are tempted 
 by trials and sufferings, think it not strange, but rejoice, 
 when you suffer with Christ, so that in the revelation of 
 his glory you may have everlasting joy. Now the God 
 of peace, that brought again from the dead, our Lord 
 Jesus, that great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the 
 blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in 
 every good work, to do his will, working in you, that, 
 which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to 
 whom be glory for ever and ever. " 
 
 About this time Dr. Wrangel was afflicted by a 
 dangerous illness, so that his friends for some time 
 despaired of his recovery. The Lord, however, bles- 
 sed the means employed for the restoration of his 
 health. During his illness, his greatest grief was, of 
 not having done enough for his Lord and Master. 
 The same complaint is frequently expressed in the let- 
 ters of the other fathers of our church. Though en- 
 gaged in the work of the Lord in the midst of difficul- 
 ties and trials, of which we can scarcely have a concep- 
 tion in our day, in poverty and want, in heat and in 
 cold, still they often lamented their weakness, neglect, 
 and unfruitfulness. It may be truly said of them, that 
 they did not seek themselves, or their own advantage, 
 but the salvation of the souls entrusted to their care. 
 Though unremitting in the instruction of the young, 
 and in exhortations to their flocks, though walking be- 
 fore their congregation in love and Christian humility, 
 and with Apostolic zeal and resignation in the ways 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 93 
 
 of the Lord, yet they feared to have been faithless ser- 
 vants to their Redeemer, in the discharge of their pas- 
 toral duties, who, from love to man, lived, taught, 
 suffered and died. May their example excite us to 
 renewed zeal, when our hands grow weary and our 
 hearts faint in the service of our Lord. 
 
 In the narrative of events which signalized the year 
 1767, our brethren in the faith in Nova Scotia, are 
 once more brought to our remembrance. For in that 
 year they gave a call to Pastor Brizelius, who had for 
 some time ministered to the congregation in New 
 Germantown, New Jersey ; the elder son of Dr. Muh- 
 lenberg, who had now finished his Theological studies 
 at Halle, and was returned to America, took charge 
 of the congregations in Hunterdon. In 1769, June 
 20th, the new church in Philadelphia, was set apart for 
 the service of God. Pastor Helmuth, who had lately 
 arrived from Germany with Pastor Schmidt, preached 
 his first sermon on this solemn occasion. He afterwards 
 accepted a call from the congregation in Lancaster. In 
 1770, Pastor Kuntze came from Halle to America, 
 and accepted the situation as second pastor of the 
 church in Philadelphia, after Rev. Immanuel Schulze 
 had accepted an invitation to serve some congregations 
 in the interior of Pennsylvania. The two younger sons 
 of Dr. Muhlenberg, who, after having finished their 
 studies in Halle, had returned to America, soon found 
 employment as ministers, in several congregations con- 
 nected with Synod.* 
 
 * About the year 1755, Pastor Eager, having charge of the 
 church in Yorktown, was requested by the few Lutherans in the 
 9 
 
94 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 The situation of our brethren in the far South, may 
 be gathered from a letter of Pastor Bolzius, written 
 about 1759, in which he says : " In our corner of the 
 earth, we have hitherto richly enjoyed the protection and 
 blessing of our heavenly Father, both in temporal and 
 spiritual things. Though we have not been free from 
 trials and difficulties , still they have been light, and as 
 we trust, have been subservient to our welfare and fur- 
 therance in religion, through the kind direction of a wise 
 Providence. We acknowledge, to the praise of God, 
 that piety and contentment still reign among us, as even 
 strangers are willing to acknowledge: With my dear 
 Brethren in office Messrs. Lembke and Rabenhorst, 1 
 stand in the most friendly collegiate connexion; every 
 week we meet in conference, and for prayer, by which 
 meetings our mutual love is cemented, through the bless- 
 ing of God. The same blessing also prevents our labor 
 among the people from being unfruitful. Jlmong our 
 congregation, are many men and women, who are truly 
 converted to God, and who walk in the truth, and are an 
 ornament to our office, and humble assistants in the dis- 
 charge of our duties. Though on account of the war 
 and tlie repeated failure of crops, every article of living 
 is high, yet our heavenly Father gives us our daily 
 
 city of Baltimore, to visit them occasionally ; his successor was 
 the Rev. Caspar Kirchner ; in 1762, the first Lutheran church 
 was built in the city, and church regulations were introduced. 
 Mr. Kirchner departed in the faith of his Lord, 1773. Pastor 
 Gerok was called as his successor ; the hew church orders, which 
 he introduced, were signed by 147 members, and a new church 
 edifice was built, for the accommodation of the increasing con- 
 gregation. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 95 
 
 bread, in ihe enjoyment of health and peace among our- 
 selves. I/many, who in the first seasons of trial have 
 left us, haaendured a little while longer , they would have 
 experiences the truth of the proverb: <- JJfter winter , 
 Spring do corned " Among the trials and difficulties 
 alluded to n this extract from Pastor Bolzius' letter, 
 he and his congregation reckon the dangers, which 
 threatened he young colony of Georgia during the 
 Spanish wa :, as some of the severest. But the Lord 
 protected tie people, so that they saw no enemy at 
 Ebenezer, >ut were rather frequently instruments in 
 the hand c God, to afford a place of refuge to exiles 
 from Sav?mah, Frederica, and other parts of the coast. 
 The Journal of Pastor Bolzius, containing the account 
 of the e^ery day occurrences in the settlements occa- 
 sionally exhibits to the reader, traits of the character, 
 life, w?k and conversation, and also edifying examples 
 of theiappy departure of several members, as a satis- 
 factor evidence, that the peace of God and the bles- 
 singjof Christianity in general, were still reigning in 
 that-ongregation. 
 
 J 1752, the Rev. Christian Rabenhorst had arrived 
 at ^benezer, with a colony of emigrants from Wurtem- 
 bi'g, who had applied to Senior Urlsperger, at Augs- 
 tirg, to procure them a pious clergyman, as their pas- 
 )r during the voyage. After his arrival we perceive, 
 .n the letters of Pastor Bolzius, that the appointment 
 of a third minister at Ebenezer, appeared to him un- 
 called for ; but he discovered, as he states in his later 
 letters to friends in Germany, that this appointment 
 came from the Lord. For in a letter to Senior Urls-* 
 
96 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 perger, dated Feb. 9, 1753, he expresses^ lira self as 
 follows: "I have to acknowledge, with sfiame and 
 humiliation, that, when I first was informedof the ap- 
 pointment of a third minister for Ebenezeij, and even 
 afterwards, when I saw him, I believed su<h appoint- 
 ment for our small congregation, to be supeiluous ; but 
 since we have become better acquainted wth him, and 
 through the rich grace of the holy Spirit felt, that he 
 was one heart and one soul with us in reltion, office, 
 and brotherly conduct, and when after m^last return 
 from Charleston I discovered the decrease \{ my bod- 
 ily strength, I was humbly rejoiced at the ^odness of 
 God, who has, in addition to many othe^ precious 
 gifts, sent us, ( without our wish and desire ) \iis faith- 
 ful and prudent brother, Timotheus. What gratifica- 
 tion does it afford me and my dear brotheiin-law, 
 Lembke, to receive the assistance and to be suported 
 by this cheerful, willing, and laborious man, whom 
 we have to restrain, lest his unremitting activit may 
 prove injurious to him, before he is acclimatized. We 
 all have f work enough to do, and do all with please. 
 Mr. Rabenhorst enjoys the good will of the people, n a 
 high degree." Happy congregation ! blessed with BS- 
 tors, who lived and labored only to win souls for Chrit! 
 Happy, ye servants of God ! Ye shall enter into th 
 joy of your Lord! For twelve years this trio, this clove, 
 leaf, labored together, in building up the kingdom of 
 God. But these twelve years were, for the most part, 
 years of great distress in external circumstances. How- 
 ever, they w r ere rich in God, and his Providence was 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 97 
 
 the staff on which they leaned, and on which they lea- 
 ned not in vain. 
 
 In 1765, Nov. 19, it pleased God to' remove one 
 of these servants of the Lord, into his eternal rest. 
 Mr. Bolzius had for the last three years, frequently 
 complained in his letters, of being affected by fevers 
 and increasing infirmities, and especially by an alar- 
 ming dry cough, which no medicine could remove. 
 Lately he felt considerable pains in his side and bow- 
 els, and his feet began to swell. His dear Brethren, 
 Lembke and Rabenhorst, say in their accounts, that 
 he bore the greatest pain with the patience of a lamb, 
 resigned to the will of his reconciled God. In the 
 month of August he began to feel somewhat better 
 than he had felt for some time, so that he resumed his 
 official duties. For seven successive Sundays he prea- 
 ched in Jerusalem church, notwithstanding the offers 
 and entreaties of his Brethren, to spare himself. He 
 generally replied: "I have soon to appear with my 
 hearers, before the judgment seat of Christ, and I do 
 not wish that one of them should there accuse me of 
 having been the cause of his condemnation. " On the 
 15th Sunday after Trinity, he preached, for the last 
 time. His subject was : " The happiness of the true 
 disciple of Jesus" He placed before his hearers : 
 1. The distinction between the true and false Chris- 
 tian. 2. The difference between an imaginary and 
 true faith. 
 
 From that time, the swelling in his fet increased so 
 much that he could no more go out. During a visit 
 of his colleague, Pastor Lembke, he expressed the hap- 
 9* 
 
98 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 py state of his mind, in the following terms : " I can- 
 not describe how happy I am in my solitude, whilst 
 I enjoy the presence and communion with my Savior ! 
 happy, oh, indescribably happy." In general, he did 
 not speak much, having brought his temporal concerns 
 in order some time before his illness, so that no cares 
 disturbed his mind. Meanwhile, his fever increased, 
 as well as the pain in his body and the swelling of his 
 legs. From the 7th to the 19th of Nov., a little gruel 
 was all the refreshment he could take. On the 14th, 
 he desired to enjoy once more, on earth, communion 
 with his Savior, in the participation of the Lord's Sup- 
 per. Previous to the administration of this ordinance, 
 he observed to Mr. Lembke : " I acknowledge our pro- 
 testant religion as a precious treasure, in life and death! 
 In myself I discover naught but sin, but I know, that 
 God has granted me forgiveness, for Christ's sake." 
 During the solemnity itself, the peace of his soul was 
 clearly depicted in his countenance. On the 18th, 
 early in the morning, Mr. Lembke was called to him, 
 the family believing that the hour of his departure was 
 at hand. Mr. Lembke addressed him in the words of 
 the Savior : " Father, I will, that they, whom thou 
 hast given me, be with me, where I am, that they may see 
 my glory, which thou hast given me." Mr. Bolzius 
 repeated the words: "that they may see my glory" 
 and added : "Ah! how delightful is it in yonder hea- 
 ven ! how delightful to be with Christ ! Ifseemed as 
 if his bodily sufferings were very great, for he repeated, 
 several times : " This is a day of trial ! " In the even- 
 ing, his friends, supposing that his last moments were 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. $9 
 
 approaching, arranged his pillow, that he might rest 
 the better, but he almost immediately recovered, and 
 said : " Not yet, I have still to bear my sufferings for 
 one night longer." The next morning, at 6 o'clock, 
 the Lord delivered his servant from all his troubles, 
 and called him to his eternal rest, in the 62d year of 
 his useful life. Only two of his four children survived 
 him, a son and a daughter. The son was, at the time 
 of his father's departure, at Halle, in Germany, to fin- 
 ish his studies there. We remarked before, that a fort- 
 night previous to his death, he took leave of his Eu- 
 ropean friends in England and Germany, in two letters 
 to Senior Urlsperger, in Augsburg, and to Dr. Zie- 
 genhagen, in London. A few extracts from these let- 
 ters, as testimonials of the full preparation of his mind 
 for the great change, cannot but be welcome to the 
 reader. In that to Senior Urlsperger, he says : " I am 
 hastening towards my home. He who sees his wed- 
 ding day, is not concerned about trifles. It has plea- 
 sed my dear Redeemer, to visit me for several months, 
 with disease and infirmities, which most probably will 
 terminate in death. I am in his hand, for he does all 
 things well, as my own experience has taught me, du- 
 ring my whole pilgrimage, but more especially during 
 the 32 years of my pastoral office among my dear 
 Salzburgers. Dearest heavenly Father! accept my 
 humble thanks for all thy love and faithfulness ! Ex- 
 pecting that my dear Redeemer will soon deliver me 
 from every evil, and help me out into his heavenly 
 kingdom, I deem it my duty, though with a feeble 
 hand, to write a few lines to you, to express my grat- 
 
100 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 itude to you dear Father, for all the spiritual and 
 temporal acts of kindness, manifested towards me, the 
 most unworthy of men, towards my family, my breth- ., 
 ren in office, and to the whole congregation, for better 
 than 32 years, and through you I wish to express my 
 thanks, once more, to all the Christian benefactors of 
 Ebenezer, who live in my beloved father-land." 
 
 In his letter to Dr. Ziegenhagen, he expresses him- 
 self as follows : " This will probably be my last letter, 
 which I will write to you, with feeble hands and weak 
 eyes. I am so reduced by illness, that I can scarcely 
 walk a few steps, and am unable to discharge any of 
 the duties of my office. All that I can do, is, to pre- 
 pare myself for a happy exit out of this world, by the 
 word of God and prayer, through the assistance of the 
 holy Spirit. And God be praised, I can and may ^ay : 
 " If we live, we live unto the Lord, if we die, wfe die 
 unto the Lord, whether we live, therefore, or die, ufe are 
 the Lord's." How great is the happiness, to possess 
 this knowledge. Praised and blessed be God, for the 
 unspeakable gift of his only begotten Son, to us sin- 
 ners, to me, also, the chief of them, with whom he 
 has given us all we now have and enjoy in life and in 
 death, as well as what we shall for ever and ever en- 
 joy in the house of our Father, in the sweetest and 
 most blessed communion with the triune God. It is 
 a faithful saying, I shall be happy for ever ; my eyes 
 shall behold the source of all joy, I know, in whom I 
 believe, and I am sure, there is laid up for me a crown 
 of righteousness." 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 101 
 
 He was buried, Nov. 20th, in the grave-yard near 
 Jerusalem church. * 
 
 Towards the close of the 7th decennium of the 18th 
 century. Rev. Mr. Triebner arrived from Germany, 
 and was received as the third preacher to the congre- 
 gation at Ebenezer. Soon after his arrival the new 
 brick church was built on the spot, where the old 
 wooden Jerusalem church had stood, and received the 
 same name. 
 
 Father Lembke was called to his rest previous to the 
 commencement of the American revolution. So had, 
 also, Dr. Muhlenberg, in the northern part of the Uni- 
 ted States, departed to his Lord, about the same time. 
 
 We are sorry to say, that notwithstanding many ex- 
 ertions made, to obtain particulars of the happy de- 
 parture of these servants of the Lord, all have proved 
 unsuccessful. There is no doubt, bat the account of 
 their last hours would have proved as edifying and in- 
 teresting as the closing scenes of the lives of Pastor 
 Gronau and Bolzius. Should further inquiries be more 
 successful than those were, which have hitherto been 
 made, to obtain the desired information, it shall be 
 given in an appendix to this volume. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Zuebli, who had for some time been pas- 
 tor of the congregation at Orangeburg, in South Caro- 
 lina, after he had left Frederica, on St. Simon's island, 
 during the troubles of the Spanish and French war, re- 
 
 * Attending the meeting of the South Carolina Synod, in the 
 month of Nov., 1841, the author of this volume visited that grave- 
 yard ; but no stone marks the spot where the earthly remains of 
 this servant of Jesus rests. 
 
102 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ceived, about this time, a call as pastor of a congre- 
 in Savannah,* consisting both of English and German 
 members. He also appears to have visited German 
 settlements on Briars creek, in Georgia, between Eb- 
 enezer and Augusta ; however, no accounts are in ex- 
 istence of the result of his labors. 
 
 The German settlers in the district of Saxe-Gotha, 
 on the Congaree and in the forks of Saluda and Broad 
 rivers, in South Carolina, were about this time enjoy- 
 ing the services of a Pastor ; but his name does not 
 appear in the records of those times, probably it was 
 the Rev. Mr. Cilley, who had arrived in South Caro- 
 lina with a colony of German emigrants from Maine, 
 in the year 1773. But of his labors and success, no 
 accounts can be found. The present congregation of 
 St. Matthews, in Orangeburg District, appears to have 
 been for some time, under the care of the Rev. Mr. 
 Zuebli, who, as stated before, had moved thence to 
 Savannah. Complaints are not unfrequently made in 
 the records of those days, of a spirit of indifference, 
 and of a worldly disposition becoming more and more 
 visible among the Germans of South Carolina and 
 Georgia, and that many, both Lutherans and Refor- 
 med, were leaving the Pastors, who had been diligent 
 in the instruction of young and old, and were follow- 
 ing men, who pretended to preach to them without 
 any remuneration. This worldly disposition and in- 
 differentism, was greatly increased by the political 
 
 * This information is contained in the Halle accounts of the 
 settlements of the Salzburg emigrants, atEbenezer, in a letter of 
 Pastor Rabenhorst, to a friend in Germany. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 103 
 
 troubles which commenced soon after the close of the 
 French war, in the year 1763. But not only did a 
 worldly spirit destroy much good among our brethren 
 in the Southern regions of the North American colo- 
 nies, the spirit of fanaticism entered also into the 
 church. It was about this time, that a number of our 
 people, living on the banks of Saluda river, in South 
 Carolina, being destitute of ministerial instruction, 
 agreed to assemble, from time to time, for singing, 
 prayer, the reading of the Scriptures, and mutual edi- 
 fication. This was, as it should be ; but the enemy 
 soon sowed tares among the wheat, by introducing 
 spiritual pride among the small flock. One man, by 
 the name of Weaver, personated Christ, another the 
 holy Spirit ; a certain woman, the wife of Weaver, the 
 virgin Mary, and one poor fellow was doomed to rep- 
 resent Satan. The curiosity of the people became 
 highly excited by the strange proceedings on Saluda 
 river, in the neighborhood of what is now called 
 Youngmer's ferry. Excess followed excess, until at 
 length, Weaver, representing either Christ or God, 
 ordered, in virtue of his dignity, that Satan should be 
 chained in a subterranean hole ; and finally, that he 
 should be destroyed. For this purpose they met, pla- 
 ced the unfortunate man in a bed, covered him with 
 pillows, on which some seated themselves, while oth- 
 ers stamped with their feet on the bed, until the life of 
 the man had become extinct. The corpse was then 
 taken out of the bed, and thrown into a burning pile of 
 wood, to be consumed to ashes. The perpetrators of 
 this crime were taken to Charleston and tried. Wea- 
 
104 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ver was found guilty, and suffered the penalty of the 
 law on the gallows. His wife was pardoned. 
 
 We cannot close this chapter, without mentioning 
 two remarkable circumstances, recorded in a letter 
 from Ebenezer. The first is, that Mr. Whitfield con- 
 tinued to take a deep interest in the welfare of the 
 church at Ebenezer, which he manifested in the pro- 
 curing of a pious English teacher for that congregation, 
 and in the promise of gratuitously receiving two young 
 men of talents and piety, into his orphan-house, 
 near Savannah, to prosecute their studies, that they 
 might become useful to the people as teachers. The 
 other is, that the Presbyterian minister, who accompa- 
 nied Mr. Whitfield, informed the ministers at Ebene- 
 zer, that Luther's preface and explanation of the Epis- 
 tle of Paul to the Romans, had been the means in the 
 hand of God, to produce a great awakening in the col- 
 ony of Virginia, among the English inhabitants, so 
 that they were holding meetings on the Lord's days, 
 seeking edification and growth in religion, through the 
 writings of Luther, and were desirous of connecting 
 themselves with the Lutheran church. By this occur- 
 rence it seemed, that the declaration of the Apostle 
 Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, in respect to Aa- 
 ron, had another fulfilment, and was applicable in re- 
 gard to Luther : " He being dead, yet speaketh" 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The history of the American Lutheran church, from 
 the Declaration of the Independence of the U. $., to 
 the close of the 18th century. From 1776 to 1801. 
 
 During the revolutionary struggle our brethren in 
 Maine endured their share of sufferings, as well as 
 many other congregations in every other portion of 
 the union. The number of families connected with the 
 Waldoborough church, amounted to rising of ninety, 
 being divided into two parts ; the German Lutheran, 
 and the German Reformed. No fundamental princi- 
 ples form the distinction between both parties ; in the 
 Reformed churches the Hidleberg catechism is gene- 
 rally used for the instruction of the young in the prin- 
 ciples of religion, while in the Lutheran church, Lu- 
 ther's smaller catechism is employed for the same 
 purpose; in the Reformed churches the mode of ad- 
 ministering the Lord's Supper differs in some respects, 
 from that practised in the Lutheran churches ; and in 
 regard to church government, the Reformed brethren 
 admit two ecclesiastical bodies, besides the local con- 
 sistory of each individual church, viz : the Classes and 
 the Synods ; in which latter bodies a number of Classes 
 are united, which receive appeals from the Classes. 
 In the American Lutheran church, Synods only are 
 recognized as ecclesiastical authority in regard to min- 
 10 
 
106 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 isters and congregations, in as far as departures from 
 the constitution are concerned, to which they have 
 either subscribed, or the authority of which they have 
 by other acts acknowledged. The local Vestries or 
 church councils of individual congregations have the 
 care of those churches by whom they are elected for 
 that purpose. As the Waldo congregation, composed 
 of members of both denominations, had agreed to at- 
 tend the ministry of one pastor, it was expected, and 
 cheerfully acceeded to, that he should administer the 
 Lord's Supper to each portion of his flock in the man- 
 ner in which the parties had been accustomed to re- 
 ceive it. The pastor, who served them during the 
 revolutionary war, was the Rev. John M. Schaeffer. 
 His services do not appear to have been accompanied 
 by the blessing of God, though they continued for 
 twenty years. In 1785 he was succeeded by Rev. Mr. 
 Croner, concerning whom the records state : " that he 
 was an evil example to the flock, a reproach to the min- 
 istry, and a great injury to souls." His period of 
 preaching in the Waldoborough church was four years. 
 From 1789 to 1796, the church remained destitute of 
 the services of a pastor. In the last mentioned year, 
 the Rev. Augustus Ferdinand Ritz, received and ac- 
 cepted a call to serve this people. He was a native 
 of Germany, had received a classical education in his 
 native country, studied Theology at Helmstaedt in the 
 Duchy of Brunswick, emigrated thence to Pennsylva- 
 nia, united himself with the Lutheran* Synod of that 
 State, and became the Pastor of several congregations 
 in the interior of the country. The people of Waldo- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 107 
 
 borough received him with open arms, provided him 
 with a glebe lot of one hundred acres, and $220 an- 
 nual salary. He was a talented man, of an excellent 
 character and deep piety; but his task was a severe 
 one, for an almost uncultivated field lay before him; 
 still he labored not alone, for God was with him. 
 His ministry continued beyond the commencement of 
 the 19th century. 
 
 Two Lutheran ministers only were laboring in the 
 extensive regions of the Western part of the State of 
 New York at the commencement of the revolutionary 
 war; the Rev. Mr. Sommers, residing in the village of 
 Schoharie, who, notwithstanding his age and loss of 
 sight, continued to discharge the pastoral duties to 
 that as well as the Cobleskill congregation; and the 
 Rev. John F. Rees, Pastor of the churches of Stone 
 Arabia, Little Falls and Canajoharie. 
 
 In 1788 Pastor Sommer retired from the active du- 
 ties of his station, in consequence of his advanced 
 age and infirmities. He had enjoyed the love and 
 esteem of the members of his charge, during the long 
 course of his ministry; and we ourselves have been 
 acquainted with some aged persons of his flock, who 
 still spoke with high regard of his ministry, and 
 of his pious walk and conversation; 443 individuals 
 connected themselves with the church during the 30 
 years of his ministerial labors in the congregation at 
 Schoharie. During the war he had faithfully shared 
 with his people, the trials, dangers and ravages, occa- 
 sioned by attacks from hostile Indians and British foes. 
 
 Great were the sufferings of the inhabitants of the 
 
108 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 northern and western portions of the State of New 
 York during that interesting period of time. Our 
 brethren too had to pass through trying scenes, espe- 
 cially those who dwelt on or near the banks of the river 
 Mohawk and at Schoharie; several were slain, others 
 were led into captivity, others had to leave their 
 houses and farms, and on their return found their 
 dwellings burnt and the fruit of their industry destroy- 
 ed, when peace permitted them to revisit their homes. 
 Rev. Anton Theodore Braun took charge of the con- 
 gregation in the year 1791. His stay was not of long 
 duration; in 1794 he left Schoharie, having accepted 
 a call to the churches in and near Albany. In 1795 
 the Rev. Frederick Henry Quitman accepted the call 
 of the Schoharie congregation. This gentleman was 
 born in Germany in the Duchy of Cleves near the con- 
 fines of Holland. After the completion of his Theo- 
 logical studies at Halle, he accepted a call from the 
 Lutheran congregation in the Island of Curacoa, in 
 the West Indies, belonging to Holland; during the 
 revolutionary movements in the mother country, 
 whereby its colonies were likewise affected, Rev. Mr. 
 Quitman came to the United States, and accepted the 
 call from Schoharie. During his ministry the Con- 
 gregation built a new house of worship; a spacious 
 building, in the centre of Schoharie village, wherein 
 the congregation is still worshipping. In 1798 Rev. 
 Mr. Quitman removed from Schoharie, and Rev. Mr. 
 Braun resumed the charge of the Schoharie church, 
 as substitute or delegate of Rev. Dr. Kuntze, who was 
 considered as pastor elect; this state of affairs how- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 109 
 
 ever, not being profitable to the church, Mr. Braun 
 therefore dissolved his connexion with the Schoharie 
 congregation in 1801. 
 
 The ministers in the State of New York finding it 
 inconvenient on account of distance, to attend the 
 annual meetings of the Pennsylvania Synod, resolved 
 in a convention or Synodic committee who met at Al- 
 bany on the Hudson river, to form a second Synod of 
 the American Lutheran church. The title they assum- 
 ed was: "The Synod and Ministerium of the Evangel- 
 ical Lutheran church in the State of New York and ad- 
 jacent parts " Dr. Kuntze was elected the first Pres- 
 ident of the newly created body; its regulations and 
 constitution were in almost every respect those of the 
 Synod of Pennsylvania, except, that the German lan- 
 guage was not constituted either the language of Sy- 
 nod, or that, wherein divine service was to be cele- 
 brated, except where the circumstances of a congre- 
 gation would require it. Eighteen congregations 
 placed themselves under the care of the new Synod, 
 which consisted of six ordained ministers. 
 
 It has been remarked in one of the preceding chap- 
 ters, that the colonial government of New York had 
 deprived the German Lutherans in that colony of the 
 land, which Queen Anne of England had granted 
 them for the support of their schools and churches. 
 Remonstrances had been made without effect. But 
 though the German settlers in New York as a body 
 could not obtain possession of what was lawfully their 
 own, the Rev. John Christopher Hartwig was more 
 successful in obtaining, as an individual. He had 
 10* 
 
110 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 been, as noticed before, chaplain to a German regi- 
 ment in the British province during the Spanish, or 
 as it is also called, the first French war. For those 
 services he obtained a tract of wild land, situated in 
 what is now called, the county of Otsego, from the 
 head of Otsego lake south nearly to the present vil- 
 lage of Upper Milford, and from the banks of the Sus- 
 quehannah east to the village of West Hart wick in a 
 westerly direction. This gentleman being without 
 family, devoted the entire tract, with the exception of 
 a few legacies, to the support of schools, and especial- 
 ly to the establishment of a Theological and Mission- 
 ary institution, for the education of ministers in the Lu- 
 theran church, and for preparing con verted Indians as 
 Missionaries among their own tribes. But by the mis- 
 management of some of the agents, whom Rev. Mr. 
 Hartwickhad engaged during his life time, to prepare 
 the way for the establishment of his intended Semi- 
 nary, as also of some executors of his will after his 
 departure, the greater portion of his patent was alien- 
 ated and misapplied, before the benevolent design of 
 Mr. Hartwick could be accomplished. His departure 
 took place in 1796. It being accompanied by some 
 remarkable circumstances, manifesting the power of 
 imagination in an eminent degree; a brief narrative of 
 these occurrences, cannot therefore but appear inter- 
 esting to the reader. 
 
 Forty years previous to his death, the impression 
 from a dream on his birth day, that he would live ex- 
 actly another forty years, had become so strong in his 
 mind, as to feel persuaded, that the dream would be 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. HI 
 
 fulfilled, and the prolongation of his life to the close 
 of his eightieth year, was calculated to dispel any 
 doubts on the subject if he ever had entertained 
 any. The day previous to the completion of his 
 eightieth year, he came to the house of the Hon. John 
 R. Livingston*, residing in Duchess county near the 
 river Hudson, in whose family he was intimate, and 
 announced to his friends, that he came to die at their 
 house. He appeared to be in the full possession of 
 health, entered freely into religious conversation with 
 the family, participated as freely in the hospitality ex- 
 tended to him, and in the evening conducted the wor- 
 ship of the family. The next morning he left his bed 
 in health, breakfasted and conversed with the family 
 till towards the approach of the hour, on which his 
 imagination had fixed, as the moment of his depar- 
 ture. This was 11 o'clock, A. M. About 5 or 6 
 minutes before that time, he requested leave to retire 
 to rest. Mr. Livingston followed him unobserved, 
 and noticed, that he w r as undressing. Just as the 
 clock struck, Mr. Hartwick was in the act of unbuck- 
 ling his stock, and in that moment fell back on his 
 bed and expired. 
 
 The executors of his will assisted several promising 
 young men in the prosecution of their studies under 
 the auspices of Dr. Kuntze and other clergymen, but 
 the establishment of the Seminary itself was deferred 
 to a later period of time. 
 
 During the war the congregation in the city of New 
 York experienced all its calamities. That portion of 
 the congregation which had attended worship in Grace 
 
112 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 church, had during the war either removed from the 
 city, or attached themselves to other denominations; 
 Grace church was therefore sold and the funds were 
 united with those of the German church in William, 
 corner of Frankfort street. The ministers who served 
 the congregation in the city of New York, during the 
 war, were, as far as we can learn, the Rev. Mr. Wey- 
 gandt, Rev. Mr. Hartwig, and soon after the war the 
 Rev. Dr. Kuntze. It has been observed in another 
 part of this volume, that the Rev. Mr. Housil, after 
 he had served a congregation in Nova Scotia, had ac- 
 cepted a call to serve the church at Frederick, Mary- 
 land. No mention is afterwards made of him in the 
 ancient records, but in the will of Mr. Hartwig it is 
 stated, that he was also for some time minister of the 
 church in the city of New York, but that he with a 
 part of the congregation left the city, to return to Hal- 
 ifax in Nova Scotia during the occupancy of New 
 York by the British. We mention this circumstance, 
 to show, that as late as the close of the revolutionary 
 war, Lutherans had maintained their ground in that 
 British province, and that it is therefore not unlikely, 
 that our brethren in Canada might form a mutually 
 advantageous union with the churches in No_va Scotia; 
 at least the inquiry, whether they are still in existence, 
 might prove pleasing and satisfactory. 
 
 Our churches in the State of New Jersey, suffered 
 greatly during the war, especially those in the north- 
 ern part of the State, Hackinsack, Ramapaugh, &c. 
 The Rev. Mr. Muhlenberg, who had ministered to the 
 churches in Hunterdon and Morris counties, left them 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 113 
 
 during the period of agitation, to devote, his talents to 
 the service of his country; and the Rev. Mr. William 
 Graf from Hackinsack accepted the call tendered him 
 by the congregations, and continued to break the bread 
 of life to this people with great faithfulness, enjoying 
 the esteem and love of the church, not only while his 
 state of health permitted him to discharge the duties 
 of his office, but when age and bodily infirmities for- 
 bade their continuance, the congregations cheerfully 
 supported him until the day of his death. .During his 
 ministry a new place of worship was erected near 
 Spruce run in Hunterdon county, and a congregation 
 organized. Another church situated in Burlington 
 county in the township of Cohensey was attended to 
 by the ministers residing in Philadelphia. 
 
 The congregations in Pennsylvania found the time of 
 the revolutionary war, a season, which tried Men's 
 souls. Many of the old German settlers, who had on 
 their arrival taken the oath of allegiance to the British 
 crown, conscientiously entertained the opinion, that 
 they ought not to act contrary to their solemn prom- 
 ise, while the majority of their brethren in the faith 
 adopted without hesitation the new order of things, 
 and cheerfully defended the cause of liberty and inde- 
 pendence with their blood and treasure. This dif- 
 ference of sentiment produced not only divisions in 
 families, but in many cases destroyed flourishing con- 
 gregations. Another great evil arose from men who 
 during these troublesome times came into the country, 
 as ministers of the gospel, but were in fact wolves in 
 sheep's clothing, leading profligate lives, destroying 
 
114 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the flocks, who in the absence and want of better 
 men, had entrusted themselves to their care. During 
 the war Dr. Wrangel had been recalled to Sweden; 
 Pastor Henry M. Muhlenberg and most of the other 
 pillars of the church had been called into the joy of 
 their Lord, and the prospect of having their places 
 filled with men of equally devoted hearts, was distant. 
 When therefore the star of peace revisited our land, 
 it found the Lutheran churches in Pennsylvania in a 
 precarious situation. Gradually, however a better 
 state of things was brought about by the superintend- 
 ing care of the head of his church. The old congre- 
 gations began to revive, and new churches were form- 
 ed and organized through the instrumentality of faith- 
 ful shepherds. Of the elder brethren, the Rev. Messrs. 
 William and Nicolas Kurtz, Gerock, Goering, Loch- 
 man, Helmuth, Schmidt and Graf were still engaged 
 in serving the Lord within those portions of his vine- 
 yard, in which his providence had placed them. 
 Among those, who towards the close of the 19th cen- 
 tury were laboring with youthful vigor in the Ameri- 
 can Lutheran church in Pennsylvania and the States 
 south of it, we have to name, the Rev. Messrs. Schaef- 
 fer, Daniel Kurtz, John G. Schmucker, Endress, Nuss- 
 man, Arndt and Storck. The Rev. Mr. Schaeffer la- 
 bored in Germantown and Frankfurt near Philadelphia, 
 Rev. Daniel Kurtz in the city of Baltimore, as succes- 
 sorof Pastor Gerock in 1787. Rev. John G. Schmucker 
 was stationed in Hagerstown, Maryland, after Pastor 
 Goering had left that congregation to take charge of 
 the church in Yorktown. The Rev. Nicholas Kurtz, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 115 
 
 who had been for some time the pastor of this latter 
 congregation, left it on account of the infirmities of age 
 to spend the remainder of his days with his son, the 
 Rev. Dr. Daniel Kurtz in rest and waiting for the call 
 of his Lord, which he received in 1794. Rev. Mr. 
 Endress was laboring in Easton; Nussman, Arndt, 
 Bernhardt and Stork in the State of North Carolina. 
 The blessing of the Lord accompanied the labors of 
 all these brethren, and there are yet many living wit- 
 nesses in the respective congregations of their former 
 charges of the truth, that wheresoever the word of the 
 cross is faithfully proclaimed, it manifests itself in the 
 hearts of men as the power of God unto salvation in 
 all who truly believe in Jesus Christ. We are con- 
 strained however to remark, that the anxiety of most 
 of our ancient fathers in the church, to keep up the 
 German language in preaching, proved greatly detri- 
 mental to the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom 
 among the posterity of the founders of our churches. 
 This was especially the case in the cities of Phila- 
 delphia and New York. Every friend of our cause, 
 will with regret look upon the departure of hundreds, 
 yea thousands of the rising generation from the church 
 of their fathers, in consequence of this obstinate adher- 
 ence to the language of the Father-land in the house 
 of God. The excuse, that the charters of the churches 
 prohibited the use of the English language, is insuf- 
 ficient to cover the error. Means might have been 
 employed for the religious instruction of the young in 
 the language of our country, and to promote the erec- 
 tion of houses of worship, in which the gospel might 
 
116 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 be preached in a language, understood by all. But 
 the secession of many from the church was not the 
 only evil, attending this obstinacy. The attachment 
 of a large number of our brethren, to the church of 
 their fathers was so strong, that many endeavors were 
 made to effect a change. By this means a party spirit 
 was excited, which ran high in the city of Philadelphia, 
 and scenes occurred, especially at the elections of 
 church officers, which every lover of religion found 
 cause to deplore. 
 
