History of Mennonites in Virginia

Harry Anthony Brunk

• Publisher: Vision Publishers Llc
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781932676488
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

This reprint of History of Mennonites in Virginia is authorized by the children of Dr. Harry A. Brunk. This work represents the most extensive history of Mennonites in Virginia from 1727 to 1900 available today. This history takes us from the earliest days before Mennonites moved to the Shenandoah Valley up to the schism of the Old Order Mennonite Church in Virginia in 1900. Brunk covers the Indian raids on the settlements in Page, Frederick, and Shenandoah counties during the French and Indian war in the 1750s and 60s. Those murdered included many of two Mennonite families. Brunk moves with the history to Virginia Conference, the formation of congregations from house churches to church houses. He ably writes about the development of districts, mission churches, and the growing membership of the Virginia Conference. This history is brought alive by numerous quotes, some from previously unpublished sources. The lack of bias makes this book a treasure, reflecting God's unfolding work in the lives of the Mennonites in the Shenandoah Valley, Newport News, Amelia, and into West Virginia.

CHAPTER 1

EARLY MENNONITE SETTLEMENTS IN VIRGINIA

“New Virginia”

The Mennonites were among the first white settlers in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, coming from Switzerland and the Palatinate by way of Pennsylvania. It is difficult to account fully for this early immigration. Probably a number of the brethren knew about the possibilities of colonization in Virginia before they came to this country.

Perhaps the Mennonites learned to know about Virginia through George Ritter, of Berne, Switzerland, who had contracted with the Swiss government to bring a number of the brethren here. He even went so far as to petition the English government, in the person of Queen Anne, for land in Virginia for them. We know that Ritter’s attempt to bring the brethren here was premature and that it ended in failure, but it is likely that the Mennonites learned to know about Virginia through him and that they were conditioned and prepared for later settlement here.

Possibly the large German immigration to Pennsylvania during the first half of the eighteenth century also was an influence. The best land had been appropriated by the first settlers, and for that reason, no doubt, a number sought their fortunes in Virginia. Then, too, the Indians, usually quiet and peaceable, sent menacing excursions among the Pennsylvania frontier settlements in 1728 at about the time the first settlements were made in Virginia. One raid was made on the settlement in Falkner’s Swamp, near Philadelphia. A petition known as the Colebrook Petition, calling for protection against the marauding Indians, was sent to the Governor of Pennsylvania at that time. This petition was signed by Joist Hite, Christian Neuschanger, Peter Boehm, Daniel Stauffer, and others. Several years later Joist Hite purchased land in Virginia, and brought settlers here, among whom were Christian Neuschanger and Daniel Stauffer. Neuschanger and Stauffer were very likely Mennonites. Therefore, it is possible that a number of Mennonites came to Virginia as a result of these Indian disturbances in Pennsylvania. Another factor that entered in a great deal, no doubt, was the new land policy of Penn’s sons who had full control after the death of their father, William Penn, in 1728. Their land policy was less liberal than their father’s had been. Quitrents were more successfully and uniformly collected and squatters were ferreted out and denied the privilege of occupying land in the state of Pennsylvania.

Still another important reason for the actual settlement of the Shenandoah Valley was the lure of the land itself—a land of running waters, prairies, scattered forests, hills, and mountains. This happy hunting ground of the Indian had a special attraction to the Swiss Palatines for it was like their native Switzerland.

Governor Gooch of the State of Virginia, who was interested in getting settlers for the Valley for the purposes of establishing a sort of buffer state between the Indian of the west and the white man of the east, made land grants quite freely. Even though the laws of uniformity in respect to State Church were definite and well enforced in the eastern part of the state, he was not particular about the religious affiliations of the people who settled the Valley. There were laws prohibiting the settlement of Quakers east of the Blue Ridge, but Quakers and related groups were not debarred from the Valley. The final result of this liberal policy was the actual settlement of a number of Mennonites and Quakers in “New Virginia.”

Land Speculators

The land agents or speculators who were anxious to get settlers for their respective grants of land, played an important role in the settlement of the Valley. Several of these knew the Mennonites, lived among them, and were able to get them to sign up for land on the frontier.

The first land agent to bring settlers here was Jacob Stover, a native of Switzerland who came to Virginia by way of Pennsylvania. Stover’s original grant consisted of two five-thousand-acre plots. He brought a number of settlers composed of Mennonites, Lutherans, and Calvinists to occupy his grants. This group, preceded a short time before by Adam Miller, the first white settler, constituted the first settlement of white people in the Valley. This settlement was made in what is now Page County, on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and its tributaries in 1727.

