AREA HISTORY: Church History, York County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Kathy Francis Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/ _______________________________________________ History of York County, Pennsylvania. John Gibson, Historical Editor. Chicago: F. A. Battey Publishing Co., 1886. _______________________________________________ CHURCH HISTORY – Page 523 The First Evangelical Lutheran Church – Immediately after permits were granted to purchase lands west of the Susquehanna, in 1731, numerous German emigrants located on what are now the fertile limestone lands of the valley, extending from the Susquehanna westward to the vicinity of Hanover. With them were some English, as the land warrants indicate, but the vast body of them were Germans – Lutherans, German Reformed and Moravians. These people brought with them the principles taught in the fatherland, from which most of them had just come, and in September, 1783, the Lutherans took steps for the organization of a congregation, the first one of this denomination west of the Susquehanna. The contributors to the purchase of the first record book for the members of this congregation, in September, 1733, together with the times of the arrival of some of them in America, were as follows: Martin Bauer 1732 Johannes Bentz 1732 Joseph Beyer 1731 Paul Burkhardt John Adam Diehl 1731 Carl Eisen Christian Groll 1729 Baltzer Knetzer Christof Kraut Gottfried Mauch Nicholas Koger 1732 Jacob Scherer 1732 Mathias Schmeiser 1731 George Schmeiser 1731 Geo. A. Zimmerman Heinrich Schultz 1731 Valentine Schultz 1731 George Schwab 1727 Philip Ziegler 1727 George Ziegler 1727 Jacob Ziegler 1727 Michael Walck 1732 Heinrich Zanck 1732 One name illegible. Rev. John Casper Stoever, the first pastor, 1733-43 – In September, 1733, Lutheran settlers west of the Susquehanna, were visited by Rev. John Casper Stoever, who formed a congregation called “Die Evangelische Lutherische Gemeinde an der Kathores,” and served as its pastor for ten years. He was born December 21, 1707, in the upper province of the Electorate of Hesse, at the city of Frankenberg, and was the son of Dietrich Stoever, bürger and merchant, and Magdalena, daughter of Rev. Andrew Eberwein, pastor at Frankenberg. In his youth he was a teacher at Anweiler, in the Rhenish Palatinate, and while is supposed to have studied for the ministry. In 1728 he sailed from Rotterdam with ninety Palatines on the ship “James Goodwill,” David Crocket, master, and landed at Philadelphia, September 11, 1728. His name is entered on the ship’s register as “Johann Casper Stoever, Sancro Sanctæ Theologiæ Studiosus.” He spent the first year in America, in the vicinity of Trappe, Montgomery County, this State. May, 1730, he was settled on the upper waters of the Conestoga, near where New Holland, in Lancaster County, now stands. At this time he served as pastor of the Lutherans of Lancaster and Berks Counties. In September, 1732, Rev. John Christian Schultz arrived, and, in 1733, he ordained Mr. Stoever in Montgomery County, within a barn then used as a place of worship. Rev. Stoever then proceeded to Lancaster County, and regularly opened church records for the congregations he had organized at Mode Creek, New Holland, Lancaster, and at North Hill, in Berks County. He then resided near New Holland, Lancaster County, for many years, until he moved to the Swatara, in Lebanon County, where he lived until his death May 13, 1779, after having organized nearly all the older congregations, from New Holland to the North Mountains, beyond Lebanon, as well as the historic one herein described. Several of the first members of his newly formed congregation on the Codorus, came across the ocean in the same vessel with him, as Sebastian Eberle, and George Shumacher, and as one of the earliest routes of emigrants through Lancaster County led them past Rev. Stoever’s home, it is probably that he met them on their way thither, and may have visited them before 1733. There was no building erected as a church when this congregation was organized. The services were doubtless held in the houses of members. York was not laid out then, but there were a number of settlers who located in the immediate vicinity during the years 1730 and 1731, and built dwelling houses of logs. The emigration west of the river was very rapid about this time. In fact it is altogether possible that different homes were used in which this pioneer congregation assembled for worship at this early day, and