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PROCEEDINGS AND ADDRESSES
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ALLENTOWN, NOVEMBER 2, 1900
Vol. XVII V
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY
1 90S
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
1832091
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
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http://archive.org/details/pennsylvaniagermv17penn
EDITION 575 COPIES
publication Committee
JULIUS F. SACHSE, LITT.D.
DANIEL W. NEAD, M.D.
HENRY M. M. RICHARDS
Copyrighted 190S
i
BY
The Pennsylvania-German Society
Pxiss cr
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LA*;»S7Et P»
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Contents ........
Officers of the Society
Minutes of Meeting at Allentown .
Address of Welcome by Rev. John A. W. Haas, D.D
Response by Thomas C. Zimmerman, L.H.D.
President's Address, Hon. Gustav A. Endlich
Report of Secretary, H. M. M. Richards
Report of Treasurer, Julius F. Sachse
Action on Proposed Amendments
Miscellaneous Business
Election of Officers ....
Obituaries
3
4
5
8
1 1
l9
33
35
36
36
37
39
Pennsylvania — The German Influence in its Settle-
ment and Development :
Part XVIII. The Pennsylvania-German in the
Revolutionary War, i 7/5_ j 7^3-
The Gut* Makers of Old Northampton, by William Jacob
Heller.
in
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
FOR [906-1907.
President:
Benjamin Matthias Nead.
Vice-Presidents:
Prof. George T. Ettixger, Ph.D.
Prof. John* Eyerman.
Secretary :
H. M \L Richards.
Treasurer:
Julius F. Sachse, Litt.D.
Executive Committee:
1906-1907.
Thomas C. Zimmerman, L.H.D.
Abraham S. Schropp.
1907-1908.
Rev. Theo. E. Schmauk, D.D.
Rev. Nathan C. Schaeffer, Ph.D., D.D.
1908-1909.
Rev. L. Krvder Evans. D.D.
S Dr. John Franklin Mentzer.
1909-1910.
Dr. Daniel YV. Nead.
Hon. Maurice C. Ebv.
1910-1911.
Naaman H. Kevser. D.D.S.
Dr. W. K. T. Sahm.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Benjamin M. Neap, Esq., President frontispiece
Rev. Gottlob F. Krotel. D.D facing page 41
Rev. Wm. Ashmead Schaeffer, D.D " 46
Henry A. Schuler " 56
Lieut. H. M. M. Richards frontispiece Richards
Battle of Long Island facing page 4S
Genl. Daniel Morgan <: Si
Washington Crossing the Delaware " " 112
Surrender of Col. Rahl " 120
Washington at Valley Forge u " 144
Battle of Monmouth 152
Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth 176
Gen. Anthony Wayne " 182
Battle of Germantown M 272
Massacre at Wyoming. 312
Thayendanegea as a Freemason 318
Genl. John Sullivan 32S
Genl. Peter Muhlenberg 300
Michael Hillegas . . . 433
Baron' von Steuben 509
Young's Gun Factory frontispiece II
vu
REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS
OF THB
Pennsylvania- German Society
AT ITS
SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING
Held at Allentown, Pa.
On Friday, November 2, 1906
'J^KHE Executive Committee of the Society held its
\& regular quarterly meeting at the Livingston Club,
22 South Seventh Street, Allentown, Pa., at S.oo P. M.,
on Thursday, November i, for the transaction of its
business.
Morning Session.
The sixteenth annual meeting of the Pennsylvania-Ger-
man Society was held in the Chapel oi Muhlenberg Col-
lege, Allentown, Pa., on Friday, November 2, 1906. It
was a pleasant day and the attendance very large.
Through the courtesy of its authorities the beau
grounds and handsome buildings of Muhlenberg Colli
6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church were thrown 0|
for the use and inspection, throughout the entire day, of
the members or the Society.
The meeting was called zo order at ro.00 A. M,
the President, the Hon. G. A. Endlich, LL.D.. J
the Berks County Courts, an I » opened with an impres-
sive invocation by the Rev. Charles J. Cooper. D.D., of
Allentown, Pa.
Invocation'.
Triune God — Father. Son and Holy Spirit — Thou God
of our fathers and our God. we. Thy children an .
of Thy promises, humbly bow before Thee, conscious of
our unworthiness, and plead Thy mercy and implore Thy
pardon for the sake of Thy dear Son, our Lord.
We bless and praise Thy mercy, O Lord, which is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Thee, and
Thy righteousness unto children's children. We recog-
nize and acknowledge Thy guiding hand in leading and
bringing our fathers into this goodly land, and in sus-
taining them throughout their lives by Thy grace and
power. From generation to generation Thou did
spread Thy covering wings over them and Thy mig
arm has ever been round about them. With filial love
and devotion would we this day revere their memory and
praise Thy goodness.
We thank Thee, O Lord, for ojr life and liberty and
the unmolested pursuit of happiness those unalienable
rights purchased for us by the blood of our fathers and
vouchsafed unto us by Thy most gracious favor, but
above all do we praise Thee for that life, liberty and
happiness purchased for us by the blood of the L.v
and pray Thee evermore preserve unto us and unto our
children these greatest of all blessings.
Invocation. 7
We would walk about Zion to-day, and go round about
her, tell the towers thereof, mark well her bulwarks, con-
sider her palaces, that we may teli it to the generations fol-
lowing. Guide us by Thy hand.
For Thy light and Thy truth that has been handed
down to us by the fathers, would we praise Thy name in
this place. For the Christian training of the young, for
all pure arts and useful knowledge, for all lawful occupa-
tions on land and sea transmitted by them to their posterity
do we give unto Thee most heartfelt thanks and pray Thee
to enable us to cherish and foster the same in our day
so that future generations may rise up and call us blessed.
We pray Thee, O Lord, abide with us and our children
that Thy Name may evermore be hallowed throughout
the length and breadth of this land, that Thy Word, the
Book of books, may be taught in its truth and purity and
that the people may lead holy lives in accordance with
it. Keep our land and nation in peace and righteousness.
Frustrate and bring to naught every evil counsel and pur-
pose in the State and in the nation.
Bless this .assembly, O Lord, and direct us in all our
doings with Thy most gracious favor, and further us with
Thy continual help; that in all our works, begun, con-
tinued, and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy holy
Name, and finally by Thy mercy, obtain everlasting life:
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who reigneth with the
Father and the Holy Ghost ever one God, world without
end. Amen.
The Society was cordially welcomed to Allcntown, (Ml
behalf of Muhlenberg College, by its President, the Re\ .
John A. W. Haas, D.D.
8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Address of Welcome.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Penn
German Society:
It is a privilege which I highly appreciate to bid you
welcome on behalf of Muhlenberg College.
There is an appropriateness in your meeting under the
shadow of the name " Muhlenberg." It recalls a patri-
arch preacher, a noble soldier, a great statesman, a
thoughtful scientist. All the great spheres of hicrh ser-
vice are found in it. Thus it is representative of the
Pennsylvania-German, who is not, as erroneously sup-
posed, simply an agriculturalist, but who from the first
has taken his place among leaders in society, state and
church.
That you have gathered in one of the two educational
institutions of Eastern Pennsylvania, which are in a special
sense the product of the ideals and work of the Pennsyl-
vania-Germans, is also of importance. It proves that
you have centers of education, and are not the untutored
people that fiction causes some persons to believe. It is
an4 answer and a promise.
It may not, I hope, seem an intrusion on your time,
if I beg your indulgence for a short time to indicate some
of the characteristics of the Pennsylvania-German, that
have come under my observation. I believe that I can
do this the better, and it will not be self-analysis, not self-
assertion, not self-praise, because personally I do not be-
long to the Pennsylvania-Germans in the accurate meaning
of that term.
The first great noticeable feature among Pennsylvania
Germans is their universal thrift. There is a prosperity
in the homes and farms of Eastern Pennsylvania which ifl
high in its average. This prosperity is often the result
Address of Welc
ome.
of wise and judicious economy seconded bv earnest and
persistent labor. Pennsylvania and its Germans have
something to teach our land, where prosperity is so o
wasteful, and where thrift, that promises per ty to
-what has been gained, is seldom found in the wild d(
to enjoy and spend.
Again I find among Pennsylvania-Germans a
measure of contentment. Contentment may be hindrance
to advance, but it may also be a power to hold an
value blessings. And this side of it the Pennsylv;
German has. In an age of unrest, in which dissatisfaction
is the increasing social feeling, and in which a larger
amount of comforts and advantages, private and public,
than that of the fathers, is still not enjoyed with a restful
mind, we need people that are content. The mind and
heart of the Pennsylvania-German can and ought to be
a wholesome leaven in American life.
The Pennsylvania-German is marked also by perse-
verance and persistence. He does not gain his end. as a
general thing, rapidly, but must needs work and forge
ahead steadily and at times by plodding. But the perse-
vering Pennsylvania-German, when he has taken hold.
does not let go; he keeps on firmly and consistently.
