Local History: Northumberland County: Rockefeller Township
History of the Eden Lutheran Church-Part II

Copyright (c) 2001 by John Paul Deeben. This copy contributed for use in
the USGenWeb Archives.  jandwdeeben@msn.com

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V.  THE EDEN CONGREGATION IN THE CIVIL WAR

WHEN THE CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT in early April 1861, the call to arms very quickly reached the 
quiet countryside of Northumberland County.  Men from all parts of the county responded at 
various stages of the conflict, including several sons, husbands and future members of the 
Eden Lutheran Church.  Today, no less than nine Union veterans rest peacefully in Eden's small 
cemetery.  Collectively, their service spanned the entire length of the war.

	Soon after the fighting began, three sons of Eden's founding members entered the ranks 
of the Union's volunteer regiments.  They included Solomon W. Fausold, son of Henry Fausold, 
Samuel Fausold, son of George Fausold, and Henry K. Conrad, Daniel's son.  Both Solomon Fausold 
and Henry K. Conrad enlisted in Company I, 58th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, on January 23, 
1862.  The company was known by the Northumberland men as the Augusta Rangers.  Fausold had 
previously belonged to the local militia unit, the Sunbury Guards, but had been cut from the 
ranks in 1861 when that unit was organized into Company F of the 11th Pennsylvania, a three-
month regiment.  (Each company of the 11th was limited to twenty-eight men, thus the need to 
cut men from the rolls.)  For unknown reasons, Fausold did no rejoin his militia comrades when 
Company F returned home in August 1861 and was reorganized as Company C of the 47th 
Pennsylvania, a new three-year regiment.[1]

	Surprisingly, the tours of both men with the 58th Regiment were very brief.  For some 
reason that has not been recorded, Henry Conrad died at Harrisburg on January 24, 1862, one 
day after enlisting.  Fausold remained with the 58th for the duration of the 1862 campaign 
season.  He went with the unit to Fortress Monroe, where on May 18, 1862 it took part in an 
expedition against Norfolk.  The 58th then performed provost duty there and at Portsmouth 
until October, when it was sent to Suffolk to participate in several expeditions to the 
Blackwater.  On November 24, 1862, however, Fausold transferred from the 58th to the 4th U.S. 
Artillery, and completed his enlistment with the latter unit.[2]

	Samuel Fausold entered the war in Company C, 136th Pennsylvania Regiment, on August 16, 
1862.  A nine-month unit, the 136th Pennsylvania was ordered to Washington on August 29th.  It 
arrived at the climax of the Second Bull Run Campaign, and was assigned guard duty at Fort 
Lincoln on the capital defenses.  On September 29, 1862, the regiment went into Maryland, 
first to Frederick and then to Sharpsburg.  There, it was attached to the Second Brigade, 
Second Division, First Corps of the Army of the Potomac, which was still in the field 
following the Battle of Antietam.  As part of the field army, the 136th regiment went into 
action at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862.  Taking a position on the Union 
left flank, under the command of Gen. John Gibbon, the unit sustained 140 casualties.  In 
January, 1863 it took part in Gen. Ambrose Burnside's infamous Mud March, and then on April 
28th it moved with the First Corps to a position opposite Franklin's Crossing, Virginia, at 
the start of the Battle of Chancellorsville.  On May 2nd, as the tide of battle turned against 
the Union forces, the 136th moved to the right flank to help stem the rout of the Eleventh 
Corps.  After the battle, the regiment withdrew to its former camp.  Fausold mustered out with 
his company on May 29, 1863.

	After Samuel Fausold returned home he resumed the carpentry profession in which he had 
been trained by his father as a young man.  On December 25, 1866 he married Mary Catherine 
Evert, daughter of John C. and Sarah (Weiser) Evert and granddaughter of Philip Weiser.  The 
following year, on May 21, 1867, he returned to Sunbury after serving for a time as a boss 
carpenter in the Shamokin area, and built a house on East Market Street.  Fausold gradually 
became of the well-respected contractors in the Sunbury area, building many residences and 
business structures, employing large work crews, and engaging numerous apprentices.  He became 
a longtime member of the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Augustaville Lodge, and 
remained active in church and Sunday School activities at the Eden Lutheran Church until his 
death on May 9, 1906.[3]

	In addition to these sons of the congregation, several spouses of church members also 
took up the colors.  They included Henry F. Zimmerman, husband of Magdalena Bartholomew, 
Martin R. Gass, Mark Shipman, and Samuel Culp, spouse of Lydia Fausold.  Both Zimmerman and 
Gass served with Company H (known as the Northumberland County Rangers), of the 172nd 
Pennsylvania Regiment.  (Martin Gass' brother, Jacob C. Gass, also served in the same unit, 
while a third brother, William Gass, joined the 58th Pennsylvania with Solomon Fausold and 
Henry Conrad.  While there is no evidence that either Jacob or William Gass ever belonged to 
the Eden Church, they are both buried in the church cemetery near their brother Martin.)  Gass 
and Zimmerman mustered in with the regiment on November 1, 1862.  After a month of training at 
Camp Curtin in Harrisburg, the unit went to Washington on December 2nd.  Two days later it 
moved to Newport News, Virginia, underwent more drilling, and then a week later marched to 
the Federal fort at Yorktown.  There, the172nd took over garrison duties from the 52nd 
Pennsylvania.  The regiment remained at Yorktown for the majority of its service, engaging in 
artillery practice, infantry drills, and general post duties.  During that time, Zimmerman 
contracted typhus fever and died on March 23, 1863.  His body was returned to Northumberland 
County and probably buried at the Zion Stone Church cemetery.  (Conflicting burial records 
suggest the Eden cemetery was well as Zion, but no markers have been located to date.)