these may have been located either around the present site of York, east or west of it. Many of the original members lived east of York in the region then called Grist Creek Valley, after one of the first English settlers there, and later has been corrupted into Kreutz Creek Valley. As late as 1800, the small stream, a few miles east of York, which crosses the pike, was called the Codorus, and the large one at York the Great Codorus. This will explain the tradition that the first church was organized east of York, when the fact, correctly understood, should be that all the German Lutherans, within a large territory, belonged to this one congregation organized by Pastor Stoever. List of male members of congregation in the time of Pastor Stoever, from 1733 to 1743, with the date of arrival at Philadelphia, as given in Rupp’s “30,000 German Emigrants:” George Amendt 1732 Conrad Aman 1731 Martin Bauer 1732 George M. Beierle 1730 Philip Bentz 1732 Joseph Beyer 1731 Melchoir Beyer Frederich Bleibreau Jacob Braum 1733 Ulrich Beuhler 1734 Paul Burkhardt Barthol Creutzdorf John George Cruradt Henry Dewees 1733 John Adam Diehl 1731 Conrad Dietz Daniel Earley Sebastian Eberle 1728 Michael Ebert 1731 Charles Eisen Philip Adam Endtler Henry English Michael Fisher Conrad Fry 1733 Martin Fry John Funck 1727 Peter Gaertner Jacob Gaunerner John Adam Giszner John George Gobel 1733 Adam Gossner Philip Gohn Christian Groll 1729 Philip Ernst Gruber Jacob Haurle John Hearken Tobias Hendrick John Herberger 1732 Nicholas Hoeltzel Erasmus Holtzapfel 1731 Leonard Immel Christof Kauffeld Casper Kerber 1733 Leonard Knady Baltzer Knetzer John Peter Knoble Nicholas Koger 1732 Valentine Krantz Christof Kraut Michael Krueger 1732 John G. Lansbager Conrad Lau Christian Lau1732 John Christ Loeffler 1732 John G. Loewanstein Bartholomew Maul 1732 Gottfried Mauck Detirich Meyer George Meyer William Morgan Adam Mueller 1732 Conrad Mueller 1732 Jacob Mueller 1732 Andreas Nebinger Christian Neumau George Pflueger 1731 John Jacob Ruisiel Meyrich Rudisiel 1737 John Adam Ruppert 1731 Dietrich Saltzgaber Jacob Scherer 1732 Mathias Schmeiser 1731 John Geo. Schmeiser Hienrich Schmidt 1732 John Geo. Schmidt 1731 Baltzer Shoenberger 1732 John Schryack 1732 John Shuetz 1732 John Henry Schultz Valentine Schultz 1732 George Schwab 1727 John Scheigardt Baltzer Spangler 1732 Ludwig Stein Henry Stultz 1731 John Sultzbach 1732 Torck Updegraff Michael Walch 1732 Martin Weigel Ludwig Weisong Mathias Weller Jacob Weller Martin Weybrecht 1732 V. Winterbauer John George Wolff 1727 Wilhelm Wolff John Yost Heinrich Zauch 1732 Jacob Ziegler John George Ziegler 1727 Rev. David Candler, 1743-44 The second pastor was Rev. David Candler, who in May, 1743, organized “the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of the Conewago,” the present St. Matthew’s Church of Hanover. He resided in “the Conewago settlement,” in the vicinity of the spot where Hanover stands, around which a number of Germans’ had settled as early as 1731. His charge extended from the Susquehanna to the Potomac. He baptized seventy children in the York congregation and equally as many at Hanover. His son David, born May 6, 1740, became a prominent citizen of York. Pastor Candler’s health failed; he died in December, 1744, and was buried in a graveyard one-half mile northwest of Hanover. In 1744, the first log-church was built in York, on the spot where the Christ Church stands. For the first ten years no special house of worship was used, so far as is known, though there may have been one at another pint in the great York Valley. The church in York was built just three years after the town of York was founded. Rev. Lars Thorstanses Nyberg 1744-48 The funeral of the Rev. Candler in December, 1744, was attended by many persons. The officiating clergyman was Rev. Lars Nyberg, of Lancaster. He was a Swede, and had before entering upon the ministry, been a surveyor, and early in life also studied theology. Through intercourse with Arvid Gradin, he had accepted Moravian views. He was engaged as a teacher by a Swedish court, when a call from the Lancaster Lutheran Church was sent to Sweden for a minister. On his way to America he met, in London, Rev. Spangenberg, who became one of the apostles of the Moravian Church in America, and there, it is asserted, confirmed his faith in Moravian doctrine, but soon after became pastor of the Lutheran Churches at Lancaster, York, Hanover and Monocacy. In all of these congregations troubles arose on account