There is a great power in this steadiness of persever ng
pursuit. It may well be added as a counteracting in-
gredient in the total of the American character. The
average American, especially in our lart^e cities, is rather
quick, mobile as the Frenchman. He is very adaptable,
and the highest type of bright, changeable adaj
is the American girl. But adaptability often lacks solid
This solidity, steady, strong, persevering and pers:^tent. the
Germanic element has and can add to our final Amer
type. The Pennsylvania-German, who has for a century
io The Pennsylvania-German Society.
and more kept this valuable trait, can well put his good
racial element into the mobility of American life and
thought.
There has remained to the Pennsylvania-German that
power of the soul, best designated by the German word
" Gemiith." Under an outward solidity there rests depth
of feeling and soul, as it appears in pathos and wit. With
the trend to superficiality, with the quick changes of
American temperament, the combination of " Gemiith,"
will be of high worth. It will interpret to America,
though language change, much of the highest moral and
spiritual strength of Teutonic character.
With " Gemiith " there dwells in the Pennsylvania-
German devoted piety. There is no native criticism of
state and church. The powers that be are looked up to
everywhere. In home, country and church deep, lasting
attachments to leaders and respect for them is found.
With the readiness to criticize evident among Americans,
there is coupled the dangers of disregarding the great
need of honor and respect for the office, and through it
for its bearers. The Pennsylvania-German can help to
overcome this danger by his devotion and piety.
And now, after I have outlined these few traits, may
I express the hope that you shall receive larger justice in
American history and literature. The school histories
ought to tell not only of the Puritan and Virginian
chevalier, but also of the sturdy Pennsylvania-German
with his love for his country and his sacriticcs for it. The
writers of fiction who have set themselves up to amuse In-
dialect, have not portrayed types. Few are the Penn-
sylvania-German fathers that are like Tilly's father. The
average lover is not vacillating Benjamin Gaumer. There
is more character in the general Pennsylvania-German
Response to the Address of Welcome. 11
teacher than in Henry Kaehler, Xinagguist. And the
greatest thing in Allentown is not Big Thursday.
Thanking you for your kind indulgence, I again bid
you a hearty welcome to Muhlenburg College, and assure
you of her kindliest regard and interest in your work
and purpose.
This was followed by an equally pleasant welcome, on
behalf of the civil authorities, extended by E. H. Reninger.
Esq.
The response to both of these addresses was made,
most fittingly, by Thomas C. Zimmerman, L.H.D., of
Reading, Pa.
Response to the Addresses of Welcome.
In appearing before you as the representative of the
Pennsylvania-German Society- to respond to the cordial
addresses of welcome, to which we have just listened, I
feel a good deal like the Irishman, a guest at a hotel,
who was made the butt of some practical jokers who had
blackened his face when he was asleep. In the morn
when Pat was called, he happened to look in the mirror,
and, stopping in amazement, said: " Bedad ! that's a
good joke on the bell-boy; he's called the wrong man."
I am about half persuaded that the local committee will
discover that they have called the wrong man. and that
the joke is on them, and not on the victim who is be
you.
It was on the 14th of October, 1S9S, that the eighth
annual meeting of this Society was held in this city. It
was a pleasant and memorable occasion — pleasant in the
enjovment of an abounding hospitality, and memo:
in the many friendships formed among the people ol
your citv. At that time the venerable Dr. SchantZ, in
12 The Pennsylv curia-Germ an Society.
returning thanks for the words of hearty welcome to the
Society, said among other things: " We will endeavor to
acquit ourselves in such manner that in cornmg years
Allentown will take pleasure in inviting us to meet here
again, and the Society will gladly come again to this
prosperous Pennsylvania-German city with an Engl
name."
The 1 6th annual meeting finds us here once more after
a lapse of eight years, the inference of which is that Dr.
Schantz's mild admonition to the Society7 to maintain its
good behavior, meanwhile, has been heeded, and another
reunion in your city made possible under such flattering
conditions as confront us in this beautiful temple of learn-
ing surrounded as it is with a wealth of natural beauty
unsurpassed in extent and loveliness.
During the more than fifteen years of its existence, the
annual meetings of the Society. have been held as follows:
Twice in Lancaster, twice in Harrisburg, twice in Read-
ing, twice in Lebanon, and twice, counting this meeting,
in Allentown. Meetings were also held in each of the
following places: Bethlehem, Easton, Ephrata, York and
Philadelphia.
From a mere handful at the time of organization, the
membership has grown to upwards of 500, the list em-
bracing members not only from our own State, but from
New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Mis-
souri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Michigan, Connecti-
cut and Massachusetts, as also from the District of Co-
lumbia, Canada, and the Philippine Islands. All of
which indicates a healthy condition and a spirit of pro^rcs-
siveness, on the part of the Society, that we may well feel
proud of.
The great success which has attended the work of this
Response to the Address of Welcome. 13
Society, sprung from a natural desire to fix the place of
the Pennsylvania-German in our actual history. It has
been shown, and continues to be shown in the progress of
our deliberations, that his place in that history is as
important and interesting as that of any other agent in
our civilization, and as honorable as it is influential. He
owes it not only to himself and his descendants, but to
the truth of history, to gather up the facts concern
himself as an element in the' industrial, social, religious,
political, military, educational and literary life of our
State and Nation. It is a duty incumbent upon him as
a patriot and citizen to do so: to record them ere thev be
hopelessly lost; and to publish them as the needs of his-
tory may demand.
It was fitting that the organized effort to do this should
have started right here, in the broad belt of rich farms,
fertile fields, and blooming gardens, from Philadelphia
to Harrisburg, through the counties of Bucks, Northamp-
ton, Lehigh, Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, York and Dau-
phin, for though the Pennsylvania-German element has
by this time extended westward even to the Pacific coast,
and permeated like a leaven all the west and northwest
of the Union, it is here in this Central Pennsylvania belt
that it is most concentrated, here its characteristics are
most pronounced, and here is the original center of its
life and influence.
Although the preponderance of Germans in the early
settlement of this State is generally known and acknowl-
edged, it is only recently that the extent of the influ nee
which those of that race have exerted in the development
and progress of the State is becoming appreciated. For
this knowledge credit is largely due to the Pennsylva:
German Socictv.
14 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Several years ago, to further enlighten the public, there
was published by the Society, a series of monographs on
this subject under the general caption of " Pennsylvania
— the German Influence in its Settlement and Develop-
ment." Among those who contributed to this great work
— and a notable achievement it has proved to be — were
such well-known and prominent State antiquarians as the
Hon. Samuel \V. Pennypacker, the Rev. Henry Evstcr
Jacobs, D.D., the Rev. J. F. J. Schantz, D.D., ' Dr.
W. H. Egle, Julius F. Sachse, Litt.D., and Frank R. Dif-
fenderffer, Litt.D.
While in no wise a general history of the State, these
monographs may be regarded as an authentic record of
the beginning, development and culmination of the Ger-
man influences which have assisted in giving the Com-
monwealth the enviable standing which it enjoys among
the best and sturdiest of the States.
It was the fashion not so many years ago — happily
gradually passing away since the Pennsylvania-German
Society has written its pages of historic literature, in
dignified and imperishable form, concerning our people —
that the " Free Lances M who wrote for the metropolitan
dailies, studiously failed to acknowledge the worthy Penn-
sylvania-German as citizens; who never recognized the
monuments of their industry, never noted the success of
their years of toil, would even detract from the patriotism
and valor of her soldiery, but aimed at thern, unsparingly,
shafts of ridicule and satire. The " dumb Dutch," as
they were sneeringly called then, of Eastern Pennsylvania,
seemed to be the alpha and omega of their knowledge or'
them, and more they did not care to know.
Through the preparation of papers by members of
the Pennsylvania-German Society, and through ftddltssea
Response to the Address of Welcome. 15
bearing on the history, rise and progress of these much-
maligned people, this Society has done much, and is still
doing much, to enlighten either prejudiced or misguided
public sentiment concerning them.
• It has not been so long ago that an Episcopal clergy-
man of this State referred to the early Pennsylvania-Ger-
mans as taking little interest in religious matters. It has
not been so long ago that Theodore Roosevelt himself.
at a meeting of the Holland Society in New York, said
that the Pennsylvania-German was neither fish nor flesh.
It has not been so long ago that another Episcopal clergy-
man in the West declared that the Pennsylvania-Germans
cared little for education. These opinions go to show
how little it is known that the Pennsylvania-Germans led
all the other Colonists of America in the establishment
of Sunday-schools, in the Abolition movement, in the
printing of Bibles; in the fact that every Pennsylvania-
German town had its printing press, and that the product
of the early presses of each of the German towns of
Reading, Lancaster, Ephrata, Skippack, Sumneytown. and
Frederick, Maryland, was as great, perhaps, as the num-
ber of books printed in Boston in the Colonial period,
while technically the advantage was in favor of the Penn-
sylvania-German printers.
It cannot be gainsaid that German blood and German
brain and brawn have made a deep impress on this country.
In the arts and sciences; in philosophy and romance: in
music, painting, sculpture and architecture; in mam:
tures and agriculture; aye, turn your eye in almost any
direction, and you will find that a thread of German cul-
ture is woven in the warp and woof of the highest civiliza-
tion of America.
