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 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 i. B. CHANDLER, PRINTER, 123 CHESTNUT STREET, THIRD STORY, 
 1856. 
 
EPHRATA. 
 
 The almost magical strides which this Republic has made in 
 the comparatively few years of its existence, and the peculiar 
 character of the nation, constantly striving for new achievements, 
 rather than contemplating the works of the past, have had the 
 tendency to bury in oblivion, the facts which gave interest to 
 many localities, and which in future years will be sought for in 
 many cases in vain. That such may not be the fate of matters 
 connected with the classic ground around Ephrata, an effort has 
 been made to preserve papers and documents calculated to aid 
 the curious in their researches. It is contemplated to have these 
 papers compiled, and at some future time published at length, in 
 book form ; for the present they remain in the hands of Joseph 
 Konigmacher, Esq. 
 
 The settlement of Ephrata was caused by a circumstance of 
 romantic interest. 
 
 A religious society was formed in Germany, in the year 1708, 
 by eight persons, male and females, who entered into a covenant 
 to unite in the examination of the rules and doctrines gathered 
 from the New Testament, and to form a mode of worship and 
 life in conformity with the result of their investigations. The 
 society thus formed, is known in this country as the Dunkeis, 
 which is a coi-ruption of the German word Taeufer, signifying 
 
Baptist. Persecution soon drove them from their homes, and 
 Alexander Muck, a leader amongst them, devoted his property 
 to the common use of the society, and emigrated to Pennsylva- 
 nia in 1729 — where the belief obtained many converts, and a 
 church was formed at Mill Creek, in Lancaster county. Conrad 
 Beissel, one of the members of this church, was very earnest in 
 his researches after truth, and soon became impressed with a 
 conviction that the seventh day of the week should be observed 
 as the Sabbath. He issued a tract contending for these views, 
 in the year 1725, and owing to the excitement caused by it at 
 Mill Creek, he retired secretly to a cell on the banks of the 
 Cocalico, where he remained for some time undiscovered by his 
 brethren, during this time his opinions had prevailed with many 
 of the society at Mill Creek, and when his retreat was found, 
 they gathered about it and built cottages ; so that the hermit's 
 cell was the nucleus, around which the future town of Ephrata 
 gathered. 
 
 In the year 1732, the solitary cottage life was changed into 
 a conventicle one, and a monastic society was established, and 
 buildings were erected in the following year. 
 
 The dress adopted was, for the brethren, in addition to the 
 usual costume, a long white gown or cowl, of texture suited to 
 the season ; the sisters a slight change in the shape of the cowl. 
 
 " The first buildings of the society of any consequence, were 
 Kedar and Zion ; a meeting house and convent, which were 
 erected on the hill called Mount Zion. They afterwards built 
 larger accommodations, in the meadow below, comprising a 
 sisters' house, called Saron, to which is attached a large chapel 
 and " Saal" for the purpose of holding Agapas, or Love Feasts. 
 A brothers' house, called Bethania, with which is connected the 
 large meeting room, with galleries, in which the whole society 
 assembled, for public worship, in the days of their prosperity, 
 and which are still standing. 
 
 " The buildings are singular, and of very ancient architecture ; 
 all the outwalls being covered with shingles, or clapboards. 
 
The two houses, for the brethren and sisters, are very large, 
 being three and four stories high : each has a chapel for their 
 night meetings, and the main buildings are divided into small 
 apartments, each containing between fifty and sixty, so that six 
 dormitories, which are barely large enough to contain a cot (in 
 early days a bench, and billet of wood for the head) a closet and 
 an hour glass surrounded a common room, in which each subdi- 
 vision pursued their respective avocations. On entering these 
 silent cells, and traversing the long narrow passages, visitors 
 can scarcely divest themselves of the feeling of walking the 
 tortuous windings of some old castle, and breathing in the hidden 
 recesses of romance. The ceilings have an elevation of but 
 seven feet ; the passages leading to the cells, or kammers, as 
 they are styled, and through the different parts of both convents, 
 are barely wide enough to admit one person, for when meeting a 
 second, he has always to retreat. The doors of the kammers are 
 but five feet high, and twenty inches wide, and the window, for 
 each has but one, is only eighteen by twenty-four inches ; the 
 largest windows affording light to the meeting rooms ; the 
 chapels, the saals, and even the kammers, or dormitories, are 
 hung and nearly covered with large sheets of elegant penman- 
 ship, or ink paintings ; many of which are texts from the scrip- 
 tures, executed in a very handsome mannei*, in ornamented 
 Gothic letters, called in German, Fraetur-Sehrifter. They are 
 done on large sheets of paper, manufactured for the purpose at 
 their own mill, some of which are put into frames, and which 
 admonish the resident, as well as the casual visitor, which ever 
 way they may turn the head. There are some very curious 
 ones • two of which still remain in the chapel attached to Saron. 
 One represents the narrow and crooked way, done on a sheet of 
 about three feet square, which it would be difiicult to describe ; 
 it is very curious and ingenious : the whole of the road is filled 
 up with texts of scripture, adverting the disciples of their duties, 
 and the obligations their profession imposes upon them. Another 
 represents the three Heavens. In the first, Christ, the Shop- 
 
6 
 
 herd, is represented gathering his flock together : in the second, 
 which occupies one foot in height, and is three feet wide, three 
 hundred figures in Capuchin dress, can be counted, with harps 
 in their hands, and heads of an innumerable host ; and in the 
 third is seen the TLi\.:iG c.ui-rGunJtu hy two hundred Arch- 
 Angels. Many of these Fractur-Schriften express their own 
 enthusiastic sentiments on the subject of Celibacy, and the virtue 
 of a recluse life, whilst others are devotional pieces." 
 