of his attempts to turn them over to the Moravians. At York the controversy was especially severe and exciting, as Rev. Jacob Lischy, then pastor of the Reformed Church, was of the same faith. In 1746 a Moravian Synod was held in Kreutz Creek, and Nyberg brought two missionaries there, one to be pastor of the York Congregation and the other of the Monocacy Congregation. The most determined opponent at York was Bartholomew Maul, then the parish schoolmaster, who was also empowered to read sermons during the absence of the pastor. Rev. Henry Muhlenberg visited York in May, 1746, for the first time. He reports in his diary that the York congregation then contained 110 families, living over a large extent of the country. He baptized several children, and confirmed those that Schoolmaster Maul had instructed. In June, 1747, Muhlenberg again visited York, and went also to Conewago, Monocacy and Frederick. In his diary for June 21, 1747, he says: “In the afternoon we rode from Lancaster, and in the night reached the newly laid out town of York, some of the people came together in the middle of the night and rejoiced at my arrival, and expected that the Lord’s Supper would be administered to them on the following Sunday. I was now in the district in which the Lutheran congregations had commissioned Mr. Nyberg. He visited the congregations as far as into Maryland. The people who had been awakened by his methods, clung very closely to him, were ready to live or die with him. The stronger party nevertheless locked the church against him.” “On Saturday, June 27, at noon,” says Rev. Muhlenberg, “we arrived at York on our return from Maryland, when the members of the congregation were assembled that they might give in their names to come to the Lord’s Supper. I called together those elders and members who were most active, and begged of them to put away all dissension and distraction. Schoolmaster Maul, who had diligently instructed the children, and on Sundays, read sermons, was present, and was questioned concerning the congregation. One or more of the vorstecher had been too loud, and had shown too much heat in the strife with the Moravians, for which I reproved them in love and gentleness. The justice of the peace presented himself, but made complaint against a contentious neighbor, who being examined, conducted himself rudely, refused admonition and was excluded until he amended. Those who favored Nyberg did not attend services regularly, and said only by his preaching were their hearts moved. They promised, however, that is a worthy pastor of our United Ministry, came hither to preach, they would come and hear him and follow him. At 8 o’clock I went to the church and had a profitable preparations based on Matthew XI, 8; the people were all attention. After the preparative service I received the group of young men whom the schoolmaster had instructed for their confirmation. In the evening I edified and refreshed myself still further with the elders and vorsteher in the house. On Sunday, June 28, some persons who lived far off, made application for the Lord’s Supper. The church on the day was too small, and nearly half of the audience had to stand outside, for a great congregation had assembled from a distance even of ten or twenty miles; it was the second Sunday after Trinity. I baptized a number after sermon, and confirmed fifteen persons, and administered the Lord’s Supper to 200 communicants, and then closed the services by the whole congregation on bended knees giving thanks to God. In the evening I was invited as a guest by the justice of the peace.” The justice mentioned was George Swaab (Swope). After Muhlenberg’s departure Bartholomew Maul continued to read sermons to the congregation. He was afterward elected one of the first commissioners of York County, and died about 1759. Rev. John Helfrich Schaum 1748-55. In May, 1748, the United Ministry sent Rev. Schaum. He was born in Geissen, in Hesse-Darmstadt. His father was preceptor of a school at Munichholzhausen; was educated at the University of Halle, and sent to America with authority to teach in the Congregational school at Philadelphia, where he landed January 26, 1745. He preached in Germantown and at Raritan, N. J. He was sent to York with special instructions and minute directions as to how he should minister to the congregation. A prescribed order of services was required to be followed, which was common to all the churches of the Lutheran Union at that time. On his arrival at York, May 17, 