We must also bear this in mind — that the Eastern
16 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
counties of Pennsylvania have been a hive from which,
since the Revolution, year after year swarms of Pennsyl-
vania-Germans with plowT and axe and wagon, have r
trated into every county in the State, in son rices
actually captivating by arts of peace as Hengst and Horsa
their Saxon ancestors did by arms from the B . the
lands from the descendants ot the original • ; for
instance, Franklin county, settled, I believe, by Scotch-
Irish. They have migrated East, West, North .
South: so that it is not possible for one to go to any sec-
tion of the country, even to the remotest, that you are not
certain to find a Pennsylvania-German or his descendants;
so, too, with the countrymen of his ancestors, so that, were
any one to undertake to write or speak all that might be
said, would be writing the greater part of our country's
prosperity and history.
As early as 1725 there were over 200,000 German
settlers in Penn's province. They were not tramps, nor
hoodlums, nor coolies, nor escaped convicts: not base,
sordid, cruel mercenaries bent only upon rapine and blood-
shed, but represented the best blood of Germany — among
them scholars, poets, preachers and schoolmasters: Luth-
erans and Calvinists, Mennonites, sect people from the
Swiss valleys, from the Palatinate, from Swabia and from
Saxony. They planted the church and the schoolhouse
side by side; they leveled the forests and made the wild
ness blossom as the rose, turning Lancaster, Berks, Leb-
anon, Lehigh, and all southeastern Pennsylvania into
what it now is, the garden of the world. While all this
is true, " there came a darker day for our ancestors " (I
quote from an address delivered a few years ago by Dr.
J. S. Stahr, president of Franklin and Marshall C
"the influx of educated men like Schlatter and Muhlen-
Response to the Address of Welcome. 17
berg ceased, and the German colony was thrown upon its
own resources intellectually. Xo provision had been
made for such a state, and no higher institutions of educa-
tion had been established. They fell behind. They
retrograded for a time. It was not until after the
Declaration of Independence was formulated that German
names appeared in the record of politics. But thereafter
appear the names of the Hiesters, the Ritners, the Snyders
and the Shunks, and a better era came for them. They
now send schoolmasters to the South, to the West, and
even to the land of the " Yankees."
This is also true: That in this composite nation the
people of Germany and their descendants are a funda-
mental element, and that it is as useless to try and eliminate
them from American history as it would be to ignore the
New Englander or the Virginian; hence the appropriate-
ness of the Pennsylvania-German days which have been
set apart by the Pennsylvania-German Society needs no
apology nor explanation.
It was the Germans who in the course of time ridded
the tree of mankind of its withered foliage and revived
the lethargized nations of Celtic and Latin races, who
were often discomfited, yet never annihilated, and who
ever again recuperating, are the umpire of Europe to-dav.
In these days of modern extravagance and profligacy,
we would do well to practice those virtues of moderation,
frugality and industry that have made our State so pros-
perous. If we would restore and maintain the individual
and noted prosperity of former days, we must progress
backward from this cursed modern extravagance, undue
desire to get rich and live without working, to German
housekeeping, German integrity, and to the purity ot the
early German administrations of the Mate.
*8 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Industrious in the daily pursuits of life, brave upon the
field of battle, wise in counsel, energetic in action, no race
has done more to make state and country great, powerful
and prosperous.
Luminous as are the ancient annals with the heroic
deeds of the Teutonic race, there is no brighter page than
that which tells the story of the unification of a country
which for nearly twenty centuries was the sport of the
Conquerer by reason of the division of her people.
Greater than
" the forest-bom Demosthenes
Whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas,"
was he who, by his valor and intrepidity, made the Ger-
man Empire possible. All credit, therefore, to Von
Moltke, the pious citizen and modest statesman, the in-
vincible Field Marshal who, with the old Prussian sword,
carved the way to German unity.
But while we relate the story of the past, let us not
forget the wants of the present nor the hopes of the
future; for what does pride of ancestry amount to if we
show ourselves unworthy of such ancestry.
The past must be an inspiration for the present and
future, so that the brightness of the German name and
fame continue untarnished, increasing in luster, illuminat-
ing the pages of history with all that is good and noble
and true.
Well may the descendants of such a liberty-loving, law-
abiding ancestry hold up their heads in pride, and trunk
God for an emigration that gave to the race a robust
energy and an inflexible sturdiness — qualities which i
potential in moulding the character of the population or
Pennsvlvania and other future states of the Union.
President's Address. 19
He must be a base ingrate, indeed, who forgets, or who
would treat lightly, the genesis of his lineage. Far bet-
ter, and with a higher sense of justice and gratitude, let
him be impressed with " the tenderness which lives eternal
in the human heart for the mother in whose womb were
laid the ancestral germs of our own conception — the
mother from whose side the clinging child strays with the
divergent duties or under the different ambitions of aspir-
ing manhood, never forgetting the love which came from
its first lisping."
The annual address of the president, the Hon. Gustav
A. Endlich, LL.D., of the Berks County Courts, was
then read:
President's Address.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
When men have succeeded in establishing something
really useful and lasting, it is usually found that they
builded even better than they knew. Their purpose may
have been far-reaching and entirely sufficient to warrant
their undertaking. Yet in time it turns out that their
foresight did not discern all its potentialities, but that
there resides in it a power for good and that there awaits
it a mission beyond their anticipations. Since the birth
of this Society nearly half the span allotted to a genera-
tion has elapsed. The history of that period has been
one of crowding movement. Social and economic con-
ditions everywhere have felt its expansive force. In the
far east a new world-power hails the rising sun and an
old one has gone down in shame and ruin. In the west
America, constrained by the logic of her position to \\
her policy of isolation, has leaped into world-leadership,
not only in the tranquil pursuits of commerce and industry,
but on the uncertain and perilous ground of international
20 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
affairs. Internally and externally new problems are con-
fronting the American people. More perhaps than ever
before are we called upon to bethink ourselves whither
we are tending and how to preserve inviolate, throughout
impending changes, the substance as well as the form
of what has been handed down to us. These questions
come home, or ought to come home to every one of us.
The life of a nation is shaped alike by the influence of
the people upon the individual and of the individual upon
the people: and "woe to him who folds his hands be-
cause of his insignificance; to do nothing is the very worst
fashion of doing evil." It may be that the objects con-
templated in the formation of this Society have already
acquired a new meaning; or it may be that there has been
added to them a new object of transcending moment,
whose acceptance as a duty cannot be declined.
None who has eyes to see and ears to hear can escape
from noting how very much in recent years the character
and sources of the immigration into this country have
shifted, and how immense this latter-day immigration has
become. A glance at the reports of the Commissioner
of Immigration will confirm that impression with figures
startling in their absolute and relative significance. I
am not going to attempt a rehearsal of them. I am
aware that " the world generally hates a man who can
prove his assertion by statistics." The facts, however,
admit of no dispute. During the past two decades the
volume of immigration has vastly exceeded that of any
previous like period. At the same time the ratio of the
Teutonic elements entering into it especially in the last ten
years shows an almost uniform decline, whilst that of
what we ordinarily include under the designation oi Latin
and Slavic has been correspondingly mounting up. In
President's Address. 21
other words, we are receiving decreasingly slender rein-
forcements from the races closely akin to our own, and
tremendous accessions from those to whom, in our mouths,
the term " alien " applies with a nearer approach to
accuracy. There is in this statement no hint that we
should, in the treasured phrase of political pi.
" viewT with alarm " the fact it declares. Upon American
soil are destined to be reunited the scattered otr-shoots of
the great Indo-Gcrmanic stock,' which, at the dawn of
history, flowed down from the highland of central Asia
and peopled the world to the west of it. It is in the line
of the appointed growth oi the American people that it
should take up a share of the nationalities now pouring
out their surplus upon our shores. But the truth remains
that we are constantly receiving into our fold throngs of
strangers whose past, this side of remote ages, has been
out of touch with ours, whose thoughts are not our
thoughts, and whose ways are not our ways. Add to
this that through the acquisition of the Sandwich Islands,
the Philippines and Porto Rico, and our enterprises in
Cuba and Panama, we have, if not incorporated, at any
rate put ourselves into unavoidably intimate contact wirh,
a mass of humanity as unlike our people as can be in
character, habits and intellectual and moral fiber, and vet
bound to react in some degree upon it. It is thus ap-
parent that there are cumulative forces at work amongst
and around us tending to impregnate the social and polit-
ical thought of this country with much hitherto wholly
unfamiliar to us and in glaring conflict with co::.
we have been accustomed to look upon as fundamental.
It must be remembered that these people, or a large part
of them, are ambitious to become citizens. As such they
will have a voice in moulding the policy and Icgislal
22 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
and in the government of city, state and nation. Nat-
urally enough the inquiry obtrudes itself, — how can they
fall in with American ideas concerning thc-rclations be-
tween state and individual, and the resulting rights and
duties of citizenship? — what notions have they of civil
liberty, of self-government, of constitutional limitations,
of the obligations of public office, of the evenhandcd ad-
ministration of justice and the supremacy of law? — and
what capacity have they for comprehending and adjusting
themselves to our polity? Fitness for membership in a
republican community is not acquired over night. Its
very first postulate is a sense of the worth and dignity and
freedom and responsibility of the individual. In con-
trast with others, the Teutonic race has this sense implanted
in it. Yet in the Anglo-Saxon branch of it, starting with
an instinct, perhaps stronger than in any other, of indi-
vidualism tempered with self-restraint, that fitness has
been the growth of centuries of training, the achievement
of persistent struggles, the fruit of sacrifice and suffering.