 " One of the buildings having been erected thirty-eight years, 
 was converted into a Hospital in the American Revolution, and 
 afterwards occupied as a school house. The house stands 
 no more ; the spot it occupied is still pointed out to the casual 
 visitor, by the courteous inhabitants of Ephrata. 
 
 A few days after the battle of Brandywine had been fought, 
 September 11, 1777, four or five hundred of the wounded 
 soldiers were taken to Ephrata, and placed in the Hospital. 
 Doctors Yerkel, Scott, (the father of Col. Joseph Warren Scott, 
 of New Jersey,) and Harrison, were the attending surgeons 
 and physicians. The wounds and camp fever, baffled their 
 skill : one hundred and fifty of the soldiers died here ; they were 
 principally from the Eastern States, and Pennsylvania, and a 
 few British, who had deserted and joined the American Army. 
 
 " ' The first of them that died here, was buried with the honors of 
 war ; a funeral sermon, preached by one of their own number, 
 appointed for that purpose. This practice Avas continued for 
 some time, till they began to drop off too rapidly to allow time 
 for the performance of the ceremony, when every thing of the 
 kind was dispensed with.' 
 
 " The place where they rest, is enclosed ; and for many years, 
 f,, bo^'^'d, with this inscription: 
 
 Ml -i ^it ^thtint t)on ^itlnr 
 
 Avas placed over the gate of the enclosure. The board with the 
 inscription, is no more. 
 
The board has given place to a monument, the corner stone of 
 which was laid September 11th, 1845 ; this was achieved through 
 the exertions of a company chartered by the Legislature, under 
 the title of the " Ephrata Monument Association, the officers 
 Avere 
 
 Pi'esident. 
 
 Joseph Konigmacher. 
 
 Directors. 
 
 Col. Richard R.. Heitler, Jeremiah Mohler, Wm. Spera. 
 
 Col. John Bauman, Ed. Konigmacher. 
 
 Treasurer and Secretary. 
 
 Jeremiah Bauman. 
 
 The ceremonies at the laying of the corner stone were of 
 marked interest ; the orator of the day was the Hon. Joseph B. 
 Chandler of Philadelphia; limited space will permit but a short 
 extract trom his oration. He said : 
 
 " We stand on holy ground. — The soil beneath us is steeped 
 in the blood of patriots — the very dust of the earth around us is 
 companioned with the ashes of our nation's defenders : the 
 solemn breeze of mid-day pauses as it sweeps along as if to take 
 up again the notes of prayer and praise, which in other times it 
 bore onward and upward, the odors that it had stolen from the 
 wild flowers around, blending Avith the incense of piety which 
 was breathed from this sacred hill. 
 
 " We stand on holy ground. — The patriotisjn that led to death 
 the multitude of tenants of the earth below, has found response 
 in the men of our day, who, not called to repeat the sacrifice, 
 are yet able to appreciate the spirit in which it was made, and 
 to acknowledge the obligation which it imposed. 
 
 " We stand on holy ground. — The sanctified piety Avhich 
 expresses itself in acts of goodness to others, is remembered 
 here this day in gratitude ; and the legitimate heirs of those 
 who gave their home to the wounded patriot, and a grave to the 
 
8 
 
 dead, have come up hither to put their seal upon the deed by 
 which this land in its new dedication becomes the nation's, and 
 to show themselves heirs not more to the extended wealth than 
 to the lowly and truthful virtues of their pure minded ances- 
 tors. 
 
 " We stand on holy ground. — A sense of the place and the 
 duty has hushed the martial notes that but now pealed upon the 
 air. The lofty plume that was waving in the breeze is vailed 
 in deference to the time ; and freemen who were walking their 
 sentry round upon the ramparts of liberty, to school themselves 
 in its defence, have paused amid the solemnity of the hour, and 
 stand silent in the awful influences of the place and the duties 
 of the occasion." 
 
 The most prominent of the holy men of Ephrata, was Peter 
 Miller, who, in addition to his Christian virtues Avas a noted 
 scholar and an ardent and active patriot, he was in continued 
 correspondence with Washington during the Revolution, and 
 rendered material aid in the shape of amunition, besides supplying 
 an asylum for the wounded and Weary soldiers. 
 
 Some of Peter Miller's letters are now in the possession of 
 the Philosophic Society of Philadelphia, preserved among the 
 papers of Franklin. 
 