Several years later another land speculator, the above-mentioned Joist Hite, became interested in land in Virginia. Hite came to this country in 1710 by way of New York. Within seven years he moved to Pennsylvania and lived first at Germantown and then in the Perkiomen community, on the Schuylkill near Valley Forge. Here he was engaged in the milling and possibly other businesses for a number of years. He was one of the signers of the 1728 petition for better protection against the marauding Indians.

About the same time Joist Hite bought land in the Valley of Virginia from a man named Van Metre. The Van Metre grant consisted of forty thousand acres in widely scattered plots. As one of the terms of the purchase, Joist Hite promised to “seat” forty families here in two years. In 1730 Hite came to the Valley to live, bringing sixteen families with him as settlers. Hite and his group likely crossed the Potomac River at the Pack Horse Ford, some distance above Harper’s Ferry, the connecting link between the North and the Shenandoah Valley. From there he probably followed the Indian Trail south to a point known as Springdale or Bartonsville on the Opecqon River, a tributary of the Potomac. Springdale or Bartonsville was located five miles north of the present city of Winchester. Hite himself located below the present Winchester. The people who came to the valley with Hite were Germans, and a number of them were Mennonites.

New Counties

As mentioned above, Stover’s settlement was made between the Massanutten range and the Blue Ridge Mountains on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and a tributary arising in the New Market Gap known as Massanutten Creek. In terms of present-day geography this settlement was made near Luray, in Page County. Originally the Luray community on the South Fork was in Spotsylvania County, which certainly included all the land in Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1734 the Luray settlement became part of Orange County which was created out of the large Spotsylvania County. Four years later boundaries changed and Luray became part of the county of Augusta. In 1745 the northern part of Augusta County, including the Luray settlement, was taken away to help form Frederick County. In 1772 and in 1777, respectively, Shenandoah and Rockingham Counties were carved out of parts of Frederick and Augusta Counties. Finally Page County, in 1831, was created out of Shenandoah County. This means that the original settlement of Mennonites, during the first century of its history, 1727-1831, was in six counties without actually changing location. These boundary line changes meant that the official land and tax records of these first Virginia Mennonites are found in six different sets of widely scattered county records. The county history of Mennonites west of the Massanutten Mountain is almost as varied.

The original settlements east and west of the Massanutten Range did not remain self-contained units or settlements, as the county histories would indicate. They soon expanded. The Page County settlement, the largest and the one about which we know the most, overflowed west across the Massanutten Mountain, occupying territories in the vicinity of Woodstock on the North Branch of the Shenandoah River in what finally became Shenandoah County. This settlement was only twenty miles from Luray. The repetition of family names in these settlements indicates a rather close association. Primitive methods of travel did not prevent the exchange of visits between the two settlements.

Then, too, the Opecqon settlement at Springdale near Winchester in what became Frederick County overflowed to the east and south, to points including Strasburg and Woodstock. The former was laid off or planned by Peter Stauffer. The town originally was called “Stauffer-stadt.” While most of the Stauffers were Mennonites, it is not likely that Peter Stauffer was one. Woodstock was settled by people from both settlements and served as a connecting link for Mennonites of the Valley in the eighteenth century.

Early Settlers

The first settlers of the Valley invariably came here by way of Pennsylvania. It is not known when many of these German immigrants came to Virginia, but we do know when and how they reached Philadelphia, providing they came in 1727 or later. Prior to that date no immigrant records were kept, and when no dates are given it must be inferred that they came before records were kept. In listing the possible early Mennonite settlers of the Valley, the date of the landing at Philadelphia and the name of the ship on which they came will be given whenever this information is available.

A probable list of Mennonite settlers for Page County exclusive of church leaders included: Abram Strickler, Joseph Rhodes, John Brubaker, Abraham Brubaker, Henry Sowter, Ludwig Stone, John Bomgarner, Henry Bromback, Nicholas Berry, Hans Root, and Hendricks Pomgarddiner (August 30, 1743, on ship Francis and Elizabeth). This list would also include the names of Jacob Borner, John Holman, and Daniel Stover, who were mentioned as being of the “brotherhood” by Martin Kauffman, Sr.

In addition to the above names the Page County Deed Books list: Blossers, Millers, Goods, Heistons, Algers, Lineweavers, Thompsons, Gochenours, and, others.