 In 1793 the city of Philadelphia was visited for the 
 first time with the yellow fever, and hundreds of our 
 Lutheran friends in that city became its victims. But 
 while most of the ministers of other denominations 
 left their charges, to escape from the devouring pesti- 
 lence, Dr. Helmuth and Pastor Schmidt kept their 
 posts, and without fear of death visited the sick and the 
 dying, to impart to them the consolations of religion. 
 This was also the case, when in the year 1800 the 
 same pestilence revisited Philadelphia and extended 
 its ravages to the city of Baltimore. In this latter 
 city our beloved brother Daniel Kurtz attended to the 
 duties of his office in the midst of scenes of indescri- 
 bable distress. The Lord has seen the faithfulness of 
 his servants, and we may rest assured, that those two 
 of our brethren who have passed the gates of eternity, 
 have received the reward of their labors from their 
 master, and the other awaits in patience the call of his 
 Lord to enter into his everlasting joy. In North Car- 
 olina but few ministers were as yet laboring among 
 the German population of that State. The Lutheran 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 117 
 
 congregations are chiefly in the Northern and Western 
 counties. Pastor Nussman had been sent from 
 Halle, soon after the peace which secured the inde- 
 pendence of the United States of America; and besides 
 him. Rev. Mr. Arndt and Bernhardt, with some few 
 others, whose names, however, appear not to be re- 
 corded, were laboring in N. Carolina. In 1798, Pas- 
 tor Charles Augustus Gottlieb Storch was sent from 
 Helmstadt, in the Duchy of Brunswick, in Germany, 
 at the request of brethren in North Carolina, to culti- 
 vate that portion of the Lord's vineyard. Our brother, 
 who had just finished his Theological studies, at the 
 above named city, was willing to accept the call, at 
 least for a number of years. The friends of the Amer- 
 ican Lutheran church in Germany had directed oui 
 brother to the county of Guilford, as the place of his 
 activity. His arrival in the month of June, 1788, was 
 forthwith communicated to the German brethren resi- 
 ding in that county. His reception, however, was not 
 such as he had anticipated ; so that he was almost re- 
 solved upon returning to his native country. But the 
 kind providence of God prevented the execution of 
 this design. His brother and friend, Nussman, pre- 
 vailed on him to accept a call from the Organ church 
 in Rowan county, and to endeavor the organization 
 of a church in Salisbury, the seat of justice for the 
 same county. The Lord blessed the labors of his ser- 
 vant, so that he soon saw a flourishing congregation 
 rising in that town. In process of time he was also 
 enabled, through the blessing of God, to organize a 
 number of other churches in Rowan, Lincoln, and Ca- 
 ll 
 
118 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 barrus counties. Among them we may name Union 
 and Savage's churches. In 1787 he attended the Syn- 
 od of Pennsylvania, to strengthen himself to renewed 
 exertions in the service of his divine master. After 
 his return our brother not only continued to give his 
 services to the congregations gathered in the Districts 
 of his immediate residence, but also paid several visits 
 to the churches in South Carolina, most of which were 
 destitute of ministers. In Charleston, the Rev. Mr. 
 Daser was settled as Pastor of a congregation, consis- 
 ting of Germans, originally belonging to three persua- 
 sions, the Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic. The 
 only bond of union among this people, was the Ger- 
 man language, and as each one of the parties found 
 itself too weak to obtain the services of a minister of 
 their own denomination, they agreed to call a minis- 
 ter, willing to preach to them in the German language, 
 and to administer the ordinances to the individual 
 members, agreeably to the usage of their respective 
 churches. In the interior of that State there were con- 
 gregations and houses of worship in Orangeburg Dis- 
 trict, Amelia township, at Sandy Run, Zion's church 
 near Saluda River, St. Peter's, about four miles from 
 Lexington court house, which, however, was then 
 not yet the seat of justice, the District being still at- 
 tached to Orangeburg, Piney woods' church, St. Ja- 
 cob's church, St. John's church in the North-western 
 part of what is now called Lexington District, besides 
 some others in Edgefield and Laurens Districts. 
 Nov. 13th, 1787, seven ministers, serving these con- 
 gregations, met at Zion's church, on 12 mile creek, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. H9 
 
 near Saluda River, and formed themselves into a Sy- 
 nodical body. Some of these brethren were of the 
 German Reformed church, but having no classes of 
 their denomination near enough, agreed to form one 
 evangelical body with their Lutheran brethren. The 
 names of the ministers were as follows : Frederick Da- 
 ser, Christian Theis, J. C. Bamberger, M. Carl Bin- 
 ninger, Frederick Augustus Wallburg, Frederick Jo- 
 seph Wallern, Carl Frederick Froelich. The principal 
 business transacted on this occasion, was : Firstly, 
 After a regular organization of the meeting, and calling 
 Rev. Mr. Baser to the chair, as Senior of the minis- 
 terium, to propose, consider, and adopt a constitution. 
 Secondly, It was resolved to petition the Legislature 
 of the State for an act of incorporation. The minis- 
 terium then adjourned to meet at the same place, Jan. 
 8th, 1788. At this meeting the form of a petition to 
 the Legislature was taken up, considered and appro- 
 ved, various petitions from congregations were dispo- 
 sed of, and Mr. Bamberger was ordained. The Leg- 
 islature incorporated, during its session in the month 
 of Feb., 1788, the following 15 congregations, as one 
 ecclesiastical body : Friederician* church, on Catell's 
 creek ; German Calvinistic church of St. John's, in the 
 Fork ; German Lutheran church of St. Mathews, Ame- 
 lia Parish, Orangeburg District; German Lutheran 
 church of Salem, near Sandy Run ; German Lutheran 
 Zion's church, on 12 mile creek, near Saluda river ; 
 German Lutheran St. Peter's church, on 18 mile 
 
 * Friederician church. "We suppose this term stands for Frie- 
 dens kirche, in the act of incorporation. 
 
120 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 creek ; German Lutheran Bethel church on Highhill 
 creek ; German Lutheran St. Martin's church ; German 
 Lutheran Bethlehem church on Faust's ford ; German 
 Protestant church of Bethany on Green creek ; German 
 Protestant church of Appii Forum, on Cedar creek ; 
 German Protestant Charlotte church on Slippery creek; 
 German Lutheran church of St. George on Hard-la- 
 bor creek; German Lutheran St. Jacob's church on 
 Wateree creek; German Protestant church of St. 
 George, near Indian-field swamp. 
 
 On the 18th of August, of the same year, the minis- 
 terium and delegates from the respective congrega- 
 tions, convened at Salem church, near Sandy Run. 
 Synod being constituted, the act of incorporation was 
 read; a system of discipline, in 20 articles, was pro- 
 posed by President Daser, and after discussion, adop- 
 ted, signed and sealed by the members present, both 
 ministers and lay delegates. The first Article declares, 
 that the incorporated churches shall form one Corpus 
 Evangelicum, by which all things pertaining to church 
 and religion shall be arranged and directed-, and the 
 free gospel to be preached within its bounds. The 
 second Article does not deprive members of this union 
 of their respective denominations, and provides, that 
 each part shall enjoy its own rights and privileges. 
 The fifth Article provides, that each member of the 
 union is bound to appear, when cited, before the Ec- 
 clesiastical body, composing the Directory. Each 
 congregation is to elect its own Pastor, by and with the 
 consent of the Directory. Elders and Wardens, are 
 to be appointed annually in each congregation, and the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 121 
 
 articles of union are to be kept and subscribed by the 
 individuals of each church. The records, as far as they 
 have come to light, contain the proceedings of annual, 
 and sometimes semi-annual meetings of Synod, until 
 the year 1794. Whether the meetings were continued 
 after that time, is uncertain, but likely, in as much as 
 records of a later date have been found, but written so 
 illegibly, that it was impossible with any degree of 
 certainty to decipher their contents. We have been 
 rather minute in describing these proceedings, with 
 the view of exhibiting to the church another example, 
 as evidence, that our forefathers in the Southern as well 
 as in the Northern States, have always considered 
 church constitutions and church disciplines necessary 
 to the very existence of an ecclesiastical body, as we 
 are convinced of the necessity, that laws and legislative 
 authorities are necessary to the body politic ; and also, 
 that the regulations formed by both ministers and lay- 
 men, for the government of the church in by-gone 
 days, were far more binding and close, than any dis- 
 cipline of modern times, against which so many voices 
 have been raised, as being tyrannical, and composed 
 with a view of depriving the people of their liberties. 
 At Ebenezer, in Georgia, the war, and its detrimen- 
 tal consequences to the cause of religion, the religion 
 of peace, were felt more than in any other part of our 
 church. The people were in general attached to the 
 principles of our revolution. In the very commence- 
 ment of the troubles, which finally led to the declara- 
 tion of independence, they took an active part in favor 
 of liberty. They reasoned thus with those who appear* 
 11* 
 
122 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ed to incline to the cause of Great Britain: "We 
 have experienced the evils of tyranny in our native 
 country ; for the sake of liberty we have left home, 
 lands, houses, estates, and have taken refuge in the 
 wilds of Georgia ; shall we now again submit to bon- 
 dage ? No, we will not." Upon this principle they 
 acted throughout, and for freedom's sake were once 
 more driven from their homes, during the prevalence 
 of British arms. Mr. Triebner, one of their ministers, 
 a man, dissimilar in every respect to his worthy prede- 
 cessors, and to his fellow-laborer, Mr. Ravenhorst, 
 had embraced the other side of the political question ; 
 and went so far in his zeal for toryism, as to lead the 
 enemy to Ebenezer, to aid in the destruction of the 
 settlements, and in driving the inhabitants into the in- 
 hospitable wilderness. The beautiful house of God, 
 built near the Savannah river, was turned into a stable 
 for the horses of the British soldiers, and sometimes 
 served as a Lazaretto, for the sick and the wounded. 
 When the victories of American arms permitted the 
 poor exiles to return to their beloved Ebenezer, they 
 found themselves under the necessity of beginning 
 anew, and long and arduous were their labors. It 
 appears, that from that time they relinquished the idea 
 of building up the village, which had been destroyed, 
 and of which now nothing remained, except a few of 
 the better built houses, which had served as quarters 
 to the British officers. The members of the church 
 began to build permanent residences on their farms 
 and plantations, and in this manner were scattered 
 over a distance of from 2 to 10 miles from the former 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 123 
 
 town of Ebenezer. No account is given of the time 
 when the Rev. Mr. Ravenhorst departed to his Lord ; 
 for no monument or tomb-stone tells the pilgrim the 
 spot where his body rests, and when he was called off 
 by his Lord. It seems that the congregation was for 
 some time destitute of ministerial services until the 
 Rev. John Ernst Bergman arrived from Germany. 
 This appears to have taken place soon after the con- 
 clusion of the peace, by which the Independence of 
 America was secured. Most probably he came in 
 company of the Rev. Mr. Nussman, whose field of la- 
 bor was marked out in N. Carolina. The external situ- 
 ation or the temporalities of the congregation were in 
 a comparatively flourishing condition. The friends of 
 the Salzburg emigrants in Germany, had collected 
 funds, not only for the building of the two houses of 
 worship, Jerusalem and Zion's churches, but also suf- 
 ficient for the maintenance of their minister. The Rev. 
 John E. Bergman served the church at Ebenezer 36 
 years. He continued to preach in the German lan- 
 guage, which proved here as detrimental to the cause 
 of our church, as in other places. Many of the young 
 people, who understood but little of that language, 
 were compelled to unite themselves with other church- 
 es ; and towards the close of the 18th century, but a 
 remnant of the large congregation was left, a congre- 
 gation which, fifty years before, had needed the ser- 
 vices of three ministers of the gospel at the same time. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The history of the Lutheran church in America from 
 the commencement of the 19th century to the estab- 
 lishment of the General Synod, From 1801 1821. 
 
 The occurrences related in the preceding chapter, 
 give the friends of the church much to deplore, and 
 also much to hope for, at the commencement of the 
 19th century. Among the causes of grief we consider 
 the indifference to vital religion, prevailing in many 
 portions of our church as the principal. Inquiring into 
 its causes, we discover the corruption of the human 
 heart at the bottom of all others, a heart, which, in- 
 stead of seeking first the kingdom of God and its 
 righteousness, and of believing, that then all other 
 things shall be added unto us, seeks most selfishly first 
 the things of this w r orld, wealth, honor, fame, and the 
 pleasures of life, considering those, that make for our 
 eternal peace, objects of secondary consideration. 
 As a subordinate cause, or as one springing from the 
 former, we may mention the peculiar situation of the 
 German emigrants. They chiefly consisted of the 
 poorer classes of people. In their native country, the 
 oppression of the wealthy and powerful on the one 
 hand, and an overstocked population on the other, 
 had suffered them to reap no reward of their industry 
 and economy. Arriving in this country, and at once 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 125 
 
 comprehending the advantages, which industry and 
 economy held out to them, they would naturally lend 
 all the energies of mind and body to the acquirement 
 of what they supposed would place them on an equal 
 footing with the wealthiest, and would afford them 
 that enjoyment, which they, erroneously enough, im- 
 agined to have been in the possession of the rich, whom 
 they had envied. Success having crowned their ef- 
 forts, in which they had persevered to the neglect of 
 the education of their children, these, with the exam- 
 ple of their parents before their eyes, and disabled by 
 ignorance from judging for themselves, of what is truly 
 beneficial, were treading in the steps of their fathers, 
 especially when perceiving, that increasing wealth had 
 also increased their importance in society, and misap- 
 prehending this kind of popularity for happiness, be- 
 came more eager in the pursuit of that phantom, than 
 their parents had been, and so were led from the in- 
 quiry after the welfare of their immortal souls, to a 
 vain pursuit after Mammon. 
 
 The obstinate adherence of many of our elder min- 
 isters to the exclusive use of the German language in 
 the service of the church, presents us with a hinder- 
 ance to its growth, which could not fail deeply to af- 
 fect the heart of every well-wisher of our Zion. The 
 instruction of the young in the elements of religion be- 
 came thereby necessarily imperfect ; they understood 
 little or nothing of the public services in the Sanctu- 
 ary ; in consequence of which the love to the church 
 of their fathers waxed cold in many; and finding 
 more instruction and edification in the houses of wor- 
 
126 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ship, pertaining to those denominations of Christians, 
 who taught and preached in the language of our coun- 
 try, than in their own, thousands left our church and 
 connected themselves with English churches, while 
 others became negligent attendants on the word of 
 God in their own denomination. Another great evil 
 to the church arose from men, who, pretending to be 
 ministers of the gospel, dishonored their profession by 
 an inconsistent walk and conversation. They ren- 
 dered the ministerial office contemptible with tho'se, 
 who became acquainted with them, and who, instead 
 of distinguishing between the truly Christian Pastor 
 and the wolf in sheep's clothing, charged religion it- 
 self with being useless and even injurious, and so be- 
 came victims of infidelity. 
 
 All these circumstances deeply affected the hearts 
 of the friends of religion and well-wishers of the Lu- 
 theran church, and would have been sufficient to drive 
 them to despair, had not some hope upheld and 
 strengthened their drooping spirits. One of these 
 hopes rested on the willingness of talented and pious 
 men, born in America, to devote themselves to the 
 service of the church, and to employ the language of 
 the country in the instruction of the young, as well as 
 in the service of the sanctuary, whenever necessary. 
 A short time previous to the commencement of the 
 19th century, we see a Daniel Kurtz, a Goering, an 
 Ernst, a Baetis; and many others, from the children of 
 our country, devoting themselves to the service of the 
 Sanctuary ; and the commencement ol the 19th centu- 
 ry itself, increased the hope, which the American 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 127 
 
 church began to build upon the talents and the piety 
 of her native sons. In the State of New York we saw 
 the brethren, Philip and Fre derick Mayer, after having 
 enjoyed the instruction of the pious and learned Dr. 
 Kuntze, enter the service of the church ; in Pennsylva- 
 nia, D. Endress, John C. Baker, John P. Hecht, J. 
 Miller, D. Ulrich, pupils of Dr. Helmuth, were filling 
 the places of departed fathers of the church. In Ma- 
 ryland, Benjamin Kurtz, grand-son of Rev. J. N. 
 Kurtz, devoted himself to the service of the Lord, un- 
 der the instruction of Dr. Lochman. In the far South, 
 Paul Henkel, Philip Henkel, Jacob and Daniel Sherer, 
 Michael Rauch, D. Moser, Daniel and Godfrey Dre- 
 her, were turning their attention to the study of the 
 Scriptures, with the view of becoming the instructors of 
 others. All these brethren entered the church previ- 
 ous to the establishment of any of our Theological 
 Seminaries. The appearance of a spirit of inquiry and 
 of religious feeling, as well as an increasing willing- 
 ness of supporting Ihe gospel, manifesting itself in ma- 
 ny portions of the church, brightened the hope of bet- 
 ter days, in the heart of every well-wisher to our Zion. 
 With many fears, therefore, yet not without some 
 well-founded hope, the church entered into the 19th 
 century, and we trust that the succeeding narrative of 
 occurrences, and of the progress of religion among us, 
 during the advance into this century unto its fifth de- 
 cenium, will cause us to lessen our fears and to 
 strengthen our hope of the churches' final success over 
 every spiritual foe. Let us then in the first place visit 
 
128 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 our dear brethren in the extreme North-East portion 
 of our land. 
 
 Here the Rev. Augustus F. Ritz was still the pious 
 pastor of the congregation in Waldoborough. Though 
 distant from any Synodical body, he kept up his in- 
 tercourse with the church, through the medium of his 
 intimate friend, the Rev. Dr. Shaeffer senior, Pastor 
 at Germantown, and afterwards one of the ministers of 
 the German Lutheran church in Philadelphia. Rev. 
 Mr. Ritz died suddenly in the latter part of the year 
 1811. The writer, in the Quarterly Register, to whom 
 we are indebted for the account of the Waldoborough 
 church, speaks, respecting his character, as follows : 
 "By all, who knew Mr. Ritz, Americans as well as 
 Germans, he was highly respected. A reputation, such 
 as he left, is like an array of gems, which never fade. 
 His widow an ornament to the church is now an 
 aged mother in Israel, adorned with graces. 
 
 The Rev. John William Stai*man, still living, be- 
 came the successor of Mr. Ritz. Mr. Starman was 
 born at Lennep, in the Duchy of Berg, in Germany, in 
 1773. His father was, at the time of our brother's 
 birth, the Lutheran minister of that town, and at the 
 same time, Superintendant over the adjoining diocese. 
 Our brother received his first education in the schools 
 of his native town, and subsequently partly in his fa- 
 ther's house, and partly under the instruction of the 
 Rev. Frederick William Geissenhainer , minister of the 
 German Lutheran congregation in the city of New 
 York, a countryman, and particular friend of our bro- 
 ther Starman. Having received the call to Waldobo- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 129 
 
 rough he connected himself with the Synod of New 
 York, as the nearest Lutheran ecclesiastical body, and 
 entered, 1811, in reliance on the divine aid, upon the 
 discharge of his official duties as pastor, in the Wal- 
 doborough congregation, in which he is still laboring, 
 with the blessing of God. July, 1846. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Anthony Braun having relinquished his 
 connexion with the Schoharie church, it remained va- 
 cant until 1805, when the Rev. Augustus Wackerhagen 
 was called by the united congregations of Schoharie 
 and Cobleskill. This learned gentleman is a native 
 of the Electorate of Hanover, in Germany. He had 
 pursued his Theological studies at the celebrated uni- 
 versity of Goettingen, and had come to this country as 
 the private instructor in the family of Mr. Bohn, a 
 wealthy merchant in Philadelphia. On the 15th of 
 December, 1805, he entered upon the discharge of his 
 official duties as Pastor, by the delivery of an intro- 
 ductory discourse in the church at Schoharie. He 
 continued his ministry in these congregations for the 
 space of ten years, under the blessing of the Lord. 
 It appears from the records, that eighty new members 
 were added to the church, while he was pastor of 
 Schoharie. In 1815 the Rev. gentleman accepted a 
 call from the Lutheran churches of Germantown and 
 Livingston, Columbia county, in the State of New 
 York. In 1816 the Rev. Mr. John Molther took 
 charge of the Schoharie and Cobleskill congregations. 
 In 1818, difficulties having occurred between the con- 
 gregations and Mr. Molther, he was, upon an appeal 
 from the congregation to the Evangelical Lutheran Sy- 
 12 
 
130 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 nod of the State of New York, removed from his pas- 
 toral station by a decision of that body. In the month 
 of January, 1819, the Rev. George A. Lintner, while 
 yet a licensed candidate, was called to the Pastoral 
 charge of the two united congregations. This gentle- 
 man is a native of the county of Montgomery, State of 
 New York ; had pursued collegiate studies and gradu- 
 ated at Union College, Schenectady ; and had atten- 
 ded a course of Theological studies under the direction 
 of a clergyman in connexion with the Synod of New 
 York, who was then pastor of the congregations of 
 Palatine, Minden, Stone-Arabia and Johnstown. 
 On the 16th of June of the same year, he was ordai- 
 ned by a special meeting of the ministerium of the 
 State of New York, in the presence of the congrega- 
 tion, over which he was called to excercise the Pasto- 
 ral functions. The services of this brother have been 
 signally blessed. The congregations have not only 
 increased numerically, but also spiritually. He is still 
 living, and successfully engaged in the discharge of 
 his official duties. The congregation of Middleburg 
 in the county of Schoharie, has been established by his 
 labors. 
 
 The church of Minden, Montgomery county, was 
 until 1816 under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Wieting, 
 a native of Witstock in the Markgravate of Branden- 
 burg. After his death, the Rev. Mr. Dommeyer, a 
 native of Germany, who had pursued Theological stu- 
 dies at Goettingen, and had taken charge of Palatine, 
 Stone-Arabia, and Johnstown congregations in 1811, 
 was elected minister of Minden. The people of Ca- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 131 
 
 najoharie called in 1818, the Rev. George B. Miller 
 as their pastor. Mr. Miller had received his earlier 
 education in the Gymnasium at Nazareth, Pennsylva- 
 nia. He united himself with the Synod of New York, 
 and continued his pastoral labors at Canajoharie for 
 nine years. The Rev. Mr. Merkel, a native of Ger- 
 many, formerly a merchant in New York, had devo- 
 ted himself during his later years, to the study of The- 
 ology, under the direction of Rev. Dr. Kuntze, and 
 having received license from the Synod of Pennsylva- 
 nia, had labored as missionary of that Synod in the 
 counties of Cayuga and Seneca, in the western part of 
 New York. In 1815 he was ordained by the Synod 
 of New York, and soon after took charge of the chur- 
 ches of Guilderland and Bern in Albany county. The 
 Rev. Anthony Braun, after departing from Schoharie 
 in 1801, for a short time discharged official duties in 
 the congregation at Albany, and afterwards ministered 
 to the congregations of Brunswick, Sandlake and 
 Schaticoke, situated in Rensselaer county near the 
 Hudson River, where he remained to the time of his 
 death in 1811. He was a native of Germany, and 
 came from Canada into the United States. As no of- 
 ficial records of his life have come to hand, we can 
 merely state, that he was considered by those who 
 knew him, a learned and pious minister, wishing well 
 to the cause of Christ. The Rev. John Bachman, from 
 Lunenburg in the State of New York, a graduate of 
 Union college, was the successor of Rev. Mr. Braun, 
 from whom he had also received instruction in Theol- 
 ogy. Brother Bachman was ordained during the 
 
132 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 meeting of the ministerium at Schoharie in 1811. 
 The congregation at Albany gave a call in 1806 to the 
 Rev. Frederick Meyer, who had graduated in Colum- 
 bia college, and studied Theology under the direction 
 of the Rev. Dr. Kuntze. Rev. Frederick Meyer de- 
 parted towards the close of the year 1843, and was 
 succeeded by the Rev. Henry Pohlman. Dr. Kuntze, 
 who had been instrumental in the education of several 
 of our ministers, was also the spiritual father of the 
 Rev. Philip Mayer, a graduate of Columbia college. 
 This gentleman found the first place of his clerical ac- 
 tivity at Athens, Ulster county, State of New York. 
 But in 1807 Providence assigned him a more extensive 
 field of labor in the city of Philadelphia. In the sum- 
 mer of 1807, the Rev. Dr. John C. Kuntze, pastor of 
 the German Lutheran church in the city of New York, 
 was called from labor to his rest. He was a native of 
 Saxony, had received his classical education at the 
 Halle orphan-house, and studied Theology at the uni- 
 versity of Halle. For several, years afterwards he was 
 one of the principal teachers in the orphan-house and 
 the Paedagogium. The corporation of St. Michael 
 and Zion's churches called him from his native land, 
 as one of their pastors. He received ordination, pre- 
 vious to his departure from Halle. In 1771 he entered 
 upon the discharge of his pastoral duties in Philadel- 
 phia ; his connexion with that church lasted fourteen 
 years. He and Dr. Lochman in Harrisburg, were 
 among the first of our pastors from the Father-land, 
 who perceived the necessity of introducing the English 
 language for the instruction of the young, as well as 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 133 
 
 in the service of the church. He met, however, with 
 great, and we may say, unaccountable opposition from 
 his fellow-laborers, Dr. Helmuth and Dr. Schmidt, as 
 also from a large portion of the congregation. How 
 changed would have been the condition of our church, 
 in the city of Philadelphia, and in fact in Pennsylvania 
 and other middle States, had his advice been followed, 
 and had the church listened to his prudent councils. 
 Dr. Morris, the first editor of the Lutheran Observer, 
 expresses himself in the obituary notice of Dr. Kuntze, 
 as follows, on this subject: " Where are the thousand 
 respectable families, who abandoned our communion, 
 because their children did not understand German ? 
 Go into any considerable town or city, and you will see 
 them maintain a conspicuous standing in almost every 
 denomination of Christians , but our own ! Ml this Dr. 
 Kuntze^s foresight anticipated, but the men of his day 
 belonged to another generation, and could not see, what 
 was plain as day to his sagacious mind." For the sake 
 of peace he left Philadelphia, after having served that 
 congregation for fourteen years, and accepted the call 
 as minister of the German Lutheran church in New 
 York. Under his pastoral care the church soon revived. 
 He composed a hymn-book, consisting in a great mea- 
 sure of German hymns, translated into English verse, 
 and generally in the metre of the original, so that a 
 congregation, accustomed to the beautiful German 
 tunes, could sing the praises of God and our Redee- 
 mer in union with their offspring, without any other 
 alteration, except the language, w r hich was now intel- 
 ligible to all. He composed a liturgy and a catechism 
 12* 
 
134 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 in English, taking the same precaution, which he had 
 observed respecting the hymn-book. His acquaintance 
 with oriental literature procured him the chair of that 
 department in Columbia college. The executor of 
 Mr. Hartwig's will, the Honorable Jeremiah Van 
 Ransselaer, appointed him to the professorship of The- 
 ology in the Hartwick institution, agreeable to the will 
 of the testator. The formation of the New York Sy- 
 nod as his work, has been noticed in the preceding 
 chapter. His principal object in taking this important 
 step was, to promote the introduction of the English 
 language into the service of the church, a step, to 
 which the Pennsylvania Synod had hitherto been al- 
 ways opposed; but so convinced was Dr. Kuntze of 
 its necessity, that one of the last acts of his life was, 
 the transmission of these his views to the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania, where they then were violently agitated. 
 From the reminiscences of Dr. Kuntze in an article 
 of the Lutheran Observer, we extract the following 
 remarks respecting the Doctor's religious sentiments 
 and his official standing : " Blessed with a pious moth- 
 er, Dr. Kuntze was from early youth embued with de- 
 votional feelings ; and fervency and integrity marked 
 the religion which he practiced and taught. Scrupu- 
 lously conscientious, he was long unwilling to abandon 
 the plan of pastoral duty he had formed in Germany, 
 and in consequence of this, underwent some consider- 
 able sufferings, which others were careful to avoid. 
 Artless and open, he listened too readily to the trou- 
 blesome newsmongers, the retailers of every thing said 
 and done among those, who forced themselves upon his 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 135 
 
 attention, thereby embittering many an hour to himself, 
 without profit to others ; but it was the infirmity of an 
 honest heart, anxious to do good. Much of his time 
 w r as given to the valuable public charities, of which he 
 was a director. No man in his station was ever more 
 prompt, to assist the student, or to advance the inter- 
 ests of the gospel. He saw reason, as almost all do, 
 who search for light, to change some of his opinions 
 in the progress of his inquiries, and dissented in a few 
 important points from the representations generally 
 made of them, but the farther his investigations were 
 carried, the more firmly was he established in the 
 faith of the gospel, and the divine authority of the sa- 
 cred Scriptures. As a preacher, though his voice was 
 feeble, he was distinguished by eloquence as well as 
 by fidelity, and the didactic character of his discour- 
 ses. Most affectionate in his disposition, he was hap- 
 py in the circle of his amiable family, and supported 
 by the tenderest assiduities, he sank" as before ob- 
 served " in the summer of 1807, under a painful dis- 
 ease of some months continuance, full of humble trust 
 and hope in his God and Saviour, after he had served 
 the congregation in New York for 24 years." 
 
 His successor in office was the Rev. Frederick W. 
 Geissenhainer, who had, previous to his acceptance of 
 the call to New York, been engaged in the service of 
 his master in several congregations in the interior of 
 Pennsylvania. The frequent representations of Dr. 
 Kuntze, on every suitable occasion, of the necessity of 
 introducing the English language into the church ser- 
 vice, had prepared a considerable number of his own 
 
136 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 congregation for that measure ; others, however, were 
 violent in their opposition to any change. Those who 
 were favorable to English service, formed themselves 
 into a separate congregation, built a church, and cal- 
 led a Mr. Striebek, a promising young man, who had 
 studied Theology with the Doctor, as Pastor of Zion's 
 church, after having obtained license from the minis- 
 terium. The prospects of the new church appeared 
 to brighten, but unexpectedly their minister connected 
 himself with the Episcopal church. A call was then 
 tendered to and accepted by Rev. Mr. Williston, of the 
 Methodist connexion, on condition of uniting with the 
 Lutheran minister ium of the State of New York, and 
 he continued to discharge the duties of the pastoral of- 
 fice in that congregation for several years. During 
 that time he was commissioned by the rmnisterium to 
 revise the English Liturgy and hymn-book, then par- 
 tially in use, and so we obtained a second edition of 
 these works, designed for the use of the church. In 
 1810, Mr. Williston and a major part of his congrega- 
 tion left the Lutheran communion, and joined the 
 Episcopal church, it was said, in hopes of a release 
 from the debts contracted m the erection of their house 
 of worship. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Geissenhainer continued to officiate 
 as pastor of Christ church, in William street until 1812, 
 when he removed to Pennsylvania. On this occasion 
 the desire for preaching in the English language again 
 manifested itself in the congregation. The vestry re- 
 solved to make the attempt in Christ church ; but it 
 failed in consequence of the obstinacy of some, who 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 137 
 
 preferred going to great lengths, rather than allow the 
 preaching of the word of God in their house of wor- 
 ship in any other but the German language. A sec- 
 ond attempt^ however, succeeded, and saon after, the 
 Rev. Christian F. Schaeffer, a son of Rev. Dr. Schaef- 
 fer of Philadelphia, who had for some time officiated 
 at Harrisburg, received and accepted the call as pastor 
 of Christ church, with the express understanding, that 
 service should be conducted alternately in both lan- 
 guages. Under this arrangement the English part of 
 the congregation increased so considerably, that a new 
 house of worship was greatly desired. A noble struc- 
 ture was erected in Walker street, and dedicated to 
 the service of God as an English Lutheran church un- 
 der the name of St. Matthew's church. Rev. Chris- 
 tian F. SchaefFer became its pastor, and the German 
 congregation re-called Dr. Geissenhainer to Christ 
 church. 
 
 In the year 1814, Dr. Knauf, one of the executors 
 of the Honorable Jeremiah Van Ransselear, who had 
 been onof the executors of Rev. Mr. Hartwig's will, 
 applied to the officers of the Synod of New York, to 
 devise a plan, by which the benevolent intentions of 
 Mr. Hartwig might be accomplished, in as far as the 
 remaining resources of the estate would permit. The 
 testator had ordered, that his institution should be 
 erected on his land in Otsego county. Proposals were 
 laid before the citizens on the East and West side of 
 Hartwick township, promising, that the institution 
 should be built, wherever the largest sum should be 
 subscribed in aid of the erection of the buildings. 
 
138 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 This was done by the citizens of the Eastern part, 
 whereupon Dr. Knauf ordered, in the spring of 1815, 
 a two-story brick building, 45 feet long and 36 feet 
 wide, to be erected on the road leading from Coopers- 
 town to Milford, in the beautiful and fertile valley of 
 Hartwick. The Rev. Mr. Hazelius, who had been 
 the successor of Rev. William Graf, as minister of the 
 congregations in Hunterdon and Morris counties, re- 
 ceived and accepted the call from the vice-executor 
 of Mr. Hartwig's will, as Professor of ^Theology and 
 teacher of the classical school, agreeably to the will of 
 the testator. At the meeting of Synod the call was con- 
 firmed and twelve Directors were chosen, of whom 
 eight were Lntheran ministers and laymen, and four, 
 inhabitants of Hartwick patent, with power to nomi- 
 nate their ^successors. The names of the first Direc- 
 tors were : The Rev. Dr. Quitman, Rev. Dr. Wack- 
 erhagen, Rev. Frederick Mayer, and Rev. Mr. Moeller; 
 the Honorable William C. Bonk, of Schoharie, C. 
 Bonesteel, Esq., of Duchess county, Mr. Fisher, of 
 New York city, and /. Simmons, Esq., of Brunswick, 
 Rensselaer county. The Directors on the patent were : 
 Rev. Daniel Nash, Episcopal minister at Cooperstown, 
 Nathan Davison,Esq.,Mr. J. Loomis,a.ndE. Crafts, 
 Esq. The Academical school was opened, Dec. 5, 
 1815, and previous to the close of the year the num- 
 ber of classical scholars in the institution was forty- 
 five. The first student of divinity was Henry N. Pohl- 
 man, of Albany. 
 
 In New Jersey the Rev. William Graf departed this 
 life, in 1808, after a pilgrimage of 66 years. During 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 139 
 
 the four last years of his life, age and infirmities pre- 
 vented him from attending to any official duties. Mr. 
 Graf was a native of the town of Leiningen in the 
 South-western part of Germany ; he pursued and fin- 
 ished his Theological education at Giessen in Hesse- 
 Darmstadt. After his arrival in America he was in- 
 ducted by Dr. Muhlenberg as pastor of Hakinsack and 
 Ramapaugh in Bergen county. During the revolu- 
 tionary war he accepted a call from the united congre- 
 gations in Hunterdon and Morris counties. He was 
 a learned and pious minister of the gospel, faithful in 
 the discharge of his official duties, and a kind and in- 
 dulgent parent. Soon after his removal to New Ger- 
 mantown, he lost his companion ; during the latter 
 years of his life he married an elderly lady, who sur- 
 vived him. He was esteemed and beloved by his 
 congregations for the many amiable qualities of his 
 character, as well as for the faithful discharge of his 
 pastoral duties. There are still some of his former 
 parishioners on this side of the grave, who hold his 
 learning, piety and uniform cheerful disposition in 
 grateful remembrance. Mr. Hazelius, a native of 
 Germany, who had for eight years been a classical 
 teacher in the Gymnasium at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, 
 received and accepted a call from the congregations, 
 that had been under the pastoral care of -the late Mr. 
 Graf. Mr. Hazelius was ordained, September 6, 1809, 
 by the ministerium of the State of New York, with 
 which body he remained in connexion beyond the 
 close of this period. On his return from Synod he 
 commenced the discharge of his ministerial labors. 
 
140 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 As there had been occasional preaching only in these 
 congregations during the last years of Mr. Graf's life, 
 a considerable number of the church members had 
 connected themselves with other societies, or had 
 grown cold and indifferent ; but by the blessing of 
 God the churches gradually revived. In 1815, Rev. 
 Mr. Hendrix took charge of the congregations. This 
 gentleman was a graduate of Union college, Schenec- 
 tady, and had pursued Theological studies under the 
 direction of Rev. Frederick Mayer, at Albany. In 
 1819 Mr. Hendrix having accepted a call from the 
 congregations in Bergen county, Rev. Mr. Pohlman, 
 became his successor, who has labored 23 years in 
 these congregations with acceptance and the approba- 
 tion of the Lord, and is now, as observed before, Pas- 
 tor of Ebenezer church at Albany. 
 
 In the interior of Pennsylvania and Maryland a host 
 of faithful laborers were zealously engaged in winning 
 souls for Christ. The Rev. Nicholas Kurtz had la- 
 bored during the four last decennia of the 18th century 
 in several churches in Pennsylvania. When age and 
 bodily infirmities prevented him from a continuance in 
 active service, he found a welcome asylum in the fam- 
 ily of his son, Rev. Dr. Daniel Kurtz, pastor of Zion's 
 church in the city of Baltimore. He departed this 
 life in 1794 ; his earthly remains sleep in the church- 
 yard of Zion's church until the day of the resurrection. 
 Spiritual success does not seem to have attended the 
 labors of Rev. Mr. Friederici in the congregation of 
 the city of Frederick. In 1806 the Rev. David F. 
 Schaeffer became his successor. This gentleman en- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 141 
 
 tered upon the discharge of his pastoral duties with 
 zeal and energy, and had the satisfaction of beholding 
 the growth of the congregation both in numerical as 
 well as spiritual strength. As a friend to the instruc- 
 tion of the young, he established a Sunday school in his 
 church, which under the blessing of faithful teachers be- 
 came nourishing. The Rev. Dr. J. G. Schmucker serv- 
 ed the congregation in Hagerstown with pious zeal, in 
 the commencement of the present century, and his Lord 
 and Saviour permitted his servant to experience, that 
 the faithful preaching of the cross of Christ is still the 
 divine power to the salvation of all, who believe. 
 This brother, having taken charge of the church at 
 York, after the departure of pastor Goering, the Rev. 
 Solomon F. Schaeffer attended for a short time the 
 church at Hagerstown, but was soon called from 
 earthly troubles to the rest above. In Yorktown, Pastor 
 Goering had been the watchman on the walls of Zion 
 for many years, at first, as the adjunct of his father-in- 
 law, the Rev. William Kurtz, and after a short inter^ 
 val, which he spent in the service of the church in Ha- 
 gerstown, he returned to his beloved people at York 
 and its neighboring congregations. Here he remained, 
 until the Lord called him home in the 53d year of his 
 useful life. Our brother was born in 1754 in the coun- 
 ty of York, Pennsylvania. In his early childhood he 
 already manifested great engagedness for learning and 
 mental improvement. His very plays with his school 
 companions appeared to indicate the bend of his mind 
 to the clerical profession. For he frequently collected 
 them around him in the hours of intermission from 
 13 
 
142 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 school duty, to sing, pray and preach for them, so 
 that he generally passed in school by the title of "the 
 young minister." With his years, the thirst after 
 knowledge increased ; so that his father, means of 
 improvement failing at home, went with him to Rev. 
 Dr. Helmuth at Lancaster, to obtain his advice res- 
 pecting his son. The Doctor soon discovered the lad's 
 capabilities for improvement, and took him under his 
 own care and instruction. After the completion of his 
 classical and Theological studies under the tuition of 
 his pious and learned instructor, Mr. Goering preached 
 in several country congregations with much accep- 
 tance. He had married when young, but the Lord 
 soon removed her, whom our brother had chosen as 
 the companion of his life. This loss led Mr. Goering 
 deeper into experimental religion. From that time 
 he preached with greater energy and zeal, having truly 
 experienced, that through repentance and faith alone, 
 we receive the forgiveness of our sins, justification be- 
 fore God, and the hope of everlasting happiness be- 
 yond the grave. His last illness was a slow consump- 
 tion, but he bore his sufferings with Christian resigna- 
 tion and fortitude. As long as his declining strength 
 would permit, he continued his labors in the con- 
 gregation of his charge. When bodily infirmities de- 
 prived him of that satisfaction, he ceased not to exhort 
 the members of his church, that came to see him, to 
 bear eternity always in view. At length the Lord re- 
 leased him from all his sufferings, and permitted him 
 to fall asleep in full confidence in Jesus his Redeemer. 
 The Rev. Dr. J. G. Schmucker, became his successor 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 143 
 
 in office, in which he continued the blessed work of 
 leading souls to Christ, far beyond the period, the oc- 
 currences of which are now laid before the public. 
 We merely now remark, that the reflection of having 
 experienced the blessing of God during the long term 
 of his service to the church, will sweeten the hours of 
 rest, which our Brother now enjoys, and when he shall 
 have been called from earth, the meeting of souls in 
 the realms of bliss, whom God invited through his in- 
 strumentality to eternal life, will enhance his enjoy- 
 ment even of heavenly bliss. 
 
 Dr. Helmuth having exchanged Lancaster for Phil- 
 adelphia, the church at Lancaster enjoyed for some 
 time the services of Pastor Muhlenberg, a son of Dr. 
 Henry M. Muhlenberg. Dr. Endress succeeded him, 
 and when that gentleman accepted a call to Easton, 
 Pastor Baker from German town took charge of the 
 church, in which he is still laboring with success. De- 
 voted to the safe principle, that early obtained instruc- 
 tion is the surest means for laying the foundation of 
 lasting religious impressions, he has by indefatigable 
 labor and untiring perseverance, raised the Sunday 
 school in his church to a high degree of prosperity. 
 From the congregation in Harrisburg w r e have not 
 been able to gather any information previous to the 
 time, when the Rev. Christian F. Schaeffer, then a can- 
 didate of the ministry in connexion with the Synod of 
 Pennsylvania, was chosen as their preacher in 1813. 
 Dr. Lochman succeeded Mr. Schaeffer, and remained 
 the Pastor of this church to the time of his departure 
 in 1727. A grand-son of Dr. Muhlenberg was Pastor 
 
144 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 of the church in Reading in the commencement of the 
 present century ; after his departure the Rev. Dr. Jacob 
 Miller, a pupil of Dr. Helmuth and Dr. Geissenhainer 
 was elected Pastor, which station he is still filling. 
 His long services in that church, as well as the fact, 
 that this brother has repeatedly been called to the 
 chair in the Pennsylvania Synod and ministerium, are 
 strong proofs of the affection of his people, and of the 
 high estimation, in which he is held by his brethren of 
 the Synod. 
 
