tines lest the authorities turn them back to their ravished land where even their domestic animals, reverting to primitive instincts, roamed their deserted village streets in roving packs. But there was some small comfort in the friendly gestures made by their own if envious, countrymen, for as they drifted down the Rhine toward Rotterdam, they received gifts of goodwill—loaves of bread some cheese, a little butter.1 The second stage of the trip began at Rotterdam, or occasionally at Amsterdam. Here, tardy ships detained the pilgrims for another six weeks while the "poor German Protestants" became more impoverished than ever by reason of the high prices in Holland. At long last, the ships took them aboard, packed them in like herrings, and began the channel trip to an English port, usually Cowes, occasion- p ally Deal or Dover. After another customs delay here, anchors were weighed, and when winds blew favorably, sails were set for the long trans-Atlantic Journey of two or three months. 1Knittle, op. cit., p. 80. 2
erally, in fact, tended toward neutrality. At the beginning of the Revolution, Pennsylvania's German population approximated 110,000 and many of this number were not British subjects due to the difficulties of acquiring citizenship by naturalization. Neutrality therefore became the natural attitude to adopt.1 For Henry M. Muhlenberg, war was an "unspeakable sin."2 Overruling their father's feelings in the matter, however, two of his sons became notable Revolutionary officers. John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, one of Washington's most trusted Brigadier Generals, commanded one of the brigades at Chadd's Ford in the historic battle of Brandywine, where fought a fellow Lutheran, Corporal 3 John Frederick Eisenhauer. 1William Warren Sweet, Religion in the Development of American Culture. 1765-1840 (New York: Scribners, 1952), pp. 36-38. 2Ibid., p. 38. ^Montross, op. cit.. p. 190. Hans Peter Eisenhauer was seventy-eight the year his seventeenth child (Ann's eighth) was born. His and Ann's first child, John Jacob, had been born only a short while before John Frederick fell in battle. The next five children were daughters and each was given a good German name. Then followed the boy they named John Peter
erne County and had died in the conflict with the Indians. Frederick was the eighth and last. He was baptized a Lutheran, into the faith of his fathers, and probably at Linglestown Shoop Church, the same place where his sister Barbara and his brother John Peter had been baptized before him.3 There appears to be no record that the Lutheran itinerant preacher, Rev. John Casper Stoever, baptized or married any of the children of Hans Peter's third marriage. Indeed, when Hans Peter was married to Ann Dissinger in 1777, Stoever would have been an old man ready to put aside his labors. If Stoever's ministry terminated fifty years after it began in 1728 when he first came to Philadelphia, he would have retired from his preaching mission some time in 1778, but not before he had rendered ministerial services for Hans Peter and two of his children by a previous marriage. In 1770 Hans Peter himself, a widower with eight children, asked Rev. Stoever when he came Bethel way again 4
against tough brown shucks on corn husking days when wintry blasts numbed forty fingers as if no cotton gloved four sturdy pairs of Dutch hands at all. Jacob's most worldly ambition was to make an honest living from the prairie soil, and he
"What shall we say, then?" Shall we say that these pilgrims of a generation now past obtained salvation and went to heaven because they did what Bro. Eisenhower says they did . . . .We have confidence that Bro. Eisenhower does not mean to teach a gospel of works but we think that is what those who read his letter will gather from it. It is possible to become just a little extreme in our estimate of the merits of even so good a thing as The; (human) Good, Safe, Old Way.1 Evangelical Visitor. October 21, 1912. 2Climenhaga, op. cit., p. 201. Ebld.. p. 203. A pair of interesting articles written by A. L. Eisenhower appeared in 1909, in February and in October. The first, "The Home Ministry vs. the Evangelist," warned Evangelical Visitor readers that the Church was drifting into worldliness with her program of evangelism. Although the early Church had on occasion revival outbursts, these were spontaneously generated without the aid of the protracted meeting or the presence of an evangelist.2 Evangelism, that is to say, the preaching of the gospel in revival services, came tardily to the Brethren; Noah Zook (about 1895) was the first Brethren evangelist.3 Remembering that Abe himself was an evangelist of sorts, one may wonder that he had the temerity to write his views on the subject at all, and we are not surprised when he says that it was a severe test for him to state his convictions on this matter. With this diluted apology, if it is that, Abe discusses, of all things, the evils of
1765-1840. New York: Scribners, 1952. Tebbel, John. George Washington's America. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1954. Wayland, John Walter. The German Element of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Charlottesville, Virginia: The Michie Co., 1907.