NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES: Rev. Rudolph Duenger PART II Copyright (c) 1999 by John Paul Deeben. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. jdeeben@aol.com USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. THE LOWER MAHANOY REFORMED CHARGE THE LOWER MAHANOY CHARGE of the East Susquehanna Classis was a fairly large, widespread pastorate with an extensive history. It's oldest congregation predated the American Revolution, and as early as 1784 the parish had been known as Schwaben Creek. (The name "Schwaben"-or Swabian-at that time was a term applied to the German immigrants from Wurttemberg who settled the area. Wurttemberg was often referred to as "Swabia" because it, along with western Bavaria and northern Switzerland, occupied the territories of a former medieval duchy of that name.) The parish only became known as Lower Mahanoy, or Greenbrier (depending on the source), in the early years of the nineteenth century. In 1836 the charge comprised five Reformed congregations, although as early as 1825 it had reported up to nine churches. Nestled across the southern tier of Northumberland County were the parishes of Himmel's (also known as Schwaben Creek) near the village of Rebuck; Howerter's (St. Jacob's) in Upper Mahanoy Township; St. Peter's (Krebs) Lutheran and Reformed Church near Red Cross in Jackson Township; and St. David's Union Church at Hebe, Jordan Township. An additional congregation, Frieden's Reformed Church, was located across the border in Schuylkill County at Hegins.[1] (Other parishes at one time associated with the Lower Mahanoy Charge included St. Paul's Lutheran and Reformed Church near Gowen City, Klinger's Church and Williams Valley (Tower City) in Schuylkill County, and even Roaring Creek in Columbia County. Frieden's Church, moreover, may have been associated later with the Deep Creek Charge, which included several congregations in Schuylkill and Dauphin counties.) [2] The Himmel's Lutheran and Reformed Church was by far the oldest of the Lower Mahanoy congregations. In 1774 the inhabitants of the Schwaben Creek area of Washington Township fulfilled a resolution adopted the year before to "erect a mansion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," by building a log church and schoolhouse on a sixty-acre tract of land.[3] A protocol, or parish record, was begun in 1776 and contained all lists of baptism, communion, membership, and the original articles of agreement. In the spring of 1818 the Lutheran and Reformed members erected a new stone church building "in the old Pennsylvania style." It featured a one-story sanctuary and gallery with a pigeon-box pulpit and enough seating for four hundred.[4] Himmel's remained the principal church in the Mahanoy region for almost twenty years, serving the population of a twelve-mile radius. It's central place in the life of lower Northumberland County was aptly described by one historian: Barefooted, coatless, and in farm wagons, the people would flock to their place of worship; no pride disturbed their minds, no fatigue furnished an excuse for absence, no one esteemed himself above his fellow Christians. [5] The second congregation established in the Lower Mahanoy Charge was St. Peter's Lutheran and Reformed Church near Red Cross. Even though a land warrant for a Lutheran and Reformed church school had been issued on April 4, 1774, the congregation did not become organized until 1788 with the help of Lutheran minister John Michael Enterline. In 1795 surveyors laid out the property, and a log house was built for use as both church and school. A second log building was erected at the beginning of the nineteenth century, a yellow clapboard structure which contained a three-sided gallery. In 1859, a few years after Rudolph Duenger retired from the charge, the congregation finally built a brick edifice which survives to the present day. St. Peter's was commonly known throughout most of it's life as Krebs' Church, probably in honor of Henry Krebs, one of the first trustees who held the original land patent.[6] The third Northumberland congregation of the pastorate emerged a few years later in 1803. It assumed the name St. Jacobs, but became more commonly known as Howerter's Church after the family of pioneer settler Valentin Hohwarter. The first church was built in 1807 near Pitman, just on the Northumberland side of the county line. Once again, a log house first served for worship purposes and was eventually replaced by a stone building similar in style and design to that of Himmel's. In 1853, a year before Duenger resigned from Lower Mahanoy, a sister congregation named St. John's Lutheran and Reformed Church was established a few miles up the valley at Leck Kill in Upper Mahanoy Township. Howerter's Church and St. John's remained connected long after the Lower Mahanoy Charge dissolved, it's Lutheran congregations eventually becoming known as the Line Mountain Charge.