 The old church at Germantown had been served by 
 a long succession of worthy and pious ministers, from 
 the days of Brunholz, Handshuh, Voight, andBusJdrk, 
 to those of brother Frederick Schaeffer. When after 
 the death of Rev. Dr. Schmidt, the Rev. Mr. Schaeffer 
 was chosen second pastor of Zion and St. Michael's 
 churches in Philadelphia, the Rev. Mr. Baker served 
 the congregation, until his removal to Lancaster, when 
 brother Benjamin Keller accepted the call as minister 
 of the congregation of Germantown and neighboring 
 churches. Chambersburg, which had been under the 
 pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Moeller, was after his 
 removal for some considerable time destitute of the 
 services of a settled pastor, until the Rev. Benjamin 
 KurtZj from Hagerstown, accepted a call from that 
 congregation, and continued to seive it for a num- 
 ber of years. In the town of Hanover in Franklin 
 county, Pennsylvania, the Rev. John F. Melsheimer 
 was stationed to the time of his death, which took 
 place February 12, 1829. He had reached the age of 
 44 years, 8 months and 6 days. In his obituary no- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 145 
 
 tice the Editor of the Lutheran Intelligencer remarks : 
 " The concourse of the people from all directions at 
 his funeral, which was attended to by Professor 
 Schmucker, notwithstanding the inclemency of the 
 weather, was immense, and testified the unshaken 
 friendship and affection, entertained for the deceased, 
 for which his long and intimate intercourse with the 
 community and the congregations Mr. Melsheimer 
 having been also pastor of the congregation of Ox- 
 ford had laid the lasting foundation." 
 
 In the town of Gettysburg and the congregations of 
 its immediate neighborhood, the brethren Grob, Heine 
 and Herbst officiated during this period. 
 
 The desire of introducing the English language into 
 the service of the church in the city of Philadelphia, 
 became very general about this time, and it cannot be 
 denied, that the obstinate opposition of the pastors of 
 St. Michael and Zion's churches to the measure, fre- 
 quently led to unpleasant scenes and results. The 
 friends of the change were in general the children and 
 posterity of the original founders of the Lutheran 
 churches in the city ; the opponents were for the most 
 part emigrants from Germany, who had not seen the 
 days of trial, borne by the fathers of the church in the 
 times of a Muhlenberg and JBrunholz, and who had 
 contributed but little to the support of the gospel. 
 The consequences of such a contest were unfavorable 
 to the cause of piety and godliness, as well as to the 
 interests and external growth of the church. Many 
 families hitherto in connexion with the Lutheran church 
 in the city, resolved therefore, rather to leave that con- 
 13* 
 
146 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 nexion, than to be spectators and participants in the 
 down-hill course of the church of their fathers. 
 
 At length a separation took place between the con- 
 tending parties ; those, who favored the introduction 
 of the English language, formed themselves into a new 
 corporation, and called the Rev. Dr. Philip F. Mayer 
 of Athens in the State of New York, as their pastor. 
 
 While the new edifice in Race street was in build- 
 ing, the congregation worshipped in the chapel of the 
 Philadelphia Academy. In the spring of 1809 the 
 new house was finished, and dedicated to the service 
 of God by the Pastor, under the name of St. John's 
 church. From that time the congregation has contin- 
 ued to increase, and numbered in a few years nearly 
 as many members as the German Lutheran churches 
 in the city, in which the Rev. Drs. Helmuth and 
 Schmidt were officiating. In 1811 it pleased God, to 
 call the Rev Dr. Schmidt to his rest. Dr. David Fr. 
 Schaeffer, senior, of Germantown, was elected to fill 
 the vacancy. About this time a number of those, who 
 during the first controversy had opposed the introduc- 
 tion of the English language, being convinced of their 
 error, when they saw their families growing up with- 
 out the benefit of that religious instruction, which they 
 needed, followed the example of separation from the 
 German congregation. St. John's church cheerfully 
 admitted as many of her former opponents, as the 
 house could accommodate, but for all there was no 
 room. A second English Lutheran congregation was 
 therefore formed and organized, by the name of St. 
 Mattfww's church, and the Rev. C. P. Krauth received 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 147 
 
 and accepted the call as Pastor. In St. John's church 
 a Tract Society was formed, whose publications are 
 deserving the attention of all, who love practical re- 
 ligion without show and parade. 
 
 In Baltimore, Dr. Daniel Kurtz, who had succee- 
 ded the Rev. Mr. Gerock in 1787, continued during 
 this period to discharge the duties of the pastoral of- 
 fice, frequently under severe trials. The assurance of 
 the Lord's approbation was his solace in the midst of 
 his arduous labors. . 
 
 Few were the Lutheran churches in Virginia. Win- 
 chester congregation enjoyed for some time the labors 
 of the Rev. Abraham Reck, until he accepted a call 
 from the church in Middletown, Maryland. The con- 
 gregation at New Market was attended by the Rev. 
 Peter Schmucker and afterwards by the Rev. Samuel 
 S. Schmucker. This Divine had received his Theo- 
 logical education in the Seminary of Princeton, and la- 
 bored successfully in the portion of the Lord's vine- 
 yard, assigned to him for cultivation. Rev. Nicolas 
 Schmucker was the pastor of Woodstock congrega- 
 tions. Our clerical brethren in North Carolina, who 
 had hitherto continued in connexion with the Synod 
 of Pennsylvania, resolved, to form a Synod in their 
 own State. Information of this step having been given 
 to the Synod of Pennsylvania, and being approved, 
 the brethren in North Carolina met in 1803 for the first 
 time, and assumed the name of the Synod of North 
 Carolina and adjacent States. Its constitution or rules 
 were formed in the spirit of the constitution of the 
 Pennsylvania Synod. Rev, Mr. Stork was elected 
 
148 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 first President of the new Synod. Through the in- 
 strumentality of this brother and the activity of the 
 Rev. Gottlieb Schober, the church began to assume a 
 brighter aspect than before the formation of Synod. 
 Missionary operations were extended into Tennessee, 
 into the western parts of Virginia and into South Car- 
 olina. 
 
 From the Synodical minutes of 1819 we learn, that 
 a Theological school had been established in Tennes- 
 see, of which the Rev. Philip Henkel and J. E. Bell 
 were Directors, that considerable sums had been pre- 
 sented to Synod for its support, especially from 
 Charleston, S. C., and that this Ecclesiastical body 
 did express a deep interest in the welfare of the in- 
 stitution, by desiring its Directors to form a plan for 
 a constitution, to be laid before Synod at its next ses- 
 sion, for approval or amendment, and by promising, 
 that Synod would consent on this condition, not only 
 to apply the sums received, which were now in the 
 hands of the Directors for the support of the school, 
 but also to assist the institution in every other manner, 
 pointed out by Providence. But it appears, that want 
 of harmony in action, between the Directors of the 
 school and Synod became the cause of its final dis- 
 continuance. In this disharmony we may also discov- 
 er the origin of a separation of some members of Sy- 
 nod from the rest of the brethren. For there exists no 
 other rational cause, why the Rev. Philip Henkel 
 should have espoused the unholy cause of his brother 
 David Henkel) which has since occasioned a breach in 
 the church, that is not healed to this day. Unpleasant 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 149 
 
 as the duty is, yet historical faithfulness compels us, to 
 perform it impartially, without fear or favor. 
 
 David Henkel, son of the Rev. Paul Henkel, was 
 connected with the Synod of North Carolina as candi- 
 date of the ministry. At the session of Synod in 1819 
 complaints were laid before Synod, that Mr. David 
 Henkel should have acted in an unchristian manner 
 towards Mr. Andrew Hoyl of Lincoln county, and 
 that he had excommunicated Mr. Adam Castner with- 
 out sufficient cause. Both accusations were sustained 
 by Synod, and a resolution was passed, that David 
 Henkel should be deprived of his license as candidate, 
 but might still officiate for six months in his congre- 
 gations as catechet, and discretionary power was ves- 
 ted in the President to restore him his former license, 
 if Mr. D. Henkel after the lapse of six months should 
 produce satisfactory proof, that peace was restored in 
 his congregations, and that the complaints of our re- 
 formed brethren against him were settled.* It is ne- 
 cessary to observe here, that the session of Synod for 
 1819 had been held April 25th, instead of on Trinity 
 Sunday, as had been customary, because information 
 had been received from Rev. Dr. George Schmucker, 
 President of Pennsylvania Synod, that a Union or Gen- 
 eral Synod was in contemplation, and that a conven- 
 tion of ministers and lay members from the different 
 Synods would be held to consider the expediency of 
 the measure, and the Synod of North Carolina w^as in- 
 vited to attend said convention by a delegation, which 
 
 *See minutes of N. Carolina Synod of 1819, pages 10 and 11, 
 German copy. 
 
150 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 could not be chosen, if the session of Synod should not 
 be held at an earlier day. Information had been giv- 
 en of this change by the Secretary, and it appears, that 
 no objection was offered by any member, except by 
 Rev. Philip Henkel, who had declared in writing, that 
 he would attend the meeting of Synod at the usual 
 time on Trinity Sunday.* David Henkel had been 
 present at the Synod of 1819 without objecting to the 
 change of time. On Trinity Sunday Rev. Philip Hen- 
 kel, and candidate Joseph E. Bell, and catechet David 
 Henkel met at BufFaloe creek church, Lincoln county, 
 for the purpose of holding Synod. On this occasion 
 Joseph Bell and David Henkel were ordained by 
 Philip Henkel, without the knowledge and consent of 
 the N. C. Synod; and the transactions of Synod were 
 declared null and void, by these men, who assumed 
 the name and title of the Synod of North Carolina. 
 When Synod assembled in the church near Lincolnton, 
 May 29th, 1820, they found the church pre-occupicd 
 by the ministers Rev. Paul and Philip Henkel, candi- 
 date Joseph E. Bell and ex-catechet David Henkel. 
 An exposition of the proceedings of last Synod hav- 
 ing been given by the Rev. Charles Stork, President 
 of Synod, and the Rev. Gottlieb Shober, Secretary, 
 and after an open declaration on the part of Synod, 
 that every thing should be forgiven, as errors had 
 been committed on both sides, the opponents replied 
 to the question, whether they \vould unite ? in the neg- 
 ative, and gave as reason, " because tJie Synod did not 
 teach water baptism to be regeneration ; 2. because this 
 * See minutes of Synodical meetings of 1820, page 5. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 151 
 
 body did not accept the elements in the Eucharist as the 
 true body and blood of the Lord, corporeally ; 3. because 
 the plan for a general union of our church was against 
 the Augsburg confession"* 
 
 Such is the origin of the Tennessee Synod, so called. 
 David Henkel now became a reformer, denouncing 
 the North Carolina Synod, as well as all other Ameri- 
 can Lutheran Synodical bodies to be heretical ; he 
 taught, as far as his language in his book entitled 
 " Heavenly flood of regeneration" is to be understood, 
 that water baptism constitutes regeneration, he incul- 
 cated an almost Capernaitic eating and drinking of the 
 body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper, and 
 represented " Christian faith" to be simply an assent 
 to the truths of the doctrines of Christianity, without 
 any practical application thereof to the heart. All these 
 doctrines approach so near to Romanism, that we can- 
 not be astonished to learn, that Hinkelism has found 
 a champion in the Right Reverend Bishop of the Ro- 
 man Diocese of Charleston. The union of the Amer- 
 ican Lutheran churches in General Synod is still rep- 
 resented by the followers of David Henkel as a measure 
 replete with mischief, threatening imminent danger to 
 the liberties of the American people. Not satisfied 
 even with aspersions of so heinous a character, they 
 have not unfrequently disturbed the peace of the chur- 
 ches, by making forcible entries into houses of wor- 
 ship, acts, which the Rev. A. Miller in a debate with 
 Br. Hope defended, as being in conformity with our 
 free institutions. These deplorable occurrences, how- 
 
 * See minutes of Synodical metings of 1820, page 6. 
 
152 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ever, did not altogether dishearten our brethren, be- 
 cause they were aware, that Satan will sow tares among 
 the wheat, and that in many instances both must grow 
 together until the harvest. They likewise knew that 
 external prosperity has never enhanced the spiritual 
 well-being of the church, and that she has to acknowl- 
 edge with all individual Christians, "it was good for 
 me to be afflicted." Therefore our North Carolina 
 brethren did likewise not despair ; the stormy sky 
 taught them to fasten the hatches, to furl the sails and 
 to take care of the helm. But few were the men, who 
 had charge of the bark. JVussman and Jirndt had de- 
 parted, Bernhardt, their travelling companion across 
 the Ocean, had taken his abode in South Carolina. 
 But the Lord awakened other men in the place of 
 those, whom he had called from their labors. Rev. 
 Mr. Shober from Salem, Stokes county, united himself 
 with the North Carolina Synod, and soon became one 
 of its most active members ; and several younger mem- 
 bers suffered themselves to be enlisted in the service 
 of the church. 
 
 In South Carolina very few Lutheran ministers were 
 laboring. The men, who had formed the corpus Evan- 
 gelicum in 1787 had departed ; except Daser and 
 Wallern ; the former appears to have left Charleston 
 in consequence of some disagreement with the congre- 
 gation, the latter had separated from the ecclesiastical 
 association, and remained unconnected with any cler- 
 ical body to the time of his death. The brethren in 
 the service of the church in South Carolina were : Fa- 
 ber in Charleston, Franklow in Amelia, Bernhard and 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 153 
 
 Meetze in Lexington District. Rev. Mr. Bernhard 
 departed this life in 1802 ; and his death placed the 
 church in the most destitute situation. Ministerial aid 
 could not be expected from abroad ; the brethren in 
 North Carolina were unable to satisfy the calls for 
 ministers in their own State, and from the brethren in 
 the North no help could be obtained, being unable to 
 fill the vacancies in their immediate neighborhoods. 
 Under these circumstances a brother devoted himself 
 to the service of the church, who under a different 
 state of things would not have thought of entering the 
 ministry. This brother is the Rev. Michael Ranch. 
 The Lord had led him by the guidance of his Spirit, 
 to see his own want of a Savior, and having found him 
 precious to his koul, he became desirous, of recom- 
 mending Him to his neighbors and friends. Having 
 for some time kept meetings for prayer and exhorta- 
 tion in his immediate neighborhood, he was prevailed 
 upon, to apply to the Synod of North Carolina for li- 
 cense to preach, and to discharge the other duties of 
 the ministerial office. About this time the Rev. God- 
 frey Dreher, who had been a preacher in the Metho- 
 dist denomination, returned to the church of his fath- 
 ers, and connected himself likewise with the North 
 Carolina Synod. 
 
 After David Henkel had occasioned the breach in 
 the Synod of North Carolina, of which a brief account 
 has been given, he came to South Carolina with a 
 view to gain the brethren in the western parts of the 
 State over to his sentiments. A consultation on the 
 subject was held, but his plans were frustrated by the 
 14 
 
154 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 perseverance and proper feelings of the brethren. 
 About this time the Rev. Mr. John Bachman received 
 a call as Pastor of the church in Charleston. This 
 brother is still successfully laboring in the same field. 
 Respecting the spiritual state of the church at Eben- 
 ezer we can say but little. The Rev. Mr. Bergman, 
 senior, was pastor of this people. In former years the 
 members of that church had either been Germans 
 themselves, or the immediate descendants of German 
 parents. Bolzius, Gronau, Lemke and Rabenhorst 
 had therefore been enabled to labor effectually in the 
 language of the Father-land. But time had effected 
 a great change. The tide of emigration from Europe 
 had been diverted from the Southern States, the 
 posterity of the Germans in the South, surrounded as 
 they were by English speaking neighbors, had lost 
 the language of their fathers, and could consequently 
 derive no benefit from the instruction of German pas- 
 tors. Hence a large portion of the rising generation 
 detached themselves from the church of their fathers, 
 and joined other denominations. 
 
 The State of Ohio, forming at the close of the 18th 
 century a part of the immense Territory north- w T est of 
 the Ohio River, and which in 1790 contained but 3000 
 white inhabitants, had received until 1802 so large an 
 addition of citizens, that it was admitted into the num- 
 ber of the free and independent States of the great re- 
 public of the United States of America. Among the 
 first settlers were likewise many members of our 
 church. The ministers in Ohio continued for some 
 time in connexion with the Synod of Pennsylvania, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 155 
 
 but distance of the places of meeting, as well as the 
 increase of pastors within the bounds of the State, in- 
 duced the churches in 1818 to form themselves into a 
 separate body, by the title : a The Evangelical Luthe- 
 ran German minis terium of Ohio and adjacent States." 
 This new Synod transacted business during the first 
 years of its existence exclusively in the German lan- 
 guage. In the course of nine years, 95 churches had 
 been organized, which were under the charge of 25 
 pastors. Hitherto the connection between the existing 
 Synods had been kept up by the mission of delegates 
 from one Synod to another. Many zealous members 
 of the church were however convinced, that this bond 
 of union was too weak, to exert a truly beneficial in- 
 fluence on the whole church. As strength consists in 
 unity of action, the desire for the establishment of a 
 Union or General Synod became stronger with the in- 
 crease of the church. In many cases the operations 
 of an Ecclesiastical body require the united strength 
 and efforts of every part, in order to become effectual ; 
 such are, for instance : the establishment of perma- 
 nent Foreign and Home Missionary Societies, of 
 schools and Literary institutions, and of Seminaries for 
 the education of pious men for the ministry. But there 
 is one object in particular, which naught else can 
 equally as well cherish and preserve, as a truly united 
 ecclesiastical body of a whole Christian denomination. 
 The religion of Christ is the religion of peace and good 
 will towards men ; of that peace and that love all 
 those ought to be rich participants beyond all others, 
 who have been called to proclaim this religion to their 
 
156 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 fellow-men, and its beneficial effect ought to manifest 
 itself in a peculiar manner among those heralds of the 
 cross, who are laboring together in one portion of the 
 Lord's vineyard. And what, we ask, would produce 
 that effect more fully, what would cherish it more, than 
 if co-laborers were to meet from time to time, and 
 were to see and feel, that, though views respecting the 
 manner, of accomplishing good in the church, may 
 sometimes vary, all have but one mind, to promote 
 the kingdom of Christ among men. Such sentiments, 
 and others similar to these, pervaded the hearts of 
 many members and well-wishers to our Zion. A con- 
 vention of some friends of the church, was the result 
 of these sentiments and feelings. It met at Hagers- 
 town in 1820. From Pennsylvania were present : 
 Rev. Dr. John G. bchmucker, Rev. Dr. Endress, Rev. 
 Dr. Frederick. W. Geissenhainer, Rev. Dr. Daniel 
 Kurtz, and Rev. David F. Schaeffer. From the Syn- 
 od of New York: Rev. Dr. Philip Mayer, and Rev. 
 Dr. Christian F. Schaeffer. From North Carolina : 
 The Rev. George Schober. The object of this conven- 
 tion was, to consider the expediency of establishing a 
 General Synod in the Lutheran church, and if that 
 measure were approved, to form a plan for a constitu- 
 tion of said General Synod, with a view to lay it before 
 the respective State and District Synods, for examina- 
 tion, amendment, approval or rejection. It was also 
 agreed in convention, that if two of the three Synods, 
 represented in the convention, should approve the es- 
 tablishment of a General Synod, as well as the plan 
 for its constitution, at least in general, that then the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 157 
 
 General Synod should be considered as established, 
 and the chairman of the convention was requested, in 
 that case to call a meeting for the organization of that 
 body, to convene at Frederick, in Maryland, in the 
 month of October, 1821. In the mean time, however, 
 it became manifest, that there were men, both in and 
 out of the church, hostile to the establishment of a 
 General Synod, because they either feared, or preten-* 
 ded to fear, that the existence of such a body as the 
 G. S. might prove injurious to the liberties of the peo- 
 ple, and to the independent character of the District 
 Synods. Many voices were therefore raised against 
 this measure, especially in the Eastern parts of Penn- 
 sylvania, and even ministers of the gospel though 
 not in the service of our church exerted all their in-- 
 fluence to excite the people against the project. While 
 these subjects were in agitation, the clergy and con- 
 gregations in Maryland, hitherto in connection with 
 the Synod of Pennsylvania, who had for some time 
 been contemplating the establishment of a separate and 
 independent State Synod, resolved upon the measure 
 at that time, in as much as the number of churches 
 had greatly increased of late years, and the yearly at- 
 tendance on the meetings of the Pennsylvania Synod 
 was found inconvenient on account of distance. The 
 circumstance, that all the ministers and churches in 
 that State were favorable to the formation of a Gene- 
 ral Synod, may have hastened the execution of the de- 
 sign, though on that point we speak merely from con- 
 jecture, the fact however is, that this Synod was 
 formed and held its first session in 1820. 
 
158 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 One of the first acts of this new ecclesiastical body 
 was its assent to the plan for the constitution of the 
 General Synod proposed at the last convention. The 
 Pennsylvania Synod during its session of 1821, also 
 resolved the adoption of the constitution by a small 
 majority. In the Synod of North Carolina the question 
 was likewise decided in the affirmative. But the Sy- 
 nod of New York* rejected the proposition by a con- 
 siderable majority. Pennsylvania, therefore, Maryland 
 and North Carolina sent their respective delegations 
 to the first meeting of the General Synod, convened 
 at Frederick, Maryland, October 22d, 1821 . The first 
 officers of this body were : Rev. Mr. Schober of North 
 Carolina, President ; Rev. David F. Schaeffer of the 
 Synod of Maryland, Secretary, and C. A. Barnitz, 
 Esq., of Pennsylvania, Treasurer.! 
 
 * The Synod of New York united however, afterwards, with 
 the General Synod. 
 
 t See Appendix for constitution of the General Synod as adop- 
 ted by that body and as amended in succeeding sessions. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 History of the American Lutheran church, from the es- 
 tablishment of the General Synod to the centenary 
 year. From 1821 to 1842. 
 
 I. THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. John W. Starman continued during 
 this whole period notwithstanding his advanced age to 
 labor in that portion of the Lord's vineyard, where his 
 Providence had placed him, in the year 1811, and 
 that not without the blessing of the Lord. It has been 
 noticed, that the congregation of Waldoborough con- 
 sisted of both German Lutherans and German Refor- 
 med members, and that the ministers of this congre- 
 gation were wont to administer the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper to each part according to the form, in 
 which they had been accustomed to receive it. This 
 mode continued to be observed until the Rev. Mr. 
 Starman came among them. In speaking of this cir- 
 cumstance, the Rev. gentleman observes: "When I 
 came to Waldoborough, I was unanimously chosen to 
 be the pastor of this church and people. The Luthe- 
 rans and the German Reformed had then the custom, 
 to have the Lord's Supper administered to them, not 
 at the same time, but separately. I followed the cus- 
 tom, and invited the other party, to partake with us. 
 
160 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 There were few in the beginning, who did so, howev- 
 er their number increased, and on the 17th of June, 
 1829, the separation wall was entirely taken away. 
 A meeting of the church members of both parts of the 
 congregation was held on that day, when it was unan- 
 imously resolved, that the Lutherans and the German 
 Reformed would hereafter commune together, accor- 
 ding to a form, which was likewise agreed upon, after 
 the elements had been consecrated by the pastor, in 
 the usual mode, practised in the Lutheran church. 
 Since that time both classes sit together at the Lord's 
 table, as one undivided family in the unity of faith, 
 and the bonds of peace." 
 
 In 1820 there were about 4000 communicants in the 
 different congregations connected with the Synod of 
 New York. The Theological Seminary at Hartwick, 
 to which an Academical institution was attached, be- 
 gan at this time to exercise a beneficial influence on 
 the church. Rev. Mr. Pohlman^ the first Theological 
 Student from the institution, who had for a few years 
 officiated in the congregations of Saddle river and 
 Ramapaugh in Bergen county, New Jersey, exchan- 
 ged locations with the Rev. Mr. David Hendricks, the 
 successor of the Rev. Mr. Hazelius in New German- 
 town, German Valley and Spruce Run churches, in 
 which Mr Pohlman has continued to labor with suc- 
 cess. The Rev. Mr. George B. Miller, who had been 
 the assistant teacher of Mr. Hazelius in a classical 
 school at New Germantown, had accepted a call from 
 the congregation at Canajoharie on the Mohawk river, 
 after having united himself with the Synod and minis- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 161 
 
 terium of the State of New York. He was ordained 
 with Mr. Pohlman in 1820. The Rev. Messrs. Fran- 
 cis H. Guenther and Adarn Crownse, both former stu- 
 dents of Theology in Hartwick Seminary, had during 
 the Synodical year of 1823, officiated as candidates of 
 the ministerium in different congregations, the former 
 continued his services in the new congregations of Co- 
 lumbia, Warren and Danube, the latter was ordained 
 as pastor of the churches in Sharon and Durlach, 
 Schoharie county. The Theological students, John 
 Goertner, Jacob Senderling, Charles B. Wessels, and 
 Perry G. Cole, received license from the ministerium 
 in 1824, to labor in various congregations ; the Rev. 
 Mr. Peter Goertner was engaged as missionary to the 
 scattered Lutherans in Canada ; Rev. Jacob Senderling 
 to serve the newly formed congregation in the town of 
 Cicero, and Perry G. Cole among the churches in the 
 town of Davenport, Milford and Huntsville in Otsego 
 and Delaware counties. Mr. Charles B. Wessels as- 
 sisted the Rev. Mr. Frederick C. Schaeffer in the city 
 of New York for some time, and afterwards accepted 
 a call as an Academical teacher at Leesville, Lexing- 
 ton District, S. C. In the Academical department of 
 the institution 71 classical students had during that 
 year received instruction in the various branches, pre- 
 paratory for entering one or the other of the colleges of 
 the State. The Rev. John Peter Goertner was early 
 called from his ministerial labors. After having re- 
 ceived license in 1824, he spent one year as mission- 
 ary of Synod in visiting the vacant congregations in 
 the western and northern parts of the State, and also 
 
162 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ourvbrethren scattered over the wide extent of the Bri- 
 tish province of Canada. By this visit the drooping 
 spirit of OUJF brethren, destitute of the word of life was 
 greatly encouraged, and in the succeeding year the 
 folio win j-churches were supplied with pastors : The 
 congregations in Fredericksburg and ErnesUown in Up- 
 per Canada called the Rev. Francis H. Guenther; the 
 brethren v& Lowville, Lewis county and Le Ray, Jef- 
 ferson county, New York, the Rev. Philip Wieting ; 
 the congregations in Ghent and Melville, Columbia 
 county, accepted the services of the Rev. Jacob Ber- 
 ger ; and Mr. Goertner accepted the call to Johnstown, 
 Montgomery county. But the services of our brother 
 were not to be of long duration, though accompanied 
 by the divine blessing during their continuance. One 
 of the editors of the Lutheran Magazine in noticing Mr. 
 Goertner's departure from Johnstown for Europe with 
 the view to the re-establishment of his health, says : 
 " The position of the church, to which our brother min- 
 istered, was on his entering, literally a spiritual waste, 
 but by his indefatigable zeal and amiable deportment he 
 succeeded in organizing a congregation of sufficient 
 strength, to be able, in the early part of the past winter, 
 to give him a call for life. He had as it were, but 
 just entered upon his pastoral duties, when he was 
 called to relinquish them. He undertook a voyage to 
 Europe. Afier the return of our brother to the land of 
 his fathers, he was still unable on account of weakness 
 and indisposition to resume active labors ; and it soon 
 became apparent, that the Lord would call his servant 
 early from the troubles of time to a haven of rest. He 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 163 
 
 departed this life, at the house of his father, Feb. 26th, 
 1829. We close these notices concerning our depar- 
 ted Brother with an extract from the Johnstown Her- 
 ald,* written about the time of Mr. Goertner's taking 
 solemn leave of the congregation, to whom he had for 
 some time broken the bread of life. " Last Sunday 
 the Rev. Mr. Goertner pronounced his farewell dis- 
 course to a numerous congregation, who had assem- 
 bled to hear their pastor for the last time. The gloom 
 that pervaded the whole assembly before the preacher 
 rose, bore ample testimony of the estimation, in which 
 he was held by his flock, and that the occasion itself 
 was sufficiently eloquent, to stir up the melancholy 
 feelings, without the aid of words. The discourse it- 
 self was plain, simple and eloquent, f and was deliv- 
 ered in a feeling, unostentatious style. It was recei- 
 ved as the dying injunction of a spiritual father, whom 
 they should see no more forever. Even those, who 
 appeared there as idle spectators, departed, with the 
 gloom of melancholy hanging upon their countenan- 
 ces, admiring the ways of Providence in the selection 
 of an object for his afflictive hand." As we are en- 
 gaged in the delightful, though at the same time 
 mournful subject of recalling to our mind the remem- 
 brance of one departed friend, our thoughts very nat- 
 urally turn likewise to the memory of another brother, 
 
 * The editor of that political paper stood in no connexion with 
 our church. 
 
 t The text was : Only let your conversation be as becometh 
 the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you, or else, 
 be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one 
 spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. 
 
164 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 who was called from the things of time and sense to 
 rest. We think of our departed brother the Rev. Hen- 
 ry Moeller, who departed this life, September 16th, of 
 the same year, in Hartwick, Otsego, county, in the 
 80th year of his life. During the revolutionary war he 
 had served as chaplain of a German regiment in the 
 army commanded by General Washington. At dif- 
 ferent subsequent periods he was successively enga- 
 ged as Pastor of churches in Pennsylvania, afterwards 
 at Albany, Guelderland, Bern, and at last in Sharon 
 and Durlach, Schoharie county. His labors were 
 blessed, and many of his former parishioners are still 
 living, who bear in affectionate remembrance the ex- 
 hortations to godliness and piety, which this aged ser- 
 vant of Christ gave them while ministering unto them. 
 The last six years of his life Mr. Moeller spent in re- 
 tirement at Hartwick, being unable any longer to pur- 
 sue the active duties of his office, in consequence of 
 his bodily infirmities. Yet he occasionally preached 
 to the congregation in Hartwick in the chapel of the 
 Seminary. After the loss of his companion, who de- 
 parted in the triumph of faith, he felt lonesome, and 
 often spoke of his desire to follow her, and to be with 
 Christ, to whose service his life had been devoted. 
 His wish was granted September 16th, 1829, as above 
 stated. During his life he had exhibited a bright ex- 
 ample of the genuine spirit of religion. He now rests 
 from his labors, and his works do follow him. 
 
 In 1827 the Rev. George B. Miller, of Canajoharie, 
 accepted the call as assistant Professor of the Hart- 
 wick Seminary, in which station he continued until 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 165 
 
 1830, when in consequence of the removal of Dr. Ha- 
 zelius to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, he was elected by 
 the Trustees of the institution, Professor of Theology; 
 and the Rev. Christian B. Thummel, a graduate of the 
 university of Tubingen, entered upon the duties of the 
 second Professorship. Mr. Thummel remained for 
 two years in connexion with the Seminary. He then 
 accepted an invitation to superintend a classical Acad- 
 emy in the village of Clinton. Rev. Mr. Miller was 
 obliged for some time to attend alone both the classi- 
 cal and Theological departments in the institution. 
 Mr. Francis Springer, a student of Divinity in the Sem- 
 inary, was appointed tutor; and in 1832 the Rev. 
 Henry J. Smith received the call as assistant professor, 
 in which capacity the Rev. gentleman w r as active un- 
 til the autumn of 1835. 
 
 During the session of Synod in 1835 the following 
 report was made by the Synodical committee on Hart- 
 wick Seminary.* " The Rev. Charles Ji. Smith from 
 the committee on Hartwick Synod presented the follow- 
 ing report: " 
 
 "Your committee report, that a majority of their 
 number were present at the last annual examination 
 of the students of Hartwick Seminary and meeting of 
 the Board of Trustees. The examination afforded 
 plain evidences of industry and application on the 
 part of the students, and the utmost attention to their 
 advancement in the various branches of study on the 
 part of the Professors of the institution. 
 
 The average number of students during the past year 
 
 * Extracts from the minutes 1835. 
 
 15 
 
166 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 has been forty. Theological, three, Preparandi,ybw- 
 teen ; the last term." At the session of 1839 the Rev. 
 William D. Strobel, member and chairman of the Syn- 
 odical committee on Hartwick Seminary,* reported as 
 follows: "Your committee were present at the late 
 examination of this institution, and have but little to 
 add to what they have said on former occasions, rela- 
 tive to the indefatigable labors of Dr. Miller, and on 
 the course of instructions pursued. The institution will 
 be closed the present year, for the purpose of repairing 
 and enlarging the buildings , and we hope to see it put 
 on such a footing, as will gratify the best wishes of all 
 its friends and greatly enlarge its sphere of usefulness 
 to the church" In the course of the following year 
 Rev. Mr. William Strobel received and accepted the 
 call as Professor of Theology of Hartwick Seminary, 
 in the place of Dr. Miller who had resigned. Since 
 that time we have seen an account in the Ob server, of 
 the flourishing condition of that institution under the 
 direction of its new Principal. 
 
 But not only have the ministers and the people con- 
 nected with the Synod of New York during this whole 
 period, evinced an ardent desire to promote the best 
 interests of an institution, from which alone a constant 
 supply of ministers for the increasing wants of newly 
 formed congregations could be expected, they have 
 also been zealously engaged in Missionary exertions to 
 collect the scattered flocks, to organize them by the 
 election and instalment of church officers, and to preach 
 among them, until they could be supplied with pastors. 
 * Extract from the minutes 1839. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 167 
 
 This will appear from an extract of the report of the 
 Synodical committee on Missions and vacant congre- 
 gations of the year 1826. "Soon after adjournment 
 of Synod 1825, the committee engaged the Rev. Mr. 
 Jacob Scnderling as a Missionary to visit some of our 
 vacant churches in the West. Another brother trav- 
 elled as Missionary to our destitute friends in Canada. 
 On his return he reported to the committee, that many 
 families, belonging to our church, reside in the British 
 Province, and are very desirous of being supplied with 
 the blessings of the gospel." 
 
 The same brother on another occasion visited the 
 western part of the State and Canada again. Rev. 
 Mr. Wieting one of the former students of the Semi- 
 nary had taken charge of a newly formed congregation 
 near Lowville, Lewis county; and attended also to 
 the people in Le Ray, Jefferson county, among whom 
 he had organized a church. Another brother from the 
 Seminary, the Rev. Mr. F. G. Gunther was adminis- 
 tering the word of life to two Canadian congregations, 
 the one in Ernesttown, the other in Fredericksburg ; 
 who were not only making every exertion in their 
 power to render the situation of their minister comfort- 
 able, but he assured the missionary also, of having 
 cause to believe that his services are not vain in the 
 Lord. In Sidney, at Mohawk Bay, and seven miles 
 North East of that Bay, reside many families belong- 
 ing to our church, whom Mr. Guenther was occasion- 
 ally visiting. At Williamsburg, Dundas county, and 
 in the town of Osnaburg the Rev. Herman Hayunga 
 was successfully engaged in the labors of the ministry ; 
 
168 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 more than one hundred persons having given in their 
 names to be received as members of the church. The 
 people in the fourth concession were building a new 
 church. At Williamsburg the Lutheran church had 
 been deprived of their church and parsonage by the 
 treachery of a Mr. Wiegand, who formerly had been 
 the minister of this congregation, but who under pre- 
 tence of having the Elders sign a petition to the Cana- 
 dian Parliament, for assistance, had obtained their sig- 
 nature to a declaration, whereby the Elders, congre- 
 gation and minister gave in their adhesion to the 
 Episcopal church, of which fact the congregation only 
 bee ame apprised, when they saw their minister enter 
 in the costume of the priests of the church of England. 
 The larger portion of the church seceded, and decla- 
 red, that they had signed a petition, without inquiring 
 into its contents farther than what had been stated by 
 their minister^ and as these were differing from the 
 statement given them, they refused assent to the peti- 
 tion. But land, church and parsonage were gone, 
 and in possession of Wiegand ; the Rev. Mr. Hayun- 
 ga had, since his arrival in the province, several con- 
 ferences with the Bishop of Quebec on that subject, 
 and as far as we have been able to learn, the church 
 and glebe have been restored to the congregation. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Lawyer , who had originally devoted 
 himself to the study of the law, and being not only a 
 successful practitioner, but enjoying also the office of 
 clerk of the county of Schoharie, had freely given up 
 his temporal prospects for the sake of the gospel, and 
 had attended the Theological instruction of the Rev. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 169 
 
 Mr. Lintner, pastor of the Schoharie congregation. In 
 1826 Rev. Mr. Lawyer, after being licensed by Syn- 
 od, accepted a call from the churches ofMinden, Stone- 
 Arabia and Palatine. Difficulties of a serious nature 
 attended the entrance of our brother into his ministe- 
 rial duties. In Minden an impostor had created dis- 
 turbances among the people. In Palatine the congre- 
 gation had been so long without the advantages of a 
 stated ministry, that many felt indifferent, and mani- 
 fested no interest in the concerns of the church. In 
 Stone-Arabia, about the time and since the resignation 
 of their former Pastor, difficulties of another nature 
 existed, which rendered the situation of his successor 
 at first unpleasant. The Rev. gentleman expresses 
 himself in regard to the state of his churches in a let- 
 ter to a friend as follows : "I have located myself in 
 the congregation of Stone- Arabia, which is distracted 
 and divided. I found the church without order and 
 regularity. How can I describe the burden, under 
 which I am obliged to struggle, while laboring in this 
 vineyard, enduring the complaints of my friends, lis- 
 tening to their tales of trouble, and at the same time 
 inquiring into their difficulties, in order to give them 
 instruction and advice. But why should I complain ? 
 God has sent me here to take care of the spiritual con- 
 cerns of this destitute and distracted part of his church, 
 and I console myself, that he will enable me amidst 
 all difficulties to perform his work. Palatine congre- 
 gation is improving, and much engaged. The church 
 is now in external order. On the 4th of April they 
 met, chose Trustees, Elders and Deacons, and incor- 
 15* 
 
170 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 porated themselves. Yesterday I installed the Elders 
 and Deacons, which had a very happy effect upon the 
 church. With the Minden congregation you are not 
 unacquainted. I think the time is not far distant, 
 when this church will be completely united. My field 
 is large, and three flocks of wandering sheep roaming 
 over it, makes my duty as a shepherd extremely diffi- 
 cult and burdensome." In our old churches of this 
 state a new spiritual light seemed likewise to shine in- 
 to the hearts of the people through the instrumentality 
 of the servants of Jesus, who administered unto them 
 the word of life. In 1826 a Sunday School was es- 
 tablished in Cobleskill under the pastoral care of the 
 Rev. Mr. Lintner, which in 1829 counted more than 
 80 scholars. The teachers were chiefly selected from 
 the church officers, and the schools were kept on those 
 Sundays, when the Pastor preached in the town of 
 Schoharie. Scholars, having not the means of procu- 
 ring the necessary books, were furnished at the ex- 
 pense of the congregation. Brother Lintner in speak- 
 ing concerning the blessed effects of this measure says 
 in 1829: "This school has already awakened in the 
 whole congregation a more general interest in the re- 
 ligious instruction of our youths. Many parents, who 
 formerly manifested but little interest in the salvation 
 of their children, now seem to be awakened to a sense 
 of their duty, and \vith them to share in the benefits of 
 the school; and children who formerly spent the Lord's 
 day in habits of idleness and dissipation, may now be 
 seen collecting in the house of God, and mingling in 
 the devotions of the Sanctuary." In the city of New 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 171 
 
 York, where difficulties of a serious nature had exis- 
 ted for some years, between the congregations of 
 Christ-church and of St. Matthews, affairs brightened 
 in 1827. St. Matthew's church having been purcha- 
 sed by the German Lutheran congregation,* the Rev. 
 Frederick C. Schaeffer accepted of and entered upon 
 a call from a Lutheran congregation worshipping in 
 New Jerusalem chapel, New York. In the spring of 
 that year a Christian friend and benefactor, who wished 
 to remain unknown, had granted to that congregation 
 a place of worship, situated in Orange street, which he 
 had purchased for $ 10,000, of which the church under 
 the care of the Rev. Mr. Schaeffer took possession in 
 the month of May. Rev. Dr. Quitman having found that 
 the infirmities of age would not permit him any longer 
 to officiate to both the congregations of his charge, re- 
 linquished that of Wurtemberg, into which the Rev. 
 W. J. Eyer, who had pursued Theological studies un- 
 der the direction of Dr. Frederick W. Geissenhainer, 
 New York city, was inducted as pastor, by the Rev. 
 Dr. Augustus Wackerhagen, President of the Synod. 
 The same brother also inducted during the same year 
 Rev. Mr. Jacob Berger into his place and church at 
 Ghent, Columbia county. The Rev. President says 
 in his Synodical report respecting the induction of Mr. 
 Berger, that, " though it was on a week day, the spa- 
 cious church was crowded to overflowing, 120 com- 
 municants appeared at the Lord's table, and several^ 
 confirmations and Baptisms took place at the same 
 time," The Rev. Frederick Geissenhainer, son of 
 * See the President's Synodical report for 1827. 
 