To the American people it has come by heredity, by prac-
tice, by education and habit. It is, at this day, part of
the natural endowment of our people, bone of its bene,
flesh of its flesh, inborn and inalienable. But from races
that have lacked such a past and such a training, whose
past and whose training have on the contrary imprisoned
them in traditions the very opposite of those we chex
it is impossible to look for a ready appreciation of the
institutions which are their outgrowth and embodiment.
or an intuitive responsiveness to their demands upon the
individual. There may be no lack of good will. There
is bound to be a lack of understanding, at least until the
process of assimilation, rapid and thorough in this 1
of radical processes, shall have naturalized in spirit and in
President's Address. 23
truth the generations succeeding that naturalized in form
and in law. In the meanwhile it is the part of good
sense and patriotic wisdom to guard what isours against
an undue infusion of views and theories at variance v.
the historic principles en which we have been buildii g.
Our history and principles are Teutonic. They breathe
the spirit of that race. It is to the upholding and
strengthening of that spirit in our affairs, and to the con-
formation to it of all within our borders that serious
thought and earnest effort must be directed. To aid in
stirring men to a realization of this need and to a bending
of their energies to meet it, seems to be a demand of the
hour upon this Society, and its fulfilment a mission which,
looking to the future of our whole people, surpasses in
importance and promise that of recording the services of
a fraction of it in the past.
I am not unmindful that when the German immigration
began to assume proportions similar to those which the
present Latin and Slavic influx bears to the population of
to-day, there was on the part of the then residents of
Pennsylvania much shaking of heads and gloomy fore-
casting. But it is easy for us to see what was hidden from
them, that of all possible incomers the Germans were
bound to be the most useful and the least difficult.
The peace of Westphalia had nominally put an end to
the Thirty-years' War in 1648. But to the people of
Germany peace did not come until the withdrawal of the
foreign and the disbandment of the native armies, quar-
tered and almost become a fixture here and there and
everywhere. A number of years went by before thev
were dislodged. In the interval they behaved much as
enemies in a hostile country were accustomed in those days
to behave. Thus it is accurate enough to say that the
24 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
beginning of the German immigration came but a genera-
tion after the close of the great war. Doubtless among
the immigrants there were those whose childhood or
youth had been surrounded by its horrors. Certainly
there were many whose parents had been born and grown
to manhood and womanhood while it was raging, and
no adults who were more than one generation removed
from that which had lived in the midst of it. From its
inception to its end, that war had devoured two thirds of
the entire population of Germany, and a still greater pro-
portion of its wealth in animals and other movable prop-
erty. In the common people, more especially the peas-
antry, its duration and atrocity had developed certain
positive traits and faculties. Prominent and most natural
among the former was a cordial detestation of a pro-
fessional soldiery. Some traces of that feeling linger in
the Pennsylvania-German mind to this day, and may
have something to do with the alleged unpopularity of
Governor Pennypacker's constabulary. The spread of
superstitions and the kind of timidity that goes hand in
hand with it were inevitable. The general credulity of
the age, the universal demoralization, the constant contact
with ignorant and densely superstitious troopers, the in-
calculable vicissitudes of the war, its unforeseen disasters
and successes, its surprises and escapes, all tended to that
result. But on the other hand the desperate exigencies
of the times taught men to discern every natural advantage
of locality for defying detection, for putting up a suc-
cessful defence against attack, and in extremities to fight
with skill and courage, using the rudest weapons to the
best effect. The destruction of homesteads and ban
and of all the means of civilized life taught them the arts
of hunting, fishing and snaring, and fearlessness oi the
President's Address.
-'3
beasts of the forest. It taught them how to live and
work in the presence of danger, on the slenderest rations,
with wretched shelter, and hardened thent against the ele-
ments. It taught them to shift with the fewest pos<
agricultural implements, dishes, utensils, etc., to get a.
without horses, to depend upon themselves for all tl
needed, — to spin, to weave, to sew, to make shoes and
clothing, to forge their tools and build their dwellings.
But they learned a good deal more in those dreadful years.
The administration of the laws had practically ceased
long before the end of the war. For their own sal
the people were obliged to form themselves into bodies
for the purpose of preserving some sort of order and per-
forming the most indispensable functions of government,
which their rulers had become powerless to perform.
They lost much of the habit of dependence upon official-
dom and gained that of orderly deliberation and procedure
in matters of public concern. For years after the declara-
tion of peace and the withdrawal of the organized troops,
bands of discharged soldiers and deserters infested the
country, robbing, burning and murdering. The people,
inadequately protected by the authorities, took counsel
for their own security, and while learning how to meet
and deal with the marauders, became acquainted with the
methods and inured to the dangers of irregular warfare.
Again, throughout the war, particularly after the death
of Gustavus Adolfus who was a strict disciplinarian and
an humane warrior, there was, in respect to ever-.
of excess on the part of the soldiers, precious little
ference between the protestant and the catholic troops.
Alternating in the occupation of the same districts, each
outdid the other in cruelty and rapacitv. Lutherans
Romanists became their prey in turn, and Lutherans
26 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Romanists in turn depended upon each other's aid and
comfort. The common misfortune obliterated the sense
of religious difference. In a. word, this religious war
taught the people practical religious toleration. It is
most pertinent to recall, further, that it eradicated in a
very large measure the consciousness and pride of nation-
ality. The repeated devastation of entire regions kept
the inhabitants on the move from one place to another
(which generally meant from one little principality to
another) and tended to destroy or prevent the growth
of an abiding attachment to the soil. But the enemies
who drove them out were only in part the troops of for-
eign powers or foreign mercenaries in the service of
German sovereigns. They were largely Germans, often
natives of a neighboring state whose borders were but
a few miles distant. In such circumstances, no broad feel-
ing of German nationality could survive and even that
of loyalty to the immediate home state came soon to be
of the feeblest kind. On the contrary, the migratory in-
stinct, never quite dormant in the German people, re-
ceived a fresh impetus, and all this served to enhance their
adaptability to new environments. And still another
notable peculiarity was impressed upon them. It was
early observed and has been often repeated that wherever
German settlers wrent, there came churches and schools.
The explanation of this fact goes back to the Thirty-years1
War. Throughout its perils and hardships, through hun-
ger and cold, in flights and in hidings, the generality or
the country clergy and school masters endured with their
flocks, ministered to them, held religious services, b
tized, solemnized marriages, buried the dead, and in-
structed the young in such rudiments as they could without
books. Often enough the roof over their heads was but
President's Address. 27
the decaying thatch of a hay-rick or the foliage of a
spreading oak. But the religious observances and the in-
struction went on, some sort of organization was kept
alive, and the people came to look upon the church and
the parish school as its center.
All that was thus wrought into the generation that
survived the war was not lost bv it in the years succeeding
its close. Those among the immigrants who were of that
generation brought the most of it with them to this coun-
try. Much of it was handed down to and preserved by
the generation born after the war. The reconstruction
of a community so utterly shattered is a slow and painful
process at best. The condition of the peasantry of Ger-
many after the peace of Westphalia was for a long time
but little better than it had been before. After the final
withdrawal of the troops they were no longer exposed to
wholesale plundering or expatriation. But for years the
general insecurity of the country, which the governments
were too feeble and too slow to remedy, continued to im-
pose upon the peasants the necessity of self-help thro
organized association. For years, too, their destitution
remained appalling, and the need of resourcefulness, of
tireless industry, of extreme frugality, as imperative as
ever. The self-dependence, energy and sagacity de-
veloped under compulsion in the times of storm and stress
became fixed traits in the character of the peasantry in
the times of poverty that followed.
To make their situation at home wholly intolerable,
however, there were superadded the almost incredible ex-
actions of the petty lords of the soil. To them the return
of peace afforded the opportunity of again asserting their
ancient feudal rights, not infrequently in d d ol
legal restrictions and concessions only less ancient, or
28 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
which the documentary evidence had been destroyed.
Where this ingenious system flourished, as it did nearly
everywhere, the peasant's lot was a wretched- one indeed.
There were, to be sure, free yeomen here and there, and
among them men of wealth and influence, proud of tJ
fine houses and still finer barns and of their broad and
well-tilled acres, and disposed to defy the nobles and look
down upon the people who dwelt in cities. But the ma-
jority of the peasantry, though accorded the right of
owning land by a qualified title and subject to the feudal
burdens, were not recognized as possessing the status of
full citizenship. They were not serfs like the Russian
peasants before their liberation. Their condition was
more nearly like that of the villeinage known to the old
English law. They were unfree and exposed to a vex-
atious and ruinous domination at the hands of their lords.
