Page 124 - United Brethren Preachers
P. 124
Volume 9 Preachers of U.B. and EUB Virginia Conferences December 26, 2024
Staunton; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; 2 step great-grandchildren; and 4 great-great-
grandchildren.
PFEIFER: Daniel Pfeifer [sic] [b. Oct. 21, 1785, Germany; d. Sep. 20, 1868; mar. Barbara Hershey
(d. 1936) on Sep. 6, 1825; and Mrs. Esther Shoemake Eby] was licensed to exhort in 1815, became a
member of Conference and licensed to preach in 1818; and ordained in 1820. He served Hagerstown Circuit,
1819-20; Virginia Circuit, 1820-21; Lancaster Circuit, 1821-22; and then designated as an Itinerant 1822-26.
He attended Annual Conferences until at least 1830. Member of Pa. Conf. of 1833. Charter member of East
Pa. Conf. in 1846. Note: Barbara Hershey Pfeifer is the daughter of Abraham Hershey (Lancaster County).
[Funkhouser 1921, pp. 125, 142, 230-239, 241; and 233 (“David Pfeifer”)]; [Glovier 1965, p. 87]; and
[Lycoming 2013]
PFEIFER: John Pfiefer [sic] was licensed to exhort at the Conference of 1827; nothing else is known.
[Funkhouser 1921, p. 125
PFEIFFER: Bruce C. Pfeiffer was born June 5, 1932, at Cumberland, Md. He
was converted and joined the U.B. Church at Potomac Park, Cumberland, Md., in
1945. He was educated at Alleghany High School, Shenandoah College (Class of
1952), Madison College, and United Seminary. While in the Seminary he served as
Youth Director in the Dayton Central Evangelical Reform Church. In Va. Conf. he
served Pleasant Valley, 1952-54; Cumberland Calvary, 1958-60; and Augusta,
1960-69. On Aug. 15, 1957, he married Janet Belle Hefner. They have two
children, Charles Richard and Elizabeth Lenette. He joined the Conference in 1950
and was ordained in 1958. In 2002 he was living in Richmond, Va. In 2012 Bruce
was listed as a retired elder of the Virginia Annual Conference living with wife Janet in Chesterfield, Va. He is
a co-author (with Bernard S. Via, Jr., C. Warner Crumb, and Lewis H. Morgan) of This Sacred Enterprise: The
Golden Anniversary of Virginia United Methodist Homes, Inc. 1948-1998, United Methodist Homes, Inc., 1999.
[Glovier 1965, p. 280, from which the picture on the left was taken; see also pp. 45, 86, 92, 222, 224, 229,
235, 258, 259] and [VAC 2012 p. 74]
PFRIMMER: Dr. John George Pfrimmer MD (b. July 24, 1762, Alsace (France); d. Sep. 25,
1825), son of Johann George Pfrimmer and Catharina Lobstein, emigrated from France in 1788
and settled in eastern Pa. A founding member of the United Brethren in Christ Church, he
founded Pfrimmer’s Chapel at Corydon, the first U.B. Church in Indiana, in 1812 [DePauw
2012].69 From his gravestone: “Minister-physician-jurist, born Bisheim [also identified as
Berstett, Bas-Rhin], France, July 24, 1762; was with deGrasse at Surrender of Yorktown; came
to United States in 1788; located in Indiana in 1808; and; organized the first U.B. Sunday
school in Indiana at his place (in 1820).” His wife was Elizabeth Senn Pfrimmer, born in
Switzerland, June 20, 1762, and died July 3, 1829. Their children were Samuel, John George,
Mary (Mrs. Kenoyer), Catherine (Mrs. Melton), Elizabeth (Mrs. Winters), and Christena Wright Newbanks.” He
was licensed in 1790, attended the Conference of 1791, was a member of Conference in 1800; ordained in
1815 (Miami Ohio Conf.); and Secretary of the Conference of 1824. Apparently, he did not itinerate. He lived
in South Strabane Twp., 1801-05, and was then associated with Bethlehem (Reformed) Lutheran Church.70
He died in Harrison County, Ind., 1825, aged 63. From [Davis 2000]71: “Traveling across western and central
Pennsylvania, he helped establish mission stations for the U.B. Church. In 1808 he settled in Harrison
County, Ind., west of Corydon.” Gov. Harrison of Ind. appointed John G. Pfrimmer as Associate Judge in
1809, the first session of the Common Pleas Court met at Corydon on May 10, 1809.72 From [Drury 1884,
pp. 235-236]:
He had been well educated [in France]. Not long after his arrival in this country he was awakened and converted under
the influence of the wide-spread religious movement whose history we have been following. He soon felt himself called to
preach, and in 1790 entered upon the work. First in eastern Pennsylvania, then in the Susquehanna Valley, and as early as
1800 west of the Alleghenies, he preached with rare diligence, power, and success. After 1800 there was some alienation
between him and the other preachers, apparently in consequence of the half-and-half relation that he sustained, for a time,
to the [German] Reformed Church. His earnestness and devotion to the same work in which they were engaged, however,
soon again made him one with them. In 1807 he made a visit to Indiana, and in 1808 he settled in Harrison County of that
territory, a few miles southeast of Corydon. From 1809 to 1811 he was associate judge of the court in Harrison County. He
69 “John George Pfrimmer Papers,” Methodist Church Records, Archives of DePauw University and Indiana United
Methodism DePauw University Libraries, Greencastle, Ind., Oct. 15, 2012 (open for research).
70 [Bell 1991].
71 Elizabeth Davis, Find-a-Grave Memorials, Oct. 1, 2000. She also provided the photo.
72 [Monks 1916, Vol. 2, pp. 731-732].
