Page 29 - History of UB Church by A. Funkhouser Ver 1
P. 29
CHAPTER VIII
EXTRACTS FROM NEWCOMER'S JOURNAL
Christian Newcomer was of Swiss descent and was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, January
21, 1749. His parents were Mennonites and the son was reared in their faith. He learned the
carpenter's trade from his father, but when he was about twenty years old the parent died. At the
deathbed request of the latter, he took upon himself the care of the farm and thus provided a home
for the mother and a sister. After a year the sister found a husband, and as the mother was a
midwife and much away from home, Christian was married in 1770 to Elizabeth Baer. Not long
afterward he was converted at home as a result of personal seeking. Thinking he should become a
preacher, he took counsel with one of the Mennonite preachers, a person who stood high in the
young man's' estimation. But this elder could not comprehend the experience his friend had
undergone, and cast doubts upon it. However, when stretched on a bed of sickness, the older man
became convinced that the younger man was in the right. Newcomer removed to Maryland, where
he found that his neighbors, though well-meaning and friendly, were unacquainted with
experimental religion. He had long continued misgivings with respect to becoming a preacher. It
was not until he had overcome this reluctance, through recourse to earnest prayer, that Newcomer
found restoration from what he regarded as a backslidden state.
He had already listened to Otterbein and Geeting. Finding that he and they were in entire
harmony in the matter of experimental religion, he joined a society of what were then called
Otterbein's people, and in 1777 became a preacher among what were derisively called the "Dutch
Methodists." Newcomer continued to preach very nearly to the end of his long life. In 1813 he was
made a bishop and thenceforward he led a particularly active career. He crossed the Alleghanies
thirty-eight times and rode on horseback six thousand miles a year. When nearly eighty years of
age he thus traveled to Ohio and Indiana, held several conference, and returned in his usual
health. A little later he made a similar trip to Virginia, where he held a great meeting near
Swoope's. These trips were kept up till 1828.
There is a striking parallelism between Christian Newcomer of the United Brethren Church and
Francis Asbury of the Methodist Church. The former has very justly been called the Asbury of the
United Brethren. Both men were bishops in the pioneer period of their respective organizations.
Each was an empire-builder in the ecclesiastical sense. Each was an indefatigable worker. Each was
a prodigious traveler, spending so much time on horseback that it is small stretching of the fact to
say that he lived in the saddle. Each of these early bishops kept a journal and each journal has
been published.
Newcomer was tall, commanding in figure, and robust in physique. No portrait is in existence.
In 1828 he held a camp meeting near Crider's store in Brock's Gap, at a spring still known as the
"camp spring." Seventy years later, Mrs. Maria Paul remembered seeing him there. Her description
of him as a tall, slim, smoothly shaven man of serious appearance tallies with other accounts.
The bishop was not a great preacher except in earnestness of purpose. He had a slight
impediment in his speech and his voice was but moderately strong. Yet he was a successful
evangelist, and as a superintendent he was fearless as well as diligent. He was a firm believer in
the itinerant system, perceiving that it is peculiarly adapted to new and sparsely settled districts.
Newcomer's journal, written in German and translated by John Hildt, was published at
Hagerstown in 1834. It is prefaced with an autobiography, this dealing almost wholly with his
religious experiences. The journal begins October 27, 1795, and continues until March 4, 1830,
only eight days before his death. To many persons it has been a matter of regret that most of the
entries are so brief and fragmentary. This brevity impairs the historic value. But it is highly
probable that the bishop never thought his manuscript would ever appear in book form. Perhaps
his notes were regarded by himself as little more than an aid to his memory.
With a view of allowing the journal to throw all the light possible on the history of the Virginia
Conference prior to 1830, we now present the following extracts.
Chapter VIII 1795 Extracts from Newcomer’s Journal: 1795-1828
29
EXTRACTS FROM NEWCOMER'S JOURNAL
Christian Newcomer was of Swiss descent and was born near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, January
21, 1749. His parents were Mennonites and the son was reared in their faith. He learned the
carpenter's trade from his father, but when he was about twenty years old the parent died. At the
deathbed request of the latter, he took upon himself the care of the farm and thus provided a home
for the mother and a sister. After a year the sister found a husband, and as the mother was a
midwife and much away from home, Christian was married in 1770 to Elizabeth Baer. Not long
afterward he was converted at home as a result of personal seeking. Thinking he should become a
preacher, he took counsel with one of the Mennonite preachers, a person who stood high in the
young man's' estimation. But this elder could not comprehend the experience his friend had
undergone, and cast doubts upon it. However, when stretched on a bed of sickness, the older man
became convinced that the younger man was in the right. Newcomer removed to Maryland, where
he found that his neighbors, though well-meaning and friendly, were unacquainted with
experimental religion. He had long continued misgivings with respect to becoming a preacher. It
was not until he had overcome this reluctance, through recourse to earnest prayer, that Newcomer
found restoration from what he regarded as a backslidden state.
He had already listened to Otterbein and Geeting. Finding that he and they were in entire
harmony in the matter of experimental religion, he joined a society of what were then called
Otterbein's people, and in 1777 became a preacher among what were derisively called the "Dutch
Methodists." Newcomer continued to preach very nearly to the end of his long life. In 1813 he was
made a bishop and thenceforward he led a particularly active career. He crossed the Alleghanies
thirty-eight times and rode on horseback six thousand miles a year. When nearly eighty years of
age he thus traveled to Ohio and Indiana, held several conference, and returned in his usual
health. A little later he made a similar trip to Virginia, where he held a great meeting near
Swoope's. These trips were kept up till 1828.
There is a striking parallelism between Christian Newcomer of the United Brethren Church and
Francis Asbury of the Methodist Church. The former has very justly been called the Asbury of the
United Brethren. Both men were bishops in the pioneer period of their respective organizations.
Each was an empire-builder in the ecclesiastical sense. Each was an indefatigable worker. Each was
a prodigious traveler, spending so much time on horseback that it is small stretching of the fact to
say that he lived in the saddle. Each of these early bishops kept a journal and each journal has
been published.
Newcomer was tall, commanding in figure, and robust in physique. No portrait is in existence.
In 1828 he held a camp meeting near Crider's store in Brock's Gap, at a spring still known as the
"camp spring." Seventy years later, Mrs. Maria Paul remembered seeing him there. Her description
of him as a tall, slim, smoothly shaven man of serious appearance tallies with other accounts.
The bishop was not a great preacher except in earnestness of purpose. He had a slight
impediment in his speech and his voice was but moderately strong. Yet he was a successful
evangelist, and as a superintendent he was fearless as well as diligent. He was a firm believer in
the itinerant system, perceiving that it is peculiarly adapted to new and sparsely settled districts.
Newcomer's journal, written in German and translated by John Hildt, was published at
Hagerstown in 1834. It is prefaced with an autobiography, this dealing almost wholly with his
religious experiences. The journal begins October 27, 1795, and continues until March 4, 1830,
only eight days before his death. To many persons it has been a matter of regret that most of the
entries are so brief and fragmentary. This brevity impairs the historic value. But it is highly
probable that the bishop never thought his manuscript would ever appear in book form. Perhaps
his notes were regarded by himself as little more than an aid to his memory.
With a view of allowing the journal to throw all the light possible on the history of the Virginia
Conference prior to 1830, we now present the following extracts.
Chapter VIII 1795 Extracts from Newcomer’s Journal: 1795-1828
29