	Meanwhile, the 172nd remained in garrison until July 1863, when it was ordered to 
Washington and then sent to Hagerstown, Maryland and attached to the Eleventh Corps, Army of 
the Potomac.  The 172nd joined in the pursuit of the Army of Northern Virginia following the 
Battle of Gettysburg, and finally ended up at Warrenton Junction, Virginia.  There, its term 
of service expired.  Martin R. Gass and Jacob C. Gass mustered out with their company on July 
31, 1863.[4]

	Mark Shipman enlisted in Company C, 47th Pennsylvania on September 2, 1861.  Company C 
represented the remnants of the Sunbury Guards militia.  The 47th went to Washington on 
September 21st, and was stationed at Kalorama Heights for one week.  The regiment then moved 
with the Third Brigade of Gen. W. F. Smith's division to Camp Curtin.  On January 27, 1862 the 
unit was ordered to Key West, Florida, where it spent most of its first service tour.  During 
that time the 47th assumed a brief stint of picket duty at Beaufort, North Carolina, and also 
participated in expeditions into Florida to clear obstructions from the St. John's River and 
sever communications between Charleston and Savannah.  From November 18, 1862 to February 25, 
1864, the 47th shared garrison duty at Forts Taylor and Jefferson at Key West.

	The majority of veterans from the 47th Pennsylvania, including Shipman, re-enlisted in 
early 1864.  The unit left Key West at the end of February and, now assigned to the Second 
Brigade of the First Division, Nineteenth Corps, participated in many of the major engagements 
of the 1864 campaign season.  These included Gen. Nathaniel Bank's Red River Expedition, where 
the regiment fought in the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign 
conducted by Gen. Philip Sheridan.  In the latter, the 47th Pennsylvania, attached with the 
Nineteenth Corps to Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah, took part in the battles of Opequa 
(September 19th), and Cedar Creek (October 19th).  The regiment spent the winter and early 
spring at Charlestown, during which time Shipman was promoted to corporal on April 1, 1865.  
Following the cessation of hostilities, the 47th Pennsylvania was ordered on June 1st to 
Savannah, Georgia.  It departed, however, without Corporal Shipman.  Apparently tired of 
service now that the war had ended, Shipman deserted on June 2, 1865.[5]

	The final congregational spouse, Samuel Culp, joined fellow parishioner Samuel Fausold 
in the ranks of Company C, 136th Pennsylvania.  Not enjoying quite the same luck as some of 
his company mates, Culp was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg, being one of the 140 
casualties the regiment sustained in that engagement.  Despite this misfortune, Culp was able 
to remain with the regiment.  He competed his nine months of service with Company C on May 29, 
1863.[6]

	Joining these sons and spouses of the church, finally, were two future members of the 
Eden Church.  Sebastian Zimmerman and Saul Shipman (brother of Mark Shipman) also served with 
distinction in the war.  Since both later became very respected leaders of the parish, they 
deserve mention here as well.  Sebastian Zimmerman, a native of Cameron Township, 
Northumberland County, who operated a farm in Schuylkill County before the war, joined the 
172nd Pennsylvania Regiment along with Henry F. Zimmerman and Martin R. Gass, but was mustered 
into Company K on October 28, 1862.  He was quickly promoted to second company sergeant.  
Zimmerman took part in all of the exploits of the 172nd Regiment, and was discharged with his 
company on August 1, 1863.  After the war, Sebastian moved back to Northumberland County, 
settling in Lower Augusta Township in 1867.  There, he pursued farming and also served for 
thirteen years as a school director for the township as well as Sunbury.  He also became an 
active member of the William Bruner Post, No. 335, of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) 
and held several offices.  On May 27, 1877 Zimmerman joined the Eden Lutheran Church and 
quickly became a leader in the congregation.  He served five consecutive terms on the church 
council, three as an elder from 1877-79, 1883-85 and 1885-87, and two terms as trustee from 
1880-83.  Following his retirement from farming in 1887, Zimmerman and his wife moved to 
Sunbury.  In February 1890 he removed his membership letter from Eden and join the Zion 
Lutheran Church.  After Zimmerman's death on July 1, 1912, however, he was interred in Eden's 
churchyard with other members of the Zimmerman clan.[7]