172 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the Doctor, received and accepted a call from the 
 congregation of St. Matthews in the same year. In 
 speaking of the church, the Rev. President says in his 
 report: "In the year past, events have happened in 
 our portion of the church, which command our utmost 
 gratitude to the wise and good disposer of all human 
 events ; and prospects have been opened to us which 
 promise much for the time to come, and cannot but 
 engage our most serious attention. Our part of the 
 church has increased in various directions; the helping 
 hand of God has been manifest among us, the harvest 
 is, increased and the laborers have become more." 
 And at the close of his report he adds: "You will 
 perceive, my brethren, that the countenance of our 
 God has not been hid from our part of his church in 
 the Synodical year past. May his smiles make our 
 hearts glad, and fill them with hope and courage, for 
 the time to come ; and may the outward events, which 
 his wise providence permits to occur, teach us humil- 
 ity and a firm reliance on him, from whom our help 
 cometh, whose we are, and whom w r e serve, through 
 his son Jesus Christ our head and master. Amen." 
 In the Western part of the State a conference of the 
 ministers there residing, was formed during the year 
 1826. The principal objects of its establishment were 
 the following : Having perceived the beneficial results 
 of Synodical meetings in the churches, in whose midst 
 they had been held, and aw 7 are as the majority of our 
 larger congregations was situated in the Eastern por- 
 tions of the State, that it could not be expected, to 
 have many sessions of Synod in the Western regions, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 173 
 
 the brethren officiating to these remote congregations, 
 were desirous to afford a similar opportunity to their 
 people. Another object was, to connect these con- 
 ferences with protracted meetings during the sessions, 
 and also, that by so meeting, the clerical brethren be- 
 coming fully acquainted with each other's views and 
 sentiments on these occasions, might act in full con- 
 cert at Synodical meetings. One of the results of their 
 conferential deliberations was the resolution of pub- 
 lishing a monthly periodical, under the title of " The 
 Lutheran Magazine ;" which was commenced Febru- 
 ary, 1827, and continued with yearly increasing lists 
 of subscription to 1830 ; when the Brethren, wishing 
 to support " The Observer," a paper, intended to em- 
 brace the interests of the whole Lutheran church, clo- 
 sed the publication of a monthly pamphlet, which had 
 been established chiefly for the information of the 
 Northern portion of our Zion. Those brethren, who 
 met together in those by-gone days for mutual edifica- 
 tion and instruction, will doubtless still bear in grate- 
 ful recollection the blessings we and our congregations 
 received on these occasions ; and some of us have no 
 doubt often grieved, that the bond of Christian harmo- 
 ny and union, pervading our meetings, has since been 
 severed by opinions, which in themselves have noth- 
 ing to do with the kingdom of God. Another benefi- 
 cial result from these conferential meetings was, the 
 establishment of the Domestic Missionary Society of the 
 Lutheran church in the State of New York, in 1827. 
 The Honorable William C. Bouck was elected Presi- 
 dent ; five Vice-Presidents, George Jl. Lintner, cor- 
 
174 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 responding Secretary, George B. Miller recording Sec- 
 retary, John D. Lawyer Treasurer, and twenty-five 
 Directors. Their first annual meeting was held in 
 the church in Canajoharie, May 5th, 1829. William 
 C. Bouc/c in the chair. The report of the correspon- 
 ding Secretary is too lengthy for insertion, but from it 
 we learn, that during the first year the following Aux- 
 iliary societies were formed : Domestic Missionary So- 
 ciety of St PauPs church, Schoharie, May 1828. 
 Young Men's Domestic Missionary Society of Hartwick 
 Seminary, June 1828. Hartwick Auxiliary Mission- 
 ary Society, June 1828. Domestic Missionary Society 
 of Zion j s church, German Valley, Morris county, Neiv 
 Jersey, June 1828. Young Men's Missionary Society 
 of Stone- Arabia, July 1828. Domestic Auxiliary Mis- 
 sionary Society of Ziorfs Church, Cobles/dll, August 
 1828. Missionary Society of St. James' church, JVew 
 York city, Domestic Missionary Society of St. PauPs 
 church, Johnstown, Montgomery county, Dec. 25th, 
 1828. Auxiliary Missionary Society of Zion's church, 
 New Germantown, JY. J. The Missionary Society of 
 the united congregations of Sharon, February 2d, 1829. 
 The report further states, that the whole amount of 
 receipts from Missionary Auxiliary Societies, from do- 
 nations and collections in churches for Missionary and 
 Education purposes was $ 528 32. At the next meet- 
 ing of the conference the most important resolution 
 adopted was the following : Resolved, " That the con- 
 ference deems the introduction of some general and 
 uniform mode of discipline into our churches in this 
 State highly necessary and important, that this subject 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 175 
 
 be earnestly recommended to the consideration of the 
 Synod of the State of New York at its next annual 
 meeting, and that a copy of this resolution be trans- 
 mitted by the Secretary of conference to the Secretary 
 of Synod." 
 
 At the session of Synod, in 1829, the following 
 brethren were ordained : Rev. C. B. Thummel, and 
 Rev. John Eisenlord, formerly a student of the Hart- 
 wick Seminary ; Messrs. William A. Strobel and Hen- 
 ry J. Smith received license. Mr. Charles A. Smith 
 not having attained the age, prescribed in the Synodi- 
 cal constitution for licensure, though having passed 
 through a very satisfactory examination before Synod, 
 was recommended to licensure as soon as he shall 
 have attained the age prescribed. During this meet- 
 ing of Synod the resolution of the Western conference 
 concerning the introduction of a uniform mode of 
 church discipline was brought before Synod, and a 
 committee appointed to prepare a plan for that pur- 
 pose with instructions to report at the next yearly 
 meeting. The connexion of our Synod with the Gen- 
 eral Synod was also agitated, but no definite resolu- 
 tions were adopted on that subject. 
 
 For reasons, which will explain themselves in the 
 sequel, we think it necessary, to give in this place a 
 brief statistical view of the state of our church con- 
 nected with the Synod of New York in 1830. 
 
 The Synod consisted of 28 ministers, who served 
 37 congregations, in which there were about 8000 
 communicants. Fifteen students of Theology from 
 Hartwick Seminary had been admitted to Synod, and 
 
176 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 were engaged in the service of the church, except one, 
 who as bsf jra obs^r^ed, had departed this life. Seven 
 young brethren were preparing for the work of the 
 Lord in the same institution. Dr. Hazelius, who had 
 been Principal of the Seminary since 1815, received 
 and accepted a call as Professor of church history and 
 German literature in the Seminary at Gettysburg in 
 Pennsylvania, a Seminary which had been established 
 chiefly by the exertions of the three Synods of West 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina. 
 
 In the course of this year a convention of ministers 
 and delegates from a number of the western congrega- 
 tions assembled at Schoharie, to consider the expedi- 
 ency of forming a separate Synod. The desire pre- 
 vailing with many of the brethren to form a union 
 with the General Synod was doubtless one of the cau- 
 ses, promoting the separation. The measure was re- 
 solved upon and executed. The Synod was to be 
 styled u The Hartwick Synod and Ministerium of the 
 Evangelical Luth. church in the State of New YorJ. 
 Rev. Mr. Lintner was elected President, Rev. John 
 D. Lawyer Secretary; and Rev. Philip Wieting Treas- 
 urer, at the first Synodical meeting of that body, Sept. 
 24th, 1831. It consisted of 6 ordained clergymen 
 and one licentiate. The Rev. President stated in his 
 report, that " as the expediency of forming this Synod 
 had been fairly and freely determined before the con- 
 vention,* by which the Synod had been organized, it 
 
 *Had we been able to obtain a copy of the proceedings of that 
 convention, we would have considered it our duty as historian 
 to state the causes from that document; but we never received a 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 177 
 
 would not be expected and could not be deemed ne- 
 cessary, that he should now speak of this expediency. 
 Our churches, within the bounds of this Synod, who, 
 from their location, and various other considerations 
 are deeply interested in the decision of this impor- 
 tant question, were generally represented in that meet- 
 ing. Their views and wishes, as it regarded their 
 own interests and the general welfare of the church, 
 in connexion with this subject were fully expressedt>y 
 their representatives, who attended the convention, 
 and after a full and deliberate consideration of the 
 subject, it was unanimously resolved, to form this Syn- 
 od. This result, as far as I have been able to learn, 
 has, with a few individual exceptions, gratified the 
 wishes of ministers and congregations within our 
 bounds ; it has given general satisfaction to the friends 
 of our church in the United States, and I have no 
 doubt, that with the blessing of God, it will be atten- 
 ded with many important advantages to the interests 
 of that portion of our Zion, which is under our imme- 
 diate care." 
 
 This separation was unexpected to the brethren of 
 the Synod and Ministerial} of the State of New York. 
 They did not deny the right of the brethren of the 
 Hartwick Synod to form themselves into a new Synod, 
 whenever these brethren might suppose it conducive 
 to the well-being of the churches under their care, but 
 they regretted, that the measure had not been taken 
 with that kind and affectionate feeling, which co-la- 
 
 copy, and consequently can say no more on this interesting sub- 
 ject than what the President's report authorises us to say. 
 16 
 
178 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 borers in the vineyard of the Lord should always ex- 
 hibit towards one another. 
 
 We do not presume to judge in this matter, we are 
 acquainted with the brethren on both sides, and we 
 have no hesitation to say, that though this separation 
 might have been conducted with a greater degree of 
 courtesy on either side, yet we are persuaded, that in 
 the midst of human failings, the members of both Syn- 
 ods intended to do nothing, which might bring reproach 
 on the cause of Christ in the Lutheran church. Time 
 has shown this in a remarkable manner. Old com- 
 plaints have been forgotten, the spirit of amity and 
 brotherly love has chased away the dark clouds of 
 mutual suspicion ; the most friendly intercourse sub- 
 sists between the members of the Synods, and if there 
 is any strife between the two bodies, it is the desire to 
 keep pace with each other in the advancement of the 
 interests of the kingdom of God among men. Suc- 
 cess has attended both bodies ; previous to the sepa- 
 ration, the statistical* table of 1829 gives us 28 min- 
 isters in the field, the statistical notices from the res- 
 pective minutes of 1840 give us 48 ministers in both 
 Synods, a considerable number of newly organised 
 congregations, provided with Pastors, many of the 
 old churches revived and greatly increased, Missiona- 
 ry operations supported by both bodies, the Temper- 
 ance cause flourishing, the desire to promote the inter- 
 ests of the Hartwick Seminary equally conspicuous in 
 both ; and what is more than all, the operations of both 
 
 *Statistics of the Lutheran church in the United States as con- 
 tained in Vol. 3d. of Lutheran Magazine. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 179 
 
 Synods are carried on in the bonds of mutual love and 
 harmony. The congregation under the charge of Dr. 
 Philip F. Mayer in Philadelphia, a brother in connec- 
 tion with the New York Synod, has contributed in one 
 year (1839) the sum of $1339, in aid of Missions, 
 both foreign and domestic, in aid of Bible and Tract 
 societies, Sunday schools and in contributions for the 
 building of churches. A missionary and education 
 committee appointed by the Synod of New York is 
 actively engaged in supplying vacant churches with 
 ministers, and has entered into correspondence with 
 societies in Germany, whose object is, to supply the 
 German population in the United States with ministers, 
 by whom several brethren educated in Missionary in- 
 stitutions of Germany, have been sent over, who are 
 now laboring in congregations formed by their active 
 zeal and the co-operation of said committee. In the 
 Hartwick Synod we have likewise an active domestic 
 Missionary committee ; another on Foreign missions, 
 who is ready to co-operate with the Parent Society, 
 and have considerable funds in hand for the support of 
 that sacred cause. The Synodical minutes of that body 
 also inform us of the pleasing fact, that two young 
 men connected with the Synod are preparing for the 
 foreign Missionary field. 
 
 June 26th, 1832, the Rev. Dr. Quitman departed in 
 the 72d year of his life. w Since the year 1795, he had 
 been engaged in the service of the church, and as an 
 active member of the ministerium of the State of New 
 York, whose President he was for a long succession 
 of years, The following Biographical notices of his 
 
180 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 useful life we take from the Lutheran Observer : * 
 " Frederick Henry Quitman was born August 7, 1760, 
 in the Duchy of Cleves in Westphalia. Manifesting 
 at an early age superior talents and application to stu- 
 dy, he was placed by his father, who held a consider- 
 able office under the Prussian government, in the cel- 
 ebrated school of Halle, and thence transferred to the 
 university of the same city. Under the guidance of 
 Knapp, Noeselt, Niemyer, Semler and other eminent 
 professors in that distinguished seat of learning, he 
 made a rapid progress in the various branches of The- 
 ology, to which he had devoted himself, notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition of his nearest relations. After com- 
 pleting his Academic course with honor, and spend- 
 ing two years as private instructor in the family of the 
 prince of Waldeck ; he became connected with the 
 Lutheran consistory of the United Provinces of Hol- 
 land and was ordained by that body pastor of the 
 Lutheran congregation in the island of Curacoa in the 
 West Indies. In this situation he remained, useful, 
 respected and happy, till the summer of 1795, when 
 political convulsions induced him to convey his wife 
 to New York, with the intention of returning thence 
 to Holland. But an overruling Providence frustrated 
 this design, and opened to him a far more extensive 
 field of action in our own land ; first in the associated 
 churches of Schoharie and Cobleskill, and afterwards 
 in those of Rhinebeck, Wurtemberg, Germantown and 
 Livingston. In 1815, he relinquished the charge of 
 the last two of these churches, having prevailed upon 
 * Lutheran Observer, October 15, 1832. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 181 
 
 them to call a minister for themselves ; and in 1824, 
 that of the church of Wurtemberg, in consequence of 
 increasing infirmities. Four years subsequently he 
 was compelled by the same cause, to the deep regret 
 of his parishioners, to retire from all public labor. 
 Growing weakness and disease confined him to his 
 chamber until the 26th of June last, when it pleased 
 the Parent of mercies to release him by the hand of 
 death from the sorrows and troubles of this changeful 
 world. He was twice married, and has left behind 
 three daughters and four sons/' 
 
 "After the decease of the venerable Dr. Kuntze, Rev. 
 Mr. Quitman was raised to the Presidency of the Evan- 
 gelical nrinisterium of the State of N. Y.; to which, from 
 one term of office to another, he was unanimously re- 
 elected, until in 1825 he declined the appointment from 
 inability to travel. In 1811 he received the degree 
 of Doctor of Divinity from the university of Harvard. 
 He continued at the head of the Board of Trustees of 
 Hartwick Seminary through the partiality of his col- 
 leagues, so long as the condition of his health permit- 
 ted him to attend their meetings." 
 
 "The subject of this brief memoir possessed in a frame 
 of uncommon vigor, a mind of extraordinary powers. 
 Gifted with an astonishing memory, an acute judg- 
 ment and untiring industry, he gathered for himself 
 and others, large stores of general knowledge, and es- 
 pecially of Theological science. As a preacher he 
 was universally confessed to be mighty in the Scrip- 
 tures, convincing, eloquent, pathetic ; and as a cate- 
 chist, few in our country have equalled him. Besides 
 16* 
 
182 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the toilsome functions of a pastor, he assumed those of 
 a teacher of sacred and classical literature, and was 
 rarely without students in one or the other of these de- 
 partments. Long before missionary efforts were em- 
 ployed by our communion in the State of New York, he 
 was accustomed to pay an annual visit to destitute set- 
 tlements and new societies, daily dispensing the word 
 of salvation, and administering the ordinances of the 
 gospel, through a circuit from one to two hundred 
 miles. His dwelling was the abode of hospitality, and 
 his conversation, independently of the information it 
 yielded, w r as marked by pleasantry, good humor and 
 very unusual variety of topic and illustration. One of 
 the most striking traits of his character was frankness, 
 that abhorred all concealment and artifice. Although 
 constitutionally ardent, and occasionally betrayed into 
 vehemence by collision with minds of similar ardor, 
 he cherished no feeling of ill-will toward any, and 
 gladly acknowledged merit, wherever he discerned it. 
 The fear of man or the fear of consequences never 
 drove him from a purpose, formed under the convic- 
 tion of duty. And \vhilst liberal in his principles, and 
 most heartily opposed to schemes that seem to favor 
 the imposition of a yoke upon the brethren, he was 
 nevertheless equally averse from controversy, and from 
 all tendencies to lawlessness and confusion. His 
 grand aim in the sacred desk, was the inculcation of 
 the plain, but practical and mighty truths and lessons 
 of the religion of a crucified and exalted Redeemer." 
 4 'What amount of good resulted from the services of 
 our departed friend, cannot now be fully known, and 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 183 
 
 will be disclosed in the final issue of human affairs. 
 His example of indefatigable diligence, whilst enabled 
 to work in the vineyard of the Lord, is well adapied 
 to stimulate those, who have succeeded him in the 
 same momentous vocation. And the last years of his 
 life, though cheered by domestic affection and Chris- 
 tian hope, present an instance, calculated to inspire 
 habitual humility and prayerful dependence on God, 
 of the feebleness and imbecility, to which, in his un- 
 searchable wisdom, many of the most richly endowed 
 among his children are suffered to be cast down." 
 
 In 1837 our brethren of the Hartwick Synod had to 
 deplore the separation of a number of members and 
 churches from their ranks and connexion. The breth- 
 ren, John D. Lawyer, Philip Wieting, William Oil- 
 man, Lambert Schwac/chammer, ordained members, 
 Nicholas Van Mstine, Benjamin Dizfendorf, David 
 Oilman, Daniel Ji. Payne, Jesse S. Robinson, Henry 
 L. Dox, licentiates, and James Schulz, and Suffer anas 
 Ottman, styled preachers,* formed themselves into a 
 new Synod denominated " The Frankean Synod of the 
 Evangelical Lutheran church" 
 
 The reasons which these Brethren assign for separa- 
 tion and for forming a new Synod are stated by their 
 president in his address to Synod to be the following: 
 
 1. To license pious, intelligent men, sound in the 
 
 * Preachers, we suppose is another name for what in some of 
 the other Synods are called " Catechets;" and in our South Car- 
 olina Synod : Licensed Students of Divinity, at least we under- 
 stand the Rev. Mr. Lawyer to give this explanation of the word 
 in his address to the Frankean Synod, at their special meeting at 
 Richmondville, Schoharie county, October 5th, 1837. 
 
184 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 faith, though they may not be classically educated, or 
 have pursued a regular Theological course. 
 
 The evidence which has presented itself to our view, 
 and that the only one, of any measure taken by the 
 Hartwick Synod, approaching to something like a de- 
 sire of receiving only classically educated men and such 
 as have pursued a regular course of TJieology, we find 
 in the rules of the Missionary and Education Society 
 adopted by Synod in September, 1833, where we read 
 in the 8th resolution concerning the Education fund, 
 as follows : That " before any student can receive aid 
 from this fund, he shall obligate himself to pursue a 
 regular and full course of studies in some college and 
 Theological Seminary, which this Synod may approve; 
 and that he shall not be permitted to vary from such a 
 course as long as he is under the patronage of this Syn- 
 od" The reader may infer from the above, whether 
 the resolution excludes men not so educated from Syn- 
 od, the more so, as several actual members of the 
 Hartwick Synod, had not pursued the course prescri- 
 bed for future students of Divinity, under the patron- 
 age of Synod and continue to be members of Synod. 
 2. To license or admit none into the ministry who 
 are unacquainted with experimental religion. 
 
 As in the first paragraph, the Rev. President stated, 
 that the new Synod will license pious, intelligent men, 
 sound in the faith, and in the second, that the Synod 
 will not license or admit into the ministry, any who are 
 not acquainted with experimental religion, it must be 
 inferred that persons acquainted with experimental reli- 
 gion are the same characters which in the former par- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 185 
 
 agraph had been styled pious, intelligent men, sound in 
 the faith; and we are sure that no Lutheran Synod 
 would license or admit men of an opposite character 
 into the church. The difficulty consists in obtaining a 
 full knowledge of the fact. 
 
 3. To license applicants in the recess of Synod. 
 
 Whether the constitution of the Hartwick Synod pro- 
 hibited such licensure or not, we cannot tell ; but the 
 brethren of the new Franckean Synod had aided in 
 forming that constitution, did they secede from Hart- 
 wick Synod, because its constitution contained a clause 
 to which they had given their free consent ? 
 
 4. Not to admit unconverted persons as members of 
 the, church. 
 
 We believe, if the members of the Franckean Syn- 
 od can give us that infallible criterion, by which they 
 will in every case of admission to church membership 
 distinguish the converted from the unconverted man, 
 unless it is his conduct and whole conversation in life, 
 which however requires a great length of time and an 
 intimate acquaintance, for decision, the Synods of the 
 Lutheran church will thankfully receive that informa- 
 tion. For we do not believe that one Synod in our 
 American church would wilfully admit unconverted 
 persons to church membership. But there is another 
 view of the subject to be taken. We admit with the 
 whole Protestant church, that a distinction ought to 
 be made between the visible and the invisible church 
 of God. The latter consists of Saints, i. e. of the true 
 worshippers of God in spirit and in truth of every de- 
 nomination ; the former has tares growing among the 
 
186 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 wheat. Innumerable attempts have been made in the 
 Christian church ever since the second century, to es- 
 tablish a visible church of Saints ; but church history 
 informs us also, that all these attempts have failed. 
 Let us do all we can, that no shame may be brought 
 on the name of Christ, through inconsistent professors 
 of religion, and that is all we can do, and what the 
 Hartwick Brethren have assuredly always attempted to 
 do. 
 
 5. To restore to tlie churches the ancient form of 
 government and discipline of the Lutheran church. 
 
 The Rev. President of the Franckean Synod ap- 
 pears to mean by the given statement, that it is the ob- 
 ject of the members of that Synod, to restore to the 
 Lutheran church the congregational form of govern- 
 ment and discipline. So far as we know, and in as far 
 as the Rev. President explains his views on tkat sub- 
 ject,in his address, a large ^proportion of the Lutheran 
 church will go with him, and we further believe, that 
 the brethren, who make frequent use of the hard word 
 " Judicatory," mean very little else by that term, 
 than what others with the Rev. President denominate 
 the ancient form of government and discipline of the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 These five points are given by the seceding breth- 
 ren as the grounds of separation! We think the breth- 
 ren ot the Hartwick Synod would readily have come 
 to a satisfactory understanding on them all, if it had 
 been desired. But the Rev. President charges the 
 Hartwick brethren on his part w r ith holding the Augs- 
 burg confession as the standard of the church. In 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 187 
 
 how far this in the case, the reader may discover from 
 the following question, which according to the consti- 
 tution of that body is laid before the candidate for li- 
 censure : "Do you believe that the fundamental doc- 
 trines of the Bible, are taught in a manner, substantial- 
 ly correct, in the doctrinal Articles of the Augsburg 
 confession ?" 
 
 This Synod has since its formation greatly enlarged 
 its borders, and the number of its ministers. In as far 
 as they are instrumental in spreading the gospel of 
 salvation, we bid them " God's speed," but earnestly 
 pray, that they may cease to think, that the kingdom 
 of Christ is promoted through strife and condemnato- 
 ry declarations against professors of religion, whose 
 sentiments do not exactly square with those which they 
 themselves entertain. 
 
 On the 27th of May, 1838, the Rev. Dr. Frederick 
 W. Geissenhainer, pastor of the United German Lu- 
 theran churches of the city of New York, departed 
 this life, aged 66 years and 11 months. The Rev. 
 President of the Synod of New York, Rev. Dr. Waker- 
 hagen, gives the following notice of the clerical activ- 
 ity of this brother: "From the year 1808, with the ex- 
 ception of eight years, intervening between 1814 and 
 1822 he had been the religious teacher and counsellor 
 of the United Lutheran congregations in the city of 
 New York. His deep and extensive learning, his 
 great urbanity, and various other merits, cannot but 
 cause his memory to be cherished by all who were ac- 
 quainted with his character and worth." 
 
 The church in the State of New York suffered ano- 
 
188 .AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ther loss in the departure of the Rev. Jacob Berger, 
 minister of the congregation at Ghent, Melville and 
 Churchtown, Columbia county, State of New York. 
 He departed March llth, 1842, aged 44 years. He 
 was a graduate of Union College, and had studied 
 Theology in the Theological Seminary at Hartwick. 
 In his obituary notice the following remarks are made 
 respecting this brother, in the Lutheran Observer : 
 "Endowed with talents of a high order, and possessing 
 a mind well cultivated, he consecrated them to the 
 service of the Lord. He was licensed to preach the 
 gospel in 1825. He commenced his ministry in Ghent, 
 where the Lord owned and blessed his labors. Soon 
 afterwards he preached in Valatie, where he through the 
 smiles of God gathered an interesting congregation, 
 which has been for several years under the pastoral 
 charge of the Rev. Reuben Dederick. While attend- 
 ing to the spiritual wants of both these congregations, 
 he also assisted the venerable Rev. Uhl, in Church- 
 town. Here his labors have been crowned with emi- 
 nent success. Large numbers have from time to time 
 been added to the church. While there attending, a 
 few weeks ago, a series of meetings, designed for the 
 spiritual good of that people, assisted by several of 
 his ministerial brethren, an afflicting disease attacked 
 him, which was followed by the typhus fever, which 
 soon terminated his usef"! and eventful life. 
 
 He has fallen, a soldier of the cross, in the front of 
 the battle of f he Lord of hosts. In His cause he had 
 enlisted,- to Him, he had devoted his strength his 
 time his talents his all. He could not have fallen 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 189 
 
 in a holier cause. He labored as one, who must give 
 an account of his stewardship. Souls were his charge, 
 to train them for heaven occupied his attention by day 
 and his prayers by night. His work is finished, his 
 toils are over, his warfare accomplished, his reward 
 is on high. 
 
 He has left a wife and three lovely children to de- 
 plore his departure. In accordance with his request, 
 his remains were deposited in the grave-yard at 
 Churchtown, last Lord's day, March 13th, accompa- 
 nied by hundreds of those, who had for years listened 
 to his eloquent and heart-stirring sermons and appeals. 
 Though dead, he yet speaketh, by the fruits of his pi- 
 ous labors in the vineyard of his master. His memory 
 will be cherished his grave will be bedewed by the 
 tears of his affectionate family and relatives, by his 
 parishioners and ministerial brethren. 
 
 THE SYNOD OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 One of the most important subjects, under conside- 
 ration before this ancient and most numerous Synod of 
 the Lutheran church during its sessions of 1820 and 
 1821, was the formation of the General Synod. Its 
 delegation to the convention, that was to decide on 
 the expediency of the measure, had voted in the affir- 
 mative ; and with their consent and approbation the 
 constitution had been formed. While this subject was 
 still under consideration, the brethren in Maryland 
 had formed themselves into a separate Synod, in Oc- 
 tober, 1820. To the first meeting of the General Syn- 
 od, delegates had been appointed by Pennsylvania. 
 17 
 
190 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 This meeting took place in October, 1821, at Freder- 
 ickstown, Maryland. The Synods represented, were, 
 the Synod of Pennsylvania, the Synod of North Caro- 
 lina and the lately formed Synod of Maryland and 
 Virginia. But soon after the session, agitators, and 
 among them several clergymen, though not of the Lu- 
 theran denomination, had excited among the people 
 of the Keystone State fears and jealousies against the 
 General Synod, so that the brethren connected with 
 the Synod of Pennsylvania believed it prudent, to with- 
 draw from the association, lately formed. As the 
 German population extended its settlements West- 
 ward, the Pennsylvania Synod did not forsake the 
 flocks, over whom the Holy Ghost had placed them 
 overseers ; with great liberality this ecclesiastical body 
 provided the means, as well as missionaries, to build 
 up churches in the regions beyond the Alleghany 
 Mountains, and in the extensive fields of Ohio. The 
 great distance of these new congregations from those 
 parts of Pennsylvania, to which the activity of Synod 
 had hitherto and principally been directed, made the 
 formation of a new Synod in the Western regions de- 
 sirable and even necessary. This took place in 1818. 
 The new body assumed the title : The Evangelical 
 Synod of Ohio and adjacent States. Of its activity we 
 shall speak hereafter ; at present we have to follow our 
 Pennsylvania brethren in their exertions to build up 
 the kingdom of God within the sphere assigned them 
 by the Lord of his vineyard. The harvest was great 
 and extensive, but few, comparatively speaking, were 
 the laborers. The whole Lutheran church in Ameri- 
 
AMERtCAN LUTHEKAN CHURCH. 191 
 
 had then but one Theological school, at Hartwick in 
 the State of New York, and that was scarcely able to 
 supply the increasing wants of the Northern portion of 
 our church, and could therefore exercise no beneficial 
 influence on the middle, southern and western sections 
 of our country. Many of the laborers, who had for 
 years been engaged in the vineyard of the Lord had 
 been called from their labor, and their places had on- 
 ly in part been occupied by other ministers. The 
 names of Kuntze, Graff, Helmuth, Schmidt, Lochman, 
 Moeller, Endress, Quitman, Schaeffer and many oth- 
 ers, had been familiar to every Lutheran in bvrgone 
 days, but these men had descended from the stage of 
 action, though they continue to live in the remembrance 
 of all, who through their instrumentality have been 
 brought from darkness unto light and to the hope of 
 everlasting life. But when all those shall likewise have 
 departed, who now fill the stations of their fathers, 
 whence will a skilful master-builder derive materials, 
 from which monuments might be erected to those also, 
 who shall succeed them in after ages, since even now 
 a piece of rock cannot be found sufficiently large to set 
 a simple tombstone to the memory of some of those 
 good men, that have long since departed. 
 
 Obituary notices of Kuntze, Graff, Moeller and Quit- 
 man have been given ; we have in some instances hin- 
 ted at the faithfulness, with which the other departed 
 brethren in their day labored in the cause of God, but 
 we think we owe to them and to their services in the 
 church something more ; we only regret, that materi- 
 als are scarce, to do any thing like justice to their 
 
192 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 memory. Through the kindness of a friend we are 
 enabled to give a few sketches of the life of two dis- 
 tinguished members of the Pennsylvania Synod, who 
 departed this life during the present period of the his- 
 tory of our church, and who have frequently been hon- 
 ored by the choice of their brethren to preside in the 
 councils of the church. 
 
 Justus Henry Christian Helmuth was born at Helm- 
 stedt in the Duchy of Brunswick, Germany, May the 
 16th, 1745. He pursued Theological studies at the 
 university of Halle ; after the completion of which he 
 received the appointment as one of the teachers in the 
 Halle orphan-house. In the 24th year of his life he 
 received a call to America. He left his native coun- 
 try in the month of February, 1769, and arrived at 
 Philadelphia, April the 1st. During the first ten years 
 after his arrival in America the town of Lancaster was 
 the place of his pastoral activity. In 1779 he received 
 and accepted a call as minister of the German Luthe- 
 ran church in Philadelphia, which station he filled as 
 long as bodily strength permitted him. During the 
 time of his clerical activity both at Lancaster and Phil- 
 adelphia, he enjoyed the love and respect of a large 
 circle of friends in, as well as out of the congregation, 
 whom he served. In 1793, while the yellow fever was 
 raging with uncommon violence in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, at a season, when all, who had means of esca- 
 ping the all-devouring pestilence, left the abode of ter- 
 ror, when many ministers forsook their congregations, 
 and when even the bonds of blood were loosened, and 
 children fled from parents, husbands from wives, he 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 193 
 
 remained with the flock, over which the Lord had pla- 
 ced him as shepherd, willing to bring the consolations 
 of the gospel to the sick and the dying at the immi- 
 nent risk of his life. A few years previous to his de- 
 parture he resigned his office and spent his time in re- 
 tirement, waiting for the coming of his Lord. He left 
 these earthly scenes of trial and of sorrow, February 
 5th, 1824. We cannot close these short reminiscen- 
 ces of the life of one of the most active ministers of our 
 church, without an attempt to sketch the picture which 
 his successor in office, in the funeral sermon of the 
 departed pastor so eloquently drew of Helmuth's ac- 
 tivity as the minister of God to man, when calling up- 
 on his former parishioners to keep him in grateful re- 
 membrance, who for better than 40 years had dispen- 
 sed unto them the word of life : 
 
 "Every heart must acknowledge, that a grateful 
 remembrance is his due. What teacher, that spends 
 but one single year among a people, and is faithful 
 with the talent God has entrusted to him, will not gain 
 many a heart for himself? But he has lived so long 
 among you, that he saw his family grow up around 
 him, has labored among you so long, that he might 
 have said : " J have labored more abundantly than they 
 all." (1 Cor. xv. 10.) How immense, therefore, is 
 the debt of gratitude you owe to your teacher! how 
 large the number of those, who by his instrumentality 
 have been enlightened and brought to the truth, who 
 have been renovated and gained to virtue, who have 
 been comforted by him, and through his instrumental- 
 ity have obtained peace with God, through the word 
 17* 
 
194 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 of reconciliation : how great the number of those, who 
 have to acknowledge after his departure, that they owe 
 him much, yea all, in as much as their hour for the 
 kingdom of heaven struck under his instruction ! Ma- 
 ny a soul will he already have met in the realms of 
 bliss, to whom he was here the instrument in the hands 
 of the Lord to obtain that happiness, but surely there 
 are still many here, here in this edifice, who are the 
 epistle of Christ ministered by hi?n, written not with 
 ink, but with tlie Spirit of the living God: (2 Cor. iii. 
 3. ) Come then, render to him the sacrifice of your 
 love, pay him the last honor by preserving for him a 
 grateful remembrance in your hearts. And especially 
 ye, whose love is wont to endure, whom he received 
 when infants, instructed when children, whom as young 
 men and young women he dedicated to God at his al- 
 tar, and whose covenant of matrimonial love and faith- 
 fulness he blessed, ye, his small congregation within 
 the circle of the more extensive one, ye, who have so 
 frequently celebrated his birth-day with pious congrat- 
 ulations, celebrate now as often the day of his depar- 
 ture with pious gratitude. 
 
 Jan. 27, 1836, the Lord called another one of his 
 servants in our church from a world of sorrow and 
 affliction to his eternal rest. It was the Rev. Dr. 
 Frederick Shaeffer, Sen. 
 
 He was a native of Germany, born at Grunau, Nov. 
 15, 1760. It appears from the few scanty notices of 
 his life, that could be collected, that one of his uncles, 
 the General Superintendent at Rodhinie in the king- 
 dom of Wurtemberg, attended to the instruction and 
 
AMERICAN LUTIIERAiN CHURCH. 195 
 
 education of his nephew. By him he was inducted 
 into the church by confirmation in 1774, and under 
 his direction he commenced the studies of his profes- 
 sion. In 1775, he left Germany for the United States. 
 In 1785 he received and accepted a call from the con- 
 gregation at Carlisle in Pennsylvania, and became a 
 member of the Pennsylvania Synod. The time of his 
 activity in Carlisle was brief, for in 1790, he removed 
 to Germantown near Philadelphia as Pastor of the 
 German Lutheran congregation. In this station he 
 continued to preach the doctrine of the cross for 22 
 years. His activity and zeal in the master's cause 
 will still be remembered with gratitude by many mem- 
 bers of his former charge, for we can say with truth, 
 that our brother not only discharged the duties of his 
 pastoral office with faithfulness and in uprightness 
 among his people, but that it was the desire of his 
 soul, his thought by day and by night, that he might 
 win souls to Christ. His w r alk and conversation was 
 in correspondence with the doctrine he preached. In 
 1812 he was elected one of the pastors in the German 
 Lutheran Congregation of Michael's arid Zion's church 
 in Philadelphia; here he continued with the same 
 faithfulness and zeal, which he had exhibited in the 
 former circle of his activity, to proclaim the crucified 
 Redeemer as the only Saviour of sinners for another 
 22 years. During the time of his ministry in that 
 congregation, many and severe were the trials through 
 which our brother had to pass, but the Lord was his 
 stay and support in them all. In Oct. 1834, he re- 
 tired from his office and spent the remaining days of 
 
196 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 life with his eldest son, Dr. David Frederick Shaeffer 
 jun., at Fredericktown, Maryland. In 1835, he lost 
 the companion of his life, who had shared with him 
 for nearly 50 years his sorrows and his joys, and had 
 presented him with 8 children, some of whom had pre- 
 ceded him to the shores of eternity. He departed 
 this life as above stated, Jan. 27, 1836, at an age of 
 75 years 2 months and 13 days, as we have reason to 
 believe in the faith and hope of the Christian. 
 
