Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-06-28
PENNsYLvANIA.s QUEER sECrs.
A LOve-Feast Among the River Rrethrep-
Stories Of One of the BrOmdbrfnr
Farmers.

Hummelstown Cor. n. y. sun.
The River Brethren of PENNSYLVANIA
closely resemble old Dunkaris. the
Amish and the Seventh Day Baptists.
These plain and simple folks are scattered
all over Eastern Pennsylvania. They re-
Gently held their annual love-feast in I.eb-
anon county, near this place. They had
an ox-roast, public feet-washing. praise
meeting and i general reunion. About six
hundred persons were present.
To the stranger these various Pennsyl-
vania German sects all look alike, but
upon close inquiry their beliefs, forms OF
worship, habits and customs are found to
be different. One sect baptizes by plung-
ing the convert three times into the water
forward another sect plunges its converts
into the water backward. One uses no
buttons on garments; another uses
buttons. The nO-buttOn people use hooks
and eyes only. The dress of o.e OF
these farmers is usually very broad
brimmed black wool hat, stiff and
strong dark brown cutaway coat
with small collar and no lapels !:
hooks and eyes in a row down in front ::
dark pantalOons, cut straight up and down
(no spring bottOmS). His hair is ALWAYS
worn long. cut straight like brush.
Generally they are dark haired and dark
eyed. Their style Ofdress has not changed
in hundred years. and their tailors have
used nothing but the regulation patterns
since their ancestors first crossed the sea-
The young men follow closely in the paths
of their fathers, and the makeup ola l6-
year-old-boy is generally the same as his
80 year-Oid sire.
The women wear the plainest OF gar
ments. Coarse brown or dark gray frocks
with very narrow skirts dark silk hand
kerchicfs over their shoulders black silk
and pasteboard bonnets, stitliy made on the
scoop-shovel pattern; pair of rough
caltskin shoes. Thus attired they are
ready for meeting. the market. or Il
marriage. as the case may he. The seven
teen -year-old girl dresses like her mother
and grandmother; only the child sometimes
wears silk kerchief of L color brig htrr
than that Worn by her mother. To see
their pretty black eyes it is necessary +"
get look ut them from the front.
The assemblagc ut the luvc-iea.t w;,>
made up of just this class of people. Some
of them came twenty miles, AMI their con
.veyances covered several acres These
farmers generally own first class horses,
and they take Il pride in driving t" the
feast in their very best turnOuts. An am
pie stock of feed is brought with them
and the horses are tied along the fences.
Four ministers nr speakers Were present
The ieet-washing was ut night. These
services take place once u year before the
harvest, and arc held to give praise to the
Lord for His goodness in sending them
abundant stores. The ceremony Of wash
ing feet is usually private. The men gird
themselves with towels, and, with basin
in hand, wash the feet of their brothers. as
Il lesson in humility. The women waSI,
each others feet in the same manner. The
baptisms are public. Then follows a gen
eral rejoicing, and :: roasted OK is eaten.
''YOu are welcome" said broadbrim
to his city visitors. ''YOu are welcome to
partake of what We have. All strangers
are welcome.
In the conversation that followed, the old
gentleman said I'VE very rarely engage
in laws suits never among ourselves. We
settle our own grievances between U.S. stick
together, intermarry. keep honest. and
that's about the way we get along. If you
90 down into the ConcstOga valley, Ian
caster county. The Dunkarls live over in
Berks and Lancaster counties, the seventh
Day Baptists about Ephrata, which
is sometimes called Dunkarlt"v II
the Moravians are over in Beth
lehcm, and also in Lititz, Lancas-
ter county. We are all pretty mu. h
cut over the same cloth, but there are
many writer's who get us mixed up in their
Yesterday | attended the
funeral of very old MOrlvian over in
Bethlehem. His name was Bickel and lie
was nearly so years of age. For fifty years
ne was a member of the trombone quartet
of the church. Their trombone players,
every Easter morning before daylight, go
about the village playing suitable All
thems. In their graveyards are no mOnu-
ments, fancy railings or fences. They are
all buried ip rows, rich and poor alike,
men with men and women with women. a
small flat piece of marble is placed on each
grave. The graves are numbered, and the
record is kept in the church book. AS
they die they are buried, 50 that families
are separated in the buryfhg ground. At
first sight their cemeteries look like grass
fields.
"The Amsh or Omish people are very
strict. They have no churches, but they
meet ut one another's farms, and one of;
their number does the preaching. Their
ress is very simple. IL any of them meets
with losses. by fire or otherwise, the others
SO much apiece to make g"Ot
The loss. III son or daughter marries out
side of their sect, he or she is disOwned.
In this they are very strict. They own
farms, and their spacious
,a,ns are ten Tires larger than their
louses. No person in the world is more
,onest than an Omishman. They take no
part in elections, but pay their taxes.
81 see that in the courts Of Berks county
very interesting case has just been .!e-
;ided by master i'm clIancery, in which
wo parties in Mennonite congregation
we're fighting for church. The congre-
cation split because their pastor, the Rev.
.Ir. OberhOltZer, refused to appear in
:lnurch ina regulation coat. The resua-
ion coat is one that has buttons ON one
idle only. and 10 collar. Although the
Rev. OberhOltzcr went to conference in Il
equation coat to state his case, he lost it,,
md then he established a new sect, calling
t the New Measure MennOnites.
"Thc story Of Rachel Kerster has never
ound it's way into print that have heard
#. She was the only child of Il rich Dunk
rel, and she became tired of the plain
resses and primitive customs of her peo-
le She informed her father of this ami
skcd to be allowed to travel and see the
World. Her father became angry one
,ord brought on another, until finally 81 e
;as disOwned. She left her home and
er father spent three years ill finding her.
he had taken refuge with u friend in
mall Western town, and when she WAS
iscovered she was wearing worldly dresses.
he was taken home and dressed in home
pun, but she soon died."