	Eden's final Civil War veteran, Saul Shipman, was a native of Lower Augusta Township, 
born on January 4, 1844.  He came from a very well-established and respected family, his 
father being Judge Abraham Shipman (1810-1878), a venerable man who served Northumberland 
County for many years as county surveyor, associate judge from 1861-71, and Justice of the 
Peace for Lower Augusta Township.  Prior to the war Saul Shipman farmed and operated the 
family gristmill in Lower Augusta.  A year after hostilities began, on August 14, 1862, 
Shipman enlisted in Company C, 131st Pennsylvania Regiment.  The men of the company gave 
themselves a rather unique local moniker: the Northumberland County Tigers.  Signing on for 
nine month's duty, Shipman embarked with the unit from Camp Curtin for Washington, and then 
quickly moved into the Virginia theater of operations.  Assigned to Fort Ward in early 
September, the 131st conducted picket duty along the Leesburg Road and Little River Turnpike 
until the opening of the Maryland Campaign.  Then, the regiment rushed to Frederick, Maryland 
and moved west to Sharpsburg.  On the afternoon of September 17, 1862, it arrived on the 
Antietam battlefield in time to relieve exhausted troops but take little part in the actual 
fighting.  Three months later, the 131st received its first real baptism of fire at the Battle 
of Fredericksburg.  It participated in the ill-fated Union frontal assaults on the afternoon 
of December 13th, sustaining 177 casualties in one and a half-hours of fighting.  Afterwards, 
it went into winter quarters near Falmouth, Virginia, where it remained until April 28, 1863.  
Shipman then fought with the regiment at Chancellorsville on May 3rd.  After the engagement, 
the 131st Pennsylvania retired to camp until May 15th, then proceeded to Harrisburg and 
mustered out on May 25, 1863.[8]

	Following the war, Saul Shipman rose as a leading member of the community and the church.  
After taking a college preparatory course at the Freeburg Academy, he assumed charge of one of 
the public schools in Sunbury in 1864.  Five years later he was elected superintendent of 
schools for Northumberland County, and quickly earned the unofficial title of "Professor" 
Shipman.  During his six-year tenure as superintendent, Shipman became well known as a most 
efficient administrator and examining officer.  He held a series of educational institutes, 
which were hailed as the best in the county.  In 1870 he also successfully conducted a local 
normal school at Shamokin, one of the first of its kind in Northumberland.  As a result of a 
diligent personal work ethic, Shipman "greatly elevated the grade of the schools in the 
county."[9]  His other civic accomplishments included service as secretary of the Sunbury 
I.O.O.F. lodge, as well as representative to the Odd Fellows grand lodge, and over twenty 
years as secretary of the local mutual fire insurance company.  A faithful member of the 
G.A.R. as well, in 1890 he also served as Rockefeller Township enumerator for both the Federal 
and special Civil War Veterans' Census.[10]

	Saul Shipman joined the Eden Church through the rite of adult baptism sometime between 
1863 and his marriage on July 13, 1869 to Lucinda Fausold, a daughter of the congregation.  
He remained a faithful, active member until his death on February 20, 1923.  During that time, 
he served terms as trustee of the church from 1891-95 and 1899-1901, and one term as elder 
from 1910-11.  He also served as secretary of the church council, and helped organize the 
Plum Creek Cemetery Company (Incorporated), serving as its first secretary-treasurer.[11]  
Saul Shipman's dedication to the Eden Lutheran Church served the congregation well over the 
years, and his commitment continued through his family to the present day.  Both his son, 
Grover Cleveland Shipman (1884-1966), and grandson, John William Shipman (1915-1995), became 
respected and well-liked leaders of the parish.


VI.  MAJOR POST-WAR IMPROVEMENTS, 1873-1958

IN THE YEARS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the Civil War, the Eden Lutheran Church experienced some 
fundamental changes. By the early 1870s the original church edifice began to show signs of 
age and wear, making it increasingly unsuitable for use.  The Rev. Amos K. Zimmerman, who 
became pastor at Eden on June 16, 1872, duly noted that "When I came here Plum Creek had but 
an old frame church unsafe and uncomfortable to worship in."[12]  A dramatic increase in new 
members following the war contributed to the burden on the church building.  During the first 
twenty years of the church, from 1845-65, roughly twenty-one new members joined the 
congregation.  The brief post-war period of 1869-73 alone, however, saw an equal number enter 
into membership.  Two years later, the spring confirmation class of May 15, 1875 added 
fourteen more parishioners to the rolls.[13]  Such growth more than emphasized the need for a 
better, larger church building.