For Frederick and Shenandoah Counties the list likely included: John Strickler, Jacob Funk, Christian Grove, Michael Burner, Jacob Beery, George Bowman, Abraham Hendrick, John Crabill, Christley Stover, who made “solemn affirmation” in court, Hans Huldeman (October 2, 1727, on ship Adventure Galley), Peter Hockman and Jn. Fatter, (October 16, 1727, on ship Friendship), Christian Newswanger, (August 24, 1728), Heinrich Funk (September 9, 1738, on board ship Snow Two Sisters), Peter Ebersool (September 3, 1739, on ship Robert and Alice), Johannes Franty Grove (September 7, 1748, on ship Hamshire), Anthony Spangler, who used an affirmation in court, and Francis Weaver, who, in the same court “affirmeth, she being a Mennonite.” Jeremiah Eberli came on ship St. Andrews on September 23, 1752.

Pioneer Life

The Mennonite settlements prospered from the start. There was no repetition of the starvation and ill health of colonial Virginia at Jamestown Island one hundred and twenty-five years earlier. While hunting, fishing, and trapping were no doubt engaged in to some extent, this was of secondary importance to the plowing, planting, tilling and harvesting of crops in the productive land. One of the bends of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River is called Egypt Bend because crops have never been known to fail there.

Stock-breeding and -raising, as the records show, also figured largely in the economic life of the early Mennonites of Virginia. They came here to establish permanent homes. Orchards were planted as an integral part of each farm or plantation. Mills were constructed on the rivers to take care of the milling needs of the community.

They, not unlike their neighbors, built one-story houses. The house, built over a cellar with a chimney in the center was divided into two parts; in the one end there was a fireplace, in the other, a stove. The attic of the house in a number of instances was a place for storing grain. The Mennonite preacher who was shot by the Indians and whose house was subsequently burned revealed this fact. The grain stored in the attic, burned to charcoal, was found after the fire, in the cellar where anyone could find grains of wheat still perfectly formed.

Inventories and sales records of these first settlers indicate in part the nature and extent of their prosperity. This is well illustrated by the lists of articles owned by several of the first citizens. The first illustration is the inventory of Abraham Strickler’s estate in 1746. There were eighty-one separate items of personal property or combinations of them having a total value of 218 pounds 17 shillings and 3 pence. This list included the following livestock, sixteen horses and one colt valued at 63£, twenty cows at 20£, one bull, twelve heifers, and ten steers at 19£, and forty-two hogs and pigs valued at 6£, 3s.

The following is a partial list of other articles of personal property: Two stills and “proper implements belonging, bath tub and Runlets” 33£, four cast wheels with tire belonging 4£, two saws, one whip saw, one crosscut saw and five files 2£, 3s, oxchain, wedges, one iron dog 1£, 11s, 4p, old stoves 3s, a spade shovel and cutting iron 7s, three hammers and small hoe 5s, 6p, six old axes and one hatchet 1£, one hay fork 1s, 6p, five sickles 9s, two branding irons 4s, two chisels and four plain irons 4s, two augers and a rasp 10s, turner tools 18s, a pair of spoon moles 5s, a pair of old scales and weights 6s, a pair of pistols and holsters 18s, raw hides and two calf skins 12s, two pair of steelyards 18s, one dung hook, one ax and broad ax 8s, two plows, hook and shovel plows 12s, two English plows with all the tacklings belonging 3£, three saddles and pad, two collars and “Quillers’ 1£, all the implements for rope making 10s, a jointer, xbox four plain and saw 6s, two flax hackles 10s, twenty-five deer skins 3£, 15s, leather sole, upper leather and new boots 1£, 13s, three hives of bees 15s, one hemp brake 2s, sixty gallons of “Lickquer” at 2s, 6p per gallon 7£, 10s, all the dishes, plates, basins and a pewter qt. pot 1£, 10s, all the iron pots, basins, two frying pans, skimmer 1£, all Abraham’s wearing clothes 2£, large chest 5s, safe 5s, one hundred forty-nine “tt” of linen yarn 7£, 9s, a straw knife and box 15s, one bed in stillhouse loft and furniture 1£, 15s, two shag rugs and two old blankets 1£, 5s, one bed and furniture in the old house 2£, eight small Dutch books, a large Dutch Bible and some old books 2£, 2s, pair of new and one pair of old money scales 5s, two stone gallon jugs 2s, one lifter and two “Kidles” 4s, two linen wheels 5s, one old brass cock and two old razors 2s, 6p, and one hone 1s, 6p.