A poll tax and one tenth of all the grain, wine, vegetables
and fruits raised went to the lord. He was entitled to
select three days in every week when the peasant, with
his team, if he had one, had to labor for him. As any
or all of these three days might at the option of the lord
be divided into half-days, the peasant could scarcely call
an entire working day in the week his own. Besides, he
was required, whenever called upon, to do errands for
his lord, to serve as driver at his hunts, as night-watchman
of his house, — was bound to otter whatever he had for
sale first to his lord and to buy from him whatever he
wished to sell. He could neither change his vocation nor
absent himself from his village over night without his
lord's leave. He was obliged to give wedding presents
to the latter's children upon their marriage. lie mi
not prevent the trespasses upon his fields of the wild ani-
mals of the lord's forests by killing, catching or t
President's Address. 29
In order to ripen his crops, it was necessary for the peasant
to stand guard over them at night. His dogs could not
be employed for that purpose. They had to be chained
so as nor to be tempted to chase the game. The pastur
belonged to the lord. To preserve it from injury, the
keeping of sheep and goats was ordinarily prohibited, and
that of cattle limited to a minimum. Fines were payable
to the lord upon marriages and upon every change of pos-
session through death or sale. The lord had the ri
to compel an obnoxious peasant to sell his land at any time,
or to take it from him, if he refused, at two thirds of its
value and give it to another. If the peasant had children
able to work, his lord had the option to call them into his
service for terms as high as three years. If they were
to be put to a trade, a license had to be purchased from
the lord; and so, if they went to service elsewhere. In
the latter event they were moreover held to present them-
selves before the lord once every year to be retained by
him if he so desired. Besides all these prerogatives, the
lord, as judge of the baronial court, exercised, often in
an arbitrary manner and within ill-defined limits, a sum-
mary jurisdiction over the peasants of his territory. The
peasants, however, in addition to all other burdens, v
liable to taxation by the state and to service in its army.
Socially, their estate was the lowest in the scale. The
rigid caste system prevailing everywhere in Germany at
that time presented insuperable obstacles to rising from
a lower to a higher level. Not only to the nobility and to
the learned professions, but to the burgher and the
man, the peasant was an object of contempt and ridicule.
Benjamin Franklin said some ugly things and thought
contemptuously of the German immigrants. But their
compatriots at home spoke and thought not a \v!v:
3° The Pennsylvania-German Society.
of them. As late as 1797 Goethe's Hermann and Doro-
thea, then published, came as a revelation to the educated
classes of Germany, who had never dreamt that pec: -
life could be of any value from an aesthetic ftandp
Such were, in the main, the people who over two hun-
dred years ago began to flock to this country and such the
surroundings they exchanged for the wilderness of Penn-
sylvania. Many of them were rough, uncouth in man-
ners, ignorant and slow. But as a whole they were hardy,
frugal, thorough, industrious, self-reliant, wary, resource-
ful. They were religious and tolerant of other creeds,
expert in working with few and meager tools, accustomed
by their own handiwork to supply their daily wants. They
were not over-encumbered with love of their native land,
ready to accept a more promising allegiance, adaptable
to new conditions, submissive to law. They were despised
and buffeted, rigidly held down and unhappy in their own
country, yearning for wider opportunities and an increase
of liberty, inured to risks and dangers, able and willing
to do and to dare. The pathless forest held no terrors
from which they shrank. They found it haunted by troops
of treacherous savages. But, they and their fathers had
had experience with foes scarcely less barbarous. They
were acquainted with every trick of cunning cruelty, and
knew how to humor and where to fight and when to Hee.
They knew the wooded fastnesses had ghostly tenants. —
were wolves and vampires, elves and goblins, given to
all manner of hateful pranks. But they knew unftil
charms to make them harmless and some of them service-
able. The wolves of the thicket they feared not at all. —
nor the "gaunt wolf of starvation," — nor the strain or*
ceaseless drudgery. Toil and privation had been their
heritage for generations. And finally, they were of the
President's Address. 31
same stock with those who had established the colony and
settled the principles upon which and for which it was
to stand; and whether consciously or unconsciously, with
those principles they were instinctively in sympathy. It
is safe to say that there could not have been picked from
among the nations of the earth a people more ideally
endowed for the task that lay immediately before them,
or more certain to prove acceptable to the land of their
adoption, first as pioneers, eventually as citizens. Suc-
ceeding immigrations from Germany continued to meet
the progressively varying requirements of this country by
the greater diversity and excellence of the newcomers.
During the second third of the nineteenth century, indeed,
they were made up in great part of the best blood and
brains and of the loftiest types, physically and mentally,
of German youth and manhood, whose worth and powers
their own governments were too benighted and too sacred
to perceive. But aside from this exceptionally high order
of men, all comparison fails between the qualifications of
the average of German immigrants to take their stations
in the far simpler life they found in these states a hundred,
fifty7, or even thirty years ago, and those of the tens of
thousands cast into the whirl of the complicated life of
our nation to-day, with nothing to make them welcome but
their strong arms and the pity for their wretched plight
at home, but with a host of political and social and eco-
nomic heresies, which they must unlearn before they can
put on true Americanism. True Americanism, according
to Dr. Van Dyke, is this: To believe that the inalienable
rights of man to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
are given by God; — to believe that any form of power
that tramples on these rights is unjust; — to believe that
taxation without representation is tyranny, that govern-
32 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
ment must rest upon the consent of the governed, and
that the people should choose their own rulers; — to be-
lieve that freedom must be safe-guarded by law and order,
and that the end of freedom is fair play for all; — to be-
lieve, not in a forced equality of conditions and estates,
but in a true equalization of burdens, privileges and oppor-
tunities;— to believe that the selfish interests of persons,
classes and sections must be subordinated to the welfare
of the commonwealth; — to believe that union is as much
a human necessity as liberty is a divine gift; — to believe
that a free State should offer an asylum to the oppressed
and an example of virtue, sobriety and fair dealing to all
nations; — to believe that for the existence and perpetuity
of such a state a man should be willing to give his whole
service, in property, in labor and in life. It is not in my
heart to say a word in disparagement of the present and
prospective value of the immigration from Italy, France,
Portugal, the West Indies, Russia, Finland, Poland,
Lithuania, Slavonia, and so on. There is room for all
and use for all, and in the course of time, when their
capabilities are unfolded, there will be unreserved accep-
tance of all, and this nation will profit by their absorption.
Its wealth will grow by the toil of their hands, their com-
mercial genius and their thrift. Its language will be
enriched with expressive words and picturesque phrases
and turns of their speech. Its literature will feci the
touch of eastern pathos and of southern fancy. Its
music and its art will gather added grace and dignity from
aesthetic instinct fed, for more than two thousand years,
upon all that is most beautiful in sound and form and color.
Its sense of the brotherhood of all nations will become
more real and practical, to the broadening of its states-
manship and the casting off of what still lingers among
President's Address. 33
us of a foolish faith in narrow, selfish policies. No doubt
the admixture of blood will affect our national character.
Every nationality has valuable traits to contribute towards
that composite which will eventually unite in itself the
best qualities of all the Indo-Germanic races. The courtesy
of the Latin, the patience of the Russian, the pride of the
Magyar and the gentleness of the Slovac may each supply
something requisite to the perfect symmetry and effective
equipment of the distinctively American character. Yet
that character has been from the beginning and is to-day
essentially Teutonic, and so it must remain if our institu-
tions, evolved in conformity with it, and depending for
their permanence upon its qualities, are to continue, and if
this nation is to. maintain its rank among the peoples of
the earth. Of the Indo-Germanic family the Teutonic
branch has shown a vitality and put forth a strength far
beyond those of the Latin branches, and has distanced all
others in the race of civilization. It is bound to outlive the
former by the law of the survival of the fittest. As for
the rest, they have either fallen under its sway, or have not
yet begun to be its rivals. The ultimate source of the
greatness of the American people in the past has been and
in the future will be its Teutonic blood and spirit. The
one cannot be taken from us. It is our business to see
that the other is not supplanted.
The reports of the officers followed :
Secretary's Annual Report, November 2, 1906.
As we reach the end of another year in the history of
the Pennsylvania-German Society we may well rejoice
over its continued prosperity.
This prosperity is largely owing to the wisdom which
incited its members to decide upon devoting their energies
34 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
principally to historical publication, rather than to waste
them upon impractical matters of minor import. Another
one of these annual " Proceedings " — Vol. 15 — is now in
their hands; it is trusted that this book meets with their
expectations, and is not considered to be inferior to the
valuable wrorks which have preceded it.
This prosperity is also due to the unwearying faithful-
ness writh which the affairs of the Society have been con-
ducted by those into whose hands their management has
been left. This duty has been performed, frequently, un-
der most discouraging conditions.
At the last annual meeting the consideration of issuing
reprints of Vols. 1, 2, 3, 6 was left to the Executive Com-
mittee. By their instructions circulars were sent to all
members, requesting their opinion with regard to the mat-
ter. The responses wrere of such character that the com-
mittee has felt warranted in arriving at a favorable con-
clusion. The reprints will be secured and issued to sub-
scribing members as rapidly as possible.
At the last annual meeting two amendments to the
constitution of the Society were presented, action upon
which must now be taken :
First amendment, presented by Mr. Irvin P. Knipe.
