The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1889-05-11
DUNKARDS AT WOnSlIlP.
STRANGE AND SIMPLE RITES OF THIS
MEEK AND DEVOTED SECT

Choir Leader
In the plain, ono story meeting house on
Oakley avcnue. just off jackson street, there
met small congregation of that peculiar IL
liSiolls sect known US the Dunkards. \ Suri
ETY. of tsem was formed Sunday. and meet
ings to knit the membership more closely To
gcther are being held. Tho congregation
numbered twenty five or thirty persons,
all apparently from the common walks of
life. AN exceeding plainmcss of dress and
speech prevailed among them. The women
wore dresses of dark stutfs and black sun
hornets, and the elderly women, in some
cases, white caps. Their dress was unrclcved
by ornament or jewclry of any kind though
two or three wore bonrcts of moro conyrn-
tonal fashion
Tho men had no distinctive dress A fcw
wore broad brmmed hats On front bench
demurely sat fresh checked girl clad in q
garment of somber brown, her sunny curls
peeping out from the shadows of II black
satin sun bonnet. Sho now and then stole a
coquettish glance in the direction of the
amen corner, where sat II robust young
man with his wide brimlncd hat outsprcad
upon his knees. There wcre several Young
women and two or three young men in the
audience. The pretty girl OH the front bench
led the singing in good old fashioned tunes in
Il shrill treble voice
SIMrI.E BUT IMPRESSIVE SERVICES.
The services were simple in character
They were initiated by the singing of Jesus,
Lover of My Soul" The leader then PRAYED,
while every ono i'll tho room Enelt in sup
pliance After another hymn, the Rev. D.
l.. Miller, of Mount Morris colony, preached
from tho text: Now abideth faith, hope and
charity, but tho greatest of these is charity. "
No references wero made to the peculiar
practices of tho church Tho sermon was
such IN exposition of Undetermined Christian
lovcaSmisht fall from clips of any orthodox
Protestant Clergyman 1t was delivered di-
dactlcally and without any of the piors fer
vor and ecstasy common to the cxtrymo
sccts of disSenters Another hymn and PRAYER.
after the sermon closed the services. Tho
preacher came down from the pulpit and
mingled with the members of his little flock.
He sautcd the brethren with kiss and a
hand shake. Tho men also kissed each other,
and so d'd tho sisters among themselves
"lou SEQ We arc not so very different from
other people," said the Rev Mr. Miller.
There is great deal of ridiculc INDUCED in
on our account. The reporters who come tc
our meetings treat us pretty roughly some
times, and there nre many wrong notions
about us current among those who ought tt
know better George Alfred Townsend has
written Il novel in which tho scene of til,
story is laid in ono of our communities. He
was very inaccurate in what no said of us
Most people think We arc Il sect of commune
lists"
But don't you have monastic communities
i'll Pennsylvania
DIFFERENT KIND OF DuNKARD.
mot ut all You arc confusing us with
the Seven Day Dunkcrs, organized by Conrad
BrisSel in Lancaster county, Pa, in l1..5
They believe in Observing Saturday us til,
Sabbath We haven't anything to do will
them Our people cmigra,cd from Ilolunt
in l7l9 and settled in Pcnnsy lvnnu w
have in the United States membership %
100000, chiefly i'll Pennsylvania, Maryland
Virginia Ohio, Indiana and Illinois w
have colleges at Mount Morris. Ills, Bridge
water, Va, Huntington, Pa, and McFhcr
son, Kan. We have II large society at Noun
Morris. suppose there arc about fift,
Dmkards in Chicago, and nearly all of then
have moved here from Mount Morris w,
live, of course. just like other people Som
members of our society have gone away
from time to time, to get work There wcr
enough here, we thought, to warrant us il
establishing n society and so Professor Youn,
and myself came up Saturday, and on Sun
'lay organized our church with twenty -fou
members We eare holding meetings, and i
ls intended to have services every Sunda
after this Some ono from Mount Morri
will do the preaching.
The organization of tho society Oh Sundn
was attended by the observance of tn
strange rites of the church, which icuG
the kiss of charity, the right hand of rc
lowship, Il love feast and tho washing OF
feet In the performance of tho last rite mel
and women were separated Tho woncl
gathered at one end of the church and TIL
men at the other Large tin basins of wnte
aud drying each others naked feet and sing
ins, songs over their work of humility
''lt was all done with extreme propricty,
said the Rev Mr. Miller "Onr observnnc,
of this ceremony is based upon tho custom o
the apostles and tho primitive church
FOLLOWING THE MASTERS EXAMPLE.
"You know Christ washed tho feet of hi
disciples rs an act of humility Are w
greater than our l.ordt You may not knov
that 2D.GD0,OOO of Christians practice thi
rite us a part Ut their religious ceremonies
All the members OF tho Greek church do ant
it is done in the Roman Catholic ch,e.ch
The Catholic laymcn do not do it, but tn
higher disnitarics wash the feet of twelve o
their interiors on each Good Friday. 1t is IL
proper ceremony as baptism or the othe
sacfaments'
Tho incorporated name of tho Dunkart
church is the German Baptist Brethren.
1t was founded in l7Ds by Alexander MacI
and seven others in the village OF Schwarzc
nou, in Germany They believed that i'm
merslon was the proper form of baptism an,
no. sprinkling, as observed by tie Catho!i
church
The name of tunkers, or dunkcrs. vas dc
rived from the German word tunkcl, mean
ing tpdip Tho Dunkards Laptizc by dppln;
forward. Besides tho present society. tw,
other societies were formed in Germany
Prosecutions drove them into Holland and
between the years 1919 and l193, tho cn,ir
denomination emigratcd to the United States
Besides the religious practices already men
toned, their creed forbids the taking of ouths
bringing suits in tho courts, and fighting
Until recent years they did not take intercs
for money loaned The sick arc anontc,
with Oil and their recovery prayed for will
the laying on OF hands The church govern.
mcnt is vested in bishops, elected at poput
meetings of tho church. which are usual
held each May The bishops are prepared tu
their holy offices by unointment with oil
Chicago News
Moss Marble.
There has been discovered, four miles sou,l
Of Rattlcsnake Springs, W T.. AN extcn.lv,
ledge OF marble, in which beautiful trees u
plants OF moss are as frequent and its clearly
defined as in the moss agate, though tn,
marble is not translucent The body OF TIL,
stone is mostly white, with splotcLcs Of plnl
and blue between the punches of moss. Sci
entitic American.
Catching Truants.
The newest service rendered by monkeys Il
mankind was recently illustrated in London
In one Of the school districts there were
great many parents who reported no ochi!drcl
in their families, and i'll order to ascertain
the real number of children in the district th'