1748, he was accompanied by Pastor Handschuh, of Lancaster, and Schoolmaster Vigera, of Philadelphia. On the afternoon of the 18th the constitution for the congregation adopted by the United Ministers, was presented and put into force, and so continued until 1781. On Ascension day, May 19, the pastor installed the newly-elected elders and vorsteher, and confirmed sixteen persons. On Saturday Handschuh and Vigera went to Conewago (Hanover) to arrange for its connection with York, which soon after was effected, as was that of the Lower Bermudian congregation, to which Schaum preached May 31, 1748. For nearly five years the congregation at York had been without an authorized pastor. While on his way to the consecration of a church at Raritan, N. J., Schaum was severely injured, from which he suffered for years, and for a time was not able to preach. In 1752 he was requested to occasionally visit the congregation at Frederick, which was vacant. In May, of the same year, his wife, Anna Eva, and their young child, Anna Gertrude, died. He was again married August 7, 1758, to Maria Dorotha Stumpf, of Lancaster. Rev. Schaum’s heath failed, and, on account of growing opposition, retired from the pastorate of York, and in April, 1755, he went to Tohickson. Rev. John Samuel Schwerdfeger, 1755 – 56. The opposition to Rev. Schaum heard of the arrival at Baltimore of a candidate of theology, John Samuel Schwerdfeger, a young man of twenty-three years, who had been educated as an orphan at Neustadt, in Bavaria, and at the University of Erlangen, where he studied law and theology. He was shipped from Holland to Baltimore with emigrants; being unable to pay his passage would have been sold as a “redemptioner,” upon landing, when the congregation at York bought his freedom. “He was ordained,” say Muhlenberg, “by ministers who called themselves ‘Orthodox Lutherans,’ and who did not belong to the Synod.” The congregation was then divided into two factions. Rev. Lucas Raus, of Goschenhoppen, Berks County, was called to York to settle the strife, but he would not then come. George Ludwig Hochheimer, 1767-58. The next pastor was Hochheimer, who arrived in America November 1, 1755, from Germany, where he was a schoolmaster and barber. He came to York in 1756, when the two parties still existed; the majority of both accepted him as pastor. He remained a short time. In 1774, he was pastor of a congregation in South Carolina, and had been for many years before. Rev. John Kirchner, another Lutheran pastor, was at York during a part of the same time. He also had charge of Shuster’s Church, in Springfield Township, from 1763 to 1767, and probably organized that congregation. Rev. Lucas Raus, 1758-63. The next pastor, Rev. Lucas Raus, moved to York in April, 1758, met with success in building up the congregation, and excelled any previous pastor. In 1759, he baptized 132, and in 1761, 161 children in the York congregation. The congregation then had 300 adult and 250 young members. On June 2, 1760, the corner-stone for a stone church was laid. It was used for baptisms April 30, 1761, but was not fully completed until 1762. During the fall of that year it was consecrated by Dr. Wrangle, of Philadelphia, Revs. Borell, of Wilmington, Del., Geroch and N. Kurtz. The new stone church which stood until 1812, was 40 x 65 feet in dimension. It was located where the church now stands, but was placed nearer the street than it. The steeple was taken down in 1805, as far as the bells, and a roof placed over them. In 1763, on account of some difficulties, Rev. Raus retired from his charge at York, and turned his attention more to medicine. He had charge of some country churches, organized the churches at Dover and Quickel’s, and preached at Shuster’s church, in Springfield Township, from 1770 to 1787. The record shows baptisms administered by him at Bermudian, 1758-1762; Kruetz Creek and “Chockely” 1760; Carlisle, in 1762; in the school house at Jacob Ziegler’s, in Codorus Township; at Justice Noblet’s house, and held English services in Newberry Township. A biographical sketch of Mr. Raus will be found on page 405. Rev. Nicholas Hornell, 1763-65, was the next pastor at York. He was from Sweden, and came to Philadelphia, from Wilmington, and on July 8, 1763, left Philadelphia on the Lancaster stage for York, having obtained the Agenda for that use at his new charge. Pastor Hornell had been ordained in London in 1747, served the congregation at Höör in the province of Scania, was charged of serious wrongdoing