" That the President announce, at each annual meeting,
a committee of three on nominations, whose duty it shall
be to present, at the succeeding annual meeting, candidates
for the offices to be filled. No member of the Executive
Committee shall be eligible for immediate reelection."
Second amendment, offered by Hon. Irving P. Wangcr.
1. To the provision for an Executive Committee add:
" Members of the Executive Committee shall not be
eligible for reelection until the next annual meeting of
the Society after the expiration of their respective terms
of service."
1832099
Treasurer's Report. 35
2. To the provision defining the duties of the Executive
Committee add: " The Committee shall submit, at each
annual meeting of the Society, nominations for the re-
spective offices to be filled at such meeting. But this shall
not deny to any member of the Society the right to make
other nominations to any of such offices."
The growth of the Society continues to be most en-
couraging. Our total membership now foots up 502.
During the past year there have been added to our num-
bers 48 new members, and we have been so unfortunate
as to lose 12 by death.
Respectfully submitted,
Mmmi^^m-j-L-vm H. M- M« RICHARDS,
1^1935, Secretary.
Treasurer's Account, Pennsylvania-German So-
ciety, for the Year Ending October, 1906.
Dr.
October 27, 1905, cash balance. . .$1,435.61
Dues 1906, 1303 to 3279 1,329.00
Book account 495-25
Interest life fund 10.00
Certificate i-5°
Secretary, cash 9.73 $3,281.09
Cr.
By orders as per book $1,997.94
Cash in bank as per book 1,283.15 $3,281.09
To cash in bank $1,283.15
To cash account 1907 548.00
Total cash $1,831.15
Life fund, E. and P. 4% bond 500.00
B. — 481. Julius F. Sachse,
Treasurer.
3 6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
The report of the Treasurer was referred to an audit-
ing committee consisting of James M. Lamberton, Alfred
P. Smith and John Wise Wetzel, Esquires, who subse-
quently reported that they had duly audited the same and
found it to be correct.
Action on Proposed Amendments.
The proposed amendments to the constitution of the
Society, which were ottered at its previous annual meet-
ing, being laid before the Society for action, were fully
and ably discussed, resulting in the birth of a feeling
that it would be unwise to put either into operation. Upon
motion, duly made, they were unanimously laid upon the
table.
Miscellaneous Business.
At this period of the meeting the following resolution
was offered by the Hon. Robt. K. Buehrle, Ph.D., of
Lancaster, which was referred to the Executive Com-
mittee for consideration, to be reported, with their recom-
mendation, to the Society at its annual meeting in 1907:
Resolved: That the Executive Committee report to the
Society, at its annual meeting in 1907, as to the advisa-
bility of the Society taking action looking to the securing
of a suitable Pennsylvania-German anthology, and as to
the best manner of proceeding in case such action be taken.
A pleasant feature of the meeting was the presentation
to the Society, by Bishop N. B. Grubb, of Philadelphia,
of a gavel made from wood which was originally a part
of the old Mennonite Church of 170S, in Germantown,
and, later, transferred to that of 1770.
This interesting relic was placed in the hands of the
Treasurer, Julius F. Sachse, Litt.D., to have a suitable
silver plate attached to it.
Miscellaneous Business. 37
Election of Officers.
The nomination and election of oiricers tor the ensuing
year then took place, with the following result: President
Benjamin Matthias Nead, Esq., of Harrisl urg; '.
Presidents. Prof. George T. Ettinger, Ph.D.. of Al
town, and Prof. John Eyerman, of Eastern; Treasurer
Julius F. Sachse, Litt.D., of Philadelphia; Secretary
H. M. M. Richards, of Lebanon; Executive Committee
Xaaman H. Keyser, D.D.S., of Germantown, Dr. W
K. T. Sahm. of Pittsburg.
Afterxoox.
After an excellent and refreshing luncheon, served in
the college gymnasium by the local members of the So-
ciety, the sessions were resumed. The several historical
papers for the day having been read a visit was paid to the
model buildings and grounds of Muhlenberg College,
which were kindly thrown open for the occasion.
Evening.
An informal reception was held at the Hotel Allen
during the earlier part of the evening, followed by a
most excellent and successful banquet, the attendance at
which was very large.
The musical treat of the occasion was rendered by
Klinglers orchestra. Under the capable leadership of
Prof. George T. Ettinger, Ph.D., as toastmaster, the
following gentlemen made most able responses to the
several toasts assigned them: " The Pennsylvania-German
as I Know Him," Hon. William S. Kirkpatrick, LL.D.;
uThe Return of the Native," Prof. Joseph H. Dubbs,
D.D., LL.D.; " Germanic Contributions to Amer
• 4*
38
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Civilization," Prof. Robert K. Buehrle, Ph.D.; " Are the
Pennsylvania-Germans a Peculiar People?" Rev. George
W. Sandt, D.D.; " Pennsylvania-German Reminiscences in
Verse," Thomas J. B. Rhoads, M.D.; "Pennsylvania-
German Wit and Humor," Oliver S. Henninger.
ITn flftemoriam
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
/
___--
REV. GOTTLOB FREDERICK KROTEL. D.D.. LL.D.
B. FEBRUARY 4, 1S26. D. MAY 17, 1
In Memoriam. 41
". '■"-
Gottlob Frederick Krotel, D.D., LL.D.
Gottlob Frederick Krotel, D.D., LL.D., the son of
Christopher Frederick and Louisa Dorothea (nee Seitz)
Krotel, was born February 4, 1S26, at Ilsfeld, Wiirtem-
berg, Germany, and came to Philadelphia, with his par-
ents, in 1830.
For about six years he attended the Frankean Academy,
and the Parochial School of St. Michael's and Zion's
Lutheran Church, of which J. G. Schmauk was principal,
then became an apprentice of L. A. Wollenweber, printer
and publisher, until he entered, in 1839, the academical
department of the University7 of Pennsylvania. He was
confirmed in Old Zion's Church in 1842, during the pas-
torates of Rev. C. R. Demme, D.D., and Rev. G. A.
Reichert, and the same year entered the Freshman Class
in the university, graduating in 1846. His theological
studies were pursued under the care of his distinguished
pastor, the Rev. Dr. Demme. He was examined and
licensed by the Evangelical Lutheran ministerium of Penn-
sylvania, at Easton, in 1848, and ordained by the same
at Pottsville, in 1850.
His first pastoral charge was at Trinity Church, Passa-
yunk, Philadelphia, which he served during 1S4S and
1849. ^is ability as a public orator, in both the English
and German languages, soon attracted widespread atten-
tion. Upon the death of the Rev. Dr. Ernst he W19
called to Salem Church at Lebanon, which he served four
42 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
years in connection with the Myerstown and Annville
charges. In 1853 he was chosen to succeed the Rev. J. C.
Baker, D.D., as pastor of the Lutheran Church of the
Holy Trinity, at Lancaster, Pa. Here he remained until
1 86 1, his ministry, as elsewhere, being eminently success-
ful, when he accepted a call to St. Mark's Church, of
Philadelphia, made vacant by the resignation of the Rev.
C. Porterfield Kraut, D.D. During his pastorate he
served also as one of the first professors of the Theological
Seminary. His ministry in Philadelphia closed at Easter,
1868, and the following Sunday he preached his intro-
ductory sermon as pastor of the newly organized Evan-
gelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in New
York, where he spent, practically the remaining years of
his useful life, laboring, latterly, as pastor of the Church
of the Advent. He was honored with the title of D.D.
by his Alma Mater, the University of Pennsylvania, in
1865, and, in 1888, the additional degree of LL.D. was
conferred upon him by Muhlenberg College.
Dr. Krotel was a great man in the great church which
he served so faithfully all his life. He was chosen Secre-
tary of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania for three suc-
cessive conventions, and, in 1866, was elected its Presi-
dent, being the youngest man ever elevated to that high
office. He remained in office two years when he removed
to New York, and, at the end of one year, was chosen
President of the New York Ministerium. holding said
office for seven years. His congregation, being an Eng-
lish body, decided to connect themselves with the Minis-
terium of Pennsylvania in 1879, whereupon Dr. Krotel
was made its President in 1884 and held the office for
a series of years. In addition to this position he was
honored by election to the Presidency of the General
In Memoriam.
43
Council for two successive terms, in 1889 and again in
1 89 1. At the time of his death Dr. Krotel held the fol-
lowing positions in the Lutheran Church: Ex-president of
the General Council, ex-president of the Ministerium of
Pennsylvania, president of the Board of Trustees of the
Philadelphia Theological Seminary, president of the
Trustees of the General Council, member of the Board
of Trustees of Muhlenberg College, editor-in-chief of
The Lutheran, chairman of the Church Book Committee
of the General Council, member of the Joint Liturgical
Committee, chairman of the Committee on Digest or the
General Council Book. It is to be regretted that the
space available for an obituary sketch of this character
forbids the entering into sufficient details to fully bf
out the great worth, immense labors, and sterling char-
acter of the man who has thus been taken from the roll
of our membership.
His decease occurred on Friday, May 17, 1907. The
funeral services were held, Monday, May 20, at 5.00
P. M. in the Church of the Advent, New York City, with
interment at Lancaster, Pa.