	Accordingly, the Eden congregation launched a building program at the beginning of 1873.  
On January 25th, the church council approved a plan for a two-story brick structure, similar 
in design to St. John's Lutheran Church in Snydertown.  A temporary building committee also 
recommended a site above the Plum Creek Road, near the old church, for the location of the 
new building.  Following a rather dismal report by the fund-raising committee[14], Pastor 
Zimmerman presented a subscription plan to raise $2,500 for the project.  Zimmerman and John 
Wesley Furman volunteered to canvas the congregation for the funds.[15]  At a subsequent 
meeting on February 1, 1873, the subscription committee reported $2,243 promised by the 
congregation.  The council then elected a permanent building committee consisting of Daniel 
and David Fausold, and William Taylor.[16]

	The building campaign was carried out in a fashion similar to the first project in 1844.  
The men of the congregation and community who pledged financial support carried out most of 
the construction.  In a more sophisticated manner than the previous building project, the 
church elders organized a series of financial "Accounts of Hauling, Labor and some other work 
done for or at the Church."  In these accounts they tracked the cost of the work performed by 
each volunteer, and even itemized the work performed, fixing specific rates for different 
categories of labor.  Hauling building materials, for example, cost $3.50 per day and general 
labor $1.50.  Masonry and carpentry were itemized as well but their rates were not recorded.  
As well, the cost of boarding laborers was set at $3.60 per week, or twenty cents per meal.[17]  

	In all, more than twenty men participated in the building effort.  Surviving account 
records show they performed over $1,522.04 worth of labor, including $468.59 in general labor, 
$406.77 in hauling, $390.50 in carpentry work, and $138.20 in boarding workhands.  
Additionally, David Fausold and Isaac W. Savidge performed $65.25 in masonry, Benjamin 
Krigbaum $20.00 in blacksmithing, William Taylor and Solomon Shipe provided $21.18 in lumber 
and scaffolding boards, and Sebastian Zimmerman spent $11.55 on beef.[18]  A subscription taken 
after the church was finished raised $1,305.45, plus $47.67 in cash donations.  (There are no 
surviving records explaining what happened to the $2,243 subscription reported by the 
fund-raising committee in February, 1873.)  In addition to the $820 collected from the January 
13th pledge list [see footnote 69], the Eden congregation raised approximately $2,173.12 for 
the second building campaign.[19]

	The new two-story brick church was dedicated on October 12, 1873.  Pastor Zimmerman 
presided over the ceremonies.  In subsequent writings he praised the efforts of the 
congregations very highly, describing the building program as a feat "accomplished by prayer, 
zeal, perseverance, self-denial, and liberal heartedness" which resulted in "a new comfortable, 
well-finished and well-furnished" house of worship.  Zimmerman in fact viewed the new church 
as a tangible symbol of God's continuing favor over the Eden congregation and its evangelical 
mission:  "You may ever be proud that the Lord has so highly favored . . . the whole 
congregation in the erection of this building which is a token of God's goodness and a 
manifestation of His power and presence in inclining your hearts to this noble enterprise."[20]

	Other renovations and improvements to the church property occurred over many years 
following the second building project.  In 1875 an ash-post fence was erected around the 
adjoining graveyard, the material provided by John Wesley Furman.  Sometime after the turn of 
the century a wrought-iron fence replaced it.  Between 1893-97 the church was twice remodeled 
(although details of the projects were never recorded.)  A Ladies Auxiliary was organized in 
1895 and held several fund-raisers for the renovations, including a chicken and waffle supper, 
which raised approximately $20.25.  In 1916-17 a major interior project took place during the 
pastorate of Rev. Charles A. Lantz.  Church members Levi G. Knouse, Daniel A. Furman, and 
George E. Kuebler comprised the remodeling committee.  General improvements included the 
installation of new steel ceilings in both the downstairs Sunday School area and the upstairs 
sanctuary, and the construction of three arches (representing the Trinity of God) over the 
nave and pulpit, supported by ionic columns.  The interior woodwork was repainted, the walls 
on both floors re-frescoed, a carbide lighting system installed, and new carpeting laid.  
Members of the congregation also donated a new altar, pulpit pews, and a series of German 
plate glass memorial windows, including a small pulpit window honoring Pastor Lantz.  The 
Sunbury firm of Eister and Weist carried out the carpentry work, while Bigalow Brothers of 
Belleville, Pennsylvania completed the painting and metal ceiling work.  Outside the church, 
a new roof and a belfry and bell were added.[21]  The final touch of the renovations included 
the installation of a huge altar painting enlisted "Christ at the Tomb" by Elma Mykland of Mt. 
Carmel, Illinois.  Church member Emma J. Fausold donated the painting as a memorial.[22]

	Following these improvements, a rededication ceremony took place on June 17, 1917.  The 
Rev. C. S. Bottiger of Berwick conducted the service, assisted by Rev. Peter Born Fausold, a 
son of founder Henry Fausold.  The final cost of the renovations totaled $3,150.00.  The 
congregation raised $2,027.79 through subscriptions and received donations of $700.00 and 
$75.00 respectively for the memorial windows and the altar painting.  The Ladies Aid Society 
also contributed $485.00, bringing the total sum raised by the congregation to 3,288.02.  
With $138.02 left over in the treasury, Rev. Bottiger declared the Eden Church free of debt 
following the dedication.[23]