 His services were frequently needed by the government, he 
 translated by their order the Declaration of Independence, after 
 its adoption, into several languages. 
 
 At the time Congress left Philadelphia and met at Lancaster 
 for safety, the Continental money was printed at Ephrata. 
 
 The difficulties and disadvantages which these hardy pioneers 
 had to contend with in putting up their buildings, may be imagined, 
 when it is known that they had to prepare all the timbers, &c., 
 unaided by machinery or power, save their own strong arms, 
 trees were cut down in the forest and dragged by hand, (they 
 had no horses,) to their required position. The locks and 
 hinges of the doors were made of wood, and the window sashes 
 cast from lead. 
 
9 
 
 As a religious community they never lost sight of their duty 
 to God, in their efforts to have home comforts around them, and 
 to their honor be it said, that the first Sabbath Scliool in the 
 world was established at Ephrata. 
 
 Their history is replete with matters of interest and instances 
 of their pure single hcartedness are numerous. The writer has 
 had the advantage of hearing from Mr. Konigmacher, (who 
 treasures every item of information with regard to them, which 
 comes within his reach,) many anecdotes, either one of which 
 would, in the hands of a novelist, furnish interesting and instruc- 
 tive matter for a volume, and serve to make the reader a more 
 ardent admirer of human nature, untarnished by the rough con- 
 tact of the busy outer world. 
 
 They were independent of the world, an industrious manu- 
 facturing community supplying within themselves their own wants. 
 The leather was tanned upon which to make the card, the 
 card was made, the sheep raised and sheared, the wool carded, 
 spun and wove all by their own hands, upon their own premises. 
 They wrote and printed valuable books when printing was in its 
 infancy here, and specimens of their typographic art are still in 
 existence, and reflect credit upon their labors. 
 
 " The principles of the Seventh Day Baptist Society of 
 Ephrata, but little understood, generally, and much misrepresen- 
 ted abroad, may be summed up in a few words, viz : 
 
 1. " They receive the Bible as the only rule of faith, covenant, 
 and code of laws for church government. They do not admit 
 the least license with the letter and spirit of the Scriptures, 
 and especially the New Testament-— do not allow one jot or 
 tittle to be added or rejected in the administration of the ordi- 
 nances, but practise them precisely as they are instituted and 
 made an example by Jesus Christ in his word. 
 
 2. " They believe in the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and the trinity of the Godhead ; having unfurled this distinctive 
 banner on the first page of a hymn book which they had printed 
 for the Society as early as 1739, viz : ' There are three that 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy 
 Ghost : and these three are one. And there are three that 
 bear witness in earth, the Spirit and the water, and the blood ; 
 and these three agree in one.' 
 
 3. " They believe that salvation is of grace, and not of works ; 
 and they rely solely on the merits and atonement of Christ. 
 They believe, also, that that atonement is sufficient for every 
 creature — that Christ died for all who will call upon his name, 
 and offer fruits meet for repentance ; and that all who come 
 unto Christ are drawn of the Father. 
 
 4. " They contend for the observance of the original Sabbath, 
 believing that it requires an authority equal to the Great Insti- 
 tutor to change any of his decrees. They maintain that, as he 
 blessed and sanctified that day for ever, which has never been 
 abrogated in his word, nor any Scripture to be found to warrant 
 that construction, it is still as binding as it was when it was 
 reiterated amid the thunders of Mount Sinai. To alter so 
 positive and hallowed a commandment of the Almighty, they 
 consider would require an explicit edict from the Great Jehovah. 
 It was not foretold by any of the prophets, that with the new 
 dispensation there would be any change in the sabbath, or any 
 of the commandments. Christ, who declared himself the Lord 
 of the Sabbath, observed the seventh day, and made it the day 
 of his especial ministrations ; nor did he authorize any change. 
 The Apostles have not assumed to do aAvay the original sabbath, 
 or give any command to substitute the first for the seventh day. 
 The circumstance of the disciples meeting together to break 
 bread on the first day, which is sometimes used as a pretext for 
 observing that day, is simply what the seventh day people do at 
 this day. The sacrament was not administered by Christ nor 
 by the Apostles on the sabbath, but on the first day, counting 
 as the people of Ephrata still do, the evening and the morning 
 to make the day. 
 
 5. " They hold to the apostolic baptism — believers' baptism — 
 and administer true immersion, with the laying on of hands 
 
11 
 
 and prayer, while the recipient yet remains kneeling in the 
 water. 
 
 6. " They celebrate the Lord's Supper at night, in imitation of 
 our Savior ; — washing at the same time each other's feet, 
 agreeably to his command and example, as is expressly stated in 
 the 13th chapter of the Evangelist John, 14th and 15th verses. 
 This is attended to on the evening after the close of the sabbath 
 — the sabbath terminating at sunset of the seventh day ; thus 
 making the supper an imitation of that instituted by Christ, and 
 resembling also the meeting of the Apostles on the first day to 
 break bread, which has produced much confusion in some minds 
 in regard to the proper day to be observed. 
 