Dr. Krotel was elected to membership in the Pennsyl-
vania-German Society on Julv 19, 1900.
H. M. M. R.
44 The Pennsylvania-German Society
i^^^—^.;^:1 ',.■■,, zrzrzr-
Harry Grant Miller.
Harry Grant Miller was bom at Bemville. Berks
County, Pa., on Dec. 12. 1S67. He was the son of
Jonathan B. Miller, b. Nov. 21, 1S41 : son of Samuel W.
Miller, b. Jan. 15, 1816, d. Nov. 23, 1SS5; son or* J°hn
Miller, b. Dec. 3, 1794, d. Mar. 21, 1S61; son of Jo-
hannes Miller, b. Aug. 25, 1766, d. Mar. 6, 1846; son
of Matthias Miller, b. Oct. 18, 1743, d. ; son
of Jacob Miiller who emigrated to Pennsylvania from
Germany between 172S and 1733 and was a member of
the Tulpehocken Lutheran Church in 1743.
His mother was Eliza Louise Dundore, b. Dec. [I,
1844; dau. of Gabriel Dundore, b. Dec. 20, 1799, d.
May 29, 1853.; son °f Jonn Jacob Dundore, b. Aug. 13,
1776, d. Oct. 23, 1861; son of John Dundore, b. Mar.
20, 175 1, d. Oct. 14, 1 8 23; son of Jacob Dundore, b.
July 25, 1720, d. May 12, 17S9, who arrived in Penn-
sylvania from Germany about 1745.
Mr. Miller was engaged in the wholesale grocery busi-
ness at Lebanon for a time and, later, assisted in the
establishment of the wholesale grocery firm of J. B. Miller
& Sons, at Reading, Pa.
He was a member of the Reading Lodge of Elks, at
Reading, and actively identified with the Masonic fra-
ternity as a member of Mt. Lebanon Lodge, Xo. 226,
F. & A. M., Weidle Chapter, Xo. 197, R. A. M.. Hid
Hermit Commandery, Xo. 24, K. T.. all of Lebanon, Pa.
In Memoriam.
45
While on his return from attending a convention of the
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in California, he was killed
in the terrible railroad wreck which occurred on May EI,
1907, at Honda, near Santa Barbara, California.
He became a member of the Pennsylvania-German So-
ciety on October 3, 1894.
H. M. M. R.
4-6 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
EZ
Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D.D.
The Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D.D., was born
1S46 in Harrisburg, Pa. His ancestry, which here fol-
lows, was of a most distinguished character, from both
clerical and literary standpoints.
1: John Henry Schaeffer, 1 690-1 760, Judge of Court
and Master of Castle for Count John Reinhard, Hanau,
Germany.
2. John Jacob Schaeffer, 1720-1775, school teacher,
Hanau, Germany.
3. Rev. Frederick David Schaeffer, D.D., Nov. 15,
1760-Jan. 27, 1836, whose four sons Solomon Frederick,
David Frederick, Frederick Christian and Charles Fred-
erick, entered the ministry, the latter three becoming
eminent divines in the Lutheran Church. The oldest son,
David Frederick, born 1787, was a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania; the theological preceptor of a
number of ministers before the Lutheran Seminary at
Gettysburg, Pa., was in existence; the editor of the first
English Lutheran Church paper, and one of the founders
of the General Synod. The third oldest son Frederick
Christian, born 1792, was a tower of strength in New-
York City, prominent in the New York Ministerium, an
opponent of the reigning rationalism, and a founder of
the General Synod. The youngest son, Charles Fred-
crick, born 1807, also a graduate of the Univen
Pennsylvania, was professor in the three Lutheran then-
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY
REV. WILLIAM ASHMEAD SCHAEFFER. D.D.
B. 1846. D. JULY 2'. 1^07.
In Memoriam. 47
logical seminaries — Columbus, Gettysburg and Philadel-
phia—a translator and author of valuable works, and one
of the most influential leaders in effecting the organization
of the General Council.
4. Rev. Solomon Frederick Schaetter, Nov. 12, 1790-
Jan. 30, 18 15, the second son was alone prevented from
attaining the same eminence as his brothers by his un-
timely death, at the age of twenty-tive years, from a dis-
ease contracted when on pastoral duty in a militarv camp.
5. Rev. Charles William Schaerter, D.D., LL.D.. pro-
fessor in the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Phila-
delphia and eminent as scholar and writer.
6. Rev. William Ashmead Schaerfer, D.D., born 1S46,
in Harrisburg, Pa., died July 27, 1907, at Germantown,
Philadelphia, Pa., the subject of this sketch.
Dr. Schaeffer was educated in the University of Penn-
sylvania and a graduate of the Lutheran Theological
Seminary when still located in Franklin Square, Phila-
delphia, Pa. With a lineage such as the above it was to
be expected that he, himself, would do no discredit to his
ancestry. These expectations were fully realized. He
was, for many years, the Foreign Mission Board's Secre-
tary and most active member, working most earnestly and
conscientiously for the evangelization of the TelugUS in
India. For years he was the inspirational and execi;-
head of every forward movement that looked to the ex-
pansion of the Home Mission work in the Ministerium
of Pennsylvania. After his resignation as pastor of St.
Stephen's Church, Philadelphia, he became Superintend-
ent of City Missions, in which special field oi labor he
distinguished himself amidst many discouragements, g I -
ing liberally of his own means in times of pr. iced.
In like manner he extended a helping hand to the Polish
congregation at Honesdale, Pa.
4$ The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Under his administration as President of the Publica-
tion Board, with Mr. C. B. Opp as manager, the prop-
erties at 1 5 22-1 524 x^rch Street, Philadelphia, were pur-
chased, and the board entered upon its present large period
of expansion. His valuable services on the Publication
Board were supplemented, in like manner, as a member
of the Board of Directors of the Seminar)'. On the
grounds of the latter, at Mt. Airy, he has left a memorial
to himself, grander than any monument, in the shape of
the Ashmead-Schaeffer Memorial Church, built and do-
nated in memory of his father and mother.
His mother was Elizabeth Fry Ashmead, Feb. 26,
1812-Nov. 22, 1892, dau. James Ashmead (son of Wil-
liam Ashmead) and Eve Fry, Dec. 7, 1773-Apr. 9, 1826,
dau. John Fry, May 11, 1732-May 10, 18 14. His
paternal ancestor came to America in 1775; his maternal.
Fry ancestor in 1682.
Dr. Schaeffer was elected to membership in the Penn-
sylvania-German Society on Oct. 24, 1904.
H. M. M. R.
In Memoriam.
49
Franklin Goodhart Stichter.
Franklin Goodhart Stichter was born in Lebanon, Pa.,
on Aug. ii, 1832. His father, Daniel Stichter, was
born in Reading, Pa., 1803, died in Lebanon, Pa., 1880,
married, October, 1828, Maria Catharine (1S09-1846),
dau. Jacob Goodhart (1779-1S67), whose father came to
America from Germany in 1749 when but nine years of
:age. -His maternal grandfather married, in Lebanon,
..Elizabeth -Uhler (1783-1 835), and, upon the formation
_af/ Lebanon County as sucht became its first representative
-in_the State Legislature.
L :His paternal grandfather was Peter Stichter, of Read-
ing, Pa., born Aug. 9, 176 1, died Dec. iS, 1S43. He
entered the" Revolutionary army at the age of sixteen and
'served during the ensuing campaign, being engaged, part
of the time, in guarding Hessian prisoners encamped on
Mount r\Penn at Reading; He was a delegate of the
Synod of Pennsylvania to the first general Lutheran con-
vention held in Hagerstown. Md., 1820. His father was
Conrad Stichter who emigrated to America from Lubcck,
Germany, in 1750, and settled in Reading, Pa.
Mr. Stichter's education was mainly acquired in the
Lebanon Academy. He engaged in mercantile bus
and resided for many years at Louisiana, Mo., latterly liv-
ing a retired life. This location is on the west bank of
the Mississippi river, §6 miles north of St. Louis.
On Dec. 19, 1861, he was married to Emma A. Wit
50
The Pennsylvama-German Society.
son, daughter of William Wilson, from near Chatham,
Chester County, Pa., and had issue four sons and one
daughter.
His decease occurred on August 6, 1907.
Mr. Stichter was a member of the Missouri Society
" Sons of the American Revolution,'1 and was elected to
membership in the Pennsylvania-German Society on Janu-
ary 9, 1895.
H. M. M. R.
v « V..S&3/ %> r>* V/; ^.// "
In Memoriam.
Ki^E^,..arlr^^.'i.?r",sy" v — ■» v -. . *»-»
Cornelius Nolen Weygandt
Cornelius Nolen Weygandt was born October 8, 1832,
in Philadelphia. He was son of Thomas Jefferson Wey-
gandt, b. Nov. 3, 1800, d. Jan. 2, 1874, who was son
of Cornelius Nolen Weygandt, b. Nov. 2, 1770, d. May
3, 1806, who was son of Jacob Weygandt, b. Dec. 13,
1742, d. July n, 1828, who was son of Cornelius Wey-
gandt, b. Mar. 7, 1713, d. Oct. 1, 1799, who came to
America, Sept. 1, 1736, from Osthofen, Palatinate, Ger-
many.