Biographical Sketches 112
Staunton; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; 2 step great-grandchildren; and 4 great-great-
grandchildren.
PFEIFER: Daniel Pfeifer [sic] [b. Oct. 21, 1785, Germany; d. Sep. 20, 1868; mar. Barbara Hershey
(d. 1936) on Sep. 6, 1825; and Mrs. Esther Shoemake Eby] was licensed to exhort in 1815, became a
member of Conference and licensed to preach in 1818; and ordained in 1820. He served Hagerstown Circuit,
1819-20; Virginia Circuit, 1820-21; Lancaster Circuit, 1821-22; and then designated as an Itinerant 1822-26.
He attended Annual Conferences until at least 1830. Member of Pa. Conf. of 1833. Charter member of East
Pa. Conf. in 1846. Note: Barbara Hershey Pfeifer is the daughter of Abraham Hershey (Lancaster County).
[Funkhouser 1921, pp. 125, 142, 230-239, 241; and 233 (“David Pfeifer”)]; [Glovier 1965, p. 87]; and
[Lycoming 2013]
PFEIFER: John Pfiefer [sic] was licensed to exhort at the Conference of 1827; nothing else is known.
[Funkhouser 1921, p. 125
PFEIFFER: Bruce C. Pfeiffer was born June 5, 1932, at Cumberland, Md. He
was converted and joined the U.B. Church at Potomac Park, Cumberland, Md., in
1945. He was educated at Alleghany High School, Shenandoah College (Class of
1952), Madison College, and United Seminary. While in the Seminary he served as
Youth Director in the Dayton Central Evangelical Reform Church. In Va. Conf. he
served Pleasant Valley, 1952-54; Cumberland Calvary, 1958-60; and Augusta,
1960-69. On Aug. 15, 1957, he married Janet Belle Hefner. They have two
children, Charles Richard and Elizabeth Lenette. He joined the Conference in 1950
and was ordained in 1958. In 2002 he was living in Richmond, Va. In 2012 Bruce
was listed as a retired elder of the Virginia Annual Conference living with wife Janet in Chesterfield, Va. He is
a co-author (with Bernard S. Via, Jr., C. Warner Crumb, and Lewis H. Morgan) of This Sacred Enterprise: The
Golden Anniversary of Virginia United Methodist Homes, Inc. 1948-1998, United Methodist Homes, Inc., 1999.
[Glovier 1965, p. 280, from which the picture on the left was taken; see also pp. 45, 86, 92, 222, 224, 229,
235, 258, 259] and [VAC 2012 p. 74]
PFRIMMER: Dr. John George Pfrimmer MD (b. July 24, 1762, Alsace (France); d. Sep. 25,
1825), son of Johann George Pfrimmer and Catharina Lobstein, emigrated from France in 1788
and settled in eastern Pa. A founding member of the United Brethren in Christ Church, he
founded Pfrimmer’s Chapel at Corydon, the first U.B. Church in Indiana, in 1812 [DePauw
2012].69 From his gravestone: “Minister-physician-jurist, born Bisheim [also identified as
Berstett, Bas-Rhin], France, July 24, 1762; was with deGrasse at Surrender of Yorktown; came
to United States in 1788; located in Indiana in 1808; and; organized the first U.B. Sunday
school in Indiana at his place (in 1820).” His wife was Elizabeth Senn Pfrimmer, born in
Switzerland, June 20, 1762, and died July 3, 1829. Their children were Samuel, John George,
Mary (Mrs. Kenoyer), Catherine (Mrs. Melton), Elizabeth (Mrs. Winters), and Christena Wright Newbanks.” He
was licensed in 1790, attended the Conference of 1791, was a member of Conference in 1800; ordained in
1815 (Miami Ohio Conf.); and Secretary of the Conference of 1824. Apparently, he did not itinerate. He lived
in South Strabane Twp., 1801-05, and was then associated with Bethlehem (Reformed) Lutheran Church.70
He died in Harrison County, Ind., 1825, aged 63. From [Davis 2000]71: “Traveling across western and central
Pennsylvania, he helped establish mission stations for the U.B. Church. In 1808 he settled in Harrison
County, Ind., west of Corydon.” Gov. Harrison of Ind. appointed John G. Pfrimmer as Associate Judge in
1809, the first session of the Common Pleas Court met at Corydon on May 10, 1809.72 From [Drury 1884,
pp. 235-236]:
He had been well educated [in France]. Not long after his arrival in this country he was awakened and converted under
the influence of the wide-spread religious movement whose history we have been following. He soon felt himself called to
preach, and in 1790 entered upon the work. First in eastern Pennsylvania, then in the Susquehanna Valley, and as early as
1800 west of the Alleghenies, he preached with rare diligence, power, and success. After 1800 there was some alienation
between him and the other preachers, apparently in consequence of the half-and-half relation that he sustained, for a time,
to the [German] Reformed Church. His earnestness and devotion to the same work in which they were engaged, however,
soon again made him one with them. In 1807 he made a visit to Indiana, and in 1808 he settled in Harrison County of that
territory, a few miles southeast of Corydon. From 1809 to 1811 he was associate judge of the court in Harrison County. He
69 “John George Pfrimmer Papers,” Methodist Church Records, Archives of DePauw University and Indiana United
Methodism DePauw University Libraries, Greencastle, Ind., Oct. 15, 2012 (open for research).
70 [Bell 1991].
71 Elizabeth Davis, Find-a-Grave Memorials, Oct. 1, 2000. She also provided the photo.
72 [Monks 1916, Vol. 2, pp. 731-732].
Biographical Sketches 112
