STANLY COUNTY, NC - HOFFMAN - Unveiled Monument For Bethel Church Founders --------------¤¤¤¤¤¤-------------- From the Notebook of Lilly Carter Hoffman: "Unveiled Monument For Bethel Church Founders" Albemarle News and Press Albemarle,NC Friday , July 5, 1935 As a fitting close to an interesting and impressive historic program Sunday at Old Bethel ( Bear Creek) Evangelical and Reformed Church in Stanly County , a monument was unveiled, which had recently been erected by a grateful community to the memory of Christopher Lyerly and his son, Jacob Lyerly who together gave the land and made possible the erection of four houses of worship during the past 126 years. The monument, a stately granite shaft was unveiled by A.J. Harwood, sponsor of the memorial project after it had been presented to the church by Rev. C.C. Wagoner, pastor of the Reformed Church at Conover and great great grandson of Christopher Lyerly. It was accepted by M.G. Lentz, a trustee of the church. On one side of the shaft is the following inscription: "Erected to the memory of Christopher Lyerly A Revoluntionary Soldier under George Washington He gave 100 acres of land to the church July 2, 1809. Erected June 30, 1935" On the other side , the tribute to Jacob Lyerly is as follows: Jacob Lyerly , son of Christopher Lyerly gave 5 acres of land to the church in 1848." Immediately preceding the unveiling of the monument in the church cemetery, there was a historical service inside the church attended by Lyerly descendants from far and wide and a large crowd of present and former residents of the community, including sons of the congregation that have become ministers. Rev. Jacob Palmer, pastor of the Reformed Church at Thomasville and a great great grandson of DeMArcus Palmer an English settler contemporary with Christopher Lyerly, delivered an address on" Appreciation of the part Religion Has and Should Have on the LIfe of a Community and Natrion" Before beginning his address, Mr. Palmer read a letter from Rev. William S. Gerhardt. pastor of Bear Creek Church who had to be absent in Lancaster,Pa. on account of the illness of his mother. Mr. Palmer spoke briefly on what religion must have meant to those early pioneers who for the sake of religious freedom left their homes in Germany and braved the terrors of a new and unknown land. Mrs. Marshall Hatley, a direct descendant of Christopher Lyerly led the prayer before Mr. Palmer's discourse. Rev. C.C. Wagoner, of Conover, who has spent several years in historical research,gave a comprehensive and authenic sketch of the community in general and the Lyerly family in particular. Before beginning his discourse Mr. Wagoner read a letter from Rev. Felix B. Peck, pastor of the Reformed Church at Silver Run, Md.who is a direct descendant of Frederick Peck, the oldest member of the Bear Creek Church at the time of its organization. Chrsitopher Lyerly, it was pointed out, on July2, 1809 deeded 100 acres of virgin timber landto the Union Lutheran and Reformked Congregations.Subsequent building of churches was financed through the sale of 7000 cross ties and much lumber cut from the land by members laboring cooperatively without remuneration. But before a building could be erected services were held in Christopher Lyerly's threshing barn. The first structure built near the present one was of logs. Two more churches were erectedf at different times on the tract and in 1928, the present handsome moderen brick structure was erected.In the meantime, the Lutherans of the Congregation had withdrawn and built a church of their own, receiving a monetary consideration for their interest in the land. Jacob Lyerly, son of Christopher gave two acres of land to the church in 1848, following it up with the donation of three more acres a short while later. Christopher Lyerly in company with Christopher Rendelman of Organ Church made the long trip to Germany for a preacher to serve the congregation. One Theophilus Loetter, a teacher returned with him and was the first person buried in the cemetery. In presenting the historical sketch of the community and the Lyerly family, Mr. Wagoner said in part: " The first settlers lived in isolated groups, there was the second creek group in Rowan; the Buffalo Creek and Cold water groups in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus and Rocky River settlement dating from 1746. Today we are primarily interested in the Buffalo Creek settlement. We do not know when it began. Some say, 1747 others say earlier. In 1747 this was a part of Bladen County with the county seat at Elizabethtown, more than 150 miles away Anson County with the county seat of Wadesboro was formed in 1749, Rowan in 1752, Mecklenburg in 1762; Montgomery in 1779,Cabarrus in 1792 and Stanly in 1841. The high tide of German immigration was in 1765. During that fall and winter, 100 wagons passed through Salisbury, then a village of less than a dozen log houses and a courthouse. Soon people were clearing the forest 70 miles west of Fort Dobbs( Statesville) and 40 miles west of the Catawba river. On the North side of Buffalo Creek, John Mitchell received a grant of 1200 acres in 1763 and John Paul Barringer on the south side in 1762. It was 40 years before this immediate community was settled. One cause of delay and hinderance was the revolutionary War. Quite a number of young men went away and never returned, among them sons of a man named Swartzwelder( Blackwelder). After the battle of Savannah, some Hessian soldiers deserted and found their way into the German settlement on Bufflo Creek where they married the daughters of settlers. Some families names on Buffalo were Barringer, Berger, Barrier, Buzzard, Phyle, Beck(Peck), Carringer, Lyerly, Muskenuck, Swartzwelder, Seitz, Hynseman, Hahn, Barnhardt, Smith, Gregory, Hegler, Leib, Lefler, Blieler, Rutenaur( Ridenhour), Lauten and Moose." After this sketch of the community at large, the speaker discussed the history of the Lyerly family, beginning with one Johann Christopher Mayrle( now Lyerly) who came to America on the ship " Richard and Mary" sailing from Rotterdam and landing in Philadelphia Sept. 30, 1754. In 1773 he secured a grant of 400 acres on both sides of mil branch on Dutch Second Creek in Rowan County, near Rockwell and lived until his death in 1786. He wrote his will in 1784 leaving the Rowan farm to his sons, Peter and Jacob. two other sons, Zacharius and Christopher lived near Bear Creek and it was this Christopher to whom the monument was Sunday dedicated. Chriostopher Lyerly 2nd was born about 1760 and served in Mcree's Company, tenth Regiment of the Continental army from April 28, 1781 to April 28, 1782. He married shortly thereasfter, and when the census was taken in 1790, he already had two sons and two daughters. He brought land in the Bear Creek community as early as 1792 and received at least four grants from the state. In 1802 he was one of the petitioners for the ordination of Rev. George Boger. In 1804 the first church services were held in his barn. He was a charter member of Old Bethel Church in 1804 and architect of the first church building. On July 2, 1809 he deeded 100 acres of land to the union congregation. He was living as late as 1823. His youngest son, Jacob Lyerly was born Oct. 2,1789; died July 18, 1854. He married Mary Moose and they had 11 children, two whom were killed in the War Between the States, one of them at Gettysburg. There were 56 grandchildren. Mr. Wagoner closed his discourse with an appeal to people to be more careful in preserving historical records because they may become very valuable property. The unveiling of the monument was the climax of an all day service. At the 11 o'clock hour, C.F. Ritchie , of Concord, delivered an address on Christian Stewardship. Between services, a picnic dinner was served on the grounds. ___________________________________________________________________ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Jodie Gee jgee2@sc.rr.com ___________________________________________________________________