BETHANIA CONGREGATION, 1759-1909 
 
IfotJjauta (Eattijrwjattott 
 Um - 1000 
 
QHj? IGtbrarg 
 lituttmsHy of Nnrilj (Earnlina 
 
 (HolUrtian nf Nnrtlj (Earnltmatta 
 
 SEttoamrii bg 
 
 Stotjtt §>prtmi 8jtU 
 
 of % QUaaa of 18B9 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/sesquicentennialOOmora 
 
1 
 
 ^E> * 
 
 ■1 
 
 <x>. USUI ' 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 IfiBBB- 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 PQ 
 
o 
 o 
 
 nr 
 
 POE1VL 
 
 BY MISS E- A* LEHMAN 
 
 A century and a half ago, a band of earnest men 
 From old Bethabara came forth, to this sequestered glen. 
 They 'd left their homes across the seas, a virgin soil to find, 
 A place where they could worship God, according to their 
 
 mind. 
 A fuller freedom still they craved — a wider field to scan, 
 Where they could think, and toil, "and strive, and work 
 
 out every plan. 
 So to Bethania they came, beloved home of peace ! 
 To raise their sacred altars, in a howling wilderness. 
 Their voices rose in prayer and praise, through leafy 
 
 woodland aisles, 
 While savage bears and panthers, were prowling through 
 
 the wilds. 
 And Indians, more relentless, and cruel, still, than these 
 Were stealing^tj.irQii^'h the forests, peering through quiver- 
 ing leaves. 
 
 They wrought in faith and patience, felling the grand old 
 
 trees, m 
 
 While rearing homes, they slowly changed wild woods to 
 
 fertile fields. 
 Day by day they toiled, though saddened, without haste 
 
 and without rest, 
 While dark Pestilence was preying, on their choicest and 
 
 their best. 
 While its sable banners mqcked them, with sorely aching 
 
 heart, 
 Brave, heroic, calm, and earnest, they simply did their 
 
 part; 
 Anchored on the Rock of Ages, by a strong and living 
 
 faith, 
 
BETHANIA 
 
 The Eternal God their Refuge, they were faithful unto 
 
 death, 
 Leaning, with a steadfast patience, on the strong, Al- 
 mighty arm, 
 Which has never failed nor faltered, as the ages still 
 
 roll on. 
 The first home that thus they builded, stood just below 
 
 us, — near: — 
 The great, great grandson of the owners, the beloved 
 
 pastor here, 
 In this Sesqui-Centennial, he stands on Zion's walls, 
 A watchman, brave and fearless, as day by day he calls : 
 "What of the night, my brothers? How g:oes the fight 
 
 with you? 
 Are you standing by your colors? Do you keep the goal 
 
 in view? 
 
 When 50 years had glided, like shadows o'er the plain, 
 These strong; church walls rose 'round them which today 
 
 are still the same. 
 And may they long bear witness to the true and patient 
 
 skill 
 Of the fathers who have built them, and now rest on 
 
 yonder hill! 
 When success had crowned their efforts, when homes and 
 
 church spire rose, 
 One by one, they gently laid them, down to a long repose. 
 Left their dwellings in the valley, for the village on the 
 
 hill, 
 Where they rest from all their labors, and their works do 
 
 follow still, 
 Where the ancient cedars darkle, and the periwinkles 
 
 creep, 
 Twining, lovingly about them, in their silent dreamless 
 
 sleep, 
 Done with all their early struggles, knowing nothing of 
 
 our fears, 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 How they rest, these early fathers, through a hundred 
 
 rolling years ! 
 How they pass, these drifting ages! Bearing us upon 
 
 their tide, 
 But the same Almighty Pilot is still their children's 
 
 guide, 
 Methinks I hear them softly, when the evening glories 
 
 call! 
 And the golden bars of sunset, along the horizon fall. 
 Down, down along the ages, floating their accents true, 
 To their children's children calling, to them, to me, to you, 
 Fearing lest we should fail them, in the stirring lust for 
 
 gold, — 
 Lest we forget the teachings, of the brave days of old, 
 Methinks we hear their warnings, lest we neglect the truth, 
 And spend for naught the vigor, and the freshness of our 
 
 youth. 
 
 Mid the glories of the homeland, we shall greet them by 
 
 and by: 
 In the uncreated brightness of the Father's House on high, 
 There, in the white domed mansions of an Eternal Peace, 
 We shall see and know our loved ones, after earth's con- 
 flicts cease, 
 0, the beauty of that country, has never yet been told, 
 Not the faintest whispers reach us, from that land where 
 
 none, grow old. 
 Earth's accents are too feeble, to utter all their joy, 
 Our mortal tongues too stammering, for songs without 
 
 alloy. 
 But the glad day dawns for us too, whose sun shall ne'er 
 
 go down, 
 On the green banks of Life's River, w T e shall know, as 
 
 we are known, 
 There, with the saints and angels, in harmony to meet 
 To spend eternal ages, at our Redeemer's feet. 
 