 " Celibacy they consider a virtue, but never require it, nor do 
 they take any vows in reference to it. They never prohibited 
 marriage and lawful intercourse, between the sexes, as is stated 
 by some writers, but when two concluded to be joined in wedlock, 
 they were aided by the Society. It (celibacy) was urged as 
 being more conducive to a holy life. 
 
 " They do not approve of paying their ministers a salary. 
 They think the gospel was sent without money and without 
 price, and that every one called to preach the word, should do 
 it from the love of the cause, and in this matter to follow the 
 advice and example of Paul. However, they never had any 
 scruples in affording their ministers such supplies of life as they 
 possess themselves, and they gave them the same support the 
 other brethren enjoyed. Individual members may give, as 
 presents, what to them seemeth fit, in money, goods, &c ; and 
 whenever the minister travels for religious purposes, if needy, 
 he is supplied with money out of the treasury to bear his 
 expenses.'' 
 
EPHRATA MOUNTAIN SPRINGS. 
 
 About two-thirds of the way up the mountain which overlooks 
 the town of Ephrata, this now popular place of resort is situated, 
 eight years since it was the farm and residence of Joseph 
 Konigmacher, and visited only by his personal friends, and 
 those who sought the aid of the water cure system, an establish- 
 ment of that kind being located in the neighborhood. 
 
 At the solicitation of a few friends Mr. Konigmacher was 
 induced to make arrangements for the accommodation of a few 
 boarders during the summer. His house at that time would 
 only afford room for twenty-five persons, in addition to his 
 family. 
 
 The numerous applications for rooms for the following summer 
 induced him to enlarge his accommodations by building a com- 
 modious house adjoining the homestead, this enable him to 
 increase his list to one hundred, but the demand increased as 
 the beauties of the place became known, and each year added to 
 the buildings, until now accommodations for four hundred 
 visiters have been prepared, and all the luxuries and improve- 
 ments of city houses have been introduced. 
 
 The Cold Springs of the mountain have been turned into 
 pipes to supply the hydrants and fountains with the refreshing 
 and invigorating waters. Boilers supply the baths with hot 
 
1 o 
 lo 
 
 water to temper them to the weak, and every convenience for 
 the sick and feeble has been carefully provided that could be 
 achieved. 
 
 Those who have visited the springs and watched its develop- 
 ment as a watering place, and its speedy advance into popularity 
 and notoriety, whilst they commend the attention and enter- 
 prize of its proprietor in the preparations which he has made, for 
 the pleasure and comfort of his guests, and accord to the archi- 
 tect and mechanics all praise for their skill and ingenuity, 
 cannot but feel how poor the works of man are, and how feeble 
 those attractions appear, when compared to what nature has 
 done for this spot, which she seems to have selected for a special 
 display of her power in making earth attractive to man. 
 
 Here she has, in gentleness, set before us mountain scenery in 
 its softest beauties, not the wild and rugged, rocky and torrent 
 torn scenes of Switzerland and the Alps ; but the reality of the 
 fancy sketches of Claude Loraine, the mountain capped with the 
 rich forest trees of our country, and the valley and slopes in 
 the highest state of cultivation, with the farm houses dotted 
 around in places, which, from the peculiar relief given by them 
 to the scene, would lead one to believe that old Peter Miller 
 himself had been an artist, and had imbued his successors with 
 his love of the picturesque. 
 
 Standing upon this mountain 1250 feet above tide water, the 
 eye commands a view of many miles around, overlooking valley 
 and hills, on all sides ; cities and towns are distinctly visible at 
 great distance, and the foreground presents beauties which are 
 only to be found in the rich and highly cultivated valleys of 
 Pennsylvania. When the grain fields are ripening, the rich 
 golden yellow of the wheat waving and undulating before the 
 summer breeze and glittering in the sun, in contrast to the 
 deep green of the corn and oats, all varying each hour of the 
 day as the rays of the sun strike them in diiferent angles ; these 
 effects, brought out more strongly by the deep back ground of 
 the graceful outline of the range of hills and mountains in the 
 
14 
 
 distance, then the view is magnificent, and the heart must be 
 cold indeed that will not soften under its influences.' Again, 
 when Autumn is asserting her rights, and the trees assume those 
 varied and beautiful colors, which seem like efforts of friends 
 departing for a time, eff'orts to leave the most favorable impres- 
 sion on our minds, that memory will treasure them as objects of 
 beauty and pleasure untill they shall return again ; when the 
 forest puts on these varied colors, then again Ephrata appears a 
 favorite of nature, and man's art would fail to depict the beauties 
 which, in favor, his eye is able to appreciate. 
 