	Some final improvements of note took place in the years following the interior 
remodeling.  In 1938 a new candelabra was dedicated, the Ladies Bible Class purchased a red 
and violet set of altar cloths, and the exterior of the church was painted.  Several members 
also presented individual gifts.  The children of Mr. and Mrs. Frank P. App donated brass 
offering plates and a receiving basin, while Mrs. Boyd Phillips presented a missle stand and 
the Altar Service Book.  The following year, on Whit Sunday, the Ladies Bible Class donated 
two altar vases and Mrs. Christian K. Fausold presented a credeance stand.[24]

	More cosmetic renovations took place during the late forties and early 1950s.  In 
November, 1948 a new cement block storage shed for cemetery equipment and outdoor restroom 
facilities was completed.  A fire escape was added to the exterior of the church.  The expense 
for these projects totaled $254.00, of which the Sunday School supplied $125.00 and the church 
treasury $129.00.  During 1948 a new lawn mower was purchased as well at a cost of $224.50.  
The girls' class of the Sunday School contributed $100.00 for the purchase, and the church 
$124.50.  The following year the outside of the church was repainted.  In May, 1950 the 
interior was redecorated.  The walls, ceiling, and stairway were repainted, the floors and 
pews refinished, and a new rose runner carpet installed in the sanctuary.  The total cost for 
these renovations came to $2,200.00.  A rededication service was held in June 1950.  Final 
remodeling occurred eight years later.  On April 20, 1958 the congregation took action to 
renovate the Sunday School area and replace the old coal furnace with a new oil heating 
system.  A separate building in the rear of the church was added to house the new system.  
The approximate cost of the project amounted to $3,000.00.[25]  Until the end of its life as 
an independent congregation, the Eden Evangelical Lutheran Church thus made every effort to 
maintain its facilities by modern standards and provide for the comfort and needs of its 
parishioners.


VII. MORE PROMINENT MEMBERS AND BENEFACTORS

AS THE EDEN CONGREGATION passed from the second half of the Nineteenth Century into the 
first decades of the Twentieth, many members continued to become leading figures of the church 
and community.  The Fausold family remained perhaps the foremost clan of the parish, producing 
several prominent sons.  David Fausold (1842-1916), son of Jonathan and Catherine (Bartholomew) 
Fausold, became a confirmed member of Eden on April 22, 1859.  Assuming a primary role in the 
community, David served for many years as a Rockefeller Township school board member while 
operating two farms of ninety-eight and thirty-four acres (the latter being part of his 
father's homestead.)  Two new schoolhouses were built in the township during his 
administration, which served as models for the district.  A leader in the church as well, 
David Fausold was Sunday School superintendent for many years and also held four terms on 
council as trustee from 1879-81, 1883-85, 1885-87, 1887-89, and three as elder from 1893-95, 
1905-07, and 1907-10.[26]

	David Fausold's cousin, Daniel Fausold (1835-1916), achieved an even more prominent 
stature in civil and religious matters.  The son of George and Mary (Krieger) Fausold, Daniel 
built a respected career in both education and contracting.  He received a teaching license 
from John J. Reimensnyder, the first superintendent of public instruction for Northumberland 
County, and taught ten terms in the Lower Augusta Township schools.  Learning the carpentry 
trade from his father as well, Daniel, along with his brother Eli Fausold (1846-1916), became
a leading contractor in the Sunbury area from 1856 to 1910.  In addition to assisting with the 
Eden Church building project in 1873, he built the Miller's Crossroads Methodist Church near 
Stonington and St. Peter's Church in Mahanoy.  He also built many of the small schoolhouses 
in Rockefeller Township.  Fausold also served several terms as school director and auditor 
for both Lower Augusta and Rockefeller townships.  Moving to Sunbury in 1895, he also became 
assessor for his district after 1903.[27]

	In church matters, Daniel Fausold contributed much of his time and professional 
expertise.  He served on the building committee for the 1873 building project and provided 
valuable technical guidance.  Fausold also held numerous terms on council.  He served as 
various times in all three offices, including four years as deacon (1875-76, 1879-80), six 
years as elder (1885-90), and two years as trustee (1893-94).  After Fausold moved to Sunbury, 
he left Eden and became a member of Zion Lutheran Church.  Daniel's brother Eli, a confirmed 
member of Eden since May 23, 1863, served the church as well, holding the offices of treasurer, 
deacon (1882-84), and trustee (1895-96).[28]  

	Another Fausold who became the only member of the Eden congregation to enter the 
ministerial field was the Rev. Peter Born Fausold (1858-1943).  The fact that Peter was named 
after Eden's second pastor provided an interesting foreshadowing of his future vocation.  A 
son of Henry and Catherine (Weiser) Fausold, Peter was confirmed in the Eden Church on May 15, 
1875.  He received his education at Susquehanna University and Gettysburg College, and was 
ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1883.  Although Fausold did not remain a lifelong member of the 
Eden Church, the distinguished career he pursued in religion reflected well on the 
congregation.  For almost forty-seven years, from 1883 to 1929, Peter served numerous churches 
throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, including parishes at Vandalia and Bluffton, Ohio; 
Burkettsville, Maryland; and York, Buckhorn and Somerset, Pennsylvania.  His last call was to 
the Stone Valley Lutheran Church in Lower Mahanoy Township, which he served from 1918-29.  
After his retirement, Fausold moved to Lewisburg and supplied pulpits on a part-time basis.  
He returned to his home in Pillow, Northumberland County, a year before his death on September 
27, 1942, and was later buried in a prominent location within the Eden Church cemetery.[29]