BETHANIA 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 PREACHERS AND SKETCHES 
 
 JOHN CHRISTIAN JACOBSON was born in Den- 
 mark 1795. With his wife (m. n. Schnall) he be- 
 gan his pastorate at Bethania 1820. In 1834 
 he took charge of Salem Female Academy, and 
 about ten years later became Principal of Naz- 
 areth School, Pa. In 1849 ne was called to 
 Bethlehem, Pa., where he served as a member 
 of the Provincial Elders' Conference. He was 
 ordained Bishop in 1854. He died in 1870. His 
 son, Rev. H. A. Jacobson, is Office Editor of 
 "The Moravian," published in the Northern 
 Province. 
 
 GEORGE FREDERICK BAHNSON was born in 
 Denmark 1805. He was educated in Germany. 
 In 1829 he emigrated to the United States and 
 five years later began his ministerial career. The 
 two congregations in which he labored longest 
 and with most success were Lancaster, Pa., and 
 Salem, N. C. He was pastor at Bethania from 
 1834 to 1838. He was consecrated Bishop in 
 i860. He died a few weeks after his return 
 from General Synod in Germany, which was held 
 in 1869. One of his sons, Rev. George F. Bahn- 
 son, is pastor at Schoeneck, Pa. 
 
 FRANCIS FLORENTINE HAGEN was born of 
 missionary parents in Salem, N. C, 181 5. He 
 
BETHANIA 
 
 studied at Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pa. He 
 was pastor at Bethanra from 1844 to 185 1. 
 Friedberg was a later charge. After his return 
 to the Northern Province he did pastoral work 
 and for several years was a member of P. E. C. 
 His literary activity appeared in his book, ''Old 
 Landmarks." He was a musician of ability. 
 ''Morning Star," composed by him, is one of 
 our familiar Christmas songs. He died in 1907 
 in Lititz, Pa., where he spent his last days under 
 the care of his son, Rev. Ernest S. Hagen, who 
 is pastor at that place. 
 
 EUGENE MAXIMILLIAN GRUNERT was born 
 in Niesky, Germany, 1826. He was trained in 
 our best German schools. He came to the Uni- 
 ted States as a young man. In 1851 he became 
 pastor at Bethania. After having served as 
 teacher and assistant principal of Salem Female 
 Academy, he became principal. He was con- 
 nected with this institution twenty years. Leav- 
 ing Salem he became pastor at Emmaus, Pa., 
 and then professor in the Theological Seminary. 
 He died in 1887. His son, Rev. F. E. Grunert, 
 is pastor of New Dorp congregation, Staten 
 Island, New York. 
 
 JACOB FREDERICK SIEWERS was born in 1805 
 in the West Indies, where his parents were mis- 
 sionaries. At the age of seven he was sent to 
 Nazareth Hall, Pa. He worked at the cabinet- 
 maker's trade. He served three years as mis- 
 sionary to slaves at Woodstock Mills, Fla. La- 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 ter he had charge of New Philadelphia congre- 
 gation near Salem. He was the first resident 
 pastor at Mt. Bethel. His pastorate in Bethania 
 dates from 1857 to 1865. He died in Illinois, 
 1867. He was a man of strong convictions, 
 cheerful in disposition, enthusiastic in his work, 
 and consecrated to the service of the Master. 
 
 CHRISTIAN LEWIS RIGHTS, was born near Sa- 
 lem 1820. He began his ministerial labors as the 
 home missionary in the Mt. Bethel region, Va. 
 In 1854 he was called to Friedberg. In 1865 he 
 came to Bethania. His last important charge 
 was Kernersville. Other congregations served 
 by him were Friedland, Macedonia, Bethabara, 
 Oak Grove, and Providence. He died in 1891 
 while on a visit to the Indian Territory. He 
 was the pioneer in revival work in the Southern 
 Province. Great meetings held by him in 
 Bethania and other congregations are still bear- 
 ing fruit. 
 
 EUGENE P. GREIDER was born in Pennsylvania 
 1825. He served as missionary in the West In- 
 dies. He served in the Northern Province at 
 Hope, Ind., Graceham, Md., Egg Harbor, N. J., 
 and Lebanon, Pa. His service in the Southern 
 Province began in 1873 as pastor in Bethania, 
 where he continued to reside several years after 
 his retirement. He was noted for his system- 
 atic work. His last years were spent in Leba- 
 non, Pa., where he died in 1904. Two sons en- 
 
io BETHANIA 
 
 tered the ministry — Rev. Paul M. Greider, pas- 
 tor in Brooklyn, N. Y., and Rt. Rev. Edwin C. 
 Greider in the West Indies. 
 