 Standing upon the observatory far above the highest peak of 
 the mountain, the eye drinks in beauties from every quarter. 
 The forest of the mountain on one side, gives place to the culti- 
 vated grounds around the Springs and a succession of fields 
 down the slope to the Cocalico, in the valley, with the houses of 
 the community and their successors upon its borders ; in the 
 distance farms and farmhouses, mills and mill ponds, villages 
 and woods, are noted, until the eye is rested by the graceful 
 undulations of the mountain and hills upon the Susquehanna. 
 In another quarter the rising and falling of the mountain range 
 is marked only by the tops of the forest trees, which seem in a 
 calm day like a sea, whose motion had been arrested just as its 
 waves had assumed their most graceful position. Again we 
 turn and cultivated grounds are succeeded by ranges of hills, 
 through which an occasional gap exhibits beauties still more 
 distant. In another quarter the foreground shows a large 
 and populous city, far over which the hills and valleys of 
 another state are seen. The artist needs no foreign tour when 
 his own country possesses such food for the pencil. 
 
 In another particular has nature lavished her favors here, situ- 
 ated so far above the valleys and tide water, fogs, those provoca- 
 tions of chills, fevers, and many other diseases " flesh is heir to," 
 never reach here, and the pure, invigorating properties of the 
 mountain air, are enjoyed with benefit by the consumptive patient 
 and the overtasked citizen, without dread of those ills which too 
 frequently attack the summer visiters to country places. 
 
15 
 
 Amusements suited to every taste have been provided at the 
 Springs, and the appliances for them are so arranged, that those 
 who do not desire to participate, may not be annoyed by these 
 who do. 
 
 The stable is supplied with good saddle and driving horses, 
 and the rides about Ephrata are beautiful, the roads are good, 
 and every mile opens out new beauties in the scenery. 
 
 Baths of every description have been arranged upon the differ- 
 ent springs, and they are all popular, from the powerful moun- 
 tain douche to the children's plunge, in the valley. The benefi- 
 cial effects of these spring baths have been wonderful, and so 
 numerous are the cures which have been wrought by them, 
 that by many they are considered, under proper advice, infallable. 
 
 The arrangements for bathing are ample to accommodate all, 
 cold and warm baths are introduced into the hotel for the 
 accommodation of invalids. The mountain Douche has a fall of 
 twenty-five feet and is a favorite bath with the gentlemen 
 visiters. 
 
 The water is of the purest quality, both for drinking and 
 bathing, being pure, soft, sandstone and slate ; it possesses 
 highly healthful qualities, which have been evinced in very 
 numerous instances upon invalids who have tested it. 
 
 There are a number of different springs upon the premises 
 which vary in temperature from 49 to 52 degrees, Fehrenheit. 
 
 The country around is in the highest state of cultivation, and 
 arrangements are entered into, so as to have the table supplied 
 constantly with an abundance of every seasonable article, and 
 the experience of eight years has enabled the proprietor to 
 entirely avoid any difficulty in this particular. 
 
 Great care is taken in the selection of cooks and waiters, and 
 no expense is spared in securing the services of the best. The 
 business of the house is conducted in a quiet orderly manner, and 
 a system prevails which insures that no guest shall lack careful 
 and prompt attention. 
 
 In the household, ladies will find careful and attentive maids, 
 
16 
 
 and a supervision over their comforts unobtrusive yet successful. 
 
 Ephrata Mountain Springs have been in existence as a water- 
 ing place for eight years, and each succeeding summer has 
 witnessed increased accommodations insufficient to meet the in- 
 creasing demands for rooms ; the company, composed of resi- 
 dents of almost every State of the union, have always expressed 
 themselves delighted with their visit and many are yearly guests. 
 A disposition has always prevailed to please and be pleased, and 
 this, united to the attractions of the place itself, could not fail 
 to make time pass agreeably, and render the anticipation of 
 another visit pleasurable. 
 
 During the past winter, additions and improvements have been 
 made, which will, it is hoped, meet with the approval of the 
 guests. Gardens and hot houses have been added, and the lovers 
 of flowers will find them in profusion, both as to variety and 
 quantity. 
 
 In order that his guests may have one of the comforts of 
 country residence in perfection, Mr. Konigmacher has made his 
 arrangements for supplying the table with every variety of vege- 
 tables, raised upon the preinises ; transferred immediately from 
 the garden to the cook, and placed upon the table within a few 
 hours of the time they leave the vines, vegetables present a stri- 
 king contrast to those which reach the tables of the citizens of 
 crowded cities, carted for miles through the dust and sun and 
 exposed for hours in the market. 
 
 The cellar is properly cared for as well as the larder, and 
 ■wines and liquors are selected with the greatest care. In short, 
 nothing has been neglected that can contribute to the comfort 
 and convenience of the guests, and support the reputation of the 
 place, which has been established entirely upon its own merits. 
 No extra exception has ever been made to secure patronage, 
 more than to please those who did come, the success of this 
 course has been fully manifested, in the fact that boarders of the 
 previous year return the following season, accompanied by friends 
 who are induced to try Ephrata from what they have heard of it. 
 
17 
 
 Every arrangement possible has been made to render the 
 access to the Springs easy from all quarters* Lines of stages 
 connect at Lancaster with the morning and noon trains from 
 Philadelphia, Harrisburg, York and Baltimore, stages leaving 
 Reading upon the arrival of the early morning train from Phila- 
 delphia, arrive at Ephrata at 12 o'clock, noon. The time 
 from Philadelphia to the Springs by either of these routes is 
 five hours. 
 
