A Social History Of The Church Of The Brethren In Colonial Times

Excerpt from The Brethren in the Carolinas: The History of the Church of the Brethren in the District of North and South Carolina About ten years ago, I first became interested in the history of the Church of the Brethren in the Carolinas. I was engaged in research on the history of the Brethren in Virginia in the eighteenth century, and I discovered first of all that the account written by Morgan Edwards, a Baptist historian, regarding the Brethren in the South in 1772 was still available and had not been destroyed; second, I was surprised by his claim that there were more Brethren in North and South Carolina at that time than there were in Virginia. That was particularly surprising since Brethren historians had traditionally thought that the beginning of the Brethren in the Carolinas had taken place after 1800. My Opportunity to expand my research on this evidence that the Brethren had been in the Carolinas in the 18th century did not come until 1966, when I received one of the Humanities Fellowships established by the University of N orth Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University with a Ford Foundation grant. I was able to take a leave of absence during the year 1966-1967 from my teaching at Bridgewater College in order to pursue research on The German Sectarians in North Carolina in the Eighteenth Century. As a result of that research I found much additional evidence about the Brethren who had arrived in the Carolinas in the 18th century. I wrote several articles about these Brethren, two of which have been published in the North Carolina Historical Review in 1969 and 1970. Another article about the Mennonites, who were included in my research as German sectarians, has been published in the Mennonite Quarterly Review. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Church of the Brethren (Dunkers) In Lebanon County, Vol. 8: Paper Read Before the Lebanon County Historical Society, Sept. 15, 1916 The little church was fruitful and multiplied, and was persecuted by the state churches of Germany. They left the Fatherland. The first colony came to America in 1719, with Peter Becker as preacher, and settled at Germantown. A larger body came with Alexander Mack in 1729. The whole church came to America, being unique in this; and has been most American ever since. They 'first'printed God's word in the New World. The first Brethren Church was organized in America at Ger mantown, -on Christmas Day, 1723. In the fall of 1724, these Germantown Brethren took a missionary tour into what was then known as the Conestoga region, five years before Lancaster county was formed. They organized a church at Coventry, across from Pottstown, then came on up farther into the wilderness and organized the Con estoga Church. Elder G. N. Falkenstein, in his history of the Brethren for the Pennsylvania German Historical Society, says of this effort that it was the most remark able missionary tour in all Pennsylvania colonial history. In the Conestoga organization was Conrad Beissel, who became its first preacher. He lived on the Muehlbach (millbach) claimed by many as the Millbach creek which flows into the Tulpehocken. If this View is correct, the Brethren may lay claim to the first church organization in what is now Lebanon county, three years older than the oldest Lutheran church. Beissel, however, in 1735 withdrew to the place now known as Ephrata, Lancaster county, and was followed by all his adherents. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.