[7] The final Northumberland congregation, St. David's Union Church, was organized at Hebe in Jordan Township about 1824. It's first church, a log house with weatherboard siding, was built in 1829 and remained in use until destroyed by fire in 1864. The suspected cause of the blaze was a defective flue, and the fire was said to have started during a funeral service. A stone structure replaced the burned church and remained in use for many years.[8] While the congregations in Northumberland County were being organized, Lutheran and Reformed worshippers across the border in Schuylkill County assembled a parish at Hegins. The Frieden's Lutheran and Reformed Church, also known as the Deep Creek Church, was established in 1817, although other sources suggest the Reformed congregation may have organized as early as 1801 and the Lutherans in 1790. It probably emerged as a result of the missionary work of Rev. John Ross Riley, pastor of the Lykens Valley (Dauphin County) Mission, who began to preach in lower Schuylkill County around 1813.[9] A log church, 40 x 50 ft. in size, was constructed on a two and a half-acre plot near the village of Hegins, the ground being paid for in part by Christian Stutzman and the remainder donated by Charles and William Witmer of Reading. The pews in the sanctuary were arranged to form a cross in front of the altar and pulpit. The Rev. Johannes Felix became the first regular pastor of the congregation in 1819, and by 1822, under the care of Rev. Hartman H. Knoebel, Frieden's appears to have become a regular part of the Lower Mahanoy Charge. (In 1870 the East Susquehanna Classis realigned the pastorate and grouped Frieden's Reformed Church into the Deep Creek Charge along with Klinger's Church, Artz's Church, St. Matthew's (Coleman's) Church, Tremont and Donaldson.) [10] Rudolph Duenger collectively served the Lower Mahanoy Reformed Charge from 1836 to 1854, although his tenure at each congregation often varied slightly. Available records show that Duenger served the Himmel's Church from 1836 to 1852, Howerter's Church and St. Peter's (Krebs') Church from 1836 to 1854, St. David's Union Church from 1837 to 1849, Frieden's Church from 1837 to 1854, and St. John's at Leck Kill from 1853 to 1854. During his time at Lower Mahanoy, Rudolph also briefly supplied at St. John's Reformed Church in Shamokin from 1843 to 1846. Rev. Richard A. Fisher of Sunbury first organized the St. John's congregation in 1839. Until then, Shamokin had been an occasional point of supply for various Reformed clergy from other areas.[11] Fisher held the first services in a schoolhouse on Dewart Street in Shamokin. The first church edifice was not constructed until 1865, long after Rudolph removed from the area. From 1839 to 1874, when St. John's became an independent church, the congregation formed part of the Shamokin Charge along with St. Peter's Lutheran and Reformed Church at Overlook (known as the Blue Church), and St. Jacob's Church at Reed's Station in Ralpho Township. There is no evidence to show that Duenger supplied these other churches during his tenure at St. John's. It is impossible to be absolutely certain, however, for Duenger himself, in one of the few surviving quotations attributable to him, reported: "In the charge (Greenbrier) I labored 17 years preaching not only to different congregations, but also in Shamokin, Minersville and other destitute places."[12] Even though he spent a short time at Shamokin, Duenger was well remembered. The present church of St. John's on 8th and Arch streets in Shamokin has displayed a sizable plaque in the first floor lobby in honor of Duenger's service. Indeed, Rudolph must have made a similar impression throughout the whole of his pastorate, for one historian has since observed that "the people in both the Hegins and Mahantango Valleys still tell stories about him."[13] The full detail of Rudolph Duenger's service in the Lower Mahanoy Charge, such as sermons written and rites performed, has probably been lost forever, for no substantial collections of his personal papers are known to exist. Enough bits of evidence, however, can be found among surviving parish records as well as published sources to provide at least a glimpse of the type of work Duenger performed. The earliest evidence available, from the Howerter Reformed Account Records for 1834-43, shows that Duenger may have served as record keeper for the parish treasurer. Several financial entries bear the notation "In R. Duenger's handwriting," and detail money transactions with trustees Michael Diehl and Peter Zerfink. The earliest entry in Duenger's hand, dated July 31, 1836, simply states: "Balance remaining $23.88 . . . from Trustee of Himmel's Church- 1.04."