The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-09-15
The DoqaIdsoqviIIe CbieG'
Two Dollars q Year.
OUR GoosEQUiLL LETTERS.

The EpIirata observation-disclosures ant
Relics of an Extinct Religious Order
Conrad Beisel and his FolIowers-Pililt
sleIphiass First CoIored Letter Carrier
Exodus from Summer Resorts, etc.
PHILADELPHIA September l. 1888.
EDITOR CHIEF:
One of the most interesting places tc
ton. There one finds many antiquities,
relics of the past, stamped with historic
tale, and many grand old books which one
can feast on every day-all day long if he
me is a printing press, known as the Ephra-
taIr~ss, and one qa the very first brought
to this country. Connected with this press
is the history Of a feet of religionists called
the "Order of the Solitary and the
"Seventh Day Baptists.' Thinking it would
interest the readers of the CHIEF, your cor
respondent visited Ephrats with view of
getting information on the subject and
went through the monastery founded by the
"Order of the Solitary" about 80 years
ego. Ephrata is on tie Columbia and
Reading railroad, sixty miles from Phila-
delphia and about midway between Reading
and Lancaster.
Well, to tell the whole story, / must begin
with the Dunkers, from whom the ''Grder
of the Solitary" sprang. The Dunkers ap-
peared as q sect in Germany in 1894 Per-
secutlon drove many of them into this
country i'll l719 and they settled in and
around Germantown. Because they baptize
by immersion they are called Baptists. In
customs and habits they are very like
Quakers.
Conrad Beisel, man learned in the clag
sic5, with fine musical talent and strong,
vivid imagination, came to Germantown.
from Germany, in 1920. He Joined the
Dunkers, and being of positive, self-as-
Sertlng nature, soon began to use authority
and change things to suit himself. He
studied the Scriptures very closely and be-
came fixed in the belief that the seventh day
should be observed rs day of worship and
rest. So he proclaimed it as a dogma of the
church that the seventh day-what we cali
Saturday-should be kept as holy day.
Many agreed with him and they called
themselves 90 Seventh Day Baptists." Beisel
being hermit by nature, next urged the
practice of celibacy and wandered off from
the Society and settled on the Cocalico
Greek, Lancaster county. Quite number |
OF like views, followed him and again he |
became leader. The home or VILLAGE
which he and his colony founded on the
Gocaiico Creek was called Ephrata, in alIu-
sion to Psalm 1872. In order to advance
and his people as fast as possible in
spiritual life, Beisel established clolster
and adopted The discipline and dress of tbe
Capuchin Monks Of Europe What queer
blending, that of Protestant Christianity
with cellbacy and monasticism! The dress
was very PECULIAR long garment confined
by g1rdle, covering entirely that ''loath
some IMAGE the body, with hood for the
mead. That OF the women was the same,
except the addition of a veil. Their bever
age was pure water, their food, bread, mush
md vegetables. Animal food, cheese, bnt-
or ana milk were thought to clog the spirit
'nd 1nJure the voice. They worked hard,
gnorlng the assistance of man and beast:
rev their ploWs themselves and dragged
've-y bit OF lumber and stone, bare footed, /
rom miles away, with which they built
heir houses. They had cells for bedrooms.
lot more than ten by five feet in size;
'encheS hewn out little for beds, and Bill |
cts of wood for pillows. AT first they lived
II nuts, the creek dividing the abode of the
'fothers from that of the sisters. The orig {
nal cloister buildings are still standing in
good state OF preservation-pu up in
go, l7''s and 1745, and comprise the :
Brother House " the Sister House" and
he Saal or 'sNorship House." They
re about as quaint looking. antiauated and :
evoid of architectural beauty as one could t
7eli lmaglne-just great barns with high 3,
abie roots, tiny windows, not more '
nan two feet square, and the outside ;
,,al!s covered with shingles, black with age.
hey We're put together with wooden p1ns, !
OF nall beng driven any where. The L
oors swing OH wooden hinges and have 9
.oooen latches-no locks. Every thing =
nat they use used was made of wood by the :
rofhers. Hagons, goblets, trays, candle I
TICKS, forks, plates and communion, ser II
ice. These and some rare old books
rlhted on The Ephrata press are exhibited t.
! feilcs by the sisters. The buildings are a
htered by low, narrow doors and are cold. :.
ARK ana damp as dungeons. Hooked into d
lie cells and felt, as listened to the echo i
'''St VIC iItli U" SbfTlGOfS, as III | ii
prison. III the "SaaI " there was OBJ p
'ryable the same rigid simplicity. Nothing q
II PLAN board benches aud tables, with q
ncoVered floor. The ceiling is beautifully a.
a1shed wood and be,rs vet, in several q
aces, the indelible impress of the bare G
et OF the Brethren who stepped on the if
,ards with greasy feet so many wears AGO. t'
iley never Wore shoes, and creased their
ct to prevent soreness On the table Inv
DID!n and q l. - n
imposed by 3elsel, who was a great mus
M ana poet. There tie Sevanth Day
'ptlSts worship every Saturday, and as one
anus IN the old hall strange tnGruhts
OVID the mind. The Solitary Brethren
We all gone. bnt methinks we can hear
III the echo of their voices ringing out thu.
fiseS OF their God and GU: God, the Great
hovah. - va
Many of the followers Of ReiseI were mon,
great learning and women of rare nc
'npilst'InentS. Large books have been
esefFed, exhibiting exquisite penman-
~, executed by the sisters Arranpa
entS were made early in the history OF the
cietE Tor education. Education. accord
: 10 'felr Ideas, comprised classical learn
Z Ana tins brings me to tie Erhrata
SIS, =. was that very press they procured
I'M Germany with which 10 disseminate
o"'edse. The capacity of the press was
very great-lt never exceeded 30 i'm
7ssions al hour, but compared with wha.
best scribe conld do. il seemed ike n
facie. What would those monks have
ought OF a newspaper office Of the present
:. Jung as many as twenty thousand
1les III an hour:
Unfortunately for this society, i lived :,
olerant community. Persecution w.,nlI
e brought IN converts and acted as whip
i spur to tho faint-hearted and thew
oid have crown as societies generally do >
depart from old theories of faith and
Persecdted. Peter Miller. pure. GOOD,
NED man succeeded Beisel, but despite
MS {, efforts the Order of the Solitary died
ne wilderness that they had Settled
soi cleared u the world with all its
re ana glitter f,a6t raS .b,,,, =, -