and fled to Denmark. This news came to York and interfered with his success. On June 30, 1765, he delivered a farewell discourse and retired from the ministry. In 1767 he was living one-half mile from York. The congregation had no pastor from July 1765 to February 1767. During this interim it is supposed certain religious ceremonies were performed by Philip Teutsch (Deitch) who succeeded Bartholomew Maul as schoolmaster. William Kurtz was teacher of the school in 1756, established in York by the English Society. Philip Deitch continued as schoolmaster until his death in 1789. Rev. John George Bager, 1767-69 – The next pastor, Rev. Bager, had been in charge of the German church in New York City since 1763. Before he went to New York he had been pastor of the church at Hanover, where he lived. In 1769 he returned to Hanover. Rev. Bager was born at Niederlinz, in Nassau-Saarbruck, March 29, 1725. His father was a pastor. The son studied theology at Halle. Muhlenberg said “he was a very worthy and learned man, and was ordained in Germany.” He was married to Anna Elizabeth Schwab, born at Geissen in Hesse-Darmstadt. He arrived in Philadelphia October 23, 1752, and was met by Rev. Stoever and taken to Lebanon. In December, 1752, he visited Hanover and received a call on the 16th, moved there soon after and remained at Hanover until he went to New York. His first two children died in Europe, the third, Catharine, was born in Lebanon; the fourth, Christian Fredrick, born August 29, 1754, in Hanover. Upon the death of his father Rev. Bager inherited money to purchase a farm near Hanover on which he died June 9, 1791. During many years he ministered to scattered Lutheran congregations. He is the ancestor of the Baugher family in York and Adams Counties, some of whom have become prominent clergymen and authors. Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz, 1770-89 – In April, 1770, Mr. Kurtz took charge of the congregation. He was born October, 1722, in Lutzellinden, in the principality of Nassau Weilburg, now in Rhenish Prussia. His father was teacher of the Congregational school. The son spent six years in a classical school at Geissen, and studied theology in the university there, and afterward at Halle. He arrived at Philadelphia January 26, 1745, and went to New Hanover as a teacher, and as a preacher in Montgomery County, Penn., and at Raritan, N. J. He next went to Tulpehocken, Berks County, and also preached in Lancaster County. He was ordained August 15, 1748. When Rev. Kurtz came to York he was in his forty-eighth year; he was a well formed man, five feet ten inches high, with broad forehead, dark eyes and dark curling hair. He had a full, strong resonant voice, and was inclined to preach the law and not abate its terms, as he possessed great firmness of purpose. During his pastorate at York, the Revolutionary war took place and congress met here. He was at first troubled about the oath of allegiance he had taken to the king of England, but his conscience became clear and, in 1776, he was naturalized. During the meeting of congress when the houses of citizens had to be opened to entertain, his house was the home of Bishop White, then of the Spanish minister, afterward of the French minister, then of a member from South Carolina. In 1777, when money was scarce, and provisions for the soldiers meager, Mr. Kurtz, after a sermon asked his audience to collect all articles and stores they could and send them to his house, and a committee was appointed to distribute them to the suffering soldiers according to the authority of his grandson, Dr. Benjamin Kurtz. Mr. Kurtz’s work was very successful, he did a great amount of ministerial work in the country west of York. He served as secretary of the Ministerium in 1763, and was president in 1778, and on the death of Dr. Hs M. Muhlenberg he was accorded the high honor of becoming his successor, as senior Ministerii. In 1789, Rev. Kurtz moved to Baltimore, where he lived with his son, Rev. J. Daniel Kurtz. He died suddenly of apoplexy, May 12, 1794, aged seventy-two year. America had in his day very few preachers equal to him. Rev. Jacob Goering, 1783-1807 – The next pastor was the son of Jacob and Margaret Goering, and was born in Chanceford Township, York Co., Penn., January 17, 1755. When eighteen years old his father took him to Dr. Helmuth of Lancaster, with whom he remained two years as a diligent student. He was ordained in 1776, and settled in Carlisle. He there preached to six congregations: Carlisle, Dover, Paradise, Upper and Lower Bermudian and Lower Settlement. In 1783, the Ministerium met at York for the second time, on which occasion the first evening service was held of which there is any record. At this time Mr. Goering had become assistant pastor of this charge and had removed to York. On the removal of pastor Kurtz to Baltimore, Mr. Goering became sole pastor. In 1791, he accepted a call to Hagerstown, Md., but he soon after came back to York. In 1793, he had charge of the York, “Chockley” (Conojohela), and Kreutz Creek congregations. The parochial school in 1796, was very strong. Instruction was given in both German and English. The congregation was incorporated in 1804; under it two elders were to be elected each year to serve for six years; the wardens, as the vorsteher are called, to serve for two years. Rev. Jacob Goering died on consumption November 27, 1809. He was a man of very acute and active mind; he wrote three treatises that were published, and a number of others which, before he died, he ordered to be burned. Dr. J. G. Schmucker studied Hebrew with him during his pastorate at Quickel’s Church. After his death there was a vacancy for two years. Rev. John George Schmucker, 1809-36. This gentleman was chosen pastor May 2, 1809, and he received a call while at a meeting of the synod at Hanover, on the 28th of the same month. His charge consisted at that time of York, Quickel’s, Wolf’s Holzchwamm, Kreutz Creek and Chockely. In 1813, he gave up part of the field, but retained five – John Herbst, Jr., it is supposed took one of them. In 1814, Charles A. Morris took charge of Kreutz Creek, and in 1817, Chockely had been for some time in Herbst’s charge. In 1820, Rev. Schmucker’s charge consisted of York, Quickel’s and Wolf’s Churches, to which some years later Hoover’s was added. In 1811, steps were taken for erecting a new church. George Hay and Peter Striber, were made managers; George Lottman, John Barnitz and Jacob Schmeiser, John Brillinger, Peter Schmeiser, made assistants; Ignatius Lightner was elected treasurer. Corner-stone was laid July 2, 1812; the services were conducted by Rev. Drs. H. E. Muhlenberg, J. Daniel Kurtz, George Lochman and the pastor. The new church was dedicated May 1, 1814, by Rev. F. V. Melsheimer, of Hanover, and the pastor. In 1813, a new schoolhouse was built, under supervision of Jacob Upp and Jacob Eichelberger. The cost of the church alone was at least $18,590. In June, 1817, the ministerium of Pennsylvania, met for a fourth time in York; Dr. George Lochman, father of A. H. Lochman, was president. The synod of Ohio was formed by authority of this meeting. It was the third centennial commemoration of the Reformation. The president invited Reformed, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Moravian people to participate in the commemoration. Jacob Barnitz, who had been the worthy secretary and treasurer of the church for many years, died in April, 1828. In 1827, a Sunday-school met in the church for the first time. In 1828, a seal was adopted; in 1829, lamps were bought for evening services. In 1830, land was bought on Duke Street for a burial place; in 1832, the use of the small bell was granted to the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. When the temperance question came up for discussion, both Dr. Schmucker and Mr. Oswald, assistant, were deeply interested in it, and very zealous in its advocacy, where upon the yearly salary was for a time diminished one-half, but they persisted in the cause, and eventually won high honor. English services began about 1820, only in the evening. The time for English services was indicated by a peculiar ringing of the bell. October 7, 1829, Rev. Jonathan Oswald, D. D., was licensed, and became assistant pastor, and also took entire charge of Wolf’s and Hoover’s Churches, where the services were German, and preached English in York three Sunday evenings out of four. Dr. Schmucker continued at Quickel’s Church. Dr. Oswald, then a young man, is now a highly respected and honored citizen of York, familiar to all our people. In 1836 the ministry of Dr. Schmucker ended. In person he was of medium stature, rather thick set, but not corpulent; his complexion was dark, and his body was very erect. His character was unusually symmetrical and well balanced, and his temper so placid, or under such control, that even his own household scarcely ever saw it ruffled. He was especially regardful of the feelings of others, and so unaffectedly polite