Church: Early Records of Saint Jacob's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pine Grove Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Judi Z. Gharst JGharst@msn.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. _________________________________________________________________ EARLY RECORDS OF SAINT JACOB’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH Pine Grove, Pine Grove Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Compiled by the late Dr. Glenn P Schwalm HISTORY OF ST. JACOB’S CHURCH Ref: Pottsville Herald, Friday, December 9, 1904. The secretary of the Schuylkill County Historical Society, Mr D G LUBOLD, read before the Society on May 30, 1904. The following are abstracts taken therefrom. The original record book of Jacob’s Church was found in the Lutheran Parsonage at Pine Grove in the attic among miscellaneous books left there by Rev. Elias HENRY. It is believed that this is the oldest record book of the congregation. When Pine Grove Twp. was formed, there were among 62 taxables returned. A few settlers adventured into the region as early as 1749, when the land was purchased from the Indians; but they were driven out again or murdered by the savages. It was not safe to bring families here until after the defeat of the Indians by General BOUQUET, and a treaty made by him, in 1763 with those surviving, by which they agreed to move out of the state. Jacob’s Church is located 2 miles west of Pine Grove near Exmore Station on the railroad leading to Lebanon. It stands on the southern slope of the range of hills which skirt the Swatara Valley on the north. The congregation was organized in the year 1780, and the Oxford or Lutheran Confession of faith was adopted. The same year, the first church was erected. It was built of hewn logs which were cut on the congregation’s own property, a tract of land containing 27 acres, obtained from the government. The building committee was John STEIN, Balthaser BOHR, George FELTY, Bernhardt ZIMMERMAN, Lenhart MINNICH, and John BRENNER. The ministers who were present and dedicated the church were Rev. Frederick V. MELSHEIMER and Rev. William KURTZ. The latter became the first pastor and served the church for 18 years, coming on stated occasions from Jonestown, where he was stationed. (The earliest church records which apply to Jacob’s Church are actually found in the record book for Hetzel’s or Salem’s Church,-Compiler’s note). The first burial recorded is that of Philip KEISER, born Feb 17, 1771 in Pine Grove Twp., and died March 18, 1804. He was one of the pioneer settlers in the Williams Valley, located on the present site of Tower City. As there was no church in that vicinity at the time of his death, he was taken back across the mountains and buried by the little church overlooking the residing Swatara. The second pastor, Rev. Andrew SCHULTZ, served the church while residing at Tulpehocken. In 1804, the congregation united with Hetzel’s Summerhill, Zion’s, below Orwigsburg, and St John’s near Friedensburg. These five congregations bought a tract of land near Friedensburg and built a parsonage which was the home of the various pastors of the charge until 1840. The property was then sold and proceeds divided among the owners. Since then the church has been served from Pine Grove. It owns half interest in the parsonage at the latter place. Here Rev. HENRY lived during his long ministry of 45 years among these people. The first church building was used as the house of worship until the year 1833. A new one was then erected, also of hewn logs and weatherboarded. It was built almost square, probably 35 by 40 ft. in dimension. On the inside, the walls were plastered. A gallery was built along the two sides and on the south side. On the north side stood the usual pulpit with winding stairs leading to it, and having a canopy overhead. In 1873, the bell-tower was added to the building and at the same time, the old style pulpit was replaced by a modern one. With these changes, this building is still used. From the fact that it has always been painted white, it is often called the “White Church”. The second church was dedicated May 19, 1833. The building committee was John STEIN and George STEIN. The master carpenter was John KUHNS. Very early in the history of the congregation, a schoolhouse was built nearby the church. The usual tuition fee was 50 cents a month. This building is still standing, but some years after the free school system was adopted, it was fitted up as a dwelling house for the Sextons. No records of the school have been found. Some of the early teachers were Mr. GRUBER, from Harrisburg, and Mr. John NEY, and Ludwig SCHMIDT. Several congregations have grown out of Jacob’s. The first was St. Peter’s which was built in 1816, the stone church in the lower end of Pine Grove. From this, in turn, in 1845, St. John’s of Pine Grove was formed. In 1874, an old schoolhouse near Ellwood was purchased by the congregation, and fitted up as a place of worship for the accommodation of those members living in the lower end of this charge. In this way, the beginning of another congregation was made, and on October 4, 1904, a new church, known as the Ellwood Lutheran Church was dedicated. When Jacob’s Church was established, there was but one other church in the county. This was Zion’s, below Orwigsburg. At that time, there was in the United States, only one Synod. The Ministerium of ennsylvania, comprising some 20 ministers and about 4,000 members, adhering to the Lutheran faith. In 1852, the charge of which this church forms a part, united with the East Pennsylvania Synod, which is a branch of the General Synod of the United States. The church has been an exception to the general custom of the earliest days, in that it never was a “union” church. The pastors of Jacob’s Church from the time of it organization were: William KURTZ 1780-1798 Andrew SCHULTZ 1798-1802 John KNOSKE 1802-1811 George MINNICH 1811-1833 William MINNICH 1833-1839 A B GOCKELEN 1839-1845 Benjamin SADTLER 1845-1849 E. BREIDENBACH 1849-1852 Elias S HENRY 1852-1897 Herman S KROH 1897-