	Two other Fausold of note were brothers William Albert (1875-1949) and Christian Krieger 
Fausold (1880-1958).  Sons of Eli Fausold, William and Christian both served practically a 
lifetime as church officers for Eden.  William, confirmed on November 9, 1890, held the office 
of trustee in 1897-98, and then served a remarkable string of almost consecutive terms as 
deacon from 1903-08, 1911-40, and 1942-47.  During the latter part of those years he was also 
elected council president in 1939-40 and 1942-47.  Christian Krieger Fausold, confirmed on 
April 15, 1899, likewise served on council as trustee from 1915-23, 1925-26, 1931-32, 1934-35, 
and 1951-52, with one interim term as elder from 1928-29.  During his final term on council he 
was appointed parsonage trustee in 1951.[30]

	Other families that assumed prominent roles in the life of the Eden Church and the 
surrounding community were the Furmans, Zimmermans, and Kueblers.  John Wesley Furman 
(1839-1886), mentioned previously as one of the promoters of the remodeled Eden church 
building, officially joined the congregation by right of adult baptism on April 5, 1873.  
He served terms as deacon in 1874-75 and trustee in 1882-84.  In addition to his church work,
he was a successful farmer.  Operating a 120-acre tract in Upper Augusta [later Rockefeller] 
Township, Furman was described as "enterprising and prosperous . . . and ranking among the 
substantial men of the community in his time."[31]  He married into the Fausold clan, wedding 
Mary Ann Fausold (1837-1893), daughter of Jonathan Fausold, which improved his connections in 
the church and community even more.

	Furman's son, David A. Furman (1863-1929), achieved a considerable reputation as well.  
Over the course of the years he operated several farms in Shamokin and Little Mahanoy 
townships before purchasing 100 acres in the Plum Creek Valley in 1906.  There he pursued a 
large dairy operation in addition to general farming, and became a main supplier in the 
Sunbury area.  He also served as school director for Rockefeller Township.  David Furman 
joined the Eden Church through adult baptism on May 25, 1877.  He was elected to the church 
council on August 27, 1885, served until the end of 1887, and then was appointed again to 
council on July 4, 1883 to complete the term of his brother, Edward B. Furman, who resigned 
after moving to Sunbury.  Furman served another term as deacon from 1908-10.[32]

	Samuel H. Zimmerman (1824-1893) and his son, William A. Zimmerman (1858-1921), also rose 
to prominence in the Plum Creek district.  Both were competent farmers, and William operated a 
carpentry shop in the township as well.  Father and son were active in Republican politics; 
William served at various times as Rockefeller Township auditor and school director.  Samuel 
Zimmerman began his association with the Eden Church after his marriage to Mary Bartholomew 
(1826-1915), daughter of church elder Jacob Bartholomew, while William was confirmed on May 31, 
1873, and remained a lifelong member.  Both men gave considerable time to administrative 
duties at the church.  Samuel was trustee form 1875-77, while William held numerous terms as 
deacon and trustee from 1889-94, 1898-99, and 1901-10.[33]

	Kuebler family members George E. Kuebler (1843-1923) and son William H. Kuebler (1877- ?) 
offer similar profiles of industrious participants in the life of the Eden Church and 
surrounding community.  A native of Shamokin, George Kuebler spent his formative years in 
Pottsville, Schuylkill County, where he followed several professions including butchering, 
carpentry and farming.  He became active in civic and social affairs, serving as auditor of 
Schuylkill County and rising through the ranks of the Masons.  Kuebler joined the Page Lodge 
No. 270, F. & A. M. in Schuylkill Haven and helped found the Cressona Lodge No. 426, where 
he served as worshipful master in 1879.

	Following his marriage in 1871 to Sarah Ann Fausold (1846-1928), daughter of Henry and 
Catherine (Weiser) Fausold, Kuebler briefly became a member of Eden from 1876 to 1879, then 
rejoined the church after relocating to Rockefeller Township in 1883.  He transferred to the 
Sunbury Masonic Lodge No. 22, and served as the township's overseer of the poor for sixteen 
years.  In church matters, George Kuebler occupied the office of deacon from 1884-86 and 
1895-96, and the office of trustee from 1905-08 and 1912-13, and also consecutive terms as 
elder from 1914-18.[34]