on all occasions that he won the admiration and respect of every one he met. He was careful in the preparation of his sermons, methodical in arrangement, earnest in delivery, tender in feeling, and deeply serious. All of these elements united to make him an admirable and most useful preacher. He was a great student, and procured books from Europe each year, and had his whole library at command. He contributed largely to the Evangelical Magazine. He published a number of volumes, chiefly connected with the prophecies. In the establishment of Pennsylvania College and Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, he took a prominent part, and at the time of his death was vice-president of the American Tract Society. He continued to reside at York, still preaching at Quickel’s Church until 1852, when he removed to the home of some of his children at Williamsburg, where he died October 7, 1854. His remains lie in front of this church. He was married first to Elizabeth Gross, from Quickel’s congregation, by whom he had twelve children; she died in 1819; second, in 1821, to Anna Maria Hoffman, of Baltimore, by whom he had seven children. Rev. Jonathan Oswald, D. D. assistant pastor, 1829-36 Dr. Oswald was born in Washington County, Md., December 20, 1805, son of John and Eve Oswald. His parents were of Swabian and Alsatian origin, and on his father’s side of long generations of Lutherans; his mother the descendant of Mennonites. After pursuing theological studies for sixteen or eighteen months, he went to Gettysburg, and was the second theological student registered. After pursuing the whole theological course he was graduated and licensed. Rev. A. H. Lochman, D. D., 1836-80 Mr. Lochman was a son of Dr. George Lochman and Susanna Hoffman, whose sister was the second wife of Dr. J. G. Schmucker. He was born October 5, 1802, in the parsonage of Salem Church, Lebanon, Penn., of which his father was pastor. In 1815 his father moved to Harrisburg, when the son entered the academy there. In 1822 he entered the University of Pennsylvania, in the junior class, and was graduated July, 1823, and then studied theology with his father, and licensed to preach June 16, 1824. He became pastor of a charge in Cumberland County in 1825, and was married in July of that year to Anna Maria Parthenheimer, of Philadelphia, and took up their residence in Mechanicsburg, then a village of a dozen houses. In 1826, upon the death of his father, he became his successor at Harrisburg. In April, 1836, he was called to York, where he continued pastor until 1880, where he was greatly beloved and eminently successful. He has taken an active part in all the general movements of the Lutheran Church in America; was a member of the first board of trustees of Pennsylvania College; was a trustee in Franklin College; has been for a long time one of the board of directors of the seminary, and many years its president; was president of the synod of Pennsylvania and of the general synod. The honorary degree of D. D. was conferred upon him in 1856, by Pennsylvania College. He has made a number of valuable translations from the German. Dr. Lochman has retired from the active pastoral office, full of years and of labors, after serving this church nearly half a century. During the first year of his pastorate, the Second Lutheran Church of York (St. Paul’s) was formed. In September, 1841, the old town clock was placed on the steeple by the county commissioners. In 1850 Zion Lutheran congregation was formed. On October 31, 1867, the jubilee of the Reformation was celebrated with much enthusiasm by the churches in York. In the afternoon all the Lutheran Sunday-school children (1,500) assembled in this church. In 1874 the church was remodeled. On June 12, 1880, Dr. Lochman resigned his long pastorate. For two years the congregation was served by supplies. Rev. George W. Enders, the present pastor, entered upon his duties in 1882. A stairway and sacristy has since been placed on the east side of the chancel. At the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the history of the church, in 1883, Rev. M. Schmucker, D. D., of Pottstown, Penn., grandson of one of the pastors, delivered an historical discourse to this congregation, and to him we are greatly indebted for much of the information herein given. The membership in 1885 is 628, and the congregation very prosperous. The Sunday-school has fifty- two teachers, and 580 pupils. All of the other Lutheran Churches of York colonized from this church.