A second illustration is the appraisement of Martin Kauffman’s estate in 1749 by Daniel Stauffer, Jacob Borner, and John Holdeman. Here the total value of his personal property was set at 194 pounds, 2 pence. This included twenty horses and three colts valued at 89£, 3s; eight cows and one calf at 10£, 5s; two bulls two heifers and four steers at 6£, 5s; thirty-five “swine” at 1£, 10s; and seventeen sheep 3£, 8s.

Other articles of personal property of the Kauffman estate were: eight acres of wheat and rye, 3/4 acre of barley 6£, 5p, a half acre of flax 15s, a wagon 6£, a plow share & coulter & all the tacklings 1£, 15s, a cutting box knife and stool 12s, four collars two britch bands with their trosses 2£, pair of steelyards 10s, two Dutch broad Axes 15s, two hand saw & spades, three drawing knives 7s, three augers & wimples & three gimblets 15s, five hand saw files 2s, 6p, two pair iron fetters 8s, two small broad axes 7s, two hatchets 4s, six iron wedges two “letell” rings 12s, 6p, set of shoemaker tools & a house lock 14s, eight wimble bitts two compasses & pruning knife 3s, some turner tools four plaines two screw augers 8s, pair of sheep shears, and two tailor shears 3s, a pair of wool cards, two cross cut saws 2s, 6p, a gun 1£, 13s, four little wheels 1£, six pewter basons 18s, 6p, three porringers a pewter pocket bottle 2s, seventeen spoons and six plates 7s, 6p, three pewter platters 10s, a brass kettle & a copper kettle 2£, three iron pots & six trenchers 16s, two ladles, a skimmer & fork & funnel 6s, five earthen plates, two pot racks, one fire tong 14s, 6p, one hand bellows two lamps on candlestick 6s, pair of candle molds 2s, 6p, a wash tub and churn 15s, three baskets iron bound 7s, a baking tray, a table & chairs 8s, eleven glass bottles & some earthen ware 7s, ten stocks of bees 2£, one iron harrow & two sickles 1£, 12s, a woman’s saddle & a man’s saddle 2£, a watering pan & a grindstone 4s, 6p, four baskets & seven pounds of wool 15s, two iron stoves 7£, two small beds 2£, 10s, a cradle & bed clothes 12s, three great Bibles 4£, a Great Martyr Book 1£, 15s, two Testaments & five hymn books 1£, 8s, a small Bible & three Psalm Books 1£, 11s, ten small books called Golden Apples 2£, 14s, a grind stone with an iron crank 6s, pair of money scales 4s, 6p, a house clock 5£, a little trunk 5s, a set of smith tools 14£, three house knives & a log chain 15s, 6p, wearing apparel 5£, 10s, and three tooth drawers 4s.

Meetinghouse

In this frontier country of New Virginia, services were held in the homes of the people. As wealth increased among them, some of the larger houses were constructed with large rooms and movable partitions in order to provide for public worship. Since Mennonites were rated as Quakers, and frequently called German Quakers, it is possible that the old laws forbidding the holding of conventicles had their influence too. These laws had not been repealed and such restrictions would have applied to Mennonite worship. Then, too, the restrictions under which the Mennonites lived in the Palatinate had established the house pattern. No doubt many Mennonites had come to accept the “church in thy house” as the best way in the New as well as in the Old World.

The one possible exception among eighteenth century Mennonites was the old Mill Creek Church known for many years as the Mauck Meetinghouse. It is located in the village of Hamburg, two miles west of Luray in Page County in the heart of the early Mill Creek settlement. When was this church house built? This is the big question. Wayland gives the date as 1799 or 1800. H. M. Strickler stated it was built in 1800 or earlier. The date 1800 or thereabout corresponds at least, it was thought, with the granting of t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Introduction
• Dedication
• Preface
• Contents
• Pictures
• 1. Early Mennonite Settlements in Virginia
• 2. Geographical Setting for Shenandoah Valley Districts
• 3. The Northern District to 1860
• 4. The Middle District to 1860
• 5. The Music Career of Joseph Funk
• 6. Joseph Funk and the Church
• 7. The Southern District to 1860
• 8. The Virginia Mennonites in the Civil War
• 9. The Organization and Work of the Virginia Conference
• 10. The Coming of the Sunday School
• 11. Church and Sunday School Music, 1865-1900
• 12. The Northern District, 1865-1900
• 13. Schoolhouse Evangelism—Northern District
• 14. The Middle District, 1865-1900
• 15. Schoolhouse Evangelism—Middle District
• 16. The Southern District, 1865-1900
• 17. The Home Mission Board, 1892-1900
• 18. Colonization
• 19. “The Middle District Trouble”
• References
• Notes
• Index