 For reference we copy from Mr, Konigmacher's circular, the 
 ^ and distances by private conveyance from Philadelphia. 
 
 Direct R:ute for Private Carriages from Philadelphia to the 
 
 Springs. 
 
 Turnpike to Downington, 30 miles. 
 
 " to Ephrata, - ----- 28 " 
 
 58 miles. 
 
 The best Summer Route is via the West Chester Road and the 
 
 
 Boot Road. 
 
 
 
 
 From Phil! 
 
 adelphia to "Walkerstown, at the Columbia 
 
 
 Railroad, - - - - - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 26 miles. 
 
 thence to Massey's Tannery, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3J " 
 
 a 
 
 to Lionville, - - - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 " 
 
 u 
 
 to Eagle Tavern, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 " 
 
 a 
 
 to Wallace Taveri^, - 
 
 ^ 
 
 - 
 
 4 " 
 
 li 
 
 to Loag's Corner, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2^ " 
 
 a 
 
 to Turnpike Top of Hill, - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 21 " 
 
 a 
 
 to Morgantown, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 " 
 
 a 
 
 to Churchtown, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3 " 
 
 a 
 
 to Fairville, _ - - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 31 " 
 
 a 
 
 to Hinkletown, 
 
 - 
 
 -■ 
 
 4 " 
 
 a 
 
 to Ephrata Sprifigs, - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3 " 
 
 62 milesy 
 
18 
 
 THE NOBILITY OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 In the sketcli of tlie eiirlj history of Ephrata, Ave had occasion 
 to speak of Peter Miller. A few extracts from a Avell Avritten 
 sketch by Wm. M. Fahnestock, M. D., founded upon an incident 
 of the Revolution, will serve more fully to illustrate the single- 
 ness of purpose and purity of spirit of the early fathers of 
 Ephrata. 
 
 " It is an easy matter to be a friend, and a very bold friend, in 
 a good cause, while that cause is popular and it prospers ; but 
 it takes a stout heart, and a very stout heart, to embrace a cause 
 under unpropitious circumstances and sore persecutions, and 
 that particularly Avh'ea i^s interests and its prospects of success 
 are on the wane, and it is likely to overwhelm its advocates with 
 infamy and obloquy. The contrary course has ever been the 
 tendency and practice of mankind^ generally ; nay, thousands 
 have ever been found ready to turn their heel against the most 
 holy cause they may have espoused, Avhen dark hours lower and 
 portentous reverses beset them. Every period of the world's 
 history, in every nation on earth, affords numerous and pertinent 
 illustrations of this position ; but it was a distinguished character- 
 istic, in the noble struggle of our forefathers for Independence, 
 that few, very few, comparatively, of such renegades were found 
 among the sires of the Revolution. Next to Benedict Arnold, 
 we may, perhaps, rank Michael Widman, not for any correspon- 
 ding traits of talent or character, but for his perfidy and pusil- 
 lanimity. 
 
 " Soon as the news was spread abroad of the colonies having 
 thrown' off their allegiance to their Sovereign, the King of Great 
 
19 
 
 Britain — the people of almost every country or district organized 
 themselves into Committees of Safety ; who undertook to succor 
 the cause of Freedom, and aid in supplying the means to carry 
 on the conflict for Independence. Distinguished among these 
 organizations, was the Committee of Safety, of Lancaster county, 
 Pennsylvania ; at whose head was Michael Widman, a prominent, 
 enterprising citizen, who had been exceedingly zealous in the 
 cause of his country. 
 
 " Widman kept a public house at the crossings of the Lancas- 
 ter and Reading road with the Brandywine and Paxton road, a 
 short distance from Ephrata, the German Seventh-day Baptist 
 settlement. There was no man more active, nor of bolder pre- 
 tensions, than the same Michael Widman, while the star of 
 Freedom was in the ascendant ; but he proved to be only a fair- 
 weather man^-^a time serving, truckling dastard— ^one moved by 
 the lowest impulses of the human heart, the basest cowardice 
 and the basest treachery, 
 
 " One evening, soon after General Howe had taken posses- 
 ision of the city of Philadelphia, two men, who had come incog, 
 to reconnoitre the Ephrata establishment, to which place the 
 wounded soldiers were sent by General Washington, after the 
 battle of Brandywine, rode up to Widman's tavern, and asked 
 for lodgings. While they were seated at their supper, soon 
 provided, they addressed Widman pleasantly, who was standing 
 with his back to an open window ; and after some common-place 
 remarks, Widman blusteringly inquired, '■ Whether they knew 
 how that insidious scoundrel General Howe ■^yas getting along in 
 Philadelphia." 
 
 " Flushed, instantly, by the invidious remark, one of the men 
 asked with some warmth, " What, sir, would you think if 3'ou 
 were to see General Howe before you?"' 
 