 ROBERT PARMENIO LEINBACH was born in 
 Salem 1831. He studied at Bethlehem and Naz- 
 areth, Pa. He followed teaching in Nazareth 
 Hall and the Boys' School in Salem. Friedland 
 and Macedonia were two of his earlier pastoral 
 charges. Friedberg was a larger field for him. 
 In 1877 he became pastor at Bethania, where he 
 completed his life work. After his retirement 
 from active service he remained in Bethania till 
 his death in 1892. He served a number of years 
 in the P. E. C. In the time of his Bethania pas- 
 torate he attended for a while to the Mt. Bethel 
 work. 
 
 EDWARD S. CROSLAND is the only surviving 
 minister who served in Bethania before the pres- 
 ent pastorate. Leaving the Theological Semi- 
 nary in Bethlehem, Pa., for active service, he 
 came in 1892 to Bethania as his first charge from 
 which he removed in 1901 to Calvary, Winston, 
 which he still holds. Alpha Chapel and Mizpah 
 Chapel stand as monuments of his zeal for the 
 growth of Bethania congregation. 
 
 WALTER GRABS the present pastor formerly 
 had charged Friedland, Macedonia, and Oak 
 Grove, but gave these up in 1901 to take charge 
 at Bethania. He serves also at Providence, Mt. 
 Bethel, and Willow Hill. 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 1 1 
 
 fl^gg^Su^ 11 
 
12 BETHANIA 
 
 GOV. SAMUEL T. HAUSER, 
 
 OF 
 HELENA, MONTANA 
 
 Compiled by his neice, Mrs. Erastus B. Jones, from Pio- 
 neer History of Montana and from various articles that 
 have from time to time appeared concerning his life. 
 
 6 
 
 OVERNOR SAM- 
 UEL THOS. HAU- 
 SER, of Helena, 
 Montana, the subject of 
 * this sketch, is the great- 
 ^ , great grandson of Martin 
 
 Hauser, who with the Mo- 
 r , ravian Brethren came to 
 W^m/^i America from Switzer- 
 ^%4Hh)fl Br land in 1753, and who is 
 
 K Jk ? spoken of in the history 
 
 ^■■k^H ^r "Moravians in North Car- 
 
 ;h.W^ olina" as 'neighbor and 
 
 friend'; the great grandson of George the First, the 
 son who came over with his father, and whose pa- 
 triotism was so pronounced that when Cornwallis' 
 army was in possession of Hausertown (Bethania), he 
 was seized and carried to the mess room, the sol- 
 diers trying to force him to drink to the health of 
 their King. Though a German, he was quick-witted 
 enough to fall back upon the broken English which 
 was largely spoken in those early days among these 
 German colonists, and raising the glass, said, "To 
 the hell with your King!" which seemed sufficiently 
 satisfactory for the soldiers to allow him to go ; the 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 13 
 
 grandson of George The Second who served in the 
 Revolutionary war. 
 
 In the summer of 1818 Samuel Thomas Hauser, 
 father of the subject of this sketch, a youth of 24 
 years, having graduated from Chapel Hill in 181 7, 
 mounted his horse at his father's (George Hauser's) 
 doorstep and rode out of Bethania into the West, out 
 of the village oft-times called by his own name, out 
 of that Moravian settlement into the unknown world 
 towards the setting sun, not certain in which direction 
 his course would carry him, as a double motive im- 
 pelled him — the desire to get beyond the horizon of 
 his youth and to overtake, if possible, a man who had 
 left town owing his father quite a sum of money. 
 Always keeping a little ahead — the fugitive lured 
 him on as far as Kentucky, young Hauser losing trace 
 of him near the pretty little town of Falmouth, Ky. 
 Here waiting to be ferried across the Licking river, 
 he looked upon the town situated in a beautiful valley 
 like an amphitheatre surrounded on all sides by green 
 hills, and here he concluded to rest from his long 
 journey and reconnoiter. His attractive personality 
 and marked intelligence immediately won friends for 
 him. Here he decided to remain, first teaching 
 school until he could establish himself in his chosen 
 profession of law, for which he had been prepared at 
 Chapel Hill. He became one of the noted lawyers 
 of Northern Kentucky, and in the days of the old 
 Commonwealth when the Judiciary was appointed, 
 he was made Judge. It has always been said that 
 he became so much interested in a young lady, Mary 
 Ann Kennett, whom he met when he first reached 
 Falmouth, that he tarried on her account, and on her 
 account remained. In 1822 they were married. 
 They reared a family of seven children. 
 