Mr. Weygandt was graduated from the Central High
School in 1842, and, in the same year, entered the employ
of the Western National Bank, where he began a remark-
able career, rising from the position of clerk to that of
president, which office he held at the time of his decease.
With Justus Strawbridge, and other art devotees, he
was instrumental in the establishment of the Art Club.
He was also interested in the work of the School of In-
dustrial Art, and the Fairmount Park Art Association.
He surrounded himself, in his home, with the best in
painting and sculpture.
Besides his banking connections Mr. Weygandt Wlfl
interested in the work of many other organizations. He
was a director in the Western National Bank, Pennsyl-
vania Free Institute, School of Industrial Art, Philadel-
phia Bourse, Fairmount Park Association, and Site and
Relic Societv of Germantown. He was an active member
52
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
of the Philadelphia Clearing House Committee, the Art
Club, New England Society and Sons of the Revolution.
His death, the result of an accident, occurred on Sun-
day, February 17, 1907. He is survived by a widow
and two children, Cornelius Weygandt and Mrs. John
MacArthur Harris.
He became a member of the Pennsylvania-German So-
ciety on October 24, 1904.
H. M. M. R.
|r^™^4
^-^>
In Memoriam. 53
^"-, l." ,.::.■ ^:? ■.:■
John Peter Keller, D.D.S.
John Peter Keller was born February 20, 1S31, at
Harrisburg, Pa. He was the son oi John Peter Keller,
February 25, 1S0S, to December 13, 1S37, who was son
of John Peter Keller, September 28, 1776, to October i,
1859, who was son of Carl Andrew Keller, July 14, 1750,
in Switzerland, to February 21, 1S05, at Lancaster, Pa.,
who was son of Johann Peter Keller, died January 6,
1782, at Lancaster, Pa., who emigrated to America, in
1735, from Zurich, Switzerland, and settled in Lancaster
county*, Pennsylvania.
His mother was Lydia Kunkel, November 9, 1S11, at
Harrisburg, Pa., to February* 10, 1866, at Harrisburg,
Pa., who was daughter of Christian Kunkel, July 10,
1757, in the Palatinate, Germany, to September 8, Is: ■.
at Harrisburg, Pa., and wife, Anna Maria Elizabeth
Welshofer (or Welshoever), December 1, 1773, York
county, Pa., to July 24, 1S62, Harrisburg, Pa. Christian
Kunkel was son of John Christian Kunkel, who came to
America from the Palatinate of Germany, September 2 ;.
1766, and settled in York county, Pennsylvania.
John Peter Keller, his grandfather, son of Carl Andrew
Keller and wife, Judith Barbara Bigler, moved to Harris-
burg, Pa., in 1796, where he began business as a brass
founder and rope-maker, later dealing in general merchan-
dise, in all of which he was successful. He was a mem
of the Borough Council from 1S10 to 18:4. Mid wtl
54 The Pennsylvania-German Society.
prominent in all the public affairs of his day, taking part
in various early enterprises such as the Harrisburg Bri
Company, and the Harrisburg and Middletown Turn-
pike Company. He was the last surviving member of the
original Board of Directors of the Harrisburg Bank. He
was a man of thrift, industry and indomitable energy; up-
right: honored and respected by his fellow citizens; de-
cided and influential as a Christian, being one of the
founders of the Lutheran Church in Harrisburg. His
first wife was Catharine Schaeffer, daughter of Rev.
Frederick Schaeffer, D.D., of Lancaster, Pa. He had
thirteen children.
Christian Kunkel, his maternal grandfather, was reared
to mercantile pursuits. During the Revolutionary War,
1777, he was in active service with the militia, Col.
Slagles' battalion, around Philadelphia. He, also, was
one of the prime movers in the organization of the first
Lutheran Church in Harrisburg. He was Burgess of the
borough in 1796, and frequently a member of Council;
elected, in 1809, a director of the Bank of Philadelphia
at Harrisburg, and, in the same year, appointed, by Gov-
ernor Snyder, one of the commissioners for the erection
of a bridge over the Susquehanna river. He had thir-
teen children.
Dr. Keller's education was in the public schools of Har-
risburg and at the Harrisburg Academy. Upon its com-
pletion he spent several years as clerk in his uncle's store
at Shippensburg, Pa. In 1849, ne chose dental surgery
as his profession and studied under the direction of the
late Dr. J. C. Stock with whom he practiced until the death
of the latter when he succeeded his preceptor and eventu-
ally became the leading dental practitioner of the city.
He retired in 1S75 arl^ ^'ive^ Quietly until the day oi his
/// Memoriam.
33
death, which occurred during the night of December 23,
1907.
He was married, June 20, 1S61, to Emeline Croll,
daughter of John and Eliza (Lauman) Croll of Mid -
town, Pa. He is survived by his wife, his brother,
Christian K. Keller, and the following children: ]ohn
Peter, Jr., Croll, C. K., Jr.. Dr. William L., and Min
Helen Keller.
Dr. Keller was an active member of Zion Lutheran
Church all his life, serving in its vestry in all the posi-
tions of trust and responsibility. He was frequently
elected a lay delegate to represent the church in the East
Pennsylvania Synod, and also a delegate to the General
Synod of the United States, held at Allegheny, Penn-
sylvania. He served several terms on the board of direc-
tors of the Theological Seminary, at Gettysburg, and, for
years, was a member of the board of directors of the
Lutheran Observer, serving as such at the time of his
death.
Since the inception of the Dauphin County Historical
Society he was always an active and interested member,
serving for many years as Chairman of the Executive
Committee. Upon the death of the Hon. J. \Y. Simonton
he was elected as its President serving as such continuously
until his own decease.
In January, 1S95, ne was e^ecte<^ t0 membership in the
Pennsylvania Society, Sons oi the Revolution. He fcras
the last surviving charter member of the Young Men's
Christian Association of Harrisburg, Pa., and, in its early
history, filled all the or?.ces save that of president.
He became a member of the Pennsylvania-German
Society on January 13, 1S92, and served as its V
president in 1901.
56 The Pennsylvania-German Society
zzmmrr
Henry A. Schuler.
Henry A. Schuler was born July 12, 1850, in Upper
Milford, Lehigh Co., Pa., the son of Thomas Schuler
(September 24, 1825, to April 11, 1901), who was son
of Sophia Kriebel Schuler (April 30, 1797, to July 20,
1878), who was daughter of Abraham Kriebel (May 26,
1760, to September 2, 18 14), who was son of George
Kriebel (November 3, 1732, to December 1, 1805), who
was son of Caspar Kriebel, died February 16, 1 77 1 , who
was one of the Schwenkfelders from Silesia and Saxony
who landed at Philadelphia on September 22, 1734.
His paternal grandfather was George Schuler, a car-
penter in Vera Cruz, Lehigh Co., Pa., who was son of
Samuel Schuler (October 13, 1797, to June 28, 1S42).
His mother was Elizabeth Kemmerer Schuler (August
I, 1826, to March 14, 1897), wno was daughter of
Henry Kemmerer (March 8, 1796, to November 15,
1872).
Mr. Schuler was a well-known journalist of Allentown,
Pa., for many years the editor of the JVeltbote of that city.
In addition to his attainments in the Germanic languages
he was a notable Greek and Latin scholar. On January
1, 1906, in connection with Mr. H. \Y. Kriebel, of 1
Greenville, Pa., as business manager, he assumed the
editorship of the magazine founded by Rev. P. C. Croll,
D.D., of Lebanon, Pa., some years before, entitled .
Pennsylvania-German , and was instrumental in still fur-
ther adding to its value and interest.
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
HENRY A. SCHULER.
B. JULY 12. 1850. D. JAN. 13. 1908.
In Memoriam. $7
His decease, from pneumonia, occurred, after a brief
illness, at I :oo A. M. on Monday, January 13, 1908.
He was preceded in death by his wife seven wears ago and
had no children.
He was elected to membership in the Pennsylvania-
German Society on January 16, 1902.
H. M. M. R.
ss
w
53
The Pennsylvania-German Society.
Frank R. Brunner, M.D.
Dr. Frank R. Brunner was born January 24, 1835, the
son of Samuel Brunner (January II, 1806, to June 13,
1869), who was son of Peter and Eva, nee Mathias,
Brunner.
His mother, Maria Riegner, born 181 1, was a daughter
of Conrad and Catharine, nee Schneider, Riegner.
After his preliminary education he took up the study
of medicine, graduated from the Jefferson Medical Col-
lege, began to practice in March, 1873, and became a
prominent physician of Eschbach, Berks Co., Pa., and its
vicinity.
He was also prominent in politics and served as a State
Senator from his county, 188 5- 1888.
He lost his life in the terrible holocaust at Rhoads'
Hall, Boyertown, Pa., on the evening of Monday, Janu-
ary 13, 1908, where one hundred and seventy men,
women and children perished.
Dr. Brunner was elected^to membership in the Pennsyl-
vania-German Societv on Januarv 9, 1895.
H. M. M. R.
JAN 75
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