 "Think?" he replied, as hastily, "I think I should see as 
 damn'd a scoundrel as ever walked." 
 
 " In an instant the stranger sprang on his feet, and present- 
 
20 
 
 ing a pistol to Widman's breast, exclaimed, " You rebel, 
 
 you are a dead man." 
 
 " With as great agility, Widman threw himself out of the 
 window, backwards, and thus saved himself. As the night was 
 dark, he eluded pursuit ; and the strangers, fearing a disturbance 
 in the neighborhood from the occurrence, left immediately, and 
 were never seen again in the parts. 
 
 Although a tavern keeper, Widman was the most j)rominent 
 man in that part of the country at the time, and always exercised 
 an influence, for weal or for wo, as he bent his inclinations. He 
 lived about midway between Ephrata and the old German 
 Reformed Church of that vicinity; to which Peter Miller ministered 
 before he embraced the principles of the Seventh-day Baptists, 
 and became a brother in the Monastic Establishment ; over Avhich 
 he was soon called to preside, as Prior. Widman was one of 
 the ' Vorstehers' in the German Reformed Church at the time 
 Miller changed his views of divine truth, and attached himself to 
 the Baptists, and he persecuted him unrelentingly, and to the 
 most shameful extent ; even made it his habit to spit in the 
 venerable old man's face, every time and every where he met 
 him, and otherwise abused and maltreated him scandalously. 
 
 After Widman's escape through the window, he first directed 
 his course to the cornfield, then to the rocky margin of the 
 Ivoclihalekung, (now Cocalico,) but not feeling safe or secure any 
 where, and regarding his days numbered if detected, he, in his 
 extremity, sought the place where no one would ever suspect him 
 of being concealed, and secreted himself in the Brother's House 
 in Ephrata, of whom he had been such a shameless reviler and 
 persecutor. — not only of the Prior, but many of the other brethren. 
 Eijtering its long narrow passages, which were never barred at 
 night, he made his way quietly to the attic, or rather the upper, 
 unoccupied, loft, in the peak of its high roof, and there lay, 
 behind a stack of chimneys, three days and three nights, without 
 food or drink. 
 
 Jlmninating on his position, his sad predicament, and fearing 
 
21 
 
 the worst, he resolved to go to Philadelphia, and endeavor to 
 conciliate General Howe ; and finding his way out, again, about 
 midnight on the fourth night, he communicated his purpose to 
 his wife, supplied himself with money and such clothing as he 
 deemed needful, and set out at once for the city. 
 
 " On his arrival in Philadelphia, he hastened to General Howe's 
 Quarters, and asked admission on the plea of having important 
 matters to communicate to the commanding officer. 
 
 "When Widman was ushered into the presence of General Howe, 
 he became very much embarrassed, and could not give utterance 
 to a single word. To break that unmeaning pause, the General 
 inquired, 'With whom am I in communication?' Widman hesita- 
 ted, and then said, that ' when assured that forgiveness would be 
 granted to one who had embraced the American cause from the 
 onset, and had, in his zeal, been discourteous to the royal cause 
 and its adherents, he would add important information of stores 
 and ammunition concealed for the rebels." 
 
 " While making this declaration, two officers were thumbing a 
 book of entry on record before them, and before General Howe 
 opened his lips in reply, the officers directed his attention to the 
 page before them. After reading a short paragraph, during 
 which he glanced his eye several times at Widman he suddenly 
 exclaimed, 'Ah! sir, you are Michael Widman.' 
 
 " It was like a thunderbolt to him. He fell on his knees, and 
 besought his mercy ; and not only begged like a poor culprit, but 
 profiered his services to perform any duty against the Americans. 
 
 "General Howe's only reply was, 'that it was the policy of 
 the British officers to encourage disaffection in the rebel ranks ; 
 yet, one who had occupied such a position in the confidence of 
 his countrymen, as he, Widman had, and could prove treacherous 
 to them on so slight a pretext — such a cowardly, contemptible 
 pretext, could never be trusted in the Royal cause;" and gave 
 him permission to depart, with orders that he be seen safely 
 beyond the English out-posts. Widman had not left his home 
 two days before his wife proclaimed his purpose of dark treachery. 
 
22 
 
 Despatches were sent to all the American stations connected 
 with the immediate detachments, apprising the officers in com- 
 mand, and the Committee of Safety of the lower counties, of 
 Widman's design, and all were on the alert to secm-e him. 
 
 " On approaching the first out-posts of the American lines, he 
 was discovered and arrested. He was carried to the nearest 
 Block House, at tlie Turk's Head, now West Chester, where he 
 was carefully kept in durance until a Court Martial was sum- 
 moned on his case. 
 
 " The action of the Court was prompt and summary, and he 
 adjudged to he hung — the penalty for traitors in that day. 
 
 " Among all who expressed an opinion on his base treachery, 
 among his neighbors, who denounced him without stint, there 
 was but one person who withheld condemnation and denunciation 
 — but one soul that cherished a kindly thought for him ; and 
 that was Peter Miller— the much-abused Peter Miller. 
 
