The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-10-28
During Fifty-Three Years as Pastor Of German
Reformed Church, He Gained
Universal Esteem.
he TOOK UP active WORK IN THE MINISTRY AT The
AGE OF TWENTY, SUCCEEDING The REV. BENJAMIN faust
Made Trip os Nine Miles to Church Ten Times
Each Year for Salary OF 81 So His Record Includes
2.e11 Marriages., 1850 Funerals
! ~a.& gre VI and seoe ea ptlsms.

bruck streets was built by him, and
though having stood for 6S years is
still in very good state Of preserya-
ton.
? The young minister began married
life in a very modest way. his tota.
assets being a debt Of $56. Though
pastor of a charge Of thirteen congre-
cations he had no horse. no overcoat,
no mantle. In simple and inadequate
attire he walked to his appointments
two of which were twenty-four miles
away. in the winter Wading through
snow knee deep. His financial sup
port was the most meagre. not exceed
ing two hundred dollars for many
years. One congregation nine miles
distant paid him the enormous sum of
$3.50 for the year. For this princely
salary the young parson made the trip
ten times, walking there and bac'
each time total distance Of one hum
+ fdred and eighty miles. Yet on such
limited stipend he and his frugal wife
not only .subsisted but also reared a
large family and in addition succeeds
ed in accumulating fair competency.
THE PASTORS NASTY NAG. :,
At the end of his second year Mr..
Herbruck was able to purchase a horse
but had little better success with him
than Don Quixote had with his Rosi-
nante. The animal was only three
years old, and had not been broken
and the pastor was no rider. Through
his ignorance of the horse nature the
animal acquired several bad habits.
One of the animals faults was that
whenever he became frightened he
would start to run at a terrific speed,
suddenly stop, lower his head, elevate
his hind legs and send the rider
sprawling in the road, not seldom in a
puddle. Another fault of the young
nag was that he would occasionally
tecome stubborn and instead of going
forward would go backward. A far
mer who was once an eye witness to
this maneuyer called out in the PENN
sy!van.a., dialect. "Parson. drop the
rein, turn round and take hold of his
tail and am sure you will make
more headway."
His mishaps with this and other
horses were as numerous and comical
as any ever witnessed in a circus
ring.
I No one in this section of the country
had a richer fund of anecdotes, both
sad and numerous than he did. Many
OF these have been forgotten by those
to whom they were narrated, and 9TH
ers would lose much of their point by
being put In print. Mr. Herbruck did
q vast amount OF marrying in his time,
probably more than any other minis
ter in eastern Ohio. Many of the cit
izens of Canton and Stark county
were Joined in marriage by him. And
in the latter part Of his life he often
entertained his friends by relating
comical incidents connected with we'd
dings. One of these that has been told
and retold is as follows:
ONE MARRIAGE .ANECDOTE.
"On q bright autumn morning there
was a knock at HE door. Upon op-
ening II he saw before him verdant
, raw boncd lad from the rural dis.
tricts, while across the street ON bas
with unknown contents sat n shy and
red faced maiden. With much confus-
ION the rustic stammered something
about wanting to get married but not
!. having money. With hating tongue
he asked the parson, II no couldn't
perform the ceremony for bag OF
.snits,' instead OF the money fee. OF
7 course, the kindhearted dominic could
not refuse. And the happy swain a,
once shouted to his sweetheart across
the street, come on, Sal, he'll do II
. for snits.'"
Another rather amusing couple came
from near Paris, Ohio, away back In
the forties. The bride was a German
farmer girl, short of stature and with
fact so red that red paint would
make no impression upon 1t, while the
groom was tall and husky Irishman
Neither could understand the language
of the other, hut 1t seems to have beer
case of love at first sight, and ol
courtship without words. The happy
day was fixed and the parson invited
to the farmhouse for the ceremony
I,ut when the hour arrived the bride
had disappeared. After long search
she was found in the barn where She
bad gone into hiding and from whence
she would noc come. in spite of Sh'
ardent solicitations Of the groom and
| the earnest eApostulations Of her faith
er. 1t was then decided to postpon'
the event with the understanding tha
the couple was. to come, to the parsop