 We can but note an instance of his Southern 
 
i 4 BETHANIA 
 
 chivalry — he named all four of his daughters for his 
 wife, using different combinations of her three 
 names — Alary Ann Kennett. During the course of 
 years Judge Hauser came back to Bethania three 
 times, making the trip as he had first done, on horse- 
 back. His letters written on these visits of the 
 "little world to itself" as he describes his birthplace, 
 are most interesting. Greatly did he desire to bring 
 one of his children back with him, but fearing such 
 a long trip on horseback would be too fatiguing the 
 plan each time was abandoned. One of these chil- 
 dren, the son bearing his father's name, Samuel 
 Thomas, was born in Falmouth, Kentucky, in 1834. 
 From early childhood he manifested a most pro- 
 nounced personality, a forceful direct nature, inde- 
 pendent, cheerful, brave, always somewhat chary of 
 speech, he has proven a man of actions rather than 
 of words. An incident from his boyhood marks these 
 traits. Returning from an errand on which he had 
 been sent on horseback he appeared swinging his 
 bridle nonchalantly with the announcement to his 
 mother, "Blackhawk's dead!" "What?" she asked in 
 astonishment, "Blackhawk's dead!" was the startling 
 reply. Only from an eye-witness, a negro servant, 
 could the story be learned of the narrow escape from 
 death he had just passed through, of the alertness 
 and presence of mind he had displayed when the 
 beautiful and valuable black animal he was riding 
 had stumbled over a precipice throwing the small 
 boy off and breaking her own neck. 
 
 When a young man he studied civil engineering 
 and was engaged in this kind of work in building 
 the Kentucky Central Railroad running from Cov- 
 ington, Kentucky to Lexington, Kentucky. But, 
 turning his face westward as his own father had done 
 more than forty years before, so Samuel Thomas, 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 15 
 
 Jr., in i860 went to Missouri as a civil engineer. 
 After a period of successful railroad construction in 
 Missouri he joined an exploring party going up the 
 Missouri river to the head of navigation, arriving at 
 Fort Benton, Montana, in 1862 in the first side-wheel 
 steamboat that ever reached that point, being only 
 the second boat that had ev^r made the trip. The 
 letters he wrote to his sister, Mrs. J. H. Barbour, of 
 Faulmouth, Kentucky, on this trip have become part 
 of the Montana pioneer history. During these 
 stirring days of adventure and skirmishes with In- 
 dians he kept a Journal which he carried in his breast 
 pocket, and which saved his life. At one time a bul- 
 let from an Indian rifle struck this little book and 
 was imbedded in it. 
 
 "The year after his arrival in Fort Benton, Mon- 
 tana, he became a member of the historic Yellow- 
 stone Expedition of 1863, which resulted in exploit- 
 ing to the world the inherent wealth and possibil- 
 ities of a region that from the first has been a glory 
 and an inspiration to Montana. That bold, cruel, 
 splendid story of that expedition marks the first con- 
 crete epoch in the development of Montana. Gov- 
 ernor Hauser with his characteristic sprightliness 
 and quick wit named the geysers in Yellowstone 
 Park according to some striking feature that each 
 displayed. The courage, the self-sacrifice, the pa- 
 tience, the loyalty, the daring and the magnanimity 
 displayed by the members of this expedition are part 
 of the history and the foundation of the Common- 
 wealth of Montana. Some perished of battle wounds 
 and others slew themselves rather than become a 
 burden to the explorers. Hauser in that, as in later 
 enterprises, was an inspiration to his associates. With 
 the tenacity of his indomitable spirit he surmounted 
 all difficulties and emerged from the ordeal the halest 
 
16 BETHANIA 
 
 and most virile of his associates." For more than 
 forty-five years he has been an active potential fac- 
 tor in the affairs of Montana. Since the commence- 
 ment of his business career in 1863 he inspired the 
 building of the Northern Pacific Railroad, has dom- 
 inated the establishment and completion of eight 
 branches of railroad, four national banks. In 1864 
 he organized the first smelter company of the terri- 
 tory. In 1865 he built the first silver mill at Phillips- 
 burg, freighting the construction material from 
 California at a cost of thirty cents per pound. Other 
 smelters, the opening of coal mines, silver mines, the 
 first coke plant were all conceived and accomplished 
 by Governor Hauser. "A rosary of notable perform- 
 ances." Governor Toole, of Montana, once said of 
 him, "Instinct with the American ambition to ac- 
 complish great results without unnecessary delay, 
 there has always been enough of the philosophy of 
 the sturdy German in his composition not to nego- 
 tiate without caution, or conclude without delibera- 
 tion ; enough of the abandon and penchant of the 
 Frenchman for amusement and pleasure to furnish 
 that relaxation which stimulates, invigorates and for- 
 tifies." 
 
