Page 27 - Pictorial History of EUB Church by Glovier
P. 27
27 HISTORY OF THE VA CONFERENCE, E.U.B. CHURCH—D.F. GLOVIER
Before 1815 there was quite an exodus of these people across the
Alleghenies into Ohio and the west of Pennsylvania. It came thus that the
Miami, the first daughter conference, was organized largely by the preachers
who had come from the east, for up to this time, the whole work was
embraced in the eastern, or original, conference. The families who settled in the
west of Pennsylvania, especially in Westmoreland County, were active and
loyal, and laid the foundations for the present prosperous United Brethren
Church in that favored region.
Almost the only record we have of the early work of these circuit riders is
found in Newcomer’s Journal, published in 1835. It was not intended for
publication, and its brevity is often disappointing to those who would like
more complete information. The Journal, after its publication, was evidently sold
by the itinerants.
When eighty-one years old, Newcomer attempted a trip into Virginia.
Sunday, March 1, 1830, he rode to the home of Michael Thomas at
Boonsboro, nine miles from his own house, and lodged there for the night.
Next morning he was too ill to go on and he returned. Wednesday, he wrote
thus: “This forenoon I tried to write in my journal, but alas! I find that I
am not able to perform the task, so I lay down my pen. The Lord alone
knows whether I shall be able to resume it again. The Lord’s will be done.
Amen. Hallelujah.”
It is this record of Newcomer that gives early circuits in Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio. It is not by any means a complete record, as it
gives only the tours by himself and his companions, for he seldom traveled
alone.
Just before the First Annual Conference at Kemp’s, in September, 1800,
Newcomer made a tour of the Virginia Circuit. This time he was accompanied by
Martin Boehm and his son, Henry. Another preacher Christian Crum, lived at
Pleasant Valley, eight miles northeast of Winchester, on what has since been
known as the Jacob Hott Place. For years, this was the first stopping place
of the German preachers, and here these three men held their opening service
on the Virginia Circuit. They arrived Monday night, September 1st, and the elder
Boehm preached. He preached again at Dr. Senseny’s, in Winchester, and a
Methodist preacher followed with an exhortation. Wednesday, they held a
meeting at Abraham Niswander’s, near Middletown, and then rode to the
house of A. Boehm, a relative to the bishop, where Newcomer preached and
was followed by Henry Boehm. Thursday forenoon, they preached at Jacob
Funkhouser’s west of Fisher’s Hill, riding thence to Woodstock and lodging
with one Zehrung, who, by the way, gave a lot for a church in Woodstock.
This gift was made more than one hundred fifty years ago. The Bishop
preached in a church at Woodstock Friday morning,
Before 1815 there was quite an exodus of these people across the
Alleghenies into Ohio and the west of Pennsylvania. It came thus that the
Miami, the first daughter conference, was organized largely by the preachers
who had come from the east, for up to this time, the whole work was
embraced in the eastern, or original, conference. The families who settled in the
west of Pennsylvania, especially in Westmoreland County, were active and
loyal, and laid the foundations for the present prosperous United Brethren
Church in that favored region.
Almost the only record we have of the early work of these circuit riders is
found in Newcomer’s Journal, published in 1835. It was not intended for
publication, and its brevity is often disappointing to those who would like
more complete information. The Journal, after its publication, was evidently sold
by the itinerants.
When eighty-one years old, Newcomer attempted a trip into Virginia.
Sunday, March 1, 1830, he rode to the home of Michael Thomas at
Boonsboro, nine miles from his own house, and lodged there for the night.
Next morning he was too ill to go on and he returned. Wednesday, he wrote
thus: “This forenoon I tried to write in my journal, but alas! I find that I
am not able to perform the task, so I lay down my pen. The Lord alone
knows whether I shall be able to resume it again. The Lord’s will be done.
Amen. Hallelujah.”
It is this record of Newcomer that gives early circuits in Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio. It is not by any means a complete record, as it
gives only the tours by himself and his companions, for he seldom traveled
alone.
Just before the First Annual Conference at Kemp’s, in September, 1800,
Newcomer made a tour of the Virginia Circuit. This time he was accompanied by
Martin Boehm and his son, Henry. Another preacher Christian Crum, lived at
Pleasant Valley, eight miles northeast of Winchester, on what has since been
known as the Jacob Hott Place. For years, this was the first stopping place
of the German preachers, and here these three men held their opening service
on the Virginia Circuit. They arrived Monday night, September 1st, and the elder
Boehm preached. He preached again at Dr. Senseny’s, in Winchester, and a
Methodist preacher followed with an exhortation. Wednesday, they held a
meeting at Abraham Niswander’s, near Middletown, and then rode to the
house of A. Boehm, a relative to the bishop, where Newcomer preached and
was followed by Henry Boehm. Thursday forenoon, they preached at Jacob
Funkhouser’s west of Fisher’s Hill, riding thence to Woodstock and lodging
with one Zehrung, who, by the way, gave a lot for a church in Woodstock.
This gift was made more than one hundred fifty years ago. The Bishop
preached in a church at Woodstock Friday morning,
