The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1914-11-24
is OF GENERAL
LOCAL INTEREST
Harrisburg Historian Tells of Condi-
tions in State and City Which In
fuenced Particularly the Lutheran
and Reformed Sects


ing as 1t does the early religious his
tory of Pennsylvania and more partie
z uiarly. of Harrisburg. With the de-
serlption of the growth of Zion Luther
an church is woven an account of CON
temporary events, which gives the pa
per an important bearing as a histor-
zeal document. The text, complete, is
as follows:
From very soon after the settling of
pennsylvania down to the present time
the German element has been the most
potent factor in the upbuilding of our
State. To it we owe much of the solid.
ity of growth prosperity and develop
ment, first of the colony and then of
the Commonwealth.
In 1877 William Penn visited Ger
many. He saw the poverty and misery
left by the Thirty Years war. and his
great heart comiserated. Four years la
ter he received his grant of Pennsyl-
vania from the English King. He i'm
mediately wrote to Germany, recon-
mending his new colony as an asylum
for oppressed sects and home for those
who desired to better hard conditions.
Emigration societies were formed.
The first company, led by Francis Dan
lei Pastorius, sailed in the Concord. a
name which should rank with the May
flower, and reached PHILADELPHIA Octo-
Der 6, 1888, settling in Germantown.
These people signed the first anti-slav-
cry petition in America.
The German Population in Penna.
From that time on the German emf.
grafton to Pennsylvania continued in a.
hot j.
monwealth, more than any other State
Of the Union, a German one.
The greatest number came from the
Palatinate on the Rhine Many of
them came as "redemptioners; that is,
through poverty, they were obliged to
sell their services for term of wears
10 secure passage to the new land
OF promise. Some of the ablest and
most distinguished men of our State.
from the timeso the Revolution down
to the present, have been the descend
ants of these poverty-stricken, but
hardy, industrious and religious Gre
demptioners.
The cold winter of 170S-9. which de-
stroyed the vines and fruit trees over
large areas of Germany, drove $4,000
to England. Some thousands colonized
in Ireland; 5000 came on to the land
of Penn. From 1919 to 1929 the
Dunkers and other Baptist sects of
Germany came to Pennsylvania in large
numbers, founding Ephrata and other
towns. In 1888 one of these German
denominations settled along the Perki-
omen. In 1741 Count Zinzendorf es-
tsblished the Moravian settlements in
Pennsylvania, which developed into the
towns of Bethlehem, Nazareth and 9th
ers.
But the great stream of German emf
grafton of those connected with the
Lutheran and German Reformed
Churches far surpassed that of all other
sects. The history of these two denom-
nations is closely intertwined in the
first century of our States existence.
How the Lutheran and German Re-
formed Churches Were Linked Together
Not only were these two churches
of cognate German origin. but, in all
essentials of Christian faith. the fol-
lowers of Martin Luther and Uric
Zwingli held the same points of doe
trine. Theirs had been common suffer
lngs and prosecutions. The two
churches mentioned ran along lines so
identical and were so interlinked by
many ties of consanguinity that they
readily and naturally coalesced in
church matters. Hence the great ma
jority of the originally constructed
church edifices were union buildings. in
which each of these denominations had
an interest.
This union Of effort in church build
ing was result of primitive eondi-
tions. To our forefathers of a century
and half, or even a century ago, even
at the best, life was long, hard strug-
gle for existence. For many years
after the Revolution money was scarce,
and it required herc"lean and persist
ent efforts to obtain the means of erect
ing th0|humblest places of worship.
A4ational life developed into more
a Hasn't circumstances each denomina-
tion was able to establish itself on more
independent lines of action. Yet, as a
general rule, so harmonious were the
relations of the joint owners Of the
German churches that, in many cases,
the union arrangement was continued
long after the financial necessity for it
had ceased to exist.
The Intense Religious Life of the Early
German Population
Let it be remarked in passing, that,
above everything else the German ele-
ment that settled in Pennsylvania was
an intensely religious people. Agnostics,
infidels, freethinkers were so completely
unknown to them that there was no
word in their original vernacular to ex-
press persons of that class.
In every German family, at stated
tsme, morn and eve, all work was
dropped and children, guests. hired la
borers-all within the household were
assembled around the head Of the
isoHse, who took down the ponderous
family Bible which was an essential in
every home and read from it, with
reverent awe, as a preliminary to fam
ily frayer in which God s guidance was
sought and His blessing invoked.
Baptism, confirmation. first com
munion, marriage were joyous. vet sol
emn milestones in life, blended with
touching religious ceremonies and elaIb-
orately recorded in quaint certificates
which adorned the walls ,of humble,
yet happy homes.
The faith of those odeu time Ger.
man. folk who, in work and prayer,
laid deep and broad the foundations OF