 In 1872 he married Ellen Farrar Kennett of St. 
 Louis, Missouri, a woman of rare personal charm 
 and of most distinguished ancestry. In 1885 Samuel 
 Thomas Hauser was appointed Governor of Montana 
 by President Cleveland. In 1887 he resigned, realiz- 
 ing that his large business interests left him too lit- 
 tle time for the office of Chief Executive, and one 
 suspects he felt the restraint to his free spirit in be- 
 ing obliged to ask permission to leave home when- 
 ever he saw fit to go. It is said that he sometimes 
 forgot to telegraph Mr. Cleveland for leave of ab- 
 sence until he was well on his journey traveling as 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 17 
 
 fast as a Limited Express could carry him, and the 
 story goes that on one such occasion in Washington 
 Mr. Cleveland clasped him cordially by the hand say- 
 ing, "Hello, what are you doing here, Hauser?" They 
 were friends and well understood each other. No 
 man better knew the resources and needs of his 
 State, and no man had such abounding faith in their 
 development, and the catalogue of his titanic achieve- 
 ments is the best index of his standing as an organiz- 
 er and financier and to his value as a citizen of his 
 adopted territory, state and city. But the chief work 
 of his life is just now nearing completion. The 
 crowning triumph of his career is the construction 
 of a series of dams in the Missouri river by which the 
 water is stored in reservoirs for a distance of sixty 
 miles and which will furnish an everlasting source of 
 power for manufacture, for treatment of ore, for the 
 pumping of water in inexhaustible quantities for 
 light and for transportation, furnishing several other 
 towns as well as the city of Helena, and which will 
 result in the irrigation of the most important valley 
 in Montana. To quote from a recent issue of a 
 Montana paper: "In developing Montana's 'White 
 Coal' as water power is designated by the French, 
 Governor S. T. Hauser and his associates have taken 
 the initiative in a great movement which, in time, will 
 revolutionize manufacturing industries not only in 
 Montana but throughout the entire world." 
 
 Samuel T. Hauser is an old man in deeds and in 
 years, but his spirit is as young as ever and his 
 mind and eye are clear and alert. The vicissitudes 
 of half a century of work, adventure, disappoint- 
 ment, battle and success have not dimmed his facul- 
 ties nor soured his heart. He has made and lost for- 
 tunes, but in the reckoning of his accounts with men 
 
18 BETHANIA 
 
 and communities it will be found that he achieved 
 more for others than for himself. 
 
 Ever westward has been the course of this line of 
 North Carolina's sons. In 1818 it was a long way 
 from Bethania to Kentucky, then the frontier, on 
 horseback. In i860 it was a brave heart that under- 
 took to reach the ever moving westward frontier, 
 Montana by whatsoever available means. 
 
 (From Helena Independent, August 23, 1908.) 
 
 "In honor of Montana's 'grand old man,' who, with- 
 out question, has done more than any other one man 
 for the advancement of the State, development of its 
 unlimited possibilities and the conservation of its nat- 
 ural resources, Governor Samuel T. Hauser, a ban- 
 quet was given at the Montana Club, Saturday even- 
 ing, August 22, which was attended by one hundred 
 of the most representative men of the city and state. 
 The banquet was a continuous pean of praise and 
 spontaneous outburst of appreciation for Governor 
 Hauser and his efforts toward the general upbuilding 
 of the commonwealth. The speakers of the evening 
 were chosen from among the ranks of Montana's 
 greatest men, and each and every one paid tribute 
 to Montana's greatest captain of industry, former 
 chief executive, pioneer trail blazer, eminent financier, 
 distinguished citizen and one of the choice and mas- 
 ing." 
 ter spirits of the age, the honored guest of the even- 
 
 From one of the speeches we quote the following: 
 "The sources of the events here culminated are to be 
 found in years long past. The results to flow from 
 the events are as far extending as human imagina- 
 tion can picture. From the sunny banks of the Lick- 
 ing river where it breaks through the rugged hills 
 into the great Ohio basin, to the canons of the Rocky 
 Mountains, where sweeps the mighty Missouri 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 19 
 