 The brethren in connexion with the Synod of Penn- 
 sylvania, located on the west side of the Susquehan- 
 nah river met in Special conference at Greejicastle, 
 from the 6th to the 9th of Nov. 1824 and resolved the 
 formation of a new Synod, to be styled "the Synod 
 of West Pennsylvania," further, that this measure was 
 to be announced to the brethren, with whom they had 
 hitherto been connected, at their next Synodical ses- 
 sion in 1825; and that they should be requested, to 
 acknowledge the newly formed body after its organi- 
 zation, as one of the regular Synods of the American 
 Lutheran church; and that this organization should 
 take place at an adjourned meeting to be held at Cham- 
 bersburg on the first Sunday in September 1825. 
 
 In the circular of the convention, addressed to all 
 those of the clerical brethren living on the West side 
 of the Susquehannah river, who had been prevented 
 from attending the meeting at Greencastle, the reasons 
 for the formation of the new Synod are stated to be the 
 following : 
 
 1. The distance and expense connected with jour- 
 neying to and from the Synodical meetings of the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 197 
 
 Pennsylvania Synod. 2. The possibility of the meet- 
 ingof as mailer body in places, where one so numerous 
 as the Pennsylvania Synod could not find accommo- 
 dation, and that by this means a more general interest 
 in Synodical meetings would be excited among the 
 respective congregations and members. 3. The for- 
 mation of the new Synod would enable its members to 
 act with more precision and with a fuller knowledge of 
 passing events in the more limited circle of their activ- 
 ity, than could be done in the larger body of the Penn- 
 sylvania Synod. 4. Time would also be afforded to the 
 members to reflect upon and take into consideration 
 such measures, as the welfare of the church and the 
 circumstances of the times seemed to require. .5 The 
 formation of the new Synod would afford many oppor- 
 tunities for the brethren to become acquainted with 
 each other, to draw closer the bond of union, and to 
 gain more time for mutual edification and instruction. 
 6. This measure would finally afford more frequent op- 
 portunities than hitherto had been enjoyed, mutually 
 to watch over the private and official walk and con- 
 versation of the brethren, and to assist each other more 
 effectually in cases of difficulty. 
 
 The Synod of Pennsylvania gave its assent to the 
 proposed separation during its session at Reading in 
 1825 ; but even after this separation that venerable bo- 
 dy still consisted of fifty-one ordained ministers and 
 candidates. In as much as many reports injurious to 
 the cause of Christ had been industriously propagated 
 among the churches in connexion with the Pennsylva- 
 nia Synod, by men, hostile to the benevolent opera- 
 
198 AMERICAN LUTHKKAN CHURCH. 
 
 tions of the present day in the Christian church, the 
 Synod published in 1829 the following declaration in 
 reference to this important subject, with the view to 
 quiet the apprehensions of the people, as well as to 
 promote the cause of piety and religion : Resolved by 
 Synod : " Evil reports are seldom suppressed, but 
 generally and eagerly received and augmented. As 
 this is the case in the common concerns of life, so it is 
 also in regard to every thing that is and ought to be 
 sacred to man ; and the means of promoting the cause 
 of religion have therefore likewise suffered from the' 
 poisonous breath of calumny. It is a well known fact, 
 that Missionary, Bible, and Tract Societies have been 
 formed in Germany, England, Scotland, Switzerland as 
 well as in the United States of America, and that these 
 societies have been viewed and supported by thousands 
 of Christians, as beneficent institutions for the propaga- 
 tion of our religion. With deep-felt grief however we 
 have observed, that unworthy and ignoble views and 
 intentions have been ascribed to these noble efforts to 
 strengthen and support the sacred cause of Christianity; 
 and we learn with regret, that calumnies of this kind 
 also have found entrance into congregations, in con- 
 nexion with our Synod. Several of our ministers have 
 been accused as being favorable to said societies, from 
 impure and selfish motives. But we declare publicly 
 and solemnly before the world, that calumnies of the 
 kind alluded to, have never been propagated by any 
 individuals of our ecclesiastical body, much less by 
 Synod itself; and this declaration we make with the 
 view to set at rest apprehensions that may exist on that 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 199 
 
 subject in the bosom of any member of our commu- 
 nion." 
 
 And not only did the members of this Synod express 
 their approval of these efforts theoretically, but mani- 
 fested by the yearly Synodical appointments of mis- 
 sionaries to the destitute sections of our church within 
 the bounds of their operations, by pecuniary assistance 
 afforded to poor congregations for the erection of hou- 
 ses of worship, by an active support of the distribution 
 of the word of God, by the establishment of Mission- 
 ary, Bible and Tract societies in individual congrega- 
 tions, and in later years by the sending of a mission- 
 ary to India, that the cause of the gospel and its prop- 
 agation at home and abroad were practically considered 
 by these brethren as truly benevolent institutions. 
 
 Peculiarly gratifying was to the brethren the infor- 
 mation, that the emigrants from Germany to the far 
 West, had not been forgotten by Christians at home. 
 At the meeting of the Home Missionary Society of the 
 Pennsylvania Synod, in June, 1840, letters and docu- 
 ments were laid before the society, from which it ap- 
 pears, that our trans- Atlantic brethren have directed 
 their attention to the Western regions of the United 
 States as missionary ground, that missionary societies 
 have been formed in various places, desirous of co- 
 operating with Synodical authorities in this country, 
 towards the supply of our German brethren in the West 
 with the gospel. This information was the more grat- 
 ifying, because the number of young men, who receive 
 their education in our Theological institutions, is 
 scarcely able to supply the demands for ministers in 
 
200 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the old settled parts of the country ; and the proposi- 
 tion for united action in the field of home mission was 
 cheerfully accepted. Several brethren from Germany, 
 educated in the missionary institutes of that country, 
 have since entered upon the service in these States, 
 and are successfully engaged in collecting the mem- 
 bers of our Lutheran church living in the great Valley 
 of the Mississippi, East and West, into congregations, 
 and supplying them with the gospel. Among them 
 are the brethren Wynneken, Nulsen, Grabow, and oth- 
 ers. 
 
 At the last meeting of the Pennsylvania Synod, the 
 Missionary Society connected with that body resolved 
 in reliance on Divine Providence to commence a mis- 
 sion among the heathen of Hindoostan ; and Brother 
 Heyer was appointed as the first Missionary from an 
 American Lutheran Synod, to labor among the heathen. 
 That brother has accepted the important appointment, 
 and is now on his way to India. May the Lord Jesus 
 Christ bless the labors of his servant in India, during 
 the second century of our church, as he has blessed the 
 seed, sown one hundred years since by the first Mis- 
 sionaries from Europe, in these States during the first 
 century of our American church, and may the mis- 
 sionary spirit pervade every part of our Zion, and may 
 hundreds of witnesses to the doctrine of the cross arise 
 from every quarter to bring tidings of salvation to all 
 heathen lands. 
 
-AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 201 
 
 SYNOD OF MARYLAND. 
 
 We mentioned before that in the year 1820 the 
 brethren living in Maryland resolved to form a new 
 Synodical body, under the title : " Synod of Maryland 
 and Virginia. In 1825 this Synod resolved to com- 
 mence the publication of a " Periodical Work;" being 
 intended, according to the language of the proposals, 
 "to subserve all those purposes in regard to the Luthe- 
 ran churchy which other celebrated works do, to the res- 
 pective denominations, under whose patronage they ap- 
 pear." It was published during the first year of its 
 existence under the title : " The Evangelical Lutheran 
 Intelligencer," by a committee of clergymen, appoin- 
 ted by Synod. After the first year it was ably conduc- 
 ted by the Rev. Dr. David F. Schaeffer, junior, of 
 Fredericktown, Maryland. It was the first religious 
 periodical published by any Lutheran Synod in the 
 English language ; and though from want of support it 
 was discontinued after the appearance of the fourth vol- 
 ume, yet it is to be considered as the pioneer of all 
 the succeeding religious publications in the American 
 Lutheran church ; it has excited the slumbering spirit 
 of inquiry among us, and has been effective in pro- 
 moting the benevolent institutions of the church. The 
 brethren, connected with this Synod from its com- 
 mencement to the present day, have uniformly evin- 
 ced the most laudable zeal in the promotion of every 
 measure, calculated to advance the best interests of the 
 churches committed to their charge, as well as to pro- 
 mote the weal of the whole. They united forthwith 
 with the General Synod, and in fact contributed more 
 18 
 
202 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 \ 
 
 to its preservation, than any other body of our clergy- 
 men have done. They were foremost in the estab- 
 lishment and support of the Theological Seminary at 
 Gettysburg, and by the exertions of the ministers of 
 the Synod of Maryland the funds of that institution 
 have received greater accessions, than by the contribu- 
 tions of any other individual Synod in the United 
 States. A member of this zealous body, the Rev. Dr. 
 Samuel S. Schmucker, became the first Professor of 
 that Seminary, an d another brother, the Rev. Benjamin 
 Kurtz, the willing agent of the Directors, to solicit aid 
 from the friends of religion in Germany for the sup- 
 port of the institution, in which mission he proved 
 eminently successful. We also believe, that the breth- 
 ren of this Synod were the first to introduce Special 
 conferences into our American church. On these oc- 
 casions the clergymen residing near each other, met 
 once a month, in one of their congregations, spending 
 several days in the preaching of the gospel and in at- 
 tending to other religious exercises. At these meetings 
 theological questions may also be discussed ; conver- 
 sations are held concerning the spiritual state of their 
 respective congregations, and means are proposed and 
 resolved upon, which in the opinion of the conference 
 may have a tendency to promote the cause of religion 
 within the bounds of their activity. 
 
 That this active spirit of our Maryland brethren had 
 not only not abated after a zealous labor of fifteen years, 
 but had increased and borne fruit, is apparent from the 
 address of Brother Wachter, President of Synod in 
 1835, as appears from the following extract of his 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 203 
 
 address: "Since our last convention at Clear-Spring, 
 our church has enjoyed the benign smiles of her God 
 and Savior, her borders have been extended, her mem- 
 bers have been increased, the ranks of her ministers 
 have not been thinned, but on the contrary augmen- 
 ted, and in short the most favorable aspects present 
 themselves throughout. During the past year several 
 new congregations have been organized, new churches 
 reared for the Christian worship of Almighty God, and 
 such as have been in a state of dilapidation have been 
 repaired, and others enlarged. These facts speak loud, 
 and must no doubt be attributed to an increase of 
 vital godliness among our people, and the more gene- 
 ral diffusion of a correct knowledge of our doctrines 
 and church government. Indeed, the circumstances 
 and occurrences of the past year, cannot fail to fill our 
 hearts with gratitude to God, for the many proofs of 
 his loving kindness towards us. There is to my knowl- 
 edge not a church in our connexion, that has not con- 
 tinued to prosper and increase since our last annual 
 meeting. Conferences and meetings on Sacramental 
 occasions of two or three day's continuance, by min- 
 isters and Christian friends, in different congregations, 
 have exerted the happiest influence in awakening sin- 
 ners, and confirming believers in the glorious princi- 
 ples of the gospel of Jesus." 
 
 " Prayer meetings conducted in accordance with 
 the word of God, are generally well attended, and 
 perseveringly encouraged by ministers and people.- 
 Bible classes and Sunday schools are receiving more 
 and more attention, and their blessed effects are visi- 
 
204 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ble, wherever they have been introduced. The Tem- 
 perance cause, which is so closely united with the 
 benevolent operations of the day, is successfully pro- 
 moted in different parts of our church." 
 
 Soon after the establishment of the Seminary at 
 Gettysburg, an Education Society was formed by the 
 Maryland Synod for the aid of pious persons, unable 
 to furnish the means for the prosecution of Theologi- 
 cal studies at said Seminary. This Society has assis- 
 ted a number, who are now engaged in the vineyard 
 of the Lord, and this body is still furnishing aid to 
 the General Education Society engaged in the same be- 
 nevolent work. In 1835 the Synod formed itself into a 
 Missionary association, the principal object of which 
 is, to send Missionaries to destitute churches, and to 
 aid in the support of ministers whose congregations 
 are unable to raise a sufficient support for them. This 
 association declared itself auxiliary to the Central Mis- 
 sionary Society of the Lutheran church, in connexion 
 with iw. General Synod. 
 
 SYNOD OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 The ministers in Virginia, who had generally been 
 connected with the Synod of Maryland, whence also 
 the original title of that Synod has been, " Synod of 
 Maryland and Virginia," assembled in Special con- 
 ference, May 8th, 1829, with the view to consider the 
 expediency of forming a separate Synod within the 
 boundaries of that commonwealth. The question was 
 decided in the affirmative, and the first meeting of the 
 new Synod was fixed upon the second Lord's day in 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 205 
 
 October, 1830. At the formation of this body the 
 number of congregations in its connexion was twenty- 
 eight, with about 2000 communicant members, atten- 
 ded by seven ministers ; in 1840 the number of min- 
 isters was sixteen. As not all the brethren had laid 
 before Synod full parochial reports in 1840, we cannot 
 give an estimate of the increase of actual members, 
 conclude however, from the tenor of the minutes of 
 that year, after a ten year's Synodical existence, that 
 the increase of the communicant members within the 
 bounds of the Virginia Synod must be at least com- 
 mensurable with the increase of ministers. The report 
 of Rev. President Davis is highly encouraging, and the 
 minutes themselves bear witness, that all the brethren 
 in connexion with the Synod of Virginia are actively 
 engaged in the service of our common Lord and Sa- 
 vior. Conferential meetings, the maintenance and ex- 
 tension of Sabbath schools, Bible classes, appointments 
 of Lay readers in vacant and destitute congregations, 
 in short, every measure, calculated to promote the* 
 cause of religion, are forming prominent subjects for 
 deliberations in the Synodical sessions of those breth- 
 ren. As an additional evidence of the activity of the 
 Brethren of this Synod in promoting the best interests 
 of the church, we have to mention the publication of 
 " The Lutheran Preacher," by Rev. Lewis Eichleber- 
 ger, in monthly numbers, each containing two ser- 
 mons, from Lutheran ministers. In the first number 
 we find one sermon from Rev. D. F. SchaefFer, of 
 Frederick, Maryland, the other from Rev. Professor 
 G. B. Miller of Hart wick Seminary. At its appear- 
 18* 
 
206 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ance the Editor of the Observer in 1832, (Dr. J. G. 
 Morris,) remarks : " The appearance of this work has 
 excited considerable sensation. It was a bold underta- 
 king, and it is a department of periodical literature, 
 quite novel in our church. It appears however, that the 
 Editor, (Rev. Mr. Eichleberger,) has received assu- 
 rances of support from men high in influence and horn- 
 Hectical abilities ." We add to these remarks, that 
 circumstances have come to our knowledge, eviden- 
 cing, that the Lord has made this work a source of 
 blessing to many a soul. At the meeting of the Gen- 
 eral Synod in 1839, the Virginia Synod united with 
 that body ; its first delegates were the Rev. Lewis 
 Eichleberger and Rev. Mr. Hamilton. 
 
 SYNOD OF WEST PENNSYLVANIA. 
 We have noticed, page 196 of this volume, the for- 
 mation of the West Pennsylvania Synod in 1825. In 
 addition to the causes for separation, as given by the 
 brethren who met in convention at Greencastle, in 
 1824, we cannot but believe, that their desire of pre- 
 serving the union with the General Synod was not 
 forgotten, into which the Pennsylvania Synod had first 
 entered, but which afterwards had been given up by 
 that body, because prejudices began to run high in the 
 churches against the General Synod. Therefore these 
 brethren confirmed their union \vith the General Syn- 
 od at their first meeting at Chambersburg on the first 
 Sunday of September, 1825. At this meeting it was 
 resolved, to adopt the constitution of the ecclesiastical 
 body, to which they formerly belonged. Its first offi- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 207 
 
 cers were : Rev. Dr. John G. Schmucker, President, 
 Rev. William Shultz, Secretary, and Rev. Benjamin 
 Keller, Treasurer. 
 
 The publication of a periodical work, considered as 
 continuation of the Evangelical Magazine, which in 
 former years had been edited by the Synod of Pennsyl- 
 vania in the German language, was resolved, and a 
 pastoral address to the churches connected with the 
 Synod was sent forth with the minutes, which exhibits 
 in one view the rapid growth, the various necessities 
 and increasing wants of our church in this country, 
 and closes with an earnest and affecting appeal to all 
 the brethren "for greater zeal, more spirit and life in 
 the good cause" The necessity of such an appeal 
 manifested itself chiefly in the difficulties, which this 
 patriotic Synod experienced in the start of the period- 
 ical, intended to diffuse light and knowledge concern- 
 ing religion in general, and more particularly respect- 
 ing the state and condition of our own church. Four 
 years elapsed, ere the intended publication appeared 
 in public, but by the persevering efforts of the Synod, a 
 sufficient number of subscribers was at length secured 
 so as to protect the Synod against too overpowering a 
 loss. 
 
 The brethren of this Synodical body in connexion 
 with the members of the Maryland and North Carolina 
 Synods, resolved also to establish a Theological Sem- 
 inary. As no funds existed for an undertaking of so 
 great magnitude, agents were appointed to solicit con- 
 tributions to this great and noble work, and the appeal 
 to the churches and individual members was not made 
 
208 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 in vain. The Rev. Mr. S. S. Schmucker, of New Mar- 
 ket, Virginia, was appointed by the three Synods, Pro- 
 fessor of Theology ; the institution was located at Get- 
 tysburg, Adams county, Pennsylvania. The statutes, 
 formed by the three Synods, who established the Sem- 
 inary, declare in the second and third articles, that this 
 institution shall be under the sole government of a 
 Board of Directors, five from each Synod, connected 
 with the General Synod, who have contributed or do 
 contribute to the support of the Seminary, that this 
 Board is not in any respect, under the control of the 
 General Synod, but each member is responsible, indi- 
 vidually, to the Synod, by which he is elected.* From 
 the catalogue it appears, that one hundred and seven- 
 teen students have received instructions for a longer or 
 a shorter space of time, in that Seminary to the present 
 year ; some have departed at an early stage of useful- 
 ness, but the larger number are engaged in the vine- 
 yard of the Lord. The whole number of students in 
 1840 the date of the catalogue was twenty-six, and 
 fifty others were in the literary institutions of Gettys- 
 burg, preparing to engage in Theological studies. 
 The present faculty consists of the following brethren: 
 1. The Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Schmucker, chairman of 
 the faculty and professor of Didactic and Polemic, Horn- 
 iletic and Pastoral Theology. 2. The Rev. Dr. Charles 
 P. Krauth, Professor of Sacred Philology and Exege- 
 sis. 3. The Rev. Henry J. Smith, Professor of Ger- 
 man language and literature. 
 
 *See General catalogue and constitution of the Theological 
 Seminary at Gettysburg, printed 1840, page 3d of Statutes, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 209 
 
 July 10th, 1826, the Rev. Dr. Lochman departed 
 this life at Harrisburg, having been the Pastor of that 
 congregation for the last eleven years. Previous to 
 his removal to Harrisburg he had for some time offici- 
 ated as minister of the congregation at Lebanon, Dau- 
 phin county. In both places the Lord had blessed the 
 labors of his servant. We regret to say, that we have 
 not been able to obtain any particulars of our deceased 
 brother's activity in his master's cause. We have un- 
 derstood, that the Rev. Dr. Lochman received his 
 Theological education under the direction of the learn- 
 ed Dr. Helmuth. That he was held in high estimation 
 by his brethren appears from the notice taken of his 
 departure by the West Pennsylvania Synod during its 
 session at Berlin, Somerset county, in 1826. Having 
 stated, that by the early departure of their brother the 
 Synod had lost a truly worthy member, the church of 
 Christ an able advocate, and his congregation a faith- 
 ful pastor, the following resolution was passed as a 
 mark of respect and in remembrance of his services : 
 " Resolved, That Synod sincerely lament the death 
 of the Rev. Dr. Lochman, and that the members as a 
 mark of respect, and as a testimonial of their sorrow, 
 wear a crape for the space of three months." 
 
 The State of religion within the bounds of that Syn- 
 od, as well as the difficulties under which ministers 
 were laboring, cannot be better depicted than it has 
 been in the Pastoral letter of the Synod to the church- 
 es in 1826 ; of which the following is an extract : 
 
 "After a mature and prayerful consideration of the 
 state of our congregations, the following points were 
 
210 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 considered as essentially necessary to be presented for 
 your immediate consideration. First: In reference to 
 the ministers we remark, that there is too great an in- 
 equality in their stations, some having from six to ten 
 congregations under their charge, while others have 
 but two or three. It is impossible to persuade our- 
 selves to believe, that a minister, however strong his 
 bodily constitution and energetic his intellectual facul- 
 ties may be, is able to attend to so many congregations 
 in a profitable manner. How can he become w r ell ac- 
 quainted with his flock ? And unless he knows his 
 people, how shall he be able to suit his sermons and 
 exhortations to their particular and individual cases ? 
 And whence then, shall the congregations obtain the 
 necessary food for their immortal souls. Synod would 
 therefore most affectionately advise the brethren, to 
 effect a change in this respect, and to sacrifice their 
 temporal interest for the cause of Christ and for the 
 sake of immortal souls ! Secondly : In regard to our 
 congregations we have to observe, that ministers have 
 often complained to Synod, that their congregations do 
 not give them an adequate support. It is indeed to 
 be lamented, that so many members of our congrega- 
 tions act so inconsiderate and sinful in this respect ; 
 they care not, whether their ministers contend with 
 want and poverty, or not. 
 
 May this not be the reason, why so little good is 
 effected among you, in as much as the preacher must 
 perform his duty with a heart filled with sorrow and 
 care ? The Synod likewise ardently desires, that a bet- 
 ter and more complete church discipline might be in- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 211 
 
 troduced. We have often observed with deep regret, 
 that ministers pursue no uniform course in executing 
 church discipline in important cases, which produces 
 difference in opinion and deportment ; this certainly 
 will prove injurious to the church. Many have often 
 expressed a desire that something may soon be done 
 in this matter. Our brethren of the Maryland and 
 Virginia Synod, have published a church discipline 
 some few yars ago, and the happy and blessed effects 
 thereof are already visible among them. Finally, we 
 pray and beseech all our ministers, Elders, Deacons, 
 and church members, to assist us by Divine Grace in 
 breaking down the kingdom of Satan and in building 
 up the kingdom of God and his Christ," &c. 
 
 At the Synodical session of 1829 an education and 
 missionary society was formed, which is still in activ- 
 ity, and has effected and is effecting much good. At 
 the close of the Synodical sessions in 1835, the mem- 
 bers of Synod and other Lutheran ministers then pres- 
 ent, formed a central missionary Society, to the estab- 
 lishment of which the recommendation of a brother, 
 member of Synod, had greatly contributed. Agreea- 
 ble to its constitution this Society is also general. ( See 
 Art. ii. andix.) There is no doubt, such an institution, 
 if suitably supported, would prove highly satisfactory 
 and beneficial to the church at large, its situation how- 
 ever, spread as it is over the immense territory of the 
 United States, will require in the executive committee, 
 men, who are intimately acquainted with the spiritual 
 wants of every portion of the church, if their delibera- 
 tions and actions shall be truly general, which is not 
 
212 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 to be expected from a committee, composed of breth- 
 ren, who must necessarily, from the convenience of 
 frequent meetings, live in a central spot. The active 
 and pious spirit of the brethren of the West Pennsyl- 
 vania Synod* is therefore worthy of all praise, but we 
 cannot convince ourselves, that a central or general 
 missionary Society in our church will or can be as ef- 
 fective in every part, as Synodical missionary Societies 
 would be, if the same zeal were pervading every Syn- 
 od, which is evidently breathing in the meetings of our 
 brethren of West Pennsylvania. 
 
 SYNOD OF OHIO. 
 
 It has already been observed, that this Synod after 
 an existence of nine years consisted of twenty-five min- 
 isters, whose duty it was to take care of the spiritual 
 interest of ninety-five congregations. The want of 
 pastors was therefore severely felt, and Synod resolved 
 in 1830 to undertake the establishment of a Theolog- 
 ical Seminary, in reliance on divine aid. The com- 
 mittee appointed to take this important subject into 
 consideration, reported, that, in confidence of God, 
 who had blessed the pious exertions of a Franke, when 
 with four dollars and forty cents he resolved to build 
 an orphan-house, at Halle, the committee propose to 
 Synod, first: To inquire, if a brother, member of our 
 ecclesiastical body, possessing the necessary talents 
 and acquirements may not be prevailed upon to give 
 the instruction gratis for some time at least, until means 
 
 for his support can be found. Second : To inquire in 
 
 ** 
 
 *See minutes of West Pennsylvania minutes of 1835, page 20. 
 
-AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 213 
 
 how far the difficulty in procuring the necessary books 
 of instruction may be obviated by accepting the offer 
 of several brethren and other friends of the institution, 
 to lay the foundation of a library through the medium 
 of friends in Germany. This report being accepted it 
 was resolved, to engage if possible a brother of the ne- 
 cessary qualifications as teacher in the institution. The 
 Rev. William Smith, a graduate of ^ne of the German 
 universities offering his services in ^case none of the 
 other members of Synod were inclined to accept the 
 appointment, the offer was gratefully accepted, and 
 Rev. Mr. Smith was appointed Professor of The- 
 ology at the new Seminary ; which was hence to be 
 known under the title : The Theological Institute of 
 the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio. Its first lo- 
 cation was Canton, .Stark county, but afterwards it 
 was removed to Columbus, the capital of the State. 
 Though Mr. Smith had promised to give instruction 
 gratis, the Synod nevertheless resolved to offer him 
 such compensation as the State of the funds would 
 permit, but the Professor requested Synod, to employ 
 an assistant teacher for such compensation, and hon- 
 orably offered his own services for two years without 
 any remuneration. 
 
 July 14th, 1830, it pleased the Lord to call the Rev. 
 John M. Steck, Senior, to his rest. He was born 
 October 5th, 1756, at Germantown, near Philadelphia. 
 His brethren give him the testimony of a faithful ser- 
 vant of his Lord, who spared not himself in the cause 
 of Christ. The character of his addresses to the peo- 
 ple is described as engaging and affectionate. At the 
 19 
 
214 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 time of his departure he was minister of the congrega- 
 tions in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and its neighbor- 
 hood. In the German political paper of that town his 
 departure is announced, accompanied with the follow- 
 ing remarks : " The deceased was a faithful laborer 
 in the vineyard of the Lord, and the church has met 
 with a great loss in his death. He was an enemy of 
 all vice, and rebuked it without fear of men. He 
 spared no pains in the religious instruction of youth, 
 and thousands who by him were inducted into the 
 church by confirmation, cannot deny him the testimo- 
 nial of a faithful teacher. He was an affectionate hus- 
 band, a tender father and a benefactor to the poor. His 
 immortal spirit left the tenement of clay without a 
 struggle. For some time he had been aware of the 
 approach of death, without fear, for he looked beyond 
 death and the grave, into eternity, where he hoped 
 through grace to receive the reward of a servant, who 
 had desired to be faithful, from the hand of his Lord. 
 The patience and resignation in the will of Providence, 
 with which he bore his last sufferings, did demonstrate, 
 that he had experienced the power of the religion of 
 Jesus in his own soul. His age was 73 years, 9 months 
 and 9 days. He left a widow, 13 children and 66 
 grand- children to mourn his loss." 
 
 In 1831 the Synod of Ohio, in consideration that the 
 territory within which the Evangelical Lutheran con- 
 gregations were united in one Synod, was so extensive, 
 that the yearly meeting of all the brethren in one body 
 became burdensome, resolved to form two divisions 
 of Synod, denominated "the Eastern and the Western 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 215 
 
 Districts of the Ohio Synod;" it was further agreed, 
 that each of these divisions should yearly hold Synod- 
 ical meetings within its own bounds, and perform in 
 their sessions all the business pertaining to a Synod of 
 the Ev. Lutheran church, but that the bond of union 
 hitherto subsisting between the members of both parts, 
 should not be severed. A meeting of both Synodical 
 bodies is to be held triennially, in which the Synodical 
 acts of both the Eastern and Western District should 
 be subject to a revision, if necessary, and that in these 
 triennial sessions of the Ohio Synod every thing per- 
 taining to the welfare of the whole e. g. the affairs of 
 the Seminary, Missionary operations, &c., are to be 
 taken into consideration. 
 
 The prevalence of the English language in many 
 congregations, nad made the introduction of that lan- 
 guage into the church service and in the instruction of 
 the young, indispensable ; hence the expediency of es- 
 tablishing an English Synod within the bounds of the 
 German Synod of Ohio was discussed during its ses- 
 sion in 1836, and approved of, on conditions similar 
 to those, which had been stipulated respecting the 
 Eastern and Western District Synods. The Theolog- 
 ical Seminary continued to flourish under the direction 
 of its Professor, Rev. William S/nith, after its removal 
 and permanent location at Columbus ; but in 1839 it 
 pleased the Lord to deprive this institution of its teach- 
 er and the Synod of Ohio of an active and zealous 
 member, by calling Mr. Smith, in the midst of his 
 usefulness, from his labors to the rest above. The 
 Rev. C, F. Sclutefer, Pastor of the church at Hagers- 
 
216 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 town, Maryland, was called to fill the chair as Profes- 
 sor in the Ohio Theological institution. 
 
 In the session of the English Synod in 1840, diver- 
 sity of opinion respecting an amendment of the Syn- 
 odical constitution, became apparent. During the ses- 
 sion of the joint Synod of Ohio in 1836, the committee 
 appointed to draft a constitution for an English Luthe- 
 ran Synod in connexion with the joint Synod, had 
 reported the acceptance of the old constitution of the 
 Ohio Synod with a few amendments without any ma- 
 terial change. In the supplementary articles the fol- 
 lowing important items appear, a. u It shall be the 
 duty of this body to maintain an intimate union with 
 the German Synod and co-operate with the same as 
 far as practicable in all matters pertaining to the wel- 
 fare of each, b. It shall be the duty of this body to 
 send annually*? a delegate to attend the session of the 
 German Synod, and it is requested, that the said 
 Synod will reciprocate the same, as such a delegate 
 from the German Synod will rot only be honorably 
 and affectionately received, but regarded as necessa- 
 ry to promote and continue the intimate union al- 
 luded to in article first, c. It shall be the duty of 
 this Synod to communicate annually a correct copy 
 of all its proceedings to the German Synod, d. It 
 shall be the duty of this Synod, to transmit annually 
 one half of the monies paid into the Synodical Treas- 
 ury for the use of the Theological Seminary at Colum- 
 bus, and in all other ways co-operate in promoting its 
 prosperity, e. The Augsburg confession of faith shall 
 be the unalterable Symbol of the doctrines of this Syn- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 217 
 
 od, and all its members shall ex animo profess adhe- 
 rence to all its articles complete and entire, without any 
 reservation." 
 
 In the afternoon session of Synod on Thursday, 
 June 2d, 1836, the report of the committee had again 
 been taken up and the pro-posed constitution of the 
 English Lutheran Synod of Ohio was adopted with the 
 following amendment. " That this Synod does not 
 recognize any minister of any Synod, as member of 
 this body, who denies, that the doctrinal articles of the 
 Augsburg confession of faith are the fundamental doc- 
 trines of the Lutheran church. It shall be the duty of 
 this Synod to continue in the connexion aforesaid, with 
 the German Synod, and without the concurrence of 
 this Synod, not to unite with any other ecclesiastical 
 body beyond the District of the said German Synod 
 of Ohio." The 34th resolution of the German Synod 
 was then adopted in words following: Resolved, 
 u That the Synod approve this constitution, and herewith 
 grant permission and authority to organize an English 
 Lutheran Synod of Ohio, ivithin the boundaries of the 
 German Lutheran Synod of Ohio." The constitution 
 of Synod and resolution respecting its organization 
 were adopted as stated in the minutes, page 16, by all 
 the votes of the members present, except one. The 
 members of the new Synod present at this meeting of 
 the joint Synod, sanctioned this grant, authority and 
 permission of the joint Synod by their vote, and we 
 do not discover that in the first and second sessions of 
 the English Synod objections were raised against the 
 constitution adopted in 1836. Having therefore acted 
 
2 18 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 under the said constitution for some years, it would ap- 
 pear, that since there were two parties to the formation 
 of said constitution, viz : the English Lutheran Synod, 
 and the joint Synod of Ohio, if an alteration were to 
 take place, both parties ought to have united in this 
 change, but that an ex parte violation was inadmissible. 
 Some of the brethren however, thought otherwise, and 
 resolved on rescinding the supplementary Articles 1 
 and 7.* Hence a lamentable separation took place, 
 and we regret to state, that the breach is not yet heal- 
 ed. The Kirchenzeitung, edited and published at 
 Easton by the Rev, Professor Frederick Schmidt, 
 at its establishment, is now edited and published at 
 Pittsburg, by the same able Editor. The Western 
 District Synod of Ohio resolved in 1841 to commence 
 the publication of a second English church paper en- 
 titled : " The Lutheran Herald," and Rev. Mr. Green- 
 wald was appointed Editor, f In the same year two 
 active brethren in the ministry departed this life, who 
 had been connected with the Western District Synod 
 of Ohio ; viz: the Rev. Charles Henkel, Pastor of the 
 Evangelical Lutheran church in Somerset, Perry coun- 
 ty, Ohio, and the Rev. Jldolphus Conrad, Pastor of the 
 church at Tiffin. Rev. Charles Henkel was born at 
 New Market, Shenandoah county, Virginia, May 18th, 
 1798. Having acquired the necessary preparatory in- 
 struction, he studied Theology under the direction of 
 his father, the Rev. Paul Henkel ; in 1818 he received 
 license as a candidate of the ministry. In 1820 he re- 
 
 *See minutes of the joint Synod of Ohio of 1836, page 13, 14. 
 tSee minutes of English Synod, 1840, page 8. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 21& 
 
 moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he successfully la- 
 bored for seven years. In 1827 he accepted a call to 
 the Lutheran congregation in the town and vicinity of 
 Somerset, where he continued to officiate as a faithful 
 ambassador of Christ until the close of his life. His 
 brethren give him the testimony, that in his sphere of 
 labor as preacher of the gospel, he evinced much firm- 
 ness of character, perseverance in inquiries after truth, 
 and zeal in its propagation for the salvation of men. 
 In his social intercourse, they further state, he was 
 kind and amiable. With sincerity of heart, he com- 
 bined serenity of mind, and true philanthropy, and thus 
 gained not only the respect and confidence of his in- 
 timate friends, but also of all others, who knew him. 
 His unwavering faith in Jesus sustained him amidst 
 all the vicissitudes of his life, and especially amidst 
 the afflictions of the last year, during which his strength 
 of body wasted under the ravages of consumption, and 
 rendered him unable to labor much in the vineyard of 
 the Lord. His confidence in the Lord was most con- 
 spicuously displayed, whilst suffering on his bed of 
 sickness. On the day before his departure, when a 
 brother in office conversed with him about his situa- 
 tion, he said: "I have often been at the bed-side of 
 the sick and the dying, to impart consolation ; and the 
 doctrines, with which I endeavored to console others, 
 I now find consoling to myself." And as the same 
 brother conversed with him more fully about his latter 
 end, he said: "The doctrines, that I have believed 
 and preached during my life, I shall seal with my 
 death," Thus he fell asleep, peacefully and quietly, 
 
220 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 in the Lord, February 2d, 1841, in the 43d year of 
 his age, strong in faith and with a firm hope of eternal 
 life. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Conrad was born November llth, 1805, 
 in the Grand Duchy of Baden in Germany, and there 
 pursued the study of Jurisprudence. He emigrated to 
 the United States in 1832, and was for some time en- 
 gaged as classical teacher in the Seminary at Colum- 
 bus, during which time he devoted himself to the stu- 
 dy of Divinity. At the session of the Synod at Miam- 
 isburg in 1834, he was received as candidate of 
 Theology, and immediately engaged upon his field of 
 labor in Tiffin. In 1838 he was solemnly ordained 
 pastor. In his congregation he was beloved as a 
 father ; by all who knew him, he was honored and es- 
 teemed ; and by his brethren of the ministry he was 
 universally respected. Irreproachable in his life, truly 
 evangelic in his doctrine, faithful and fearless in the 
 ministry, incessant in labors for the glory of his Savior 
 and the salvation of his fellow-men, he presented a 
 bright pattern to his brethren in the ministry. Having 
 been for some time afflicted with an inflammation of 
 the lungs, brought on by his severe ministerial labors, 
 he returned on the 12th of March from his congrega- 
 tions, more indisposed than usual, and afflicted with 
 pain. During eleven days he was confined to his bed, 
 but the same Christian spirit, which sustained him in 
 his labors of the ministry, now also fortified him amidst 
 the scenes of his severe afflictions, and he placed his 
 trust in God as his father, reconciled to him in Christ. 
 He committed himself, his family, and his congrega- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 221 
 
 tions into the care of a merciful God, and his last 
 words were: " Father, I take hold of thy hands." He 
 died March 23d, 1841, in the 35th year of Jris age. 
 
 SYNOD OF THE WEST. 
 
 The tide of emigration having set in from the East 
 to the West, thousands of persons, connected with the 
 Lutheran church in the East, previous to their removal, 
 were carried along with the flood, and in Kentucky, 
 Indiana, Illinois, and still later in Missouri and Arkan- 
 sas, settlements of our friends were formed. In the 
 commencement of the fourth decennium of the present 
 century, Lutheran ministers began to collect and form 
 congregations in those distant States. Although these 
 new congregations and settlements were scattered over 
 a large tract of territory, the brethren were neverthe- 
 less anxious to form a Synodical association, after the 
 example of the churches in the more Eastern regions 
 of the great American Republic, for the better govern- 
 ment and benefit of the church. A Synod was there- 
 fore formed in 1835 ; of which brethren Jacob Krizgler, 
 William Jenkins , George Jaeger, J. J. Lehmanows/cy, 
 Daniel Sherer, and Abraham Reck, were the first mem- 
 bers. These brethren, as well as those, who since have 
 connected themselves with this ecclesiastical body, are 
 zealously engaged in the Master's cause. One of the 
 first inquiries after their organization was, the expedi- 
 ency of establishing a Theological Seminary, of ap- 
 pointing agents to collect funds for the same ; and also 
 the propriety of commencing a religious newspaper. 
 These brethren have both theoretically and practically 
 
222 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 expressed their approbation of all the benevolent in- 
 stitutions in the Christian church of the present day, 
 and declared their firm determination of promoting 
 Bible, Tract, Missionary and Temperance societies 
 within the sphere of their activity. This they evinced 
 in a special manner in the question of union with the 
 Synod of Indiana, a body, connected with the Synod 
 of Tennessee, the origin of which is found in the dis- 
 orderly separation of David Henkel, when under cen- 
 sure for alleged immoral conduct, from the Synod of 
 North Carolina. In relation to this union, the Rev. A. 
 Miller of the Tennessee Synod had directed a letter 
 under date of June 18th, 1840, to the corresponding 
 committee* of the Synod of the West, in which he con- 
 sidered the following propositions as conditional of such 
 union : 1 . u The Synod of the West is to rescind its res- 
 lution, which attaches it to the General Synod. 2. The 
 Synod of the West is to oppose the falsely called benevo- 
 lent societies of the, present day such as Tract , Tem- 
 perance^ Missionary , Bible, and a host of such like fan- 
 tastical societies ." The brethren justly resolved, that 
 a union, however desirable otherwise, is altogether 
 impracticable on conditions as stated in the letter of 
 A. Miller. 
 