 " Peter Miller, on hearing of his arrest set out immediately, 
 to the Gamp at the Valley Forge ; at which place he arrived, 
 just as General Washington had approved and despatched, by a 
 courier, the finding of the Court Martial. Miller, being inti- 
 mately acquainted with General Lee, who had visited him 
 frequently, at Ephrata, as a Scholar, was presented to the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief immediately. Washington received him gracious- 
 ly, for he had heard much of him favorably, as connected with 
 the Ephrata Monastic establishment, during the war of 1756 — 
 the French war, as it was denominated — and had the highest 
 testimonials of him in advance of this interview, from all the 
 Officers and Surgeons in attendance on the wounded at the 
 Cloister. 
 
 " Washington requested him to be seated ; but Miller replied, 
 that his business with him would not admit of a moment's delay 
 — that it required immediate despatch ; and instantly proceeded 
 to plead for mercy towards Widman most forcibly, most 
 eloquently. 
 
 • •It was a majestic tableau to look upon the American Com- 
 
23 
 
 F^fciider-iu- Chief, General Lee, and several other staff-officers, 
 and Peter Miller, in his monastic wardrobe standing in front, 
 forming a most imposing group. Peter Miller was a tall man, 
 of much grace, clad in a long grey tunic or toga, secured bj a 
 simple belt around his waist, Avhile the cowl thrown back exposed 
 his exuberent snowy hair and strong white beard, flowing in 
 graceful waves over his shoulders, and covering his whole chest 
 in front, while his expressive face, strongly marked Avith intelli- 
 gence and benignity, was animated by the warmest benevolence, 
 as he sued for the life of a fellow-being. All Avere absorbed in 
 listening to the burning words falling from the Prior's lips, 
 which subdued the military idea of retaliation almost entirely, 
 in every breast, all began to regard the Commander-in-Chief as 
 disposed to exercise his prerogative of mercy ; but rallying him- 
 self to the responsibility of his station, he replied : ' Friend 
 Miller, there is scarcely any thing in this world, that I would 
 deny to you, but such is the state of public affairs, that it would 
 be fatal to our cause, not to be stringent, inexorable, in such 
 matters, and make examples of renegades to the cause of Liberty ; 
 otherwise I should most cheerfully release your friend' — 
 
 "'Friend!' exclaimed Miller, interrupting General Washing- 
 ton, and at the same time throwing up both his hands, as if in 
 attestation to th« Searcher of Hearts — ' he is my worst enemy 
 — ^my incessant reviler. For a Friend I might not importune 
 you ; but Widman being, and having been, for years, my worst, 
 my malignant, persecuting enemy, my religion teaches me " to 
 pray for those who despitefully use we." 
 
 " The tears' coursed down the brave old Commander's cheeks, 
 and taking Miller by the hand he replied : "My dear friend, I 
 thank you for this lesson of Christian charity. I cannot resist 
 such a manifestation of our divine religion ; the pardon shall be 
 granted on one condition, and that is, you be the bearer of it 
 yourself, and hand it to the Commanding Officer at Turk's Head, 
 in Widman's presence.' 
 
 " Miller assented to the condition. The pardon was prepared 
 
24 
 
 with the least possible delay, and handed to the Prior, who sat 
 out immediately, and reached the Turk's Head on foot, late thiit 
 night, a distance of eighteen or twenty miles. 
 
 " Rising early next morning, after a sleepless night, he found 
 the front of the Block House surrounded by a few soldiers drawn 
 up in a hollow square, having a gibbet in the centre, and Wid- 
 man standing on the step, with a rope adjusted round his neck, 
 addressing those present. He acknowledged his treachery, and 
 acquiesced in the award ; warned them to faithfulness and stead- 
 fastness to the cause of Liberty ; and just as he was beseeching 
 mercy from above, Miller stepped forward and handed to the 
 commanding officer a package stating in an undertone, that it 
 was from the Commander-in-Chief, in reference to the matter 
 before them. While the Commander of the post Avas perusing 
 the document, Widman espied Peter Miller. He blushed, and 
 became greatly agitated, not knowing anything of the design of 
 the Prior's visit, and could only assign his presence to the gratifi- 
 cation it would aflford him to see so vile and abusive a persecutor 
 receive his just deserts. Widman, summoning up courage, 
 addressed Miller from where he stood : ' Peter Miller, whatever 
 has prompted your presence at this place, at this time, I avail 
 myself of the occasion to acknowledge my great and multiplied 
 abuse and persecution, with which I have followed you for years 
 past; and esteem it the kindest providence, that I have the 
 opportunity to retract my numerous villifications and outrages 
 upon you and crave your forgiveness. My unmitigated persecu- 
 tion of you was beyond measure, and although I have no right 
 to look for forgiveness for such wanton maltreatment, yet I trust 
 that I may find pardon above ' — " The Commanding Officer 
 interrupted Widman at this point, by announcing to him, that 
 the Commander-in-chief had granted a pardon for his crime ; and 
 presenting Peter Miller, added, ' Here is your deliverer.' "