 through its granite barriers, is a long day's journey. 
 But longer still is the distance between the peaceful, 
 yet restless boyhood of our friend, and the busy, 
 nerve-racking events of the last few years. To have 
 lived long is a reward not given to all — to have 
 achieved success in a single field of activity is ambi- 
 tion enough for most of us. What then shall we say 
 of him in whose honor we have met, who has lived 
 through the years of storm and stress incident to the 
 upbuilding of our western commonwealths, who was 
 a pioneer in railroad engineering and assisted in 
 locating and building the lines of railway along which 
 western civilization was to develop and its commerce 
 to flow ; who on arriving in our Montana land, at once 
 took hold of the development of the mining industry 
 in all of its varied forms, placer and quartz mining, 
 coal mining, mills and smelters, and yet time to as- 
 sist and encourage the growth of every other indus- 
 try and line of commercial activity, and who now, 
 as the crowning achievement of his mature years, 
 has harnessed the mountain torrents and forced them 
 to do the work of man in digging the gold, silver and 
 copper from the hills and converting them into arti- 
 cles of usefulness and beauty ; forced them to light 
 our houses, streets and highways with glorious 
 brilliancy of sunlight ; forced them to transport us 
 safely and swiftly wherever we want to go, and last- 
 ly is forcing them into watering the parched lands, to 
 give perennial life and fruitfulness where now are 
 cactus and sage brush. These are the works that 
 rival in their variety and glory the fabled accom- 
 plishments of Alladin. The man who brings about 
 this combination, so as to reach with its beneficial 
 arms the largest number of people possible, is a 
 great public benefactor, one whose efforts will live 
 on with increasing usefulness. Our distinguished 
 
2o BETHANIA 
 
 guest is that fortunate mortal, to whom has been 
 given the imagination to conceive this great com- 
 bination ; the judgment and wisdom to plan his suc- 
 cessful bringing about, and last and greatest of all 
 the courage and patience to overcome the many dif- 
 ficulties that lie in the way of all great and lasting 
 work. Yet they are the results produced in the life 
 time of a man, who through it all has found time and 
 opportunity to be a distinguished public officer, a use- 
 ful private citizen, a good neighbor, a genial com- 
 panion, a friend to share with us our triumphs and 
 successes, and to help us by sympathy and encour- 
 agement to bear the reverses and adversities that 
 come to all." 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 21 
 
 CHURCH ORGAN 
 
22 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
 ALPHA CHAPEL 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 23 
 
 CHURCH AND CHAPELS. 
 
 Historical Sketch of the Four Sunday Schools of Be- 
 
 thania Congregation for the Sesqui-Centen- 
 
 nial Celebration* 
 
 REV. F. W. GRABS. 
 
 W 
 
 N this anniversary occasion we are gathered 
 with our Sunday Schools because of the es- 
 sential work which has been done by them for 
 the congregation. We are celebrating a century and 
 a half of the existence of Bethania. It was in the 
 beginning of the second half of this period that the 
 Sunday School began its work here, which makes 
 three quarters of a century of Sunday School activ- 
 ity in the home place. As chapels have been added 
 one by one until we now have three additional com- 
 munities into which the congregation has been ex- 
 tended, the Sabbath School has been the principal 
 feature at each place for keeping up church-life. 
 
 The following quotation from the old record will 
 give the beginning of the Sunday School effort in Be- 
 thania. 
 
 "On this day (Nov. 24, 1833) a number of the in- 
 habitants met for the first time for the purpose of 
 deliberating on the expediency of establishing a Sun- 
 day School at this place. As the number of those 
 who, by subscribing the sum preliminarily adopted to 
 constitute membership (viz : 25 cents,) declared them- 
 selves favorably disposed towards the undertaking 
 was rather small, the meeting adjourned to the fol- 
 lowing Sunday, in hopes of obtaining more." 
 
24 BETHANIA 
 
 Dec. i. 
 
 "Met according to appointment at one o'clock p. 
 m. As the number of subscribers (n) and the prob- 
 able number of scholars seemed to warrant the con- 
 templated undertaking, a board of officers was form- 
 ed p. t., consisting of four members, in order to make 
 the requisite arrangements for opening the school 
 forthwith on the next Sunday, Dec. 8, though not yet 
 fully organized, as the only way of testing the prac- 
 ticability of the plan, and, if found to promise suc- 
 cess, then to enter upon a proper organization 
 thereof." 
 
 Dec. 8. 
 
 "At one p. m., the room, prepared for the Sunday 
 School, was well filled with a respectable assemblage. 
 Twenty-five children and young persons arranged 
 themselves on the seats prepared for the scholars, 
 thereby declaring their desire of being entered on 
 the list as such. They were immediately divided 
 into two classes, the first consisting of such as can 
 read at least with some fluency ; they will constitute 
 a Bible class ; the second comprehending all those 
 who are not yet able to read properly. A sufficient 
 number of individuals of both sexes also proffered 
 their services as teachers. The school was then 
 opened with a hymn, a short prayer and address, 
 whereupon the teachers immediately entered upon 
 their duties. 
 
 At the close a ticket for attendance was given to 
 every scholar, and at three o'clock the first and very 
 encouraging attempt of a Sunday School in this 
 place was concluded by the singing of a hymn. 
 
 The members and teachers then convened to trans- 
 act business." 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 OLIVET CHAPEL. 
 