 In 1841, this Synod united with the General Synod 
 of the Lutheran church, and met with a cordial recep- 
 tion. In the seventh annual session of Synod at In- 
 dianapolis, Indiana, the questions of establishing a 
 Theological Seminary within their bounds, and of pub- 
 lishing a religious paper in the English language were 
 *See minutes of the Synod of the West, session of 1840, p. 14. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 223 
 
 not only finally resolved upon, but measures were also 
 taken for the accomplishment of the objects contem- 
 plated. A commencement was made in collecting 
 funds for the Seminary, a constitution of said Semina- 
 ry was discussed and adopted, the Rev. Abraham 
 Reck was in connexion with one of the English Lu- 
 theran Synods in Ohio appointed Missionary to the 
 city of Cincinnati, both Synods engaging to contribute 
 to his support, so as to make up the sum of $400 for 
 that purpose, and finally it was resolved, that the new 
 paper was to be styled, " The Western Lutheran Ob- 
 server," and Rev. Mr. Yaeger was appointed editor; 
 its publication is to take place as soon as 1500 sub- 
 scribers shall have been obtained. It is then to be 
 published monthly, of a size equal to that of the pres- 
 ent Lutheran Observer, at $ 2 per annum. As some 
 of the brethren formerly connected with this body, had 
 asked and obtained dismission from their Synod with 
 a view of forming a " church union" between min- 
 isters and congregations of the Lutheran and Ger- 
 man Reformed churches, the Synod gave these breth- 
 ren and others, that might follow their example, the 
 prudent counsel, to desist from the undertaking, in as 
 much as it could not be expected, that the Lutheran 
 and German Reformed churches in the United States 
 will ever join in said union, and that the only conse- 
 quence would be the establishment of a new sect in 
 the States ; and they fraternally and affectionately ad- 
 vised them to enter into union either with the Lutheran 
 or the German Reformed church. 
 
 The history of the Lutheran church in the United 
 
924 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 States does not afford another example of an equally 
 rapid progress of a Synod, than is exhibited in the ex- 
 ertions of our brethren in the West ; six ministers uni- 
 ted in one ecclesiastical body in 1835, and in the 
 space of six years the number of ministers and licen- 
 tiates amounted to 23. May the blessing of ;he Lord 
 also in future crown the labors of our brethren ! 
 
 SYNOD OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
 The brethren of this Synod having felt in their afflic- 
 tions, occasioned by the breach in their ranks, through 
 the unchristian conduct of one man, perhaps more 
 than others, that the establishment of a Synod of ad- 
 vice was necessary for the benefit of the whole church, 
 manifested a deep interest in the formation of the Gen- 
 eral Synod, as well as in the establishment of the Sem- 
 inary at Gettysburg. The brethren laboring in the 
 State of South Carolina had since the formation of the 
 Synod of North Carolina, generally attended the an- 
 nual sessions of this ecclesiastical body ; but as a new 
 Synod was established in the former State in 1824, 
 the ministers of South Carolina asked and obtained 
 dismission from the Synod with which they had been 
 hitherto connected ; consequently the number of Lu- 
 theran ministers attached to the North Carolina Synod 
 was small. In 1827 there were thirty- four churches 
 in connexion with Synod, attended by thirteen minis- 
 ters. In 1830 the church sMffered a great loss in the 
 departure of the Rev. Charles Augustus Gottlieb 
 Storck, whom the Lord called to his rest March 27th. 
 Of his labors we have given a brief account during the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 225 
 
 period of our brother's greatest activity, from which it 
 is apparent, that his favorite occupation was, to labor 
 for the salvation of immortal souls and for the exten- 
 sion of the Redeemer's kingdom. His missionary 
 tours in South Carolina are still held in grateful re- 
 membrance by many, who through his instrumentality 
 were first brought from darkness unto light, and from 
 the kingdom of Satan unto the living God. This was 
 also the case in those congregations, over which the 
 Lord had appointed him shepherd. The larger number 
 of those, for whom he was the instrument of salvation, 
 have met him in the realms of bliss, many however, 
 still bless his memory in the land of the living, because 
 the Lord enlightened them through the instrumentality 
 of his servant. As a man of science, he was highly 
 esteemed by all who knew him in that respect. As 
 minister of the gospel he richly possessed the rare 
 talent, to create a deep interest for his subject in 
 the well informed, while he was fully understood by 
 persons of no education. As friend, husband and fa- 
 ther, his remembrance will be cherished, blessed and 
 honored, so long as one friend and one child lives, 
 to feel, what he was to them in these capacities in 
 life. During the last six years of his earthly existence, 
 bodily infirmities prevented him from attending the 
 service in the house of God, but still he cheerfully em- 
 braced every opportunity to counsel and comfort the 
 afflicted. 
 
 During his last illness, which continued for nine 
 weeks, he frequently gave, both to his family and vis- 
 iting friends, the assurance of his firm hope of eternal 
 20 
 
226 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 life, and of his desire, that true piety and the religion of 
 the heart might become general among mankind, and 
 especially, that these blessings might be universal in 
 the churches, to whom he had administered the word 
 of life. He departed as stated, March the 27th, 1830, 
 in the 67th year of his life, full of faith and hope in his 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Concerning the spiritual state of the churches under 
 the care of this Synod, the President Rev. Mr. Grae- 
 ber, expresses himself in his Report of 1834, as fol- 
 lows : " The events of the past Synodical year are in 
 some measure more encouraging than they have been 
 for several years before. Those churches in our con- 
 nexion, that could be regularly supplied, have not on- 
 ly considerably increased in numbers, since our last 
 annual meeting, but are also generally in a prosperous 
 condition. Several conferences and many prayer-mee- 
 tings have been held in different places ; and under 
 these solemn exercises we have every reason to be- 
 lieve, that sinners were awakened, and believers edi- 
 fied. Sunday schools are receiving more general at- 
 tention than heretofore." During the same session of 
 Synod a committee was appointed, the Rev. William 
 JlrtZj chairman, to inquire into the expediency of es- 
 tablishing a Theological Institution within the bounds 
 of Synod. The report of said committee laid before 
 the brethren in Synod assembled in 1835, is substan- 
 tially as follows : " The establishment of an Institution 
 for the education of young men for the ministry is not 
 only expedient but highly necessary, and the opinion of 
 the committee is, that the manual labor plan will sue- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 227 
 
 ceed best in this part of the country and prove more 
 suitable to the means at command than any other." 
 A committee of six was chosen to collect all the infor- 
 mation on the important subject that could be obtained, 
 to carry the plan into speedy and successful opera- 
 tion. In 1836 the Rev. Mr. Hazelius and Mr. Henry 
 Muller attended the meeting of Synod as commission- 
 ers of the S. C. Synod, to propose a union of effort in 
 sustaining the Theological Seminary established at 
 Lexington, S. C. The brethren Rev. Jacob Sherer, 
 Rev. Henry Graeber, Rev. Daniel Jenkins, Col. John 
 Smith and Mr. John Hottel, were appointed on the 
 part of the North Carolina Synod to confer with the 
 brethren from South Carolina on the important subject 
 of their mission, who reported, that the following- 
 propositions had been laid before them by the South 
 Carolina commissioners to wit: 
 
 1. " The Synod of S. Carolina allows that of North 
 Carolina such a share in the government of the insti- 
 tution established at Lexington, as their proportion 
 of funds shall equitably entitle them. 2. The stu- 
 dents from North Carolina, that enter the Seminary, 
 shall be entitled to free tuition as well as the students 
 from South Carolina. 3. The funds, collected by our 
 brethren of North Carolina, shall remain under the 
 control of the Synod of North Carolina, its yearly pro- 
 ceeds or interest only are to be made over to the Treas- 
 urer of our Seminary. Having heard the constitution 
 read, and having been made acquainted with the 
 course of studies pursued in said Seminary, the com- 
 mittee recommended the appointment of two Delegates 
 
228 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 one clerical and one lay delegate, to meet the Synod 
 of South Carolina at its session in November next, 
 with instructions from this body, to unite our efforts 
 with our brethren of South Carolina in the support of 
 their Seminary. This report being unanimously adop- 
 ted, the Rev. President William J^rtz and Col. John 
 Smith were chosen Delegates to the S^nod of South 
 Carolina. A committee was then further appointed to 
 prepare instructions for the Delegates ; each minister 
 was constituted an agent to solicit and raise all the con- 
 tributions he can, at home and abroad for said ob- 
 jects; and finally, said agents were requested, to report 
 to the Delegates aforesaid, wha-t sum may have been 
 raised or secured for the Seminary. During the ses- 
 sion of 1837 the Rev. President reported, that he 
 had discharged his commission, in meeting the breth- 
 ren of the Synod of South Carolina, and that in addi- 
 tion to the propositions laid before Synod at its last 
 annual session, the Synod of South Carolina had agreed 
 to the following : " That no business of any kind con- 
 nected with the interests of the Seminary shall be trans- 
 acted by the Board of Directors, or by any portion of 
 the Board, until the Directors residing in North Caro- 
 lina shall have been advised of the nature of such bus- 
 iness, and their opinion obtained in writing ; and also, 
 that no important change shall be made in the statutes 
 and government of the Seminary, even should the Di- 
 rectors in North Carolina agree to such alterations, 
 until the sense of the Synod in that State shall be 
 known ; and finally, that the right be conceded to the 
 two Synods respectively, to rescind this agreement and 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 229 
 
 annul the obligations, growing out of the same, when- 
 ever in the opinion of either body, such a dissolution 
 is advisable. These conditions of agreement the Syn- 
 od approved, and resolved, that this body regard the 
 institution of the South of so vast importance to the 
 whole Lutheran Zion, as to claim the united patronage 
 and liberality of all our people, and that this Synod 
 regard it as necessary to the future welfare of our 
 churches, that the students of Divinity, coming forth 
 from the churches under the care of this body, prose- 
 cute their studies at this Seminary. 
 
 Thus the union between the North and South Car- 
 olina Synods for the joint support of the Southern Sem- 
 inary was happily accomplished, and has to mutual 
 satisfaction continued ever since. 
 
 In 1838 it pleased the Lord, to release his servant, 
 the Rev. Gottlieb Schober, from the trials of an active 
 and useful life. Since 1810 our brother had been a 
 member of the Lutheran church and one of its preach- 
 ers in connexion with the Synod of North Carolina; 
 for several years he served as Secretary of Synod, and 
 by the partiality of his brethren had been elected 
 through several successive terms President of that ec- 
 clesiastical bocly, and for one term he was President of 
 the General Synod; the church, its benevolent societies, 
 especially the education and Sunday school cause, 
 have lost in him a liberal and efficient member and 
 supporter. For the last years of his life his health and 
 native vigor of mind had been rapidly declining ; but 
 his departure was nevertheless sudden and unexpected, 
 having been confined but one day. He left his fami* 
 20* 
 
$30 AMERICAN LUTHERAN OHURCIf. 
 
 ly and friends, June 29th, 1838, in the 82d year of his 
 pilgrimage. 
 
 In the report of Rev. William Artz, President of 
 Synod in 1840, the state of the church is briefly allu- 
 ded to in the following extract : " During the past 
 Synodical year our ministers have felt more than ever 
 the responsibility of their office, and have labored 
 faithfully in their master's work. The church is in- 
 creasing, her institutions flourishing and her prospects 
 brightening." May the Lord continue to bless the la- 
 bors of our Brethren in that State, and may the church- 
 es committed to their care continue to grow in grace 
 and in the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. 
 
 The ministers who live in the South-western part of 
 Virginia, and who found it difficult on account of dis- 
 tance regularly to attend the sessions of the Synod, 
 with which they stood connected, have in 1841 held a 
 convention, in which the expediency was discussed 
 of forming a new Synod. The question was decided 
 in the affirmative ; the new Synod is to be known un- 
 der the title : " The Evangelical Lutheran Synod of 
 the Western parts of Virginia" The brethren Jacob 
 and Gideon Sherer, Elijah Hawkins, John J. Greever 
 and Jacob Miller, constitute at present the members 
 of this New Synod. 
 
 SYNOD OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. 
 
 The records of this body commence with the year 
 
 1824. Previous to that period, the ministers laboring 
 
 in the interior of the State were in connexion with the 
 
 Synod of North Carolina, the Rev. Dr. Bachman Pas- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 231 
 
 tor of the church in Charleston, with the Synod of 
 New York, and the church at Eben Ezer still retained 
 its union with the churches in Germany, whence they 
 had hitherto been supplied with ministers. In 1824 
 the Synod was formed under the title : " The Evangel- 
 ical Lutheran Synod of South Carolina and adjacent 
 States" The Rev. Godfrey Dreher was elected its 
 first President, and Rev. Mr. Hosher Secretary. 
 
 The next following year Rev. Dr. Bachman of 
 Charleston united with the new ecclesiastical body. In 
 the year 1830 the association consisted of 7 ordained 
 ministers and five licentiates. As early as the year 
 1829 preparatory measures had been taken for the for- 
 mation of a Theological Seminary. The reasons in fa- 
 vor of this measure are given in the report of Rev. Pres- 
 ident Bachman, as follows : After having stated the 
 inadequacy of ministerial supplies within the bounds 
 of Synod, he says: u We have applied to our sister 
 Synods in vain for aid. So wide a field is opened to 
 them in the North and West, that they have no minis- 
 ters to send us, and it is believed, that our only per- 
 manent dependence under the blessing of God, will be 
 upon pious individuals, who will hereafter be educated 
 for our church ; who are natives of the States within 
 the bounds of our Synod, and who are attached to our 
 institutions and accustomed to our climate." In con- 
 sequence of the recommendation of the Rev. President, 
 measures were adopted by Synod for the formation of 
 a Theological Seminary. In 1829 a committee was 
 appointed, to raise funds for this object ; and in 1830 
 the following resolution was passed : Resolved, "That 
 
232 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 in humble reliance on the Divine blessing we now es- 
 tablish a Theological Seminary, to be conducted under 
 the auspices of this Synod, and that we by this resolu- 
 tion do consecrate our efforts to Him, who is the great 
 head of the church, the shepherd and Bishop of our 
 souls, God over all, blessed for ever." At the same 
 time Synod also resolved, to connect a classical school 
 with the institution, to elect a Board of Directors con- 
 sisting of ten members, a Treasurer and a Professor of 
 Theology. The members of the Board of Directors 
 were, Rev. John BacJunan, Rev. Godfried Dreher, 
 Rev. W. D. Strobel, Rev. Stephen A. Mealy, Rev. C. 
 F. Bergman, Col. J. Eigleberger, Col. West Cough- 
 man, Mr. Henry Muller, Mr. Henry Horlbeck, Major 
 Swygert. Mr. Henry Muller was elected Treasurer, 
 and the Rev. John G. Schwartz, Professor of Theolo- 
 gy. The permanent location of the institution w r as yet 
 postponed, and the Professor elect gave notice, that 
 for the present he Avould attend at his residence near 
 Col. Eigleberger's, ten miles irorri Newberry Court- 
 house, to the instruction of such Theological students, 
 from February 1st, 1831, as may have been approved 
 by the standing committee of the Board of Directors; 
 also, that four or five young gentlemen, who may be 
 desirous of pursuing a course of classical study, may 
 receive every requisite attention upon moderate terms. 
 While engaged in this important enterprise, the 
 brethren did not neglect the members of the church, 
 scattered in different portions of the State. The Rev. 
 William D. Strobel was engaged by Synod to labor 
 as Missionary during the S^nodical year 1829-' 30 ; 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 233 
 
 and it appears from his report,* that his exertions were 
 blessed by the head of the church. The Rev. Mr. 
 Schwartz was engaged by the society for the promo- 
 tion of religion in South Carolina and adjacent States, 
 to attend to the churches of Bethlehem, St. Luke and 
 St. Matthew, in Newberry, and St. Mark's in Edge- 
 field. His labors were eminently blessed, and our 
 brother enjoyed the full confidence of the members of 
 these churches. But his career was to be short ; for 
 wise purposes, to us unknown, the Lord called his 
 young servant away in the midst of his useful labors. 
 In the summer of 1831 he was seized with a violent 
 fever, which at first appearance seemed to yield to the 
 influence of medicine, but returning with increased 
 severity, put relief beyond the power of human means, 
 and on the 26th of August it terminated his valuable 
 life, having just reached the 24th year of his age. 
 
 The Rev. John G. Schwartz was born in Charleston, 
 S. C., in the year 1807, where he also received the 
 preliminary part of his education. Afterwards he be- 
 came an alumnus of the South Carolina College at 
 Columbia, where he graduated with distinguished ho- 
 nor in December, 1826. On his return to Charleston 
 he commences! the study of Theology under the di- 
 rection of the Rev. Mr. Bachman. In 1828 he was 
 elected junior Professor of languages in the Charleston 
 college. But desirous of serving the Lord as a minis- 
 ter of the gospel, he freely surrendered his present ad- 
 vantages as well as his fair temporal prospects of the 
 future, and engaged as a missionary among the desti- 
 
 *See minutes of Synod, 1830. 
 
234 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 tute churches in the interior of South Carolina. In 
 1830 he received the unanimous vote of Synod as 
 Professor of Theology in the new institution of South 
 Carolina. His friend and instructor, Rev. Dr. Bach- 
 man, in drawing an outline of his character, says: 
 " One great peculiarity in Mr. Schwartz, consisted in 
 a well regulated mind. His feelings, though warm, 
 were under the control of his judgment. He loved 
 study, but w r as also an interesting companion in so- 
 ciety. His mind was harmonious, and from his 
 looks and demeanor one could discover, that it was 
 at all times under a religious influence. His last 
 hours were in correspondence to that influence. 
 One evening late he called the students into his room, 
 and after one of them had read a chapter out of the 
 Bible, he prayed in his bed with a loud voice, for near- 
 ly half an hour. To his physician he observed : " See, 
 Doctor, how much better it is, to make our peace with 
 God in the time of health, than to wait, till we are 
 laid on a bed of sickness ; for repentance on a sick 
 bed is seldom of any avail." His mind was calm, 
 cool and deliberate, throughout his painful illness, 
 particularly so, a few moments before he died, when 
 he said: "I shall shortly enjoy the blessed light of 
 heaven, happiness and immortality. I am not afraid 
 to die, for I know that my Redeemer liveth." He 
 expired without a struggle and without a groan, hav- 
 ing the faculties of mind and speech to the last." 
 
 During the same year the church was bereft of the 
 services of another one of her sons, who had promised 
 to be a bright and shining light, and who in the short 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 235 
 
 course of his ministry, had been instrumental in lead- 
 ing many to that knowledge, which our Redeemer 
 terms " everlasting life." The Rev. President of Syn- 
 od remarks in his report of 1831 : " Mr. Wingart had 
 but recently returned from the Theological institution 
 at Gettysburg, where he had been highly respected for 
 his talents, his piety and worth. But his friends be- 
 held with anxiety and sorrow, that his constitution, 
 which had never been strong, had been attacked by 
 an insidious disease ; but trusting to that heavenly 
 physician, who is able to restore health and vigor to 
 the deceased frame and cheer the drooping hopes of 
 man, we still looked forward to the time, when his 
 recovery would restore him to usefulness in the church, 
 and by our advice he was solemnly ordained and set 
 apart to the work of the ministry. But on the 14th 
 day of January last, the God, whom he loved to serve, 
 and in whose cause he had spent the whole of his 
 short life, summoned him away. Mr. Wingart was a 
 young man of uncommon attainments, considering the 
 disadvantages, under which he had labored in his 
 youth, for the want of a systematic education. He 
 was in most cases his own instructor, every leisure 
 hour, that could be spared from those occupations, in 
 which he was necessarily engaged, was devoted to 
 books ; and all his reading and study had for its object 
 the promotion of his Savior's religion. For this ob- 
 ject he left his peaceful home, and devoted himself to 
 solitude and study in a distant part of our land. Here 
 he was attacked by a disease, which he bore with 
 Christian resignation. When he was summoned away, 
 
236 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 he appeared stiU at the post of duty, and meekly re- 
 signed himself to the will of God, trusting through 
 the mercy of his Savior for the salvation of his soul, 
 and the joys of heaven." 
 
 Preparatory steps for the adoption of several impor- 
 tant measures were taken during these sessions of 
 Synod ; among which were recommendations for the 
 more general introduction of Sunday schools, the adop- 
 tion of the plan of church discipline, as published by 
 the General Synod, the resolutions, respecting the 
 constitution of the Institution, and that no demands be 
 made on the Seminary, till the sum of $ 10,000 shall 
 have been realized ; that protracted meetings should 
 be continued to be held, whenever a fifth Sunday shall 
 occur in the month, that the permanent location of the 
 Seminary be deferred till the next meeting of the Syn- 
 od, and that during its recess the Board of Directors 
 ascertain, which of any two places selected, will hold 
 out the greatest inducements for the establishment of 
 the institution in that place, and finally, that Lexing- 
 ton village and Sandy Run, the latter comprising a 
 circuit of from one to two miles from the church, be 
 the places designated in the last mentioned resolution. 
 At the meeting of Synod in 1832 the members were 
 again called upon to mourn over the departure of two 
 valuable servants in the vineyard of the Lord. The 
 Rev. C. F. Bergman, Pastor of the church at Eben 
 Ezer, Georgia, and the Rev. Daniel Dreher, licentiate 
 of the ministry. 
 
 Christopher F. Bergman was born at Eben Ezer, 
 January 7, 1793. His father, the Rev. John E. Berg- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 237 
 
 man, born and educated in Germany, had been sent 
 to Georgia by the friends of the Salzburg emigrants in 
 the Father-land, as successor of their departed pastor 
 the Rev. Mr. Rabenhorst. For thirty-six years Mr. 
 Bergman the elder, spoke the word of life to the Eben 
 Ezer congregation. The subject of these brief memoirs 
 was the only son of his father, and from him he recei- 
 ved his education and direction in his studies. In the 
 year 1824, while the Rev. Dr. Bachman was endea- 
 voring to restore life and vigor into the old Lutheran 
 church in Savannah, and inducting Rev. Stephen A. 
 Mealy into the pastoral office in that city, he also ex- 
 tended his visit to Eben Ezer, and prevailed on the 
 young brother, to devote himself to the ministry in the 
 Lutheran church, and to fulfil the wishes of the con- 
 gregation to become the successor of his father, who 
 was fast sinking into the grave. At the Synod of 1824 
 Mr. Bergman was set apart to the work of the minis- 
 try by the imposition of hands. For this office he was 
 well qualified ; for he brought to the church a store of 
 learning as well as of piety. His life was most exem- 
 plary, and the sphere of his usefulness was daily in- 
 creasing. From the time of his ordination until his 
 last appearance in Synod, which was in 1830, he was 
 annually and unanimously elected Secretary of Synod. 
 He died, as he had lived, meek, humble, patient, 
 resigned, full of hope and confidence. To a visiting 
 friend, who had asked him, whether, if it was the di- 
 vine will, he would not wish to be spared a little lon- 
 ger to his dear family and congregation, he replied : 
 "If it is the divine will, I would rather go now, I 
 21 
 
238 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 feel, that for me to depart and to be with Christ is far 
 better I think, I can truly say, for me, to live is 
 Christ, and to die is gain." On being asked, whether 
 he had any doubts of his acceptance with God through 
 Christ ? he replied : " None. Blessed be the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I have no doubts." 
 About two o'clock, A. M., March 25th, he desired 
 the ministering brother to pray with him, and he dis- 
 tinctly though feebly repeated almost every word, and 
 concluded the prayer with " Jlmen" After a little 
 while he pressed the brother's hand and said louder 
 than he had yet spoken : "Farewell." He now re- 
 peated the last lines of the beautiful verse: "Vital spark 
 of heavenly flame, &c. 
 
 Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife, 
 And let me languish into life." 
 
 These were his last words, and a quarter before three 
 in the morning he ceased to breathe the agony was 
 passed and his liberated spirit departed to the Lord, 
 who gave it. 
 
 The Rev. Daniel Dreher, son of Mr. John Dreher, 
 of Lexington District, enjoyed the advantages of the 
 advice and instruction of pious parents during his 
 childhood and years of his youth, and by that instru- 
 mentality the Lord directed him early to the knowl- 
 edge of his sinful nature, the need of a Savior, and to 
 Jesus the friend of repenting sinners, whose merits he 
 embraced, through faith in application to his own soul. 
 Having found Jesus precious, and the rock, on which 
 he had built the house of his hope, he became anxious 
 to recommend him also unto others. Having given 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 239 
 
 some attention to the study of Divinity under the di- 
 rection of his elder brother, the Rev. Godfrey Dreher, 
 he was received by Synod as licentiate. He was an 
 acceptable and zealous preacher, and his remembrance 
 is cherished by all who enjoyed his acquaintance. He 
 departed in hope of eternal life. 
 
 During the recess of Synod, the Directors elected 
 the Rev. Dr. Hazelius, of Gettysburg, Professor of 
 Theology in the Southern Seminary, the permanent 
 location of which h^d been fixed in the village of Lex- 
 ington. At the session of 1833 the Professor elect was 
 received with affection and kindness by the brethren. 
 The Rev. Washington Muller, licentiate of the minis- 
 try, -was chosen Principal of the classical school. 
 Both institutions \yent into operation the first Monday 
 of January, 1834. Since that time to the centenary 
 year the institution has given the church twenty-one 
 ministers, who are now engaged in various portions of 
 our land proclaiming unto the people, that through 
 repentance and faith they may obtain the forgiveness 
 of sins, justification before God, and the hope of eter- 
 nal life, and we trust, that the blessing of God is rest- * 
 ing upon their labors. Seven students are now in the 
 Seminary and the classical institute, preparing to fol- 
 low their brethren in the field of labor. 
 
 , The session of this Synod \vas marked by another 
 important act, viz : The final resolution of this body 
 to unite with the General Synod of the American Lu- 
 theran church. The report on that subject, as pas- 
 sed by Synod,* was adopted by a unanimous vote. 
 *See minutes of Synod for 1833, page 12. 
 
240 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Synod having hitherto in a great measure been gov- 
 erned by certain standing resolutions, and when these 
 were found insufficient, by the constitution of the Syn- 
 od of New York, considering it necessary, to have its 
 own constitution in every respect, a committee consist- 
 ing of Mr. Hazelius, Dreher and Hope was appointed 
 to draft a constitution for the government of this Syn- 
 od, to be submitted to the consideration of this body 
 at its next session.* This constitution was adopted in 
 1834. Rev. Mr. Rizer having received an appoint- 
 ment from the committee on missions to labor in the 
 States of Georgia and Alabama, entered upon the du- 
 ties of his appointment early in December and contin- 
 ued the same till the close of April, 1834. In his re- 
 port the State of Alabama is represented as a wide 
 field of labor. On Mr. Rizer's return Mr. Harris offer- 
 ed his services in the same capacity, and was instruc- 
 ted to confine his labors to Monroeville and Flatt 
 creek in Monroe county, and Boque Chitto creek, 
 
 * In the minutes of 1833 it is further stated, that the plan of 
 a constitution, prepared some years ago "by a committee designa- 
 ted for that special purpose, be the basis of such constitution, 
 and that the committee cause a copy of said manuscript to be sent 
 to each minister of our Synod at least two months before the meeting 
 of the next Synod. This last underlined part of the resolution 
 was not executed for the following two reasons: 1. The chairman 
 of the committee could not prevail on Rev. Mr. G. Dreher, to 
 attend during spring and summer ; and 2. On account of the pro- 
 tracted illness of the chairman. Mr. Dreher knows, that the 
 manuscript copy was finished a few days previous to the session 
 of Synod, that the chairman read it to him at his, the chairman's, 
 house, and that Mr. Dreher there signed it as member of that 
 Committee, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 241 
 
 Dallas county ; the result of these labors appeared fa- 
 vorable, and Mr. Harris finally settled among these 
 distant brethren as Pastor. 
 
 One aged brother in the ministry, the Rev. Mr. J. 
 Y. Meetze, departed this life, May 7th, 1833, in the 
 77th year of his life. The Rev. President remarks in 
 his address : " Mr. Meetze had been longer in the 
 ministry, than any of the brethren now before me, with 
 one exception, and I need not add in the presence of 
 those who knew him long, and who knew him well, 
 that through the course of his long life he uniformly 
 adorned the doctrines he preached, by zeal, fidelity, 
 meekness, charity, and all those virtues, that are so 
 essential to the character of the Christian minister. 
 But we ought not to mourn the loss of a servant of 
 God, whom he preserved so long in his vineyard, 
 who was only removed, when his usefulness was at an 
 end, when life had become a burden, and when he 
 longed to be with his Savior." 
 
 In 1835, Synod resolved, "that both ministers and 
 lay delegates be requested to ascertain the sense of our 
 congregations in regard to a church convention, for 
 the purpose of dividing our territory in suitable min- 
 isterial Districts, to examine the discipline now par- 
 tially received, and to adopt one, in every respect 
 suitable to our situation and circumstances." In 1836 
 this important subject coming again before Synod, it 
 was resolved, ." that the resolution of last Synod con- 
 cerning the calling of a church convention, be left for 
 one year longer to the consideration of our churches, 
 and that the Rev. President be requested, to prepare 
 
242 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 and send a circular to all the congregations, so that at 
 the next meeting of Synod, we may have the opinion 
 of all our churches on that subject." The circular of 
 the Rev. President, having been laid before the church- 
 es, and the lay delegates at the session of Synod 1837 
 having stated, that the churches generally were in fa- 
 vor of a convention for the specified purposes, it was 
 resolved that the convention should meet at St. Mat- 
 thew's church, Orangeburg District, March 2d, 1838; 
 that each congregation, numbering less than one hun- 
 dred communicant members, should be entiled to one 
 Delegate, all over one hundred and under one hun- 
 dred and fifty, to two, and all over one hundred and 
 fifty, to 3 ; further, that all ordained ministers, as well 
 as licentiates, who have charge of churches, be mem- 
 bers of said convention. In pursuance of the arrange- 
 ments contained in the above resolution, the churches 
 elected their respective delegates in due form and 
 time, and convention met as agreed upon. A commit- 
 tee was chosen to revise and remodel the formula of 
 church government and discipline hitherto partially 
 adopted, and to lay their labors before the convention. 
 This being done, the new formula was read, carefully 
 discussed, altered and adopted by paragraphs ; and 
 when the vote was put upon its final passage, it was 
 carried by a unanimous voice and signed by all the 
 members. It was now, agreeably to a previous un- 
 derstanding, the duty of every minister, to bring this 
 formula, proceeding from the representatives "of the 
 whole church in connexion with our Synod, be- 
 fore each individual congregation, for their considera- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 243 
 
 tion, adoption or rejection. It appeared from the 
 reports of the ministers and churches, that were laid 
 before Synod, that this formula of government and 
 discipline has been approved by the congregations 
 generally, and adopted by them.* These proceedings 
 having been laid before Synod by the Rev. President 
 in his annual address, the committee to whom this por- 
 tion thereof had been referred, reported as follows : 
 "The subject of the church discipline, as brought to 
 view in the President's address, demands the serious 
 and prayerful consideration of this body. As far as 
 those congregations are concerned, that are governed 
 by a charter or corporation, your committee are of opin- 
 ion, that the formula never was intended to operate, 
 and in fact cannot operate upon those, who are merely 
 members of the corporation, and have not connected 
 themselves with the church, by a public profession of 
 religion. This formula was intended for the govern- 
 ment and discipline of our communing members only, 
 and as far as they are concerned, your committee rec- 
 ommend, that the formula be adhered to throughout 
 the whole bounds of our Synod. 2. Your committee 
 recommend, that as a final ratification of formula, it be 
 prepared for the press, and be published in connexion 
 with part of our Liturgy, the constitution of Synod 
 and the Doctrinal articles of the Augsburg confession, 
 with short explanatory notes. This report was unan- 
 imously adopted, and thus the labors of the conven- 
 tion were received by the church in connexion with 
 
 * For formula of church government and discipline see book of 
 Discipline published by order of Synod. 
 
244 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the South Carolina Synod as their church discipline 
 and formula of church government." 
 
 April 20th, 1840, it pleased the Lord to call the 
 Rev. David Hungerpealer, the pastor of the churches 
 at the Saltketchers and Shiloh on Edisto, unexpec- 
 tedly and suddenly from time to eternity. With the 
 Rev. President we may say, that this brother was sum- 
 moned from his post of duty, in the midst of his im- 
 provement, his activity and usefulness. He had been 
 for several years a licentiate minister in our church ; 
 and his walk and conversation were characterized by 
 great purity, meekness and humility. In his attention 
 to his studies for the improvement of his mind, and in 
 the discharge of his pastoral duties he evinced great 
 zeal and devotedness, and was justly regarded as 
 a useful minister in the sphere in which he was called 
 to labor. 
 
 In regard to the spiritual state of the church in South 
 Carolina, the Rev. President remarks in his report as 
 follows: "From the various churches within the bounds 
 of this Synod, we have received intelligence, which, 
 although not of the most encouraging character, leaves 
 no room for depression. In most of our congregations 
 valuable members have been added, and in none, that 
 we are aware of, have they been diminished : leaving 
 us the hope, that under the blessing of God our South- 
 ern Lutheran church is slowly on the increase." 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 245 
 
 THE GENERAL SYNOD. 
 
 This body was organized in 1821. Agreeably to 
 its constitution it is advisory, intended to cement the 
 union between the different State and District Synods 
 of the American Lutheran church. For fother partic- 
 ulars respecting all the objects of its organization we 
 refer the reader to its constitution, see Appendix, page 
 . Until the year 1830, the West Pennsylvania Syn- 
 od, that of Maryland and that of North Carolina, had 
 accepted the constitution and were acting under it. 
 In that year however, the Hartwick Synod united with 
 the General Synod; in 1833 the Synod of South Car- 
 olina. In 1835 the Synod of New York; in 1839 the 
 Synod of Virginia, in 1841 the Synod of the West ; so 
 that eight of the fourteen State and District Synods 
 meet biennially to renew the bond of brotherly love 
 and to devise such measures for the consideration of 
 the respective ecclesiastical bodies as appear condu- 
 cive to the welfare of the whole as well as that of every 
 individual part. The Seminary at Gettysburg, estab- 
 lished by the efforts and exertions of the ministers and 
 churches in Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Car- 
 olina, has experienced in a peculiar measure the fos- 
 tering care of the General Synod, for although the con- 
 stitution places the institution under the government 
 of a Board of Directors in no respect under the con- 
 trol of the General Synod, and though by the 4th Ar- 
 ticle of said constitution, the several Synods, who are 
 connected w r ith the General Synod, and have contrib- 
 uted pecuniary aid to the support of the Seminary, 
 shall elect their Directors in such a manner, as may 
 
246 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 be most expedient, by themselves, still this institution 
 is exclusively styled the Seminary of the General Syn- 
 od ; and its Directors are required to report biennially 
 the state thereof to that ecclesiastical body, agreeably 
 to the constitution of said Seminary. (Art. 11.) 
 
 Through the activity of the General Synod several 
 Societies have sprung into existence, calculated to 
 promote the work of the Lord within the bounds of 
 the Lutheran church, as well as in the world at large. 
 Among these societies we name, 1. The Sunday school 
 union of the Lutheran church, auxiliary to the Amer- 
 ican Sunday school union. 2. The Home Missiona- 
 ry Society. 3. The German Foreign Missionary So- 
 ciety, auxiliary to the American Foreign Missionary 
 Sociely. 4. The General Education Society. 
 
 At the last meeting of the General Synod a transfer 
 of the stock of the Book company of the Lutheran 
 church to the Synod for benevolent purposes was ef- 
 fected ; and it was resolved, that the appropriations 
 should be made in the following manner : One third 
 to the parent Education Society, one third for the relief 
 of superannuated ministers of the Lutheran church, and 
 their widows and children in indigent circumsta?ices , and 
 one third to be disbursed according to the pleasure of 
 the Synod and the Board of Directors, jointly ; at 
 the same time a committee was appointed for propo- 
 sing a plan to raise sufficient funds to purchase for the 
 use of the General Synod all the Stock of the Book 
 company, which they may not be able to obtain as a 
 donation. 
 
 As the year 1842 will complete the first century of 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 247 
 
 the existence of the Lutheran church in the United 
 States, it was resolved, that the General Synod res- 
 pectfully and earnestly recommend, that a centenary 
 celebration be observed in all the churches, connected 
 with this Synod, to last one year, commencing on Sun- 
 day the 31st of October, 1841, and terminating on the 
 31st of the same month in the year of our Lord 1842 ; 
 and that the leading object of this celebration be the 
 promotion of the spiritual and temporal interests of our 
 Zion, by increased fervor and faithfulness in prayer, 
 close and pungent preaching of the gospel, frequent 
 holding of conference meetings, and by special and 
 systematic exertions to obtain funds for the support 
 of the prominent benevolent institutions of our church. 
 It was further resolved, that an appeal be proposed on 
 the subject of the celebration, exhibiting the claims of 
 the several objects, for which funds are to be raised 
 and the obligations of the churches, to afford the de- 
 sired support ; and that, as a w^ell authenticated and 
 judiciously written life of Luther, setting forth his opin- 
 ions on cardinal Theological points of doctrine is still 
 a desideratum in the church, the Rev. Dr. B. Kurtz 
 was appointed to prepare such a work. 
 
 Having performed the task, w 7 hich we had imposed 
 on ourselves, of presenting to the American Christian 
 public a faithful picture of the origin, progress and 
 present state of the American Lutheran church, ere 
 we take a finalleave of you, dear Reader, we wish to 
 say a word to you, and especially to those among you, 
 whom our Heavenly Father's hand has planted with 
 us in the same bed of his spiritual garden. 
 
248 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Ought not the liveliest feelings of gratitude fill our 
 hearts, when we take a general view of our church as 
 planted in America and compare its present state and 
 growth with the small beginnings in the days of our 
 Fathers ? For we cannot deny it, rich are the fruits, 
 which the seed sown and watered with the tears and 
 the prayers of God's servants, whom a century since 
 he sent into his labor, has borne ! Seventy-five years 
 ago the American Lutheran church, united in the Penn- 
 sylvania Synod, consisted of forty congregations, scat- 
 tered over the States of New York, Pennsylvania, 
 Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Georgia ; at the com- 
 mencement of the present century, about two hundred 
 congregations under the care of seventy pastors con- 
 nected with the two Synods of Pennsylvania and New 
 York, composed the church : in its fifth decennium, 
 however, we number 733 churches; 367 ministers and 
 88000 communicants, under the care of fourteen State 
 and District Synods. Another cause of gratitude to- 
 wards God is the removal of those difficulties, with 
 which the founders of our church had to contend. 
 Poverty compelled almost every individual church to 
 apply to the Father-land for assistance, whenever they 
 desired to erect a tabernacle of the Lord, unless their 
 pastors were able to undertake the building of churches 
 at their own expense. In our day almost every indi- 
 vidual congregation possesses the means to defray the 
 expenses, and whenever these fail, the churches of 
 our own country are cheerfully opening the- hand of 
 charity for -the relief of poor brethren in the faith. 
 Ministers could only be obtained from distant Germa- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 249 
 
 ny in times of old ; now our Theological schools be- 
 gin to supply the churches with pastors. In bye-gone 
 days the poverty of the people compelled their minis- 
 ters to eat the bread of sorrow and of care ; but at 
 present every church can, if it will, give unto the la- 
 borer his hire. 
 
