Page 48 - History of UB Church by A. Funkhouser Ver 1
P. 48
CHAPTER XII
THE CHURCH IN THE WAR OF 1861
When the result of the election of 1860 was made public, the quarrel between North and South
came to a head. Within six more months there was open war between the sections.
In an economic, or industrial, sense, the territory covered then by the conference was much
more Northern than Southern. Slaves were few in nearly all its counties, and were owned by a very
small number of the white people. This was notably the case where the German element was
strongest. The great majority of the farmers worked their land themselves. They had no interest in
slavery and no love for the institution. There was not the social ban on manual labor that existed in
the planting section of the South. The chief commercial outlet of the Shenandoah Valley was
toward Baltimore and not toward Richmond.
But on the other hand, the dominating political sentiment of the entire valley was of the
Southern type, although not unanimous on the subject of secession. Virginia gave only a few
scattering votes for Lincoln. The electoral vote of the state was thrown to Bell and Everett, the
candidates of the Constitutional Union party, their ticket being heavily supported in the Valley
counties. On the Maryland side of the Potomac, secession was held in the great disfavor. In the
Virginia counties on or near the Potomac were not a few persons who were equally hostile to the
doctrine. In the war, the Maryland portion was in Confederate hands only on three or four
occasions, and for a very few days at a time. As far south as Strasburg and Front Royal, the
Virginia side alternated from one army to the other, yet was within the Federal lines the greater
portion of the four years. Still farther southward, the Valley was nearly all the while within the
Confederate lines. The military situation was therefore such as to encourage Unionism in the
northern half of the Conference district and discourage it in the southern half.
The stronghold of the United Brethren was first in the southeast of Pennsylvania and also in the
very part of Maryland that was most hostile to secession. The Church had been pressing
numerously into the West. South of the Potomac its foothold was very small in area, and existed
only where agriculture was organized about the same as in the North. As to slavery, we have
already seen that the attitude of the Church was uncompromising. Under all these circumstances, it
was inevitable that the United Brethren, taken in the mass, should have no sympathy with the
Southern program. The small section of the Church in the two slave states of Maryland and Virginia
could not fail to be out of harmony with the Confederate government, and to have sympathetic
relations with their much more numerous brethren in the free states.
Thus the 3,000 members of the Conference were placed in a difficult position. To all intents and
purposes they were undeniably sympathetic toward the Union cause. Their feelings were no secret
to such of their neighbors as felt it their duty to side with the Confederacy. To them the United
Brethren were what the pro-Germans were to the loyal Americans of 1914-18. They were held in
distrust and subjected to some persecution. Some of their preachers were jailed, and some others
had to flee from the state they were living in. Some of the members crossed over into the Federal
lines for the primary purpose of enlisting in the Federal armies. Throughout the northern side of the
Mason and Dixon line, the Brethren were patriotic in the highest degree. To be a Democrat even,
was in some conferences to be under suspicion or in some instances to be pushed out of the
Church, while to be a secessionist was to receive no quarter.
We have observed that the northern portion of the Conference was usually within the Federal
lines, while the contrary was the case with the southern portion. This caused a temporary division
of the Conference. During the four years beginning with 1862, one group of its preachers held
sessions within Federal territory, while another group held sessions in Confederate territory. But as
a rule the membership of the two bodies were not at odds in political sympathy. They were simply
making a virtue of stern necessity.
Bishop Markwood was fiery and uncompromising. No one could be more fierce in his invective
against secession and everything that was involved with it. There was a reward for Markwood's
arrest, but he made his escape to the other side of the Potomac. During the war he presided over
the sessions of the northern section of the Conference.
Chapter XII 48 The Church in the War of
1861
THE CHURCH IN THE WAR OF 1861
When the result of the election of 1860 was made public, the quarrel between North and South
came to a head. Within six more months there was open war between the sections.
In an economic, or industrial, sense, the territory covered then by the conference was much
more Northern than Southern. Slaves were few in nearly all its counties, and were owned by a very
small number of the white people. This was notably the case where the German element was
strongest. The great majority of the farmers worked their land themselves. They had no interest in
slavery and no love for the institution. There was not the social ban on manual labor that existed in
the planting section of the South. The chief commercial outlet of the Shenandoah Valley was
toward Baltimore and not toward Richmond.
But on the other hand, the dominating political sentiment of the entire valley was of the
Southern type, although not unanimous on the subject of secession. Virginia gave only a few
scattering votes for Lincoln. The electoral vote of the state was thrown to Bell and Everett, the
candidates of the Constitutional Union party, their ticket being heavily supported in the Valley
counties. On the Maryland side of the Potomac, secession was held in the great disfavor. In the
Virginia counties on or near the Potomac were not a few persons who were equally hostile to the
doctrine. In the war, the Maryland portion was in Confederate hands only on three or four
occasions, and for a very few days at a time. As far south as Strasburg and Front Royal, the
Virginia side alternated from one army to the other, yet was within the Federal lines the greater
portion of the four years. Still farther southward, the Valley was nearly all the while within the
Confederate lines. The military situation was therefore such as to encourage Unionism in the
northern half of the Conference district and discourage it in the southern half.
The stronghold of the United Brethren was first in the southeast of Pennsylvania and also in the
very part of Maryland that was most hostile to secession. The Church had been pressing
numerously into the West. South of the Potomac its foothold was very small in area, and existed
only where agriculture was organized about the same as in the North. As to slavery, we have
already seen that the attitude of the Church was uncompromising. Under all these circumstances, it
was inevitable that the United Brethren, taken in the mass, should have no sympathy with the
Southern program. The small section of the Church in the two slave states of Maryland and Virginia
could not fail to be out of harmony with the Confederate government, and to have sympathetic
relations with their much more numerous brethren in the free states.
Thus the 3,000 members of the Conference were placed in a difficult position. To all intents and
purposes they were undeniably sympathetic toward the Union cause. Their feelings were no secret
to such of their neighbors as felt it their duty to side with the Confederacy. To them the United
Brethren were what the pro-Germans were to the loyal Americans of 1914-18. They were held in
distrust and subjected to some persecution. Some of their preachers were jailed, and some others
had to flee from the state they were living in. Some of the members crossed over into the Federal
lines for the primary purpose of enlisting in the Federal armies. Throughout the northern side of the
Mason and Dixon line, the Brethren were patriotic in the highest degree. To be a Democrat even,
was in some conferences to be under suspicion or in some instances to be pushed out of the
Church, while to be a secessionist was to receive no quarter.
We have observed that the northern portion of the Conference was usually within the Federal
lines, while the contrary was the case with the southern portion. This caused a temporary division
of the Conference. During the four years beginning with 1862, one group of its preachers held
sessions within Federal territory, while another group held sessions in Confederate territory. But as
a rule the membership of the two bodies were not at odds in political sympathy. They were simply
making a virtue of stern necessity.
Bishop Markwood was fiery and uncompromising. No one could be more fierce in his invective
against secession and everything that was involved with it. There was a reward for Markwood's
arrest, but he made his escape to the other side of the Potomac. During the war he presided over
the sessions of the northern section of the Conference.
Chapter XII 48 The Church in the War of
1861