[14] A later, more detailed entry by Duenger provides a year-end accounting of the church coffers: May 23, 1838, we settled the account, and the balance remaining after paying it out, was $33.26, which was turned over to the new Trustee Peter Zerfink. Of it was paid to the Schwaben Creek Congregation (an dis Schwaben Creeker Geneider) 8.10 for tiles and synodical expenses therefore there remains in the treasury 25.16. [15] A few other entries also reveal some evidence of the financial compensation Duenger received. An entry dated May 23, 1841 (also in Rudolph's hand), which again detailed the year-end account settlements, included several notations for "traveling expenses of preacher." Sums of $4.00, 12.04 and 1.40 were entered respectively (a few figures may also be missing), for a yearly total of $20.31. The year-end entry for May 14, 1843 also noted a general payment to the pastor-"to Rev. Duenger paid 2.00"-following general expenditures of $14.50 and .50 cents for coal.[16] The parish records of St. Peter's Lutheran and Reformed Church provide more general statistics of the rites Duenger performed during his pastorate. In the spring of 1845, for example, Duenger confirmed seventeen members of the congregation. The confirmation class of 1847 contained ten members, while ten and thirteen young people were confirmed in 1851 and 1852 respectively. The records further indicate that approximately 101 confirmations took place during Duenger's entire tenure (1836-54), with one class missing. (A notation in the register reveals that Duenger himself estimated the total number of confirmed to be between 150 and 160.) Statistics for communion rites performed for the period 1844-53 were also listed as follows: 1844 (52), 1846 (50), 1848 (34), 1849 (64), 1850 (75), 1851 (82), 1852 (49) and 1853 (66). In addition, Duenger also performed approximately seventy-three baptisms between 1842-53.[17] Assuming that Duenger himself performed all of the ritual services of baptism, marriage, and burial during his tenure, more accurate statistics may also be calculated for the Howerter congregation. From 1836 to 1853 Duenger performed 147 baptisms, which can be broken down by year as follows: 1836 (14) 1837 (5) 1838 (14) 1839 (12) 1840 (13) 1841 (6) 1842 (6) 1843 (5) 1844 (6) 1845 (5) 1846 (6) 1847(10) 1848 (4) 1849 (10) 1850 (7) 1851 (9) 1852 (7) 1853 (8) Baptisms for the Himmel's congregation also numbered approximately ninety-nine for the years 1836-46.[18] (Records for St. John's did not begin until 1854, and none could be found for St. David's Union Church before 1861.) A few surviving newspaper announcements provide a bit more human detail to the statistics mentioned above. On April 8, 1849, for example, according to a local German newspaper published in Sunbury, Rudolph performed a double marriage ceremony. The couples included Israel Schucker and Elisabeth Zerbe of Lower Mahantango, and Emanuel Kemple and Maria Schneider of Upper Mahanoy Township. One week later he united August Brunninghaus of Upper Mahantango and Maria Schaffer of Jackson Township. Within that same week, Duenger also performed three funerals. On April 9, 1849 he buried Rebeka Schermann, aged twenty-nine years, eight months. At the graveside Rudolph read a passage from Isaiah 60:20. A funeral announcement for April 14th similarly read: "At the same place [Lower Mahantango], on the 14th of April, by the Stick Flusz, Peter, son of Peter Muller, age 1 year, 3 months. The burial reading was at the cemetery, by Pastor Dunger, Luke 20:36." Two days later Duenger presided over the last rites of four-month-old Israel Schucker, son of Daniel and Maria Schucker. Again, at the graveside service Rudolph offered comfort with a passage from Psalm Sixteen, Verse Six.[19] It is interesting to note, finally, that Duenger also served an administrative role in the Synod during his years in the Lower Mahanoy Charge. When the East Susquehanna Classis convened at St. Peter's for its spring assembly in 1840, the officers roll listed Rudolph Duenger as clerk or secretary of the board, a position he apparently held for many years.[20] In 1841 Duenger even composed a hymn for the Synod in honor of the centennial of the Reformed Church in America, and also in support of the Centenary Fund for the Mercersburg Theological Seminary and Classical School. (The Fund had been established in an effort to set both the seminary and school on a sound financial standing.) The Synod printed Duenger's hymn and ordered it to be sung throughout the East Susquehanna Classis.