 However, while we have cause to rejoice at the re- 
 moval of these and other difficulties, which were pres- 
 sing hard upon our predecessors in the work of God, 
 we have to lament that many still exist, which hinder 
 the spiritual growth of the church. That spirit of con- 
 troversy, of egotism and of dogmatism, of which a 
 Muhlenberg, a Wrangel, a Keppele and others had to 
 complain in their day, has not left us yet ; and is des- 
 tructive of much good. It is true, it is a spirit not 
 unknown in the annals of our church almost from its 
 commencement. To what else can we ascribe the 
 numberless Theological controversies that sprung up 
 and were maintained with great obstinacy in our church 
 during the 17th century? Whence arose the opposi- 
 tion to Arndt, Spener, Franke, and other men of pie- 
 ty and learning, who were pleading the cause of vital 
 piety against the spirit of a dry orthodoxy? Have we 
 not to ascribe the Hyperorthodoxy of one century, and 
 the Bible-neglecting neology of another, to the same 
 spirit of controversy ? Exotic however as it is, this 
 spirit has found its way into the American church, it 
 opposed itself to the pious labors of Muhlenberg, 
 Wrangel, Handshuh, Kurtz, and many other servants 
 of Jesus in former days, and it does not cease its op- 
 Dosition in our own time! The habitation of this spirit 
 
250 AMERICAM LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 is the corrupted heart of man, his favorite chamber 
 there is denominated Pride. 
 
 The precepts and the example of our Lord lead us 
 into the path of patience, of forbearance and of love ; 
 but the spirit of the world into the way of controversy, 
 of egotism and dispute. This evil spirit pulls down, 
 but builds nothing up ; by his poisonous touch every 
 germ of true spirituality is blasted, every carnal seed 
 fostered and cherished. Under his influence the hu- 
 x man heart may be compared to a field unfit for the 
 production of wholesome food for man and beast, but 
 nevertheless covered with useless and injurious weeds. 
 
 The instruction of youth in the doctrines of the 
 Christian religion, that work, so highly honored by the 
 fathers of the reformation, a Luther, a Calvin, a Bu- 
 genhagen, and a Melanchthon, and so strongly insis- 
 ted upon by founders of more modern denominations, 
 a Zinzendorf, a Whitfield and a Wesley, that work, 
 which was dear also to the Fathers of the American 
 branch of our church, is too much neglected among 
 us in the present day. Authorities of great and good 
 men alone, ought not indeed sway us altogether. The 
 time was in our church, when Luther's words exerci- 
 sed a more formidable rule than Luther's sense ; that 
 time however, is passed away, we are fast verging to 
 the other extreme, in believing, that the great spirits of 
 the reformation scarcely possessed common sense, 
 when their deep-thought-theories do not square with 
 our superficial views of things. But still it is true 
 that the authorities of these great men alone ought not 
 to prevent us from research, and happily we know, 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHtTRCH. 251 
 
 that the value of religious instruction does not rest on 
 such authority alone ; we are not unacquainted with 
 the blessed effects of an early religious education, both 
 from the pages of history and our own experience. 
 Look at the history of Germany during the second 
 half of the 18th century; neology had overspread the 
 land, it was stated, that in all Protestant Germany there 
 were not six hundred ministers faithful adherents to the 
 doctrines of the Reformation. But the writings of 
 Arndt, Spener, Franke, were in every house ; the 
 Canstine Bible Institute had provided almost every 
 family, where the German language was spoken, with 
 the word of God, long ere the idea of a Bible society 
 was conceived in other countries ; the religious instruc- 
 tions of children by these very neologists must be con- 
 . ducted according to Luther's catechism or that of 
 Hidleberg ; for the parents, acquainted with the Ian* 
 guage and doctrines contained in the Postillas of Lu- 
 ther and of a more modern Rambach, and ignorant of 
 the philosophical phraseology of their pastors, deman- 
 ded the instructions of their children in the manner of 
 the forefathers ; these instructions drawn from evangel- 
 ical sources, preserved the religion of Christ in the 
 midst of neological preachers, so that, when with the 
 19th century a brighter star arose over the church, the 
 people cheerfully welcomed it as the guide to the babe 
 of Bethlehem. Such are the lessons, we may learn 
 from history. Experience is another teacher, and as 
 he approacheth nearer home, is apt to make the deep- 
 er impressions. Many of us still remember the time, 
 when remissness in the religious instruction of chil- 
 
 I 
 
252 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 dren was a fault in our preachers, seldom discovered 
 but least forgiven ; and can we forget, that this instruc- 
 tion peculiar to the German churches created so strong 
 an attachment to that church, that it almost amounted 
 to a fault ? This instruction is now sparingly impar- 
 ted, and what is the consequence ? The attachment 
 to .the church has been weakened so much, that the 
 causes of this alarming fact have frequently been made 
 the subject of inquiry in our church paper, and we are 
 sorry to say, that among all the causes that were as- 
 signed, we have missed the one, which is at the root 
 of the evil, viz: u The remissness of many of our pas- 
 tors in the religious instruction of our youths ." Would 
 this remissness exist among us, were it not for that 
 selfish spirit ? But his baneful influence expends still 
 farther. One hundred and thirty-five years have pas- 
 sed away, since the Missionary spirit manifested itself 
 in the Protestant church, and shewed the first signs of 
 life in that portion of Protestantism, with which we are 
 particularly connected. Missionary exertions have 
 been made first at Halle, in Denmark and in Norway. 
 The love to Jesus, the friend of repenting sinners, and 
 the experimental knowledge of that peace, which pas- 
 seth all understanding, had excited the desire in many 
 pious hearts, to impart these blessings to distant hea- 
 then nations. From Halle the missionary zeal spread 
 over other countries and other denominations, but 
 gradually diminished in our own church, and the in- 
 quirer into the cause of this dereliction will soon dis- 
 cover that the spirit of controversy and of egotism has 
 not been inactive, though the main cause is to be 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 253 
 
 sought in the departure from Scripture doctrines and 
 the adoption of neological systems. When men like 
 Bolzius, Gronau and Lembke in the South, and simi- 
 larly minded men in the North, were exercising their 
 beneficial influence on the American Lutheran church, 
 we see them engaged with a Whitfield, a Wesley and a 
 Tennant, in forming plans for the instruction of the In- 
 dian and the negro races in our country; but these plans 
 were neglected and forgotten through the same spirit, 
 which prevents all unity and harmony of action ; until 
 a few years since, when an attempt at least was made 
 to revive the Missionary zeal in the American Luthe- 
 ran church ; and would to God! that zeal might con- 
 tinue to increase until it shall have pervaded the whole 
 body! 
 
 Another evil we have to lament in our American Lu- 
 theran church, arising from the same source ; it is the 
 dispute about old and new measures. Among the old 
 measures, which we love, we place religious instruc- 
 tion of the young at the head ; the reasons are appa- 
 rent from what has been stated on the subject. The 
 new measure that is to take the place of the elder sis- 
 ter, are protracted meetings, to produce deeper im- 
 pressions on the minds of the people, than ordinary. 
 We believe that such meetings are salutary, the truths 
 of the gospel are presented to the auditors in a varie* 
 ty of forms ; the manner of one minister is well calcu- 
 lated to make an impression on some, on whom the 
 mode of another in exhibiting Christian doctrines is 
 not so successful ; but we cannot view them as sub- 
 stitutes of catechetical instruction ; unless this founda- 
 22* 
 
254 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 tion is laid, the superstructure will in most cases prove 
 ephemeral. Let us therefore combine the old and new 
 measure, and we shall soon behold the fruit ! But can 
 we unite old and new measure men ? We fear it is 
 impossible. O ! Thou Spirit of Jesus, instruct Thou 
 the professed followers of Christ to forsake the road 
 of contention and to tread in the paths of love. We 
 might suppose that experience of the past would ren- 
 der men cautious for the future. But it does not ap- 
 pear to be the fact. This is evident from the view 
 which many men take of the purity of the church of 
 Christ. 
 
 Attempts have been made since the middle of the 
 second century to establish a visible church on earth 
 free from tares ! and though the experience of sixteen 
 centuries has proved these attempts abortive, unmind- 
 ful of the Savior's warning ; Matthew xiii. 30 : u Let 
 both grow together until the harvest, and in the time 
 of the harvest I will say to the reapers, gather ye first 
 together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn 
 them, but gather the wheat into my barn ; " there are 
 men who still persist in them, deaf to the voice of 
 warning and experience ! But while we disapprove 
 of the premature zeal of pulling up the tares, we are 
 equally averse to that spirit, which rejects every salu- 
 tary church discipline. The Savior will, that we should 
 admonish the erring brother and in case of incorrigi- 
 ble obstinacy remove him from our communion. 
 
 Again there are two other extremes, equally averse 
 to the true welfare of the church. On the one hand 
 we see men in the church of Christ, preferring the wis- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. fc 255 
 
 dom of this world to the wisdom of Him, who has 
 made the heavens and the earth ! men, who will re- 
 ceive no doctrine as a divine truth, which reaches be- 
 yond the bounds of their mental powers ! Is human 
 intelligence the highest in existence ? Can human rea- 
 son fathom that wisdom, which has produced the earth 
 and all the heavenly host ? Can human wisdom ex- 
 plain, how the union of body, soul and spirit compose 
 the Being, we call man ? Then only, when all the 
 mysteries of creation shall no longer be mysteries to the 
 human mind, then perhaps may the worm of dust, (\e- 
 nominated man, constitute his own wisdom the meas- 
 ure of divine doctrines. But as matters stand now, 
 the presumption of these men does not consider, that, 
 while the doctrines of Sacred writ have stood during 
 millennia as monuments of divine wisdom, they have 
 to change their proud systems more than once in the 
 course of a decennium. 
 
 But injurious and ruinous as it is to the progress and 
 extension of Biblical truth, to place human wisdom on 
 the throne of God, it is no less so, on the other hand, 
 when men reject the use of sound reason in religion, 
 altogether yielding to the suggestions of a wild imagi- 
 nation. The Lord our God does not demand the zeal 
 of a blind faith from us, he directs us to the Scripture, 
 to the law and to the testimony of prophecy, it is his 
 will, that we should have our mental eyes open to the 
 facts taught by the experience of other ages, with the 
 view to learn, that human wisdom is insufficient in it- 
 self to dive into the depths of divine wisdom, and 
 having discovered this truth, it is our duty to yield to 
 
256 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 the suggestions of our understanding, to acknowledge 
 the necessity of a divine revelation, and to examine 
 where it is to be found. And if the result of a pray- 
 erful examination is the consent of mind and heart, 
 ' the Bible is that divine revelation,' we are again to 
 employ our mental eye in studying this w T ord of God, 
 and to accept in faith the will of our heavenly Father. 
 To the fulfilment of that duty we are directed by the 
 enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, who improves 
 a variety of circumstances of sorrow and joy, occurring 
 in, our passage through life for that purpose, and all 
 we have to do in this work of grace, is, to imitate the 
 flower of the field, that opens itself to the cheering in- 
 fluence of the sun, with that single difference, that 
 while the effect of the light of this world is irresistibly 
 exercised upon the flower, we are to be ware f lest 
 we do despite unto the spirit of grace. Having yiel- 
 ded to that beneficent influence so as to produce in us 
 the change of heart and will, that blessed 'revelation 
 given us in the word of God, will be our sufficient 
 guide to everlasting life. For being persuaded, that 
 its promises proceed from God, and that it is true, 
 that Jesus came into the world to seek and save that 
 which was lost, and knowing, that we were lost, we 
 stand in need of no supernatural token, to assure us of 
 the good will of our heavenly Father towards us, it 
 is enough, that he gave his son for those who were 
 lost to learn also, that with him he will give us every 
 other needful gift. 
 
 But in the midst of these difficulties let us not des- 
 pair. If Luther^when the powers of Rome in their fall 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 257 
 
 gathered strength to crush the work he had commen- 
 ced in the name of the Lord, could sing : 
 
 "A firm support is our God, 
 A strong defence and weapon." 
 
 may we not follow his example in our day of compara- 
 tive light, and in trials, deserving no comparison with 
 those, which he and his coadjutors endured ? That 
 pow r er so formidable in the days of the reformation is 
 broken, its traditions, decretals, councils and interdicts 
 can scarcely make a weak impression upon its own 
 adherents. Without fear of the stake we as Protestants 
 profess before the world that rule of faith, held forth 
 by the Apostles and Prophets, of which Jesus Christ 
 is the corner stone. To this foundation all parties 
 have to return, if we shall behold the dawn of univer- 
 sal Christian light and knowledge. We also are aware 
 that the Biblical truths, on which we build, have stood 
 the ordeal of criticism, applied to them by the most 
 learned men, provided with the most powerful weap- 
 ons. Through this ordeal others have still to pass, 
 and the time is come in our country, when Zion's 
 walls shall be assaulted, by men, who borrow their 
 arms of attack from the armory of those, who nearly a 
 century since fabricated these weapons in Europe, and 
 happy will we be, if we in America can have recourse 
 to the arms, which were able to blunt the sharp edge 
 of the hostile swords. But what proof can we give, 
 that our church in the father-land has passed through 
 this ordeal ? We reply, a proof satisfactory to a can- 
 did mind! Human science, so called, is one of the 
 means, by which an attempt is made to sap the foun- 
 
258 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 elation of our religion. If those branches of knowledge 
 abused for that purpose were truly deserving the name 
 of science, we might have cause to fear, but men fre- 
 quently draw general inferences from isolated facts, 
 and as often too x from parts, w y hich under different cir- 
 cumstances assume a different aspect. For instance, 
 the science of geology is supposed to be sufficient, to 
 subvert the account of Moses respecting the creation, 
 because it is thought, that the less or more advanced 
 state of decomposition in which the layers of lava are 
 found, the eruption of which is known in regard to 
 time, will afford a scale, by which not only to measure 
 the time of the eruptions of other Volcanos, with whose 
 history we are unacquainted, but also to draw r infer- 
 ences in reference to the age of other layers of lava 
 which are discovered to be in a more advanced state 
 of decomposition. By this means a calculation has 
 been produced, which makes the age of our earth illy 
 to square with the assertions of the Jewish law-giver. 
 Though not professing to be skilled in geology, still 
 we know with every agriculturist of our country, that 
 the state of the decomposition of common manure does 
 not depend so much on time, as on other circumstan- 
 ces. It is a fact, that common manure w r ill sometimes 
 be decomposed in a very short time, and at another 
 the same Jdnd of manure \vill lie undecomposed for a 
 much longer space of time ; and we hope not to judge 
 rashly, if we infer from these well known and univer- 
 sally observed facts, that the time of decomposition of 
 any matter ascertained in one or two cases, is no cri- 
 terion to draw r a general inference, as to every case. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 259 
 
 Such calculations however, are now making in the 
 United States, and it is apparent, they find many ad- 
 mirers and applauders. * With stronger weapons of 
 criticism than geology as yet affords, the learned ene- 
 mies of Christianity, that sprung from the French and 
 English schools of unbelievers, have laid siege to al- 
 most every expression of the Bible, especially in Ger- 
 many, ever since the middle of the 18th century. 
 The time was, when complete victory seemed to crown 
 their efforts, but that time is past. At every German 
 university we now find pious men of deep erudition, 
 successfully repelling the attack from strong conviction 
 and proclaiming the Bible as the word of salvation. 
 They, from their store of research, impart the means 
 unto thousands and thousands again, not only to resist 
 manfully the attacks of the enemy, but also to drive 
 him from the field ; able to say with a Paul, " I am not 
 ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the pow- 
 er of God unto salvation to every one that belie veth." 
 And are not these stores of knowledge more accessi- 
 ble to the Americ an Lutheran church than to any other 
 sister church in these States ? The language which 
 contains these stores is not yet forgotten among us ; 
 and rest assured, we shall stand in need of every re- 
 source in defence of the church ere many years shall 
 have passed over our heads. The church in Europe 
 is victorious through a pious use of these weapons, the 
 American church may likewise stand the test by the 
 same means used in reliance on the help of Him, who 
 has said " the gates of hell shall not prevail against my 
 church." Our faith will be put to the test, and we 
 
960 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 fear, that the love of many will wax cold. Let us stand 
 fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made 
 us free, and let us not be entangled again with any 
 yoke of bondage, except the yoke of Christ. We have 
 great cause of encouragement to enter into the battle 
 of the Lord, for we are surrounded by a cloud of wit- 
 nesses. The heroes of the reformation conquered the 
 enemies of Bible truth through the strength of Him, 
 who is strong in those that are weak, the founders of 
 our American church overcame the difficulties in the 
 which they were involved, by their firm reliance and 
 faith in Jesus Christ; the friends of the Bible in Eu- 
 rope are successfully contending for the truth once 
 delivered unto the Saints, supported by the same Al- 
 mighty power. And Jesus Christ is the same yester- 
 day and forever. Let us therefore take courage, we 
 serve a good cause. He who supported our forefath- 
 ers, will also support us if we with faithfulness and in 
 singleness of heart will serve him ; his blessing will ac- 
 company our labors, and we shall see, if not here on 
 earth, certainly in the kingdom of heaven, that we 
 have not labored in vain. 
 
APPENDIX No. I. 
 
 Ministerial regulations of the German Evangelical Lu- 
 theran congregations in Pennsylvania and the adja- 
 cent States. 
 
 [The ground- work of every Synodical constitution since formed.] 
 
 CHAPTER i. The Name. 
 
 WE, the Evangelical Lutheran ministers of Penn- 
 sylvania and the adjacent States, who acknowledge 
 one another mutually as one body, by the subscription 
 of our respective names to these ministerial regulations, 
 denominate our Society: " The German Evangelical 
 Lutheran ministerium in Pennsylvania and the adjacent 
 States;" and our convention: "A ministerial meet- 
 ing" and our convention with the Delegates of the as- 
 sociated congregations, "A Synodical meeting." 
 
 CHAP. n. Of the Senior. 
 
 1. The ministerium acknowledges a Senior for life, 
 a dignity, granted to the oldest and most meritorious 
 of our pastors by the ballot of the ordained ministers, 
 provided, his conduct is conformable to the station, 
 which he holds. 
 
 2. The ministerium honors the Senior as a father, 
 and cheerfully receives his advice and admonition in 
 all cases, wherein his experience may prove beneficial, 
 
 23 
 
262 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 CHAP. in. Of the President. 
 
 1. The President of the ministerium is also Presi- 
 dent of the Synodical meeting, and presides in the 
 sessions, and is in other respects respected as an over- 
 seer. 
 
 2. Ordained ministers solely are eligible to that of- 
 fice. He is annually elected by a plurality of votes of 
 the ordained ministers, licensed candidates, and the 
 delegates of the congregations, in the commencement 
 of the session, after the delegates have been recogni- 
 sed as members of Synod by the inspection of their 
 certificates of election. 
 
 3. He continues in office until at the next Synodical 
 meeting his successor has been elected. He is re-eli- 
 gible for three successive elections only. 
 
 4. He is entitled in Synodical and ministerial mee- 
 tings to offer resolutions and to express his opinion, 
 as well as any other member. 
 
 5. When the votes are even, he has the casting 
 vote, but in no other case has he a vote, except in elec- 
 tions by ballot, but in that case he has no casting vote. 
 
 6. He nominates the committees with consent of 
 Synod ; in contested cases however, each party may 
 choose one arbiter and the President the third. 
 
 7. He in connexion with the Pastor loci appoints 
 the ministers, that are to officiate during the session. 
 
 8. The President ordains candidates with the assis- 
 tance of two or more ordained ministers. The act of 
 ordination is to be performed in public meeting, when- 
 ever possible, but no candidate can be ordained un- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 263 
 
 less two-thirds of the ordained ministers present con- 
 sider him a suitable subject for ordination. 
 
 9. In like manner can the President grant 'licenses 
 to candidates in a general ministerial meeting only, 
 and with the consent of two-thirds of the ordained 
 ministers. 
 
 10. He appoints the committee of examination of 
 candidates and catechists, though each member is at 
 liberty to take part in the examination. 
 
 11. He is to admonish an erring brother several 
 times in private, if this admonition prove unavailing, 
 he brings the case before Synod or ministerium for 
 investigation and decision, 
 
 12. He is to sign and deliver the resolutions pas- 
 sed in Synod to the delegates of the church. 
 
 13. It is his duty to sign all ordination certificates, 
 licensevS, &c., and to see that they receive the seal of 
 the ministerium, and that they are given into the hands 
 of those persons for whom they are designed. 
 
 14. He is to subscribe the proceedings of Synod in 
 the written minutes. 
 
 15. It is his duty to see that all the instruments of 
 writing are delivered into the Archives, 
 
 CHAP. iv. Of the Secretary. 
 
 1 . The Secretary of the ministerium is also Secre- 
 tary of Synod and is elected annually at the same time 
 and in the same manner, as well as on the same con- 
 ditions under which the President is elected. 
 
 2. Ordained ministers only that are suitable and ex- 
 perienced can be chosen for this office. 
 
264 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 3. It is his duty to write letters, licenses, certificates 
 of ordination, &c. 
 
 4. He countersigns the ordination certificates, licen- 
 ses, resolutions of Synod for the delegates as well as 
 the proceedings of Synod in the written minutes. 
 
 5. It is his duty to give at least six weeks' previous 
 notice in one or several German papers, of the place 
 and time for holding a Synodical meeting. 
 
 6. He is to keep a list of all the ordained ministers, 
 licensed candidates and catechists, the place of their 
 residence, of the respective churches in connexion 
 with the ministerium, and the names of the ministers 
 officiating in them. 
 
 CHAP. v. Of the members of the ministerium. 
 
 There are three ranks of teachers in the ministerium, 
 viz : Ordained ministers, licensed candidates and cate- 
 chists. 
 
 ARTICLE i. Of Ordained ministers. 
 
 1. All ordained ministers are equal in regard to 
 rank or title, excepting the officers spoken of before ; 
 ministers have therefore no other superintendents but 
 these officers, and these only in so far as this minis 
 terial regulation renders it incumbent on them, to im- 
 part their views and advice to ministers. 
 
 2. No minister therefore is permitted to perform 
 ministerial acts or official duties in the congregations 
 of another pastor, except with his consent. 
 
 3. Every pastor may, as circumstances require, 
 introduce regulations in the churches of his charge, 
 though care should be taken, that there should exist a 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 265 
 
 pleasing harmony in these rules with the regulations 
 in the other churches, as far as possible. 
 
 4. The minister may leave his congregation and 
 take the charge of others, though his duty requires to 
 act conscientiously in such a case, and he is to inform 
 the President of the change as soon as possible. 
 
 5. Whenever important questions of conscience are 
 to be examined and decided, the ordained ministers 
 alone are to be entitled to a vote in the case. 
 
 6 . Every ordained minister possessing the requisite 
 qualifications, time and opportunity, may instruct 
 young persons, desirous of devoting themselves to the 
 ministry, and prepare them for the service of the Lord, 
 and whenever a student so instructed has obtained a 
 suitable knowledge of the doctrines of salvation, pos- 
 sesses experimental religion, the gift of speaking, and 
 an unblemished character, his instructor may permit 
 him to preach. 
 
 7. When a minister, whose ordination we acknowl- 
 edge, desires to be received into our connexion, the 
 vote is to be taken in a general ministerial meeting, 
 but none can be acknowledged as an actual member, 
 who does not receive two-thirds of the votes of the or- 
 dained ministers present. 
 
 8. Ministers, who either by express request or with 
 the consent of their ministerium are sent to this country, 
 by a European Institute, such as the Orphan-house of 
 Halle, or some Evangelical Consistory or ministerium, 
 cannot be rejected, unless the objections of two-thirds 
 of the ordained ministers present are well-founded and 
 important. 
 
 sa* 
 
266 AMERICAN LUTHERAN OHUBCII. 
 
 ART. ii. Of licensed candidates. 
 
 1 . The ministerial activity of licensed candidates is 
 confined to those congregations, which have been con- 
 fided to their care by the ministerium. 
 
 2. A licensed candidate is not permitted to leave 
 those congregations to which he has been appointed 
 to officiate, or exchange them for others without the 
 approval of the ministerium or its officers ; he is like- 
 wise prohibited from performing ministerial duty in 
 any other congregation, except if requested by an or- 
 dained minister to officiate for him. 
 
 3. He is to preach the word of God in its purity 
 according to the law and the gospel, he is to give 
 regularly catechetical instruction to the children, to 
 visit the schools and the sick, endeavor to increase in 
 knowledge, and adorn his office by a Christian walk 
 and conversation. . 
 
 4. He performs all the actus ministeriales in the con- 
 gregations entrusted to his care, during the term of his 
 license. 
 
 5. He is to keep a journal of his official labors, for 
 the inspection of the ministerium as well as some ser- 
 mons of his composition, and annually to return his 
 license for renewal to the ministerium. 
 
 6. It is his duty to appear annually at Synod, in 
 which he has seat and vote, and likewise attend the 
 ministerial meeting. 
 
 7. But if on account of distance or any other im- 
 portant cause he should not be able to attend Synod, 
 he is bound to render his excuse, send his journal, the 
 sermons and his license to the ministerium. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. V67 
 
 ART. in. Of catechists. 
 
 1. The catechist is subject to the general superin- 
 tendence of the ministerm m and its officers, and be- 
 sides this to the particular inspection of one of the 
 neighboring ordained ministers, who is to be named 
 as such in the catechist's license, and whom he has to 
 respect as his instructor and father ; to him he applies 
 for advice in the discharge of his official duties, as well 
 as in the enlargement of his Theological knowledge. 
 
 2. The catechist is however not to be considered 
 as adjunct to his instructor, but attends to the church- 
 es assigned him ; the instructor is therefore not per- 
 mitted to send him arbitrarily into other congregations 
 to perform official duties for him, but it is the instruct- 
 or's duty, to assist the catechist entrusted to him with 
 paternal advice, so that both may perform their res- 
 pective offices with profit to the congregations. 
 
 3. The catechist is to preach the word of God in pu- 
 rity to the congregations assigned him by the ministe- 
 rium, catechise the young, administer the ordinance of 
 Baptism, visit the schools and the sick, attend fune- 
 rals and instruct the confirmands. 
 
 4. He is however not permitted to confirm or ad- 
 minister the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but 
 whenever such ministerial acts are to be performed in 
 his congregations, he has to request his instructor some 
 time previously, to discharge these official duties for 
 him ; in that case the instructor appoints a day for that 
 purpose, and performs these ministerial acts either 
 personally, or requests another minister in connexion 
 with the ministerium to do it for him. 
 
268 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHtTKCH. 
 
 5. The catechist is not permitted without consent of 
 the ministerium or its officers, to leave the congrega- 
 tions entrusted to him, and to perform official duties in 
 other congregations. 
 
 6. If his duty permit it, he may keep a school, if 
 there is no teacher in his congregation. 
 
 7. It is his duty to keep a journal of his official acts, 
 for the inspection of the mmisterium, and he is also 
 bound to present annually two sermons of his own 
 composition to the ministerial session, as also his li- 
 cense for a renewal. 
 
 8. He is permitted to attend the annual Sy nodical 
 meetings, but has no vote. But he has to appear be- 
 fore the ministerial session, if distance of location and 
 other important circumstances do not prevent him. 
 
 9. If he cannot appear 'personally, he is bound to 
 render his excuse in writing, and has to send his jour- 
 nal, sermons, and license to the ministerium, the latter 
 for a renewal. 
 
 10. No one is to be admitted as catechist, whose 
 walk and conversation is not blameless ; he must be at 
 least twenty years of age, have acquired a systematic 
 knowledge of Christian doctrines and ethics, he ought 
 to^possess some knowledge of human nature, manifest 
 a gift of speaking, and above all things a practical 
 knowledge of experimental religion. 
 
 11. He is to be examined by the ministerium, and 
 appointed by a license to the office of a catechist, be- 
 fore he can officiate in that capacity. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 269 
 
 CHAP. vi. Of the Sy nodical meeting. 
 
 1. The Synodical meeting is to be held at least once 
 every year ; when time and place are not appointed 
 by the preceding meeting, the convocation is to be left 
 optional with the President. 
 
 2. The regular members of the Synod are the or- 
 dained ministers, the licensed candidates, and the del- 
 egates of the united churches. 
 
 3. No minister is permitted to absent himself from 
 the Synodical meetings, unless in cases of urgent ne- 
 cessity, and if such a case occurs, the minister absen- 
 ting himself has to render a written excuse to the body, 
 and it is expressly understood, that the performance 
 of official duties or appointrm nts made for and within 
 the time of Synodical meetings e. g. preaching, mar- 
 rying, the giving of catechetical instruction, confirm- 
 ing, administering the Lord's Supper and the like are 
 not to be considered as cases of urgent necessity, de- 
 serving an excuse for non-attendance. 
 
 4. Whoever does not appear personally at the Syn- 
 odical meeting, nor renders a written excuse for his 
 absence, shall be called to an account by the President 
 at the next Synodical meeting. 
 
 5. If any minister does neither attend the meeting 
 of Synod nor render a written excuse for non-atten- 
 dance during three successive sessions, he is to be 
 considered as being no longer a member of the min- 
 isterium. 
 
 6. Letters of excuse for non-attendance, as well as 
 all other instruments of writing, are always to be direc- 
 ted to the President. 
 
270 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 7. The Pastor of the place, where the Synod is to 
 meet, and the church council of that congregation, are 
 to provide for the entertainment of the united minis- 
 ters, licensed candidates and catechists ; those who 
 cannot be provided for in the families of the congre- 
 gation, are to be entertained at the expense of the con- 
 gregation. 
 
 8. The ministers are to meet at the place of session 
 one day previous thereto, so that the presiding officer 
 may arrange the services in the church and appoint the 
 officiating pastors, and no member ought to leave 
 Synod previous to its close. 
 
 9. The delegates of the respective churches .may at- 
 tend all the meetings of Synod, but not all are entitled 
 to a vote; those delegates only, whose spiritual instruc- 
 tor is either an ordained minister or a licensed candi- 
 date, and who themselves are at the meeting. Dele- 
 gates from churches attended by catechists have no vote 
 at Synod. 
 
 10. It is therefore a fixed rule, that there are in 
 Synod as many voting delegates, as there are ordained 
 ministers and licensed candidates present. 
 
 11. All the delegates claiming a vote have to pro- 
 duce before Synod and President a certificate of elec- 
 tion from their minister, Elders and wardens ; that is, 
 from the church council of that congregation or con- 
 gregations whom he is to represent. 
 
 12. The delegates entitled to vote are to take seats 
 apart from the rest, they have a right to offer resolu- 
 tions, give their sentiments and votes in all cases, that 
 are to be decided ; except in the case of a question of 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 271 
 
 learning, orthodoxy or heterodoxy of a candidate or 
 catechist; his reception into or exclusion from the min- 
 isterium, or similar cases, which the ministerium has 
 to decide. 
 
 13. Every congregation that is served by an ordai- 
 ned minister or a licensed candidate in connexion with 
 Synod, and any member of congregations, who uni- 
 tedly enjoy the services of such a pastor, are entitled 
 to one delegate to Synod ; his expenses are to be 
 borne by the congregation, and at the place of meet- 
 ing each Delegate has to provide for his board and 
 lodging ; it is however, left optional with each congre- 
 gation whether to send a delegate or not. 
 
 14. As therefore the united congregations are re- 
 presented in Synod by their respective delegates, and 
 are entitled to seat and vote in that body, it is their 
 duty cheerfully to obey the regulations and resolutions 
 of Synod and the ministerium. 
 
 15. On the Lord's day three sermons are to be 
 preached in the place, where Synod is to convene, 
 and if the meeting is in a city, divine service is to be 
 held every evening, but if Synod meets in the country, 
 a sermon is to be preached on Monday at 9 o'clock, 
 A. M., provided, the state of business permit it; and 
 in that case the Synod meets immediately after divine 
 service. 
 
 16. Every session of Synod commences at 9 o'clock, 
 A. M., and continues to one o'clock, P. M., and in 
 the afternoon Synod meets at three o'clock, and clo- 
 ses its session at six ; unless important business should 
 require more protracted sessions. 
 
272 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 17. It is the duty of the President to enter upon 
 the discharge of business ten minutes after 9 o'clock, 
 A. M., and in the afternoon ten minutes past three 
 o'clock ; even if no more than three ordained mem- 
 bers besides himself should be present.. 
 
 18. If the President himself should not be punctual 
 in his attendance, if at least five ordained ministers are 
 so, the members present elect a President pro tern, and 
 commence business; and whatever shall have been 
 transacted and resolved in such a meeting, shall be 
 considered as valid, as if it had been transacted by the 
 whole body. 
 
 19. In the absence of the Secretary, the President 
 appoints one pro temp. 
 
 20. If a member of Synod take his seat after the 
 lapse of one full hour of meeting, the President is to 
 reprimand him in case of insufficient excuse : From 
 this regulation the pastor loci is however, exempt. 
 
 21. The order of Synodical business is as follows : 
 
 a. The first session of Synod is opened with prayer 
 by the President or Senior, if they are absent, by the 
 Secretary or one of the elder ministers. 
 
 b. After prayer the Secretary records the names of 
 the ministers; licensed candidates and catechists pres- 
 ent, together with the place of their residence. 
 
 c. The delegates claiming seat and vote are now 
 called upon for their certificates of election, these be- 
 ing found in order, their names and the congregations 
 which they represent, are registered. 
 
 d. Afterwards the President or his substitute an- 
 nounces to Synod, that the term for which the Presi- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 273 
 
 dent and Secretary have been elected, is closed, and 
 orders, that the ministers, licensed candidates and del- 
 egates, entitled to a vote, are to elect a President and 
 Secretary by ballot, and appoints two superintendents 
 of the election. 
 
 e. After election the delegates and other members 
 present their documents to the President, or make a 
 verbal declaration respecting the business they wish 
 to bring before Synod. 
 
 f. The Secretary takes a record of the different 
 items in the order in which they are presented, and 
 these documents are numbered in the order in which 
 they have been entered into the minutes. 
 
 g. The letters of excuse of absent members are 
 read, and it is the duty of the Secretary to notice all 
 the absentees in the minutes, whether they are excu- 
 sed or not. 
 
 h. The minutes of the last Synod are read. 
 
 i. The President lays before Synod all the transac- 
 tions at special meetings, arid also all letters which 
 he has received and which have reference to circum- 
 stances connected with the church. 
 
 j. In the dispatch of business Synod is bound to 
 give preference to the concerns of distant congrega- 
 tions and delegates. 
 
 k. Every minister is to make a return to Synod of 
 the names of the congregations whom he serves, the 
 number of the baptized, confirmed, communicants 
 and deaths in each congregation, and lastly of the state 
 of the schools. 
 
 22. When members of Synod or Delegates have to 
 24 
 
274 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 make a communication to the President alone, they 
 are not permitted to call him out of the chair for that 
 purpose, but are to wait till he is at leisure. 
 
 23. It is the business of the President, to see that ev- 
 ery thing be in order ; he is to prevent that not two or 
 more attempt to speak at the same time, he is to see, 
 that the right of each member of Synod be preserved 
 inviolate, to speak his opinion freely without interrup- 
 tion, unless the Speaker is out of order, when it is the 
 President's duty to call him to order. 
 
 24. It is the duty of the President to take special 
 care, that every motion and resolution, brought before 
 the house in constitutional order, be duly considered, 
 and also, that every regular motion made and seconded, 
 after the subject has been fully discussed, is plainly 
 and audibly repeated by him so as to be decided by 
 the votes of the house. 
 
 25. The votes are to be given by simply saying Aye 
 or JVo, without any remarks. 
 
 26. When the press of business requires it, the 
 President may appoint one or more additional assist- 
 ing Secretaries, whose office however is to cease with 
 the session. 
 
 27. All the business being transacted, the Synod 
 enters into an election by ballot for the time and place, 
 where and when the next meeting is to be held. A 
 majority of the votes is decisive. 
 
 28. Each session of Synod is to be commenced and 
 closed with prayer, by appointment of the President. 
 
 29. The last session of Synod is to be closed by 
 the Senior or President. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 275 
 
 CHAP. vii. Of the ministerial meeting. 
 
 1. After the transaction of all Synodical business, 
 the ministerium holds a meeting. 
 
 2. This meeting is to be considered by the minis- 
 ters, candidates and catechists as the most important, 
 and no one is to absent himself, if attendance is pos- 
 sible. 
 
 3. The ministerium meets precisely at the appoin- 
 ted time, and the President or Senior introduces the 
 sacred duties of this body by prayer. Here is like- 
 wise to be observed what has been stated in Chapter 
 vi. 16 20 in these ministerial regulations. 
 
 4. If candidates are to be licensed or ordained, or 
 if catechists are to receive license as candidates, or if 
 students are to be appointed as catechists or as candi- 
 dates, they are to undergo an examination respecting 
 their walk, conversation and doctrine. 
 
 5. All tu8 licensed candidates and catechists present 
 their journals, sermons and licenses to the President, 
 who appoints committees from among the ordained 
 ministers, to examine the journals and sermons, and 
 to report thereon to the ministerium. 
 
 6. After examination of candidates and their perfor- 
 mances, they leave the ministerium, the committees 
 report, and the ministerium orders according to 4>he 
 reports and the issue of the examination, a. Who of 
 the candidates are to be ordained, b. Whose license 
 is to be renew r ed. c. Who are to receive license. 
 d. What catechists shall receive the license of candi- 
 dates, e. What catechists are to receive a renewed 
 license, f. What students are to be appointed cate- 
 
276 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 chists, or what ordained ministers are to be their in- 
 structors and advisors, g. The President then orders 
 the ordination certificates and licenses to be prepared. 
 
 7. This being done, the candidates and catechists are 
 again called before the ministerium, and the President 
 announces a. to the candidates for ordination the time 
 and place where the solemn act is to be performed ; b. 
 he solemnly informs the licensed candidates of their du- 
 ties according to the regulation of the ministerium ; c. 
 he receives from the candidates the solemn promise as in 
 the presence of God, that they will faithfully perform the 
 duties, prescribed to them. d. Upon this promise he 
 delivers the license to each individual e. In the same 
 manner he proceeds with the catechists. f. Finally 
 he presents to every newly received minister, candidate 
 or catechist, a copy of our liturgy. 
 
 8. The ministerium uses its own seal for the con- 
 firmation of all ministerial document^ certificates of 
 ordination, licenses, &c. 
 