	William H. Kuebler was confirmed into the Eden congregation with the November class of 
1890.  He became an apprentice in the tinsmith trade in Sunbury from 1892-95 and then took 
up plumbing and heating, graduating from the New York Trade School in 1904 with certificates 
in those two areas.  Kuebler formed a brief business association with A. H. Mutschler of 
Middleburg, then established his own plumbing and heating business in Sunbury in 1905.  He 
handled contract work in heating systems for George H. Keefer of Mt. Carmel as well as 
selling general lines of stoves and boilers in his own store.  Kuebler remained an active 
member of the Eden congregation until his removal from Sunbury, where the then joined the 
Zion Lutheran Church.[35]

	Two final members of the Eden Lutheran Church worthy of mention include Benjamin C. 
Long (1841-1914) and Joseph A. Gass (1844 - ?).  Both men achieved great stature in business 
and educational pursuits while serving as able church leaders.  Benjamin C. Long became a 
prominent agriculturist in the Plum Creek district, operating a 120-acre farm that formerly 
belonged to his father-in-law Samuel Kelly.  During his thirty-eight years in farming, from 
1863 to 1901, Long also served seven terms as a school director for Rockefeller Township and 
several more years as tax collector.  Long was a well-recognized figure when making his 
collection rounds in the district by horse and buggy.  Joining the Eden Church through 
confession of Faith on December 22, 1883, Long was immediately elected to council on October 5, 
1884 and served numerous terms as trustee and elder from 1885-86, 1888-89, 1897-98 and 
1901-02.[36]

	Joseph A. Gass was born and raised in Shamokin Township.  While he pursued farming as 
a principal occupation in that area as well as Rockefeller Township, Gass also ventured into 
several business enterprises as well as the teaching profession.  In 1862 he commenced 
teaching public school in Shamokin and Coal townships as well as the Snydertown Borough; 
within two years he had over 200 students enrolled in his schools.  Gass taught for a combined 
total of thirty terms, and also served as a school director for Sunbury.  During that time, 
he also entered business in 1889 as a retailer of agricultural products, particularly 
fertilizer and phosphates.  In 1898 he established a dealership in Sunbury, selling buggies, 
wagons, steam and gasoline engines, agricultural implements, and International Harvester 
farm machinery.  Gass also helped organize the Augusta Mutual File Insurance Company.  He 
served more than fifteen years as an agent, secretary and director.

	In other civic and social matters, Gass became a prominent member of such fraternal 
organizations as the Odd Fellows, Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and the Knights of 
Pythias.  He joined the Eden Church sometime between 1863 and 1869.  In addition to financing 
a portion of the second church building project in 1873, Gass served consecutive terms as 
a trustee on the council from 1876-80.  He also served as a superintendent for the Sunday 
School.  After Gass moved to Sunbury in 1898, it is probably that he removed his membership 
and joined the Zion Lutheran congregation.[37]

	In addition to these many talented members of the congregation, brief mention must be 
made of several noteworthy benefactors who, although they never formally joined Eden, 
supported the congregation financially and promoted the evangelical mission of the church.  
In the early beginnings of the Eden Church, the first patron, Jacob Bloom (1809-1876), played 
a prominent role.  The son of a well-known Northumberland County family-Jacob's father Samuel 
Bloom (1772-1837) served as an early county commissioner in 1813-15 as well as county 
treasurer in 1834-36, while his grandfather Captain Stephen Bloom (1734-1795) commanded a 
militia company from Philadelphia County during the Revolutionary War-Jacob Bloom became a 
noteworthy landowner in Lower Augusta Township.  He served as a township school director as 
well as Justice of the Peace for ten years.  Although he was a lifelong member of the Zion 
Stone Church near Augustaville, Bloom had close ties to the Eden congregation.  He was a 
brother-in-law to Eden founder Jacob Bartholomew, his wife being Julia Ann Bartholomew 
(1810-1895).  Bloom was also one of the main sponsors of the first Eden church building, 
donating over 200 boards in building materials.[38]

	Two other benefactors, John H. Beck (1850-1917) and George U. Weiser (1812-1882), were 
important financial sponsors of the second Eden church building project.  Beck became a 
leading agriculturist in the Seven Points area of Rockefeller Township, operating a 260-acre 
farm and dairy business.  A leader in civil affairs as well, he held terms as school director, 
supervisor, and county commissioner from 1903-06.  Beck was primarily affiliated with the 
Lantz Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Brush Valley, Upper Augusta (Rockefeller) Township, but 
pledged financial support for the Eden Church when the second subscription was taken in 
October 1873.  One of Beck's sons, John Norman Beck (1881-1852), however, did become a member 
of the Eden Church for a period of time (his admission date has not been recorded, but he 
apparently transferred from the church on April 20, 1919.)  Norman Beck married into the 
Fausold family as well, wedding Anna Matilda Fausold (1881-1953), daughter of John George 
Fausold (1844-1926) and Evelyn Rhoads (1846-1918), and granddaughter of George and Mary 
(Krieger) Fausold.  Beck was involved in farming in the early part of his life, then entered 
the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1914.  He worked at the Northumberland 
engine house as a boilermaker.  He later opened his own welding shop at Hamilton, outside 
Sunbury, and served as tax collector for Upper Augusta Township from 1927-35.  In 1936 he 
became involved in the administrative activities of the Zion Lutheran Church in Sunbury.[39]  