 J OR a number of years preaching had been held 
 in Spanish Grove school house, about five miles 
 southwest of Bethania, until a desire arose for a 
 church home in that part of the country. 
 
 Between services on New Year's Eve 1876 Bro. 
 R. P. Leinbach, the pastor, spoke to two interested 
 brethren regarding a chapel in their community. 
 They replied that they had been talking over the 
 matter. Not long afterward the work began. In the 
 early part of the following year the men of the 
 neighborhood met somewhere about the place where 
 Olivet Chapel now stands to talk about taking steps 
 toward erecting a building. The men of the entire 
 community were there. Bro. Jonathan Conrad said : 
 "Men, I can't do much work, but I will give an acre 
 of land for a church." The offer was accepted, and 
 the brethren soon got to work. 
 
 In that winter season the willing-hearted men 
 took tents and tools and went into the forest about 
 three miles west of Lewisville to cut the timber. The 
 scene presented after a day's work was an impressive 
 one. Supper over, the brethren, in pioneer style, 
 sat around the camp fire and talked. Bed-time com- 
 ing on, Bro. Leinbach, the pastor, who enjoyed it 
 all very heartily, led in the evening devotions while 
 they knelt around the fire as an evidence of their 
 trust in the Lord, who was with them in their un- 
 dertaking. Two such seasons were held, each lasting 
 one week, with one week intermission. 
 
 In the first week they had good weather till Sat- 
 urday, when it snowed. The day was so cold that 
 one of the brethren, when he reached home, could 
 not use his hands sufficiently to unhitch his horse bv 
 
26 BETHANIA 
 
 himself. In the second week again they had good 
 weather. 
 
 Then the work of building came on. The brethren 
 of that section were assisted by some from Bethania, 
 and some money came from Salem. So the work 
 went on toward completion ; then the Brethren Tim- 
 othy and Joseph Conrad were employed to finish the 
 building. In December, 1878, the new building was 
 consecrated. Sunday School and preaching have 
 been kept up regularly. 
 
 The chapel was repaired and painted in the Sesqui- 
 Centennial year of the Province (1903), as a feature 
 of commemorating the year. 
 
 ALPHA CHAPEL. 
 
 ~M N later years the work of enlargement began 
 31 anew. Bro. F. H. Lash started a Sunday School 
 at No. 1 school house two miles northeast of Be- 
 thania on the Rural Hall road. This building soon 
 becoming unavailable, and steps were taken at once to 
 build a chapel. Plans were soon laid, and work was 
 begun half a mile further up the road on a plot of 
 ground obtained from Mr. Jesse Shouse. The 
 chapel was in condition for a Sunday School Christ- 
 mas entertainment to be held in it in December, 1894. 
 
 In 1895 the house was dedicated as Alpha Chapel. 
 
 The faithful and efficient superintendent, Bro. 
 Lash, was ably assisted by a band of faithful workers 
 from Bethania, who went through all kinds of weath- 
 er to carry on their labor of love. 
 
 Alpha continues today as a work small in num- 
 bers, under the persevering efforts of Bro. E. T. 
 Strupe as Sunday School superintendent. The pas- 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 27 
 
 tor preaches once a month. A member of the neigh- 
 borhood does good service as organist. 
 
 u 
 
 MIZPAH CHAPEL. 
 
 ITH increasing zeal Bro. Lash began a Sunday 
 School also at Wolff's school house Mch. 3 1895. 
 With considerable inconvenience to himself he con- 
 veyed some faithful teachers back and forth ; and in 
 this way there grew up a good, large school. Talk 
 regarding a chapel soon began. Again, as in the 
 case of the building of Alpha Chapel, Bro. Cros- 
 land, the pastor, took hold and worked with head 
 and heart and hand, in company with other willing 
 workers, in building what was to become Mizpah 
 Chapel about three miles from Bethania a little off 
 from the road going to Mt. Airy. The Sunday 
 School moved into the chapel December 29, 1895, 
 and a Christmas tree entertainment was held on the 
 night of the following day. On Sunday, June 10, 
 1896, Bro. Crosland preached his first sermon in the 
 new building. 
 
 A protracted meeting began July 18, 1896, which 
 led to the reception of thirty-one members on the 
 day of consecration, September 13, 1896. 
 
 Bro. L. R. Anderson succeeded Bro. Lash as Sun- 
 day School superintendent and was himself follow- 
 ed by Bro. A. A. Helsabeck, the present superin- 
 tendent. 
 
 Several revival meetings of unusual interest have 
 helped to establish Mizpah as a promising field of the 
 Bethania congregation. 
 
28 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
 OLIVET CHAPEL 
 
 MIZPAH CHAPEL 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 29 
 
 NEW SCHOOL HOUSE 
 
 BETHANIA'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE 
 CAUSE OF EDUCATION* 
 
 'TJT HOSE acquainted with Moravians and Mora- 
 le I I vian ways know that their villages are never 
 ^■^ without the church and school-house, and Be- 
 thania is no exception to the rule. 
 