 9. All these acts of the ministerium are to be ar- 
 ranged, that sufficient time is left a. for mutual edifi- 
 cation, b. for imparting to each other the experience 
 made in the discharge of official duties, c. for enga- 
 ging in the consideration of such Bible truths, as the 
 circumstances and wants of the church seem to re- 
 quire, so that Theological knowledge be advanced 
 among us, that all may be encouraged in the exercise 
 of faithfulness, and strengthened in faith. 
 
 10. The distribution of money to destitute widows 
 of ministers and aged indigent preachers, if the state 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 277 
 
 of the treasury permits such distribution, is one of the 
 last acts of the ministerium. 
 
 11. The meeting is finally closed by prayer of the 
 President or Senior. 
 
 CHAP. viii. Of the Archives of the ministerium. 
 
 1. The Archives of the ministerium are to be kept 
 with care, and not to be transported without sufficient 
 cause from place to place. 
 
 2. All the letters, petitions, complaints, directed to 
 Synod or the ministerium, all the answers, advices, 
 arbitrements, and lists of Synodical and ministerial 
 meetings are to be carefully preserved in them. 
 
 3. The written documents of each meeting are to be 
 bound together in suitable form and on the outside of 
 each such package the number of the year is to be 
 carefully noted. 
 
 4. The pastor of the place, where the Archives are 
 kept, is superintendent over it, is bound to keep it in 
 order and to render an account of the same when re- 
 quired. 
 
 5. Without consent of Synod or the ministerium or 
 its officers, the superintendent of the Archives is not 
 permitted to loan out any document, much less to alien- 
 ate or destroy it. 
 
 CHAP. ix. Of Special or District meetings. 
 1. Special meetings are to be held by ministers, 
 members of the ministerium, living contiguous td each 
 other, as often as circumstances may require, and each 
 congregation under the care of such minister may send 
 a delegate to said meeting, having seat and vote.' 
 24* 
 
278 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 2. A chairman and Secretary are to be elected by 
 said meeting, who are to attest the minutes and copies 
 of the regulations. Their office ceases with the close 
 of the meeting. 
 
 3. The objects of such meetings are, to promote the 
 welfare of the respective congregations, and of the Ger- 
 man schools within the District ; to examine, decide 
 and determine the business and occurrences in their 
 congregations, that are brought before them, provided 
 however, that each party enjoys the right of appeal to 
 Synod and ministerium from the decision of the con- 
 ference. 
 
 4. A special meeting is not permitted under any 
 pretence whatever, to enter upon business belonging 
 to the ministerium, as set forth in Chapter iii. 8 and 
 9, and in Chapter vii. from 4 to 8, even if the offi- 
 cers of Synod were present. But mutual edification, 
 discussions on Pastoral Theology and Exegesis of 
 Scripture ought to form prominent subjects of delibe- 
 rations for these special meetings. 
 
 5. The acts of the meeting are to be transmitted by 
 the chairman to the President of the ministerium, to be 
 laid by him before the next Synodical or ministerial 
 meeting. 
 
 Additional articles to this regulation of the ministerium. 
 
 To CHAP. v. ART. i. 
 
 9. If an ordained member of the ministerium re- 
 moves from us, and enters into connexion with another 
 Evangelical Lutheran ministerium in the United States, 
 which is acknowledged by us as such, said minister 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 279 
 
 shall still be entitled to seat and vote in this ministeri- 
 um, provided he acts in conformity to this ministerial 
 order, in as far as this is compatible with the duties he 
 owes the Synod with which he has connected himself.* 
 
 To CHAP. v. ART. in. 
 
 The President and Secretary of the ministerium and 
 Synod may grant to a candidate of Theology, a 
 license to perform such actus ministeriales and du- 
 ties as are permitted to catechists to discharge, pro- 
 vided that said candidates produce unexceptiona- 
 ble testimonials, and have passed a satisfactory exami- 
 nation before the President. Such license however is 
 only valid to the next ministerial meeting. 
 
 To CHAP. vn. 
 
 12. If any Evangelical Lutheran ministerium in 
 the United States, which has been acknowledged by 
 us as such, but whose members do not otherwise 
 stand in any close connexion with us, should send a 
 delegate to our annual meeting, said delegate shall be 
 entitled to seat and vote in our sessions as a regular 
 member ; provided however, that said ministerium 
 grants us equal rights and privileges. 
 
 To CHAP. vin. 
 
 6. Every member of the ministerium as well as 
 every delegate of a congregation in connexion with 
 our body, shall have free access to the Archives, un- 
 der the direction of the superintendent. 
 
 * We believe this has been rescinded, in as much as the Penn- 
 sylvania ministerium have resolved, that an ordained minister 
 cannot be a member of two Synods. 
 
APPENDIX No. II. 
 
 STATISTICS OF THE AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Taken from the Minutes of the different Synods of the latest dates, 
 that could be obtained in the order of time, in which the different 
 Synods have been formed. 
 
 
 
 
 -. . 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 rd 
 
 
 ' 'Q M 
 
 Year 
 
 when 
 
 formed. 
 
 i ij 
 
 ^ e 
 
 0) 5 
 N M 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 8>J 
 
 2-g J 
 
 be w 75 
 
 3 S | o| 
 
 1748 
 
 Synod of Pennsylvania 1844. 
 
 208 
 
 5170 
 
 2258 
 
 29339 
 
 111 77 
 
 1795 
 
 
 New York, 1841. 
 
 38 
 
 1018 
 
 206 
 
 5254 
 
 61 
 
 1803 
 
 
 N. Carolinia, 1840. 
 
 38 
 
 362 
 
 176 
 
 1886 
 
 10 
 
 1818* 
 
 Ohio, 1840. 
 
 790 
 
 2843 
 
 1439 
 
 18798 
 
 83 
 
 1820 
 
 
 Maryland, 1840. 
 
 52 
 
 941 
 
 451 
 
 5546 
 
 37 
 
 1842 
 
 
 S. Carolina, 1844. 
 
 40 
 
 469 
 
 413 
 
 2782 
 
 21 
 
 1825 
 
 
 W. Pennsyl'a. 1843. 
 
 106 
 
 1665 
 
 1812 
 
 11867 
 
 92 
 
 1830 
 
 
 HartwickN.Y.1840. 
 
 21 
 
 338 
 
 308 
 
 3655 
 
 17 
 
 1830 
 
 
 Virginia, 1843. 
 
 39 
 
 248 
 
 296 
 
 1975 
 
 76 
 
 1834 
 
 
 the West, 1841. 
 
 25 
 
 246 
 
 120 
 
 1172 
 
 8 
 
 1840 
 
 EnglishSynod unconnect- ( 
 ed with Synod of Ohio, / 
 
 no report. 
 
 1842 Synod of W. Virginia, 1844'. 
 
 17 
 
 59 
 
 85 
 
 1044 
 
 4 
 
 1844 
 
 " East Pennsylvania, 
 
 no account received. 
 
 1842 
 
 " Alleghany, 1844. 
 
 69 
 
 747 
 
 813 
 
 6811 
 
 49 
 
 1843 
 
 " Michigan 
 
 no account 
 
 received 
 
 843 11106 8467 90629 475 
 
 *The German Synod of Ohio, resolved in 1836, that in as much 
 as the boundaries of the Synod were too extensive for yearly Syn- 
 odical meetings, the brethren should yearly meet in two divisions 
 of the Eastern and Western District, and permission was also grant- 
 ed to form an English Synod within the bounds of the German 
 and in connexion with the same. The statistics of these three 
 District Synods are contained in those of the State Synod, which 
 convenes every 3rd year. The churches and ministers of these 
 Synods have seat and vote in the State Synod. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 281 
 
 The Synod of the West, embracing the States of 
 Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, have re- 
 solved to form three Synodical bodies in future, to be 
 styled the Synod of the West, of Illinois and of Cin- 
 cinnati. There is perhaps no other ecclesiastical 
 body within the bounds of the American Lutheran 
 church, the march of which has been onward, as much 
 as that of the Synod of the West. 
 
 An account of the separation of the Franckean Syn- 
 od from that of Hartwick has been given, to which 
 the reader is referred for information on that subject. 
 This separation took place in 1837 ; forty congrega- 
 tions are in connexion with that ecclesiastical body, in 
 1844 they reported 227 Baptisms, forty-eight admis- 
 sions to membership, and 2321 communicants. This 
 Synod refuses communion with the churches, whose 
 members either hold slaves, or who are not connected 
 with Temperance Societies. [See their constitution 
 and the resolutions passed in session of Synod 1844.] 
 
 Besides the Synods mentioned, there are two other 
 ecclesiastical bodies, the origin of which is to be tra- 
 ced to the disorders, occasioned by David Henkel and 
 his followers in the Synod of North Carolina; an ac- 
 count of which has been given in pages 149 and 150 
 of this book. They style themselves the Synods of 
 Tennessee and Indiana. They are opposed to the estab- 
 lishment of Missionary, Bible, Tract and Temperance 
 Societies. They stand in no connexion with the other 
 Synods of the American Lutheran church. 
 
 Benevolent Societies exist in all the acknowledged 
 American Lutheran Synods ; many of the members 
 
282 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 and ministers are in connexion with the American Bi- 
 ble, Missionary and Tract Societies, and in all our 
 regular ecclesiastical bodies societies for the further- 
 ance of the cause of Christ have been established. 
 
 The Synod of Pennsylvania has an active Mission- 
 ary Society. Rev. Mr. Heyer is supported by said 
 association as missionary at Guntoor in India. The re- 
 ceipts amounted in the years 1843-'44, to $ 1800. 
 The expenses of the missionto $1600. Br. Heyer had 
 ninety boys and twenty-five girls in his school during 
 said year. Several heathens had submitted to the Sa- 
 vior, and the mission appears to be in a flourishing 
 condition. A mission-house has been built, the centre 
 part of which is two stories high, forty feet square. At 
 each side are two wings, twenty feet by thirty. 
 
 The General Synod is also engaged in the same 
 mission, and has sent Br. Gunn to the assistance of 
 JBr. Heyer. Four other missionaries, the Brethren Va- 
 lett, Cortes, Oaks and Swartz have been sent by Ger- 
 man missionary societies as assistants to their Ameri- 
 can brethren. Missionary societies are in operation 
 in all our acknowledged Synods, most of them how- 
 ever have taken the Home missionary department for 
 the field of their activity. At the last session of the 
 South Carolina Synod a resolution was passed to rec- 
 ommend to the churches the formation of auxiliary 
 missionary societies to the Synodical missionary asso- 
 ciation. The auxiliary societies are to resolve whether 
 they desire their constitution to be applied for home or 
 for foreign mission. 
 
APPENDIX No. III. 
 
 Statistical account of the Theological Seminaries of the 
 American Lutheran church and of other Literary In- 
 stitutions in connexion with said church^ in the order 
 of their establishments. 
 
 1. HARTWICK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 Board of Directors twelve. According to the con- 
 stitution of the Seminary the Directors are chosen 
 by Synod ; they hold their office for life and supply 
 their own vacancies. Eight of the Board are to be 
 Lutheran ministers and laymen, four are to be selected 
 from the inhabitants of the Patent. 
 
 Agreeably to the will of the Rev. John Christopher 
 Hartwig, who departed this life in 1796, there was an 
 institution to be established on his land in Otsego 
 county, Hartwick township, for the purpose of educa- 
 ting pious young men for the ministry in the Evangel- 
 ical Lutheran church, and also for the education of In- 
 dians in the Christian religion, to become instructors 
 of their own people. After the death of the testator, 
 the Honorable Jeremiah Van Ransselaer as one of the 
 executors of Mr. Hartwig's will, appointed the Rev. 
 Dr. Kunze Professor of the contemplated institute, 
 who did instruct several young men in Theology, who 
 afterwards served the Lord as preachers of the gospel 
 in the States of New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
284 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 In the year 1815 a brick building of two stories, 
 forty-five feet long and thirty-six deep, as also a brick 
 building for the Professor's dwelling were erected in 
 the East part of the township in the beautiful valley of 
 the Susquehannah, four miles South West of the vil- 
 lage of Cooperstown. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Ernest L. Hazelius was chosen Profes- 
 sor, and served the institution fifteen years. Rev. Dr. 
 George B. Miller was elected by the Board as second 
 Professor in 1827 ; in which capacity he served the 
 institution three years; when at the removal of Dr. 
 Hazelius to Gettysburg, Dr. Miller was appointed first 
 Professor, and the Rev. Charles B. Thummel received 
 the appointment as second Professor, in which capa- 
 city he served the Seminary two years. Dr. Miller 
 having resigned in 1840, Rev. Dr. William Strobel 
 received the appointment as first Professor and Messrs. 
 JVe^and Crafts became his assistants. Dr. Strobel 
 resigned in 1844 and Dr. Miller was recalled; Rev. 
 Mr. Henry J. Smith was appointed by the Board as 
 second Professor. 
 
 The institution is divided into two Departments, 
 one Theological, the other classical. From 1815 to 
 1840 forty-eight students of Theology have attended 
 the Seminary, of whom three have departed ; four are 
 ministers in the Presbyterian and one in the Baptist 
 church. At present there are four students of Divini- 
 ty in the institution. 
 
 The number of students in the classical department 
 has varied from forty to seventy during each year. 
 One Indian, Jacob Jameson, has been educated in the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 285 
 
 institute. After he left the Seminary, he studied Med- 
 icine and graduated at the Medical college of Fairfield 
 in Herkimer county, State of New York, and received 
 an appointment as surgeon in one of our national ves- 
 sels of war, in which service he departed this life at 
 Algiers about the year 1831. 
 
 2. THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT GETTYSBURG. 
 
 This Seminary owes its origin to the laudable exer- 
 tions of the three Synods of West Pennsylvania, of 
 Maryland and of North Carolina, and to the liberal, 
 donations of friends to the American Lutheran church 
 in Germany. 
 
 Agreeably to its constitution [Article ii. Section 1.] 
 the Board of Directors shall be chosen by the different 
 Synods, who contribute pecuniary aid to the support 
 of the Seminary, according to its statutes; and who 
 are connected with the General Synod. So soon as 
 any other Synod -shall enter into regular connexion 
 with the General Synod, it shall be placed on an equal- 
 ity with the Synods, which were concerned in the orig- 
 inal formation of the Seminary ; that is, after having 
 resolved to patronize the Seminary, and after having 
 made some contribution to its funds, each such Synod 
 shall be entitled to three clerical and two lay Direc- 
 tors ; and after its contribution shall amount to three 
 thousand and three hundred and thirty- three dollars, 
 the average sum paid by the original Synods in making 
 up the aggregate of ten thousand dollars, then, for 
 all contributions subsequently paid into the general 
 fund, each such Synod shall be entitled to additional 
 25 
 
286 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Directors according to the ratio prescribed in statute 
 five. 
 
 From this statement it appears, that the number of 
 Directors is not fixed by statute or limited to a certain 
 number, but it is increasing with the number of Synods 
 aiding in the support of the Seminary. 
 
 The Seminary went into operation in autumn of 
 1826. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Samuel S. Schmucker is chairman of 
 the Faculty and Professor of Didactic and Polemic, 
 Homiletic and Pastoral Theology. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Charles P. Krauth Professor of Sa- 
 cred Theology and Exegesis. 
 
 Mr. Charles A. Hay, A. M., Professor of Biblical 
 literature and the German language. 
 
 According to a statement lately published at Gettys- 
 burg the number of students, who have been in con- 
 nexion with the Seminary from its commencement in 
 1826 to 1844, amounts to 190, eleven of whom have 
 departed this life. The number of students during the 
 past year 1844, is thirty. Besides these, there are 
 about seventy others in the literary institutions of Get- 
 tysburg, preparing to engage in Theological studies. 
 
 The library of the institution contains about 7500 
 Volumes, chiefly selected in Europe, and is one of the 
 most valuable in the United States. 
 
 Tuition and use of library gratis. Boarding $ 1,50 
 per week in commons. 
 
 The regular course of lectures and studies commen- 
 ces with the fall session, which is of course the most 
 proper time to enter the institution. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 287 
 
 Connected with the Seminary at Gettysburg is Penn- 
 sylvania college. This institution was incorporated 
 by the State Legislature in l831-'32. A classical pre- 
 paratory department existed some years before the in- 
 corporation of the college, and continues in existence. 
 Two tutors give instruction in the same. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Charles P. Krauth is President of 
 Pennsylvania college. 
 
 The Rev. Henry L. Baugher, Jl. M., Professor of 
 Greek Literature. 
 
 Th0 Rev. William Reynolds, Jl. M., Professor of 
 Latin Literature. 
 
 The Hev. Michael Jacobs , Professor of chemistry, &c. 
 
 a Professor of German and French Liter- 
 ature. 
 
 D. Gilbert, M. D., Lecturer on Anatomy and Phys- 
 iology. 
 
 Besides these Professors, two tutors are appointed to 
 give instruction in the classical department. 
 
 About one hundred and fifty students attend the in- 
 struction given in College, 
 
 In 1841 the graduating class in college amounted 
 to forty- three. 
 
 Ji Medical Department is connected with Pennsyl- 
 vania college, located at Philadelphia. 
 
 The following gentlemen compose the faculty : 
 Samuel G. Morton M. D., George McClellan M. D., 
 William Rush M. D., Samuel McClellan M. D., Wal- 
 ter R. Johnson A. M., James McClintock M. D. 
 
288 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 3. THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE SYNOD OF OHIO. 
 The brethren of this Synod encountered many diffi- 
 culties in the establishment of their Seminary. Funds 
 had to be collected, opinions were divided in regard 
 to the language, in which instruction was to be given, 
 i. e. whether the institution should be either an entirely 
 German institution, or whether the instruction should 
 be given in the language of our country. It cannot 
 be denied, that the neglect of the German language in 
 a Theological Seminary of the West, whither emigra- 
 tion from Germany is chiefly directed, would diminish 
 the usefulness of the institution, and besides, in what 
 language can the student of Theology find more use- 
 ful information in regard to his profession, than in that 
 of the father-land ? No one, acquainted with classical 
 and Theological works in German and English, can 
 entertain a doubt on the subject. But there is also a 
 view to be taken on the other side, of all the circum- 
 stances, that exercise an influence on our church, peo- 
 ple, and Seminaries. Our church is American, our 
 people are all American in the second and often the 
 first generation ; the American character and spirit must 
 therefore pervade our institutions, if we desire them to 
 flourish. To attempt a description of that character 
 and spirit in language, would be found a task beyond 
 the power of most men ; it is unique, and the philoso- 
 phy of Greece, finds no congenial soil in Rome. 
 Whether that character is favorable to progress in The- 
 ological lore, is not here to be determined, whatever it 
 is, we must follow it, if we wish to give our institu- 
 tions a popular, that is, a truly American name. Ne- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 289 
 
 cessity therefore compels us, to lose sight of many ad- 
 vantages, which otherwise a German institution might 
 give to a church, constituted like ours. Another view 
 of the case is likewise highly important, and that is, 
 the shortness of time, during which we can keep our 
 young people at the institution. The want of clergy- 
 men everywhere is great indeed, they are called to la- 
 bor before their time has terminated in the Seminary ; 
 most of our young friends, who devote themselves to 
 the service of the church, are poor, and the church has 
 to maintain them during the years of their study ; and 
 this church has no permanent fund for that purpose. 
 Hence a premature dismissal from the institution is al- 
 most a necessary consequence. Should we wish to 
 pursue in our Seminaries a course, in some measure 
 approaching that pursued in Germany, time would be 
 wanting to complete it, and unless completed, the 
 American course is far preferable. These and many 
 othe-r difficulties no doubt presented themselves to the 
 Brethren, when the desire arose in their Synod to es- 
 tablish a Literary and Theological institution in their 
 midst, and consequently a diversity of sentiment man- 
 ifested itself on the occasion. They succeeded how- 
 ever in the year 1830 in forming a constitution and 
 electing a Board of Directors, consisting of clergymen 
 and laymen in connexion with the Synod of Ohio. 
 The number of Directors is . As the funds of the 
 institution were inconsiderable, the Rev. Wm. Schmidt, 
 a native of Germany, who had prosecuted his Theo- 
 logical studies in one of the German universities, a 
 gentleman of high standing in Synod/ offered his servi- 
 
290 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ces gratis for two years, as instructor of the students. 
 Mr. Schmidt being then pastor of the German Luthe- 
 ran church at Canton, the Seminary was therefore lo- 
 cated at that place. The brethren had formed that 
 institution in reliance on the aid of Him, who had 
 blessed the faith of a Franke, when he commenced the 
 orphan-house at Halle. The new Seminary, was to be 
 known under the title : 
 TJie Theological Institute of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 
 Synod of Ohio. 
 
 Its location was removed a few years after its com- 
 mencement to the city of Columbus, the capital of 
 the State ; buildings were erected for the accommo- 
 dation of the Professor and students ; instruction was 
 given in the German language during the time of 
 Professor Schmidt's services. The Lord however cal- 
 led him early to his rest ; he departed this life in the 
 year 1839. In him the institution was deprived of an 
 able instructor and the Synod of an active and zeal- 
 ous member. The Rev. Charles F. Schaeffer, JJ. M., 
 pastor of the church at Hagerstowri, Maryland, was 
 elected to fill the chair as Professor in the Ohio Theo- 
 logical institute, and in 1842 the Rev. Charles F. Win- 
 kler^ a gentleman of great learning, who had received 
 his classical and Theological education at the institu- 
 tions at Halle in Germany, and in which he had been 
 also engaged as instructor, was associated with Rev. 
 Mr. Schaeffer as assistant Professor. Some difficul- 
 ties having arisen between the Professors of the Insti- 
 tute, the causes of which have not been officially sta- 
 ted, the Rev. Professor C. F. Schaeffer resigned his 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 291 
 
 office in 1844, and it is expected, that the state of the 
 institution will engage the attention of Synod at its 
 next meeting. The number of students that have re- 
 
 o 
 
 ceived their education in that Seminary is unknown 
 to us. 
 
 4. THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE SYNOD OF 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 This Seminary went into operation in the month of 
 February, 1831. During the Synodical session, in 
 Nov., 1830, the Rev. John G. Schwartz had been 
 elected Professor of the Institution. The permanent 
 location of the Seminary had been fixed at Lexington 
 Court-house, S. C., but the Professor elect, having 
 several churches to attend to at the time of his election, 
 who could riot be immediately supplied with a pastor, 
 entered upon the discharge of his official duties in the 
 neighborhood of Newberry Court-house. But it plea- 
 sed the Lord, to remove his servant during the summer 
 of 1831. The exercises of the Seminary were thereby 
 suspended, no provision having been made for so un- 
 expected an occurrence. In 1833 the Rev. Dr. Ha- 
 zelius, who had for three years filled the chair of Pro- 
 fessor of church history and the German language in 
 the Seminary at Gettysburg, received and accepted 
 the call as Professor of Theology in the South Caroli- 
 na Institution ; and the Rev. Washington Moller, a 
 graduate of South Carolina college, and Licentiate of 
 the ministry, was elected Principal of the classical 
 school, in connexion with the Seminary. 
 
 In 1836 an agreement was entered into between the 
 
292 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 Synods of South and North Carolina for the joint sup- 
 port of the Southern Theological Seminary. The funds 
 collected for the Institution in the respective Synods 
 shall remain under the control of these two Ecclesias- 
 tical bodies, as they have been contributed by the 
 churches connected with the one or the other associa- 
 tion. The interests arising from these funds are to be 
 paid yearly unto the Treasurer of the Seminary, to be 
 applied by him for the benefit of that institution. The 
 government of the Seminary is in the hands of Direc- 
 tors, chosen by the united Synods, according to the 
 rates of their respective funds. The number of Direc- 
 tors is twelve ; elected for the term of three years, four 
 of whom are to go out every year, whose places are to 
 be supplied by Synodical election. The Board elects 
 its own officers yearly, consisting of a President, Vice- 
 President, Secretary and Treasurer ; the latter is at the 
 same time a standing member of Synod. A commit- 
 tee of the Board is yearly appointed to act in connex- 
 ion with the Professor or Professors in the admission 
 of students, and the government of the institution. This 
 committee meets quarterly for the transaction of busi- 
 ness on the first Mondays in January, April, July and 
 October, the Professor being chairman. An examin- 
 ing committee of members of the Board is likewise 
 yearly appointed by Synod, whose duty it is, to attend 
 the Semi-annual examinations in the Seminary and to 
 report the result to Synod. 
 
 In 1840 the Synod elected the Rev Christian Bern- 
 hard Thummel, who had received his Theological 
 education at the German universities at Halle and Tu- 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. k -i93 
 
 bingen, as Principal of the Lexington classical Insti- 
 tute ; in which capacity he served the Seminary until 
 1844. Mr. Simeon Coughman is at present Principal 
 of the Lexington classical Institute, in which thirty-six 
 scholars receive instruction. 
 
 During the first eleven years of the existence of the 
 Lutheran Seminary, i. e. from autumn of 1833 to au- 
 tumn of 1844, thirty-five students have been in con- 
 nexion with the same ; twenty-one of whom are la- 
 boring as ministers of the gospel in the Lutheran and 
 one in the Presbyterian church ; three have departed 
 this life, two are engaged as instructors of youths, and 
 eight are at present engaged in Theological studies in 
 the Seminary, and we may add, that several young 
 men are expected to enter the institution shortly. Tu- 
 ition both in the classical and the Theological depart- 
 ment is gratis ; board, washing, light, room, firewood 
 included, can be had in respectable families at $8,00 
 per month. 
 
 The regular course of lectures and studies commen- 
 ces with the winter session on the first Monday in the 
 month of January, which consequently is the best time 
 to enter the institution. 
 
 The library consists of about 1500 volumes, and 
 contains many valuable works, especially in philoso- 
 phy, theology and encyclopedical works. The use of 
 this library is gratis. Provisions have been made for 
 a gradual increase of the same. 
 
 The Synod of the West has likewise resolved, to es- 
 tablish a Theological Seminary within its bounds. 
 Preparatory steps have been taken for the accomplish- 
 
294 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 ment of this desirable object. A Board of Directors 
 has been chosen; agents have been appointed for the 
 collection of funds. Agreeably to the latest accounts, 
 considerable sums have been either collected or sub- 
 scribed. The permanent location of the Institute as 
 well as the appointment of the Professor, will doubt- 
 less be subjects of serious reflection for the approach- 
 ing Synodical meeting. 
 
 EMMAU'S INSTITUTE, LOCATED AT MIDDLETOWN DAU- 
 PHIN COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 This institution, contemplated and provided for, 
 by the will of Mr. Frey, has at length gone into ope- 
 ration. The object of this Seminary was, according 
 to Mr. Frey's will, the education of poor orphan chil- 
 dren, who are to be carefully trained and instructed 
 in the doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran church. 
 After many years of expensive and vexatious litiga- 
 tion, sustained by the Synods of Pennsylvania, against 
 collateral heirs and unfaithful managers, and after a 
 lamentable waste of property, the residue of the rich 
 bequest, has been secured, and is now under the di- 
 rection of a board of Trustees, composed of Mr. Wm. 
 Brown, M. D. Superintendent, M. He?idig, John 
 Snyder, G. Etler. 
 
 The property consists of eight hundred acres of land, 
 with a grist and saw-mill on the Swatara. The pres- 
 ent income of the land and mills is $ 3000, and will 
 be greatly increased. A dwelling for the orphans has 
 been erected. This edifice is of brick, with a hand- 
 some portico, and is of sufficient size, to answer all the 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 295 
 
 purposes, for which it was intended. Instruction is 
 given in the German and English languages ; and the 
 charter has been so altered by the Legislature, as to 
 permit the establishment of a literary and scientific de- 
 partment, in connection with the orphan-house, in 
 which all the branches of modern learning are to be 
 taught. The Principal of the Institution was the Rev. 
 Samuel Sprecher, in the year 1841. 
 
 This account of the Emmaus Institute is taken from 
 the Lutheran Almanac for the year 1842. Since that 
 time several statements in the Lutheran Observer, ed- 
 ited by the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Kurtz, give the intel- 
 ligence, that the state of the institution is not flourish- 
 ing. 
 
APPENDIX No. II. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE GENERAL SYNOD. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST, the Supreme Head of His Church, having pre- 
 scribed no entire and specific directory for government and disci- 
 pline, and every section of His Church being left at full liberty to 
 make such additional regulations to that effect, as maybe best ad- 
 apted to its situation and circumstances, therefore Relying upon 
 God our Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the 
 guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God, 
 for the promotion of the practice of brotherly love, to the further- 
 ance of Christian concord, to the firm establishment and continu- 
 ance of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace We, the 
 Deputies of the " German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Penn- 
 sylvania and the neighboring States, " of the " German and Eng- 
 lish Evangelical Lutheran Synod in the State of North Carolina 
 and the bordering States, " of the " Evangelical Lutheran Minis- 
 terium in the State of New York, and the neighboring States and 
 Countries," and of the "Evangelical Luthran Synod of Mary- 
 land and Virginia, &c. " for ourselves and successors, do adopt 
 the following fundamental Articles, viz. : 
 
 ARTICLE i. 
 
 The name, style and title of this Convention shall be, " The 
 Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of 
 North America. " 
 
 ARTICLE n. 
 
 The General Synod shall consist of the Deputies from the sev- 
 eral Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conventions in the United 
 States, who may join themselves thereunto, and be duly acknowl- 
 edged as members thereof, in the following ratio, viz. : 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 297 
 
 Every Synodical body, or Synod ( whether of ministers only, or 
 of ministers and lay-deputies together ) containing six ministers, 
 may send two ; if it contains fourteen, three ; if twenty-five, 
 four ; if forty, five ; if sixty, six ; and if it contains eighty-six 
 ministers or upwards, seven deputies, of the rank of ordained 
 ministers, and an equal number of lay-deputies. 
 
 Each Deputy, appearing in the General Synod according to 
 this ratio, shall, except as hereinafter provided, enjoy an equal 
 right and vote with all others. Every Synod may choose its Dep- 
 uties in such a way and manner as to them may seem proper ,- and 
 shall pay the travelling expenses of the same, to and from the 
 General Synod until the General Synod shall have established for 
 itself a treasury from which the future expenses may be dis- 
 charged. 
 
 ARTICLE in. 
 
 The business of the General Synod shall be as follows, viz. : 
 
 SEC. I. The General Synod shall examine the proceedings of 
 the several Synods and Ministeriums belonging to this association, 
 in order that they may obtain some knowledge of the existing 
 state and condition of the Church. The several Synods, there- 
 fore, shall transmit as many copies of their proceedings to the 
 General Synod, as there shall be members contained in the Gene- 
 ral Synod. 
 
 SEC. II. Whenever the General Synod shall deem it proper 
 or necessary, they may propose to the special Synods or ministe- 
 riums, new books or writings, such as catechisms, forms of litur- 
 gy, collections of hymns for general or special public use in the 
 church. Every proposal of the kind, the several or respective 
 Synods may duly consider ; and if they, or any of them, shall be 
 of opinion, that the said book or books, writing or writings, will 
 not conduce to the end proposed, they may reject them, and 
 adopt such liturgical books as they may think proper. 
 
 But no General Synod can be allowed to possess or arrogate 
 unto itself "the power of prescribing among us uniform ceremo- 
 nies of religion for every part of the Church," or to introduce 
 such alterations in matters appertaining to the faith, or to the 
 mode of publishing the gospel of Jesus Christ, (the Son of God 
 and ground of oui faith and hope, ) as might in any way tend to 
 burden the consciences of the brethren in Christ. 
 
 SEC. III. All regularly constituted Lutheran Synods, holding 
 the fundamental doctrines of the Bible as taught by our Church, 
 not now in connection with the General Synod, may, at any time, 
 become associated with it, by adopting this Constitution, and 
 sending Delegates to its Convention, according to the ratio spe- 
 cified in Art. 2. 
 
 SEC. IV. With regard to the grades in the ministry, the Gen- 
 eral Synod may give to the several Ministeriums their deliberate 
 26 
 
298 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 advice, wherein the circumstances of time, place and condition 
 must be duly contemplated, and a beneficial uniformity, and ac- 
 tual equality, of rank among the several ministers, must, as much 
 as possible, be had in view. The General Synod shall also ad- 
 vise such rules and regulations among the several Synods and 
 Ministeriums, as may prevent unpleasant and unfriendty collis- 
 ions, that might otherwise arise out of any difference of grades 
 existing among them, or from any other posssible causes. 
 
 SEC. V. The General Synod shall not be looked upon as a 
 tribunal of appeal ; it may, however, be employed in the follow- 
 ing cases, and after the following manner: 
 
 1. The General Synod may give advice or opinion, when com- 
 plaints shall be brought before them, by whole Synods, Ministe- 
 riums, Congregations, or individual ministers, concerning doc- 
 trine or discipline. They shall, however, be extremely careful, 
 that the consciences of ministers of the gospel be not burdened 
 with human inventions, laws or devices, and that no one be op- 
 pressed by reason of differences of opinion on non- fundamental 
 doctrines. 
 
 2. If parties, differing in matters of doctrine and discipline, refer 
 the cause of difference, in a brotherly manner to the General Syn- 
 od, they shall institute a close and exact scrutiny and examina- 
 tion thereof, and give their opinion on the subject of difference, 
 according to their best insight of right, equity, brotherly love, and 
 truth. 
 
 3. If differences between Synods be referred, the votes thereon 
 shall be taken by Synods, and the referring Synods shall have no 
 vote. 
 
 SEC. VI. The General Synod may devise plans for Seminaries 
 of Education and Missionary Institutions, as well as for the aid 
 of poor ministers, their widows and orphans, and endeavor, 
 with the help of God, to carry them into effect. 
 
 SEC. VII. The General Synod may also institute and create a 
 treasury, for the effectual advancement of its purposes. 
 
 SEC. VIII. The general Synod shall apply all their powers, 
 their prayers and their means, towards the prevention of schisms 
 among us ; be sedulously and incessantly regardful of the circum- 
 stances of the times, and of every casual rise and progress of unity 
 of sentiment among Christians in general, in order that the blessed 
 opportunities to promote concord and unity, and the interests of 
 the Redeemer' s kingdom may not pass by neglected and unavailing. 
 
 ARTICLE iv. 
 
 The General Synod shall choose from among their own number 
 a President and a Secretary ; and from among their own number 
 or elsewhere, as soon as it may be necessary, a Treasurer. They 
 shall continue in office until the next succeeding convention. 
 
AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHtJRCH. 
 
 The same person is at all times re-eligible as Secretary or Treas- 
 urer ; but no one may be elected President more than two con- 
 ventions in succession, and the same person cannot thereafter be 
 elected for the two successively following conventions. 
 
 SEC. I. The President shall act as chairman of the convention. 
 He may make motions, give his opinion, and vote like every other 
 member. With the consent and concurrence of the minister of 
 the place where the convention is held, he shall appoint the sev- 
 eral preachers during the convention. He shall subscribe all let- 
 ters, written advices, resolutions and proceedings of the Synod. 
 In extraordinary cases, and by request of any one of the acknowl- 
 edged Synods, made known to him in the form of a Synodical or 
 Ministerial resolution, he may call together special conventions 
 of the General Synod. In case the business of the Secretary be- 
 comes too burdensome for one person to execute, he shall, with the 
 concurrence of the Secretary, appoint an assistant Secretary, and 
 make known to him what portions of the labors he ought to under- 
 take. 
 
 SEC. II. The Secretary shall keep a journal of the proceedings, 
 write, attest, take care of all the documents and writings, make 
 known the time and place of the convention, through the medium 
 of the public prints, at least three months beforehand, and in the 
 special or extraordinary cases mentioned in the foregoing section, 
 he shall give written notice thereof to each of the special Synods 
 or Ministeriums. 
 
 SEC. III. If the President or Secretary, in the intermediate 
 time between the conventions, depart this life, resign his office, or 
 become incapable of executing the same, the next in office shall 
 take his place and perform his duties , if it be the Treasurer, then 
 the President shall appoint another Treasurer ad interim in his 
 stead. 
 
 SEC. IV. The Treasurer shall keep account of the receipts 
 and expenditures of the Synod. He shall give receipts for all 
 monies put into his hands. He shall not pay any monies out of 
 his hands but by order of the President, attested by the Secreta- 
 ry, in pursuance of a resolution of the Synod to that effect. At 
 every convention of the Synod he shall render account, 
 
 ARTICLE v. 
 
 The course of business shall be conducted as follows, viz. : 
 1 The deputies shall give personal notice of their arrival to 
 the minister of the place, or if the congregation be destitute of a 
 minister, to any other person appointed by the congregation for 
 the purpose, who shall make known to them their place of resi- 
 dence, and the place where the session shall be held. 
 
 2. At 9 o'clock in the forenoon of the first week-day of the time 
 of convention, the session shall begin and be opened with prayer. 
 
300 AMERICAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 
 
 3. The President elected by the former convention, shall act 
 as chairman till another President be chosen. In case of his ab- 
 sence, the persons present, may, on motion made and seconded, 
 appoint another in his stead. 
 
 4. The members shall give in to the chairman their attestations 
 or certificates. For all the deputies from any one particular Syn- 
 od, one certificate, signed by the President and attested by the 
 Secretary of that Synod, shall be deemed sufficient, and all the 
 members of the same Synod shall sit together. 
 
 5. If a majority of the deputies of a majority of the Synods at- 
 tached to the General Synod, be present, the business shall go 
 on. If this proportion be lacking, the members present may from 
 time to time, postpone the session of the convention. 
 
 6. The President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be elected by 
 ballot, on the first day of the session, and so soon as the members 
 shall have given in their certificates. 
 
 7. The proceedings of the former convention shall be read by 
 the Secretary. 
 
 8. Hereupon follow the several portions of business accord- 
 ing to Article III, section for section. 
 
 9. Now other mixed motions may be made, concerning the 
 subjects already discussed, or any other matters that may occur. 
 
 10. In conclusion, the General Synod shall appoint, by ballot, 
 the time and place of the next convention, observing at all times, 
 however, that one convention, at least, be held every three years. 
 
 ARTICLE v. 
 
 The General Synod may make whatever by-laws they may 
 deem necessary ; provided only, that the said by-laws do not con- 
 tradict the spirit of the Constitution. 
 
 No alteration of this Constitution may be made, except by the 
 consent of two-thirds of the Synods attached to this Convention; 
 an exact copy of the intended alterations to be sent by the Secre- 
 tary to all the Presidents of the District Synods in connection with 
 this body, with the request, that they would lay them before their 
 respective Synods for decision. 
 
 Signed October 24th, in the year of our Lord 1820. 
 Of Pennsylvania: 
 
 J. GEO. SCHMUCKER, GEO. LOCHMAN, CflR. KlJNKEL, 
 
 F. W. GEISSENHAINER, CHRISTIAN ENDRESS, WM HENSEL, 
 
 H. A. MUHLENBERG, PETER STICHTER. 
 
 Of New York: 
 
 F. C. SCHAEFFER, PH. F. MAYER. 
 
 Of North Carolina: 
 
 PETER SCIIMUCKER, GOTTL. SCHOBER. 
 
 Of Maryland: 
 
 D. F. SCHAEFFER, DANIEL KURTZ, GEO. SCHRYOCK. 
 
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