[21] ____________________ [1] Charles Fisher Snyder, "The Beginnings of the Reformed Church in Northumberland and Nearby Counties," Northumberland County Historical Society Proceedings 15 (1946): 119. Hereafter cited as Snyder, "Beginnings of Reformed Church." [2] Ibid.; Glenn P. Schwalm, "St. Matthews (Coleman's) Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery Records, 1872-1966," (Unpublished manuscript, Charlotte Darrah Walter Genealogical Library, NCHS, Sunbury, Pa., n.d.), p. 4. There appears to be some contention in the records concerning the usage of the name "Deep Creek" with respect to Frieden's Church. Various sources appear to agree that Frieden's was also known as Deep Creek Church. The congregation may also inadvertently have been referred to as the Deep Creek Charge, however, for Schwalm states that Duenger served the "Deep Creek Charge" between 1837-1854, the exact years that he attended Frieden's Church in Lower Mahanoy. Sources indicate that Frieden's was not associated formally with other congregations in a separate Reformed charge called "Deep Creek" until after 1870. There are no records to show that Duenger collectively served these other congregations at any time except for Tremont and Donaldson, but then only after he resigned from Lower Mahanoy and moved to Ashland, Schuylkill County. [3] Himmel's Church Articles of Agreement, 1773, as quoted in Bell, History of Northumberland County, p. 788; Glatfelter, Pastors and People, pp. 450-51. [4] Bell, History of Northumberland County. [5] Ibid. [6] Ibid., p. 746; Snyder, "Beginnings of Reformed Church," p. 118. [7] Bell, History of Northumberland County, p. 710. [8] Ibid., p. 773; Snyder, "Beginnings of Reformed Church," p. 119. [9] "History of Hegins Township," Pottsville Republican, March 16-27, 1935, in Joseph Henry Zerbey, History of Pottsville and Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania (Pottsville: Republican- Morning Paper Print, 1935), pp. 1348-49. Hereafter cited as Zerbey, History of Pottsville; Glatfelter, Pastors and People, pp. 423-24; Munsell, History of Schuylkill County, p. 221. [10] Zerbey, History of Pottsville, pp. 1348-49; Munsell, History of Schuylkill County, p. 221. [11] Bell, History of Northumberland County, p. 642; History of St. John's Reformed Church, Shamokin, Pennsylvania, 1839-1909 (Shamokin, 1909), p. 8; St. John's Reformed Church, 100th Anniversary Booklet, 1839-1939 (Shamokin, 1939), pp. 3,14. Hereafter cited as 100th Anniversary. [12] 100th Anniversary, p. 3. It is unclear what congregations in the Minersville area Duenger may have been referring to in this quotation. [13] Don Yoder, "The Baptismal Records of St. Jacob's (Howerter's) Lutheran and Reformed Union Church, Upper Mahanoy Township, Northumberland County, Pa., 1803-1869," NCHS Proceedings 29 (January 1984): 143-44. Hereafter cited as Yoder, "Baptismal Records of Howerter's Church." [14] Howerter Reformed Church Account Records (typed transcript), July 21, 1836. Charlotte Darrah Walter Genealogical Library, Northumberland County Historical Society, Sunbury, Pa. [15] Ibid., May 23, 1838. [16] Ibid., May 23, 1841; May 14, 1843. Later sources also indicate that Duenger never received a regular salary until 1885, when he was paid $600 for the pastoral year by Zion's German Reformed Church, Ashland. [17] "The Church Book for Saint Peter's Church, Northumberland County, Jackson Township, 1842," (typed transcript, Charlotte Darrah Walter Genealogical Library, NCHS, Sunbury, Pa., n.d.). Editorial notes by Dr. Glenn P. Schwalm, who transcribed the records, indicate that approximately forty percent of the total baptisms were Reformed, since all baptisms were recorded together in one common register. Following this assumption, the figure seventy-three (73) was deduced from 182 baptisms performed between 1842-53. [18] The Baptismal Records of St. Jacob's (Howerter's) Lutheran and Reformed Union Church, Upper Mahanoy Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1803-1869, Genealogical Papers No. 1, (Sunbury: Northumberland County Historical Society, 1995), pp. 230-40. Hereafter cited as Records of Howerter's Church; Jack L. Pensyl, ed., The Baptismal Records of Himmel's Union Church, Rebuck, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 1774- 1846, Genealogical Papers No. 3 (Sunbury: Northumberland County Historical Society, 1996), pp. 62-77. Hereafter cited as Pensyl, Records of Himmel's Church. [19] Sunbury, April 25, 1849, in Jack L. Pensyl, ed., Marriages and Deaths from German Newspapers Published in Dauphin, Northumberland, and Snyder Counties, Pennsylvania, 1825-1851 (Sunbury: Northumberland County Historical Society, 1996), p. 8. [20] "St. Peter's Church Book"; Evening Telegram, March 17, 1902. [21] James I. Good, History of the Reformed Church in the United States in the Nineteenth Century (New York, 1911), pp. 80- 82. Hereafter cited as Good, History of Reformed Church.