	The son of patriarch Philip Weiser, George U. Weiser was a substantial man of the 
community, a prosperous farmer and philanthropist who promoted educational and religious 
organizations.  In 1859 he was one of the principal organizers of St. Peter's Lutheran Church 
at Hallowing Run in Lower Augusta Township.  Concerning the Eden Church, Weiser assisted his 
father in supplying building materials for the first church edifice in 1844, and appeared 
again as a financial subscriber when the second church was erected in 1873.[40]

	One final benefactor of note was Dr. Horatio Warren Gass (1868-1930).  Dr. Gass was a 
native of Plum Creek, the son of Joseph and Ruth (Shipman) Gass.  After teaching public school 
for a short number of years, he began medical studies at the Medico-Chirurgical College in 
Philadelphia in 1894.  Receiving his degree in 1898, Dr. Gass practiced at Mount Aetna in 
Berks County until 1901, when he moved back to Sunbury.  In addition to his private practice, 
he served as physician for the local jail from 1906-08, as well as medical examiner for local 
insurance companies including Mutual Life and Travelers' Insurance and the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen.  Even though Dr. Gass was affiliated with the Reformed denomination, he held 
strong ties to the Eden Lutheran Church.  He married Gertrude Kuebler, a daughter of longtime 
church leader George E. Kuebler.  When the major interior renovations to the Eden church 
building were implemented in 1916-17, Dr. Gass joined a small group of subscribers who pledged 
$50.00 or more to the project.[41]  The generosity and support of men such as Dr. Gass and 
other benefactors enabled the Eden Church to carry on its evangelical mission from generation 
to generation.  Throughout the life of that mission, the leading members of the congregation 
thus profiled furnished much of the definition and direction.  These people collectively 
represented, as is arguably the case for any dynamic religious organization, the most 
important element in the story of the Eden Lutheran Church.

ENDNOTES
[1] Bell, Northumberland County, pp. 404, 413, 427.
[2] Ibid., p. 425.
[3] Samuel P. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, Vol. 4 (Harrisburg: 
B. Singerly, State Printer, 1870), pp. 318-19; Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, 
p. 132.
[4] Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Vol. 5, pp. 1192-93.
[5] Bell, Northumberland County, pp. 412-13.
[6] Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Vol. 4, pp. 318-19.
[7] Eden Parish Register; Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, p. 243.
[8] Ibid., p. 194; Bell, Northumberland County, pp. 427-28; Anon., The Union Army: A History 
of Military Affairs in the Loyal States 1861-65, Vol. 1 (Madison: Federal Publishing Co., 
1908), p. 453.
[9] Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, p. 194.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.; Church Membership List, Eden Church Records, ULC.
[12] Rev. Amos K. Zimmerman to the Eden Congregation, 1879, in Eden Church Records, ULC.
[13] Church Membership List, Eden Parish Register.
[14] A subscription sheet dated January 13, 1873 recorded only $920.00 in pledges for the 
building program.  $100 from this sum was never collected.  The "Committee on Raising Funds" 
deemed this initial effort "not as successful as was thought necessary."  See Eden Church 
Council Minutes, January 25, 1873, Box 1, Folder 3, Eden Church Records, ULC.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid, February 1, 1873.
[17] Eden Building Account Book (1873), Box 1, Folder 2, Eden Church Records, ULC.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Amos K. Zimmerman to the Eden Congregation, 1879.
[21] Eden Parish Register, pp. 423-24; Anon., History of the United Lutheran Church of Sunbury 
(Sunbury: United Lutheran Church, 1976), p. 2.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Eden Parish Register, p. 407.
[25] Ibid., p. 407; History of United Lutheran Church, p. 3.
[26] Eden Parish Register; Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, pp. 130-31.
[27] Ibid., pp. 131-32.
[28] Ibid.; Eden Parish Register.
[29] Peter B. Fausold Obituary, October 4, 1943 (newspaper not identified), clipping in Box 1, 
Folder 7, Eden Church Records, ULC.
[30] Eden Parish Register.
[31] Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, p. 129.
[32] Ibid.; Eden Parish Register.
[33] Ibid.; Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, p. 244. 
[34] Ibid., p. 477.
[35] Ibid.; Church Membership List, Eden Parish Register.
[36] Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, p. 578.
[37] Ibid., pp. 318-19.
[38] Ibid., pp. 709-10; Bell, Northumberland County, p. 1167; Eden Building Account Book 
(1844).
[39] Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, pp. 97-98; Anon., "Fasold or Fausold Family 
History" (Unpublished Manuscript), Fausold File, Charlotte Darrah Walter Genealogy Library, 
NCHS.
[40] Eden Building Account Books (1844, 1873); Floyd, Genealogical and Biographical Annals, 
p. 455.
[41] Ibid., p. 318; Eden Building Renovation Records, 1916-17, Box 1, Eden Church Records, ULC.