 Of the many who have received their earliest train 
 ing in this village, four have chosen teaching as their 
 life work. Let it not be said they are without honor 
 in their own home and among their own kin. Let 
 us accord to them the honor and recognition due 
 them and their work. Of these four Miss Lydia 
 Stauber has long since passed to her reward. Prof. 
 A. I. Butner is resting after a period of work as 
 teacher covering more than fifty years. Miss Emma 
 A. Lehman and Rev. James B. Jones are still work- 
 
3 o BETHANIA 
 
 ing away at their chosen vocation, both carrying 
 out the ideals of their youthful training — the com- 
 mon heritage of the four — in systematic, thorough 
 and consecrated work. 
 
 MISS LYDIA STAUBER. 
 
 ^jkt N the year 1824 there entered as teacher in Sa- 
 Tjl lem Academy a young woman from Bethania, 
 ^-^ Miss Lydia Stauber. Unlike most young wo- 
 men of that day who did not find their lifework as wife 
 and mother, she was not content to take her place 
 with married brother or sister, and live the uneventful 
 routine of country life. Though her life was to be 
 spent for others, her call was to a wider sphere of 
 influence and usefulness. 
 
 She must have had the independence of the mod- 
 ern American woman, for she went to Salem to earn 
 her own livelihood with her needle. Sewing and 
 teaching were the two occupations then open to wo- 
 men who were brave enough to launch out for them- 
 selves, at a time when a woman's place was pre-em- 
 inently the home. 
 
 While working there, she became imbued with the 
 desire to teach, and began to fit herself for her life 
 work by studying at night. After due preparation 
 she was chosen as teacher in the Academy. For 
 more than forty years she taught, gaining in the es- 
 teem and confidence of all, as the years passed by, 
 occupying at last the position as teacher of the Se- 
 lect Class — then the highest in the school. 
 
 In 1876 she resigned on account of the infirmi- 
 ties of old age and ill health, spending the rest of 
 her days in the quiet seclusion of the Sister's House 
 where she died in 1880, after a useful, well-spent life 
 full of good work, faithfully done — an honor to her 
 sex, her people and her native village. 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 31 
 
 MISS EMMA A. LEHMAN* 
 
 A 
 
 MONG the gifts be- 
 stowed on man we 
 read in Holy Writ of 
 the gift of teaching. Miss 
 Emma A. Lehman whose 
 chosen work is teaching, 
 possesses this gift to a re- 
 markable degree. When 
 quite a child she gave 
 promise of being a brilliant 
 woman, and has made good 
 that promise. She was 
 sent to the Academy at the 
 age of thirteen and finished the course at sixteen. 
 In the August following at the earnest solicitation 
 of an old friend, Dr. Beverly Jones, who recognized 
 her intelligence and ability, she took charge of a 
 public school near Bethania where she taught boys 
 almost as old as herself. The wisdom of this selec- 
 tion was soon apparent in the way she conducted 
 her school. Afterwards she taught at the home of 
 her uncle near Pilot Mountain. In 1864 she entered 
 the Academy as teacher and from that time until the 
 present has taught continuously in the College. 
 Since 1878 she has had charge of the Senior Class. 
 Easily mastering any branch of study she chose to 
 teach, she met with success in various departments 
 of college work, but in these last years has devoted 
 all her time to English Literature and kindred bran- 
 ches. 
 
 She has done her good work quietly, thoroughly 
 and systematically, as becomes her good Moravian 
 
32 BETHANIA 
 
 training, instilling in her pupils the principles of true 
 education — not alone the getting of knowledge, but 
 the development of the highest type of the true wo- 
 man in character and intellect. Conscientious in 
 her devotion to her work, she has widened her sphere 
 of usefulness, and is now recognized as one of the 
 foremost educators in the State. She inspires her 
 pupils with the love of the good, the beautiful, the 
 true, — greatest incentives to study. She is quick to 
 see in each one the different faculties to be devel- 
 oped, teaching them to help themselves. The desire 
 of a pupil to study and improve herself, meets with 
 immediate and helpful response from Miss Lehman. 
 She knows her pupils better than they know them- 
 selves. 
 
 Always a good disciplinarian, she commands their 
 respect, inspires their confidence and love, and many, 
 many are her 'old girls' all over the South who re- 
 member with feelings of affection their old teacher, 
 and the time spent under her guiding hand. 
 
 In the midst of her busy school life, replete with 
 almost endless duties for a conscientious teacher, she 
 still finds time for literary work and wields a facile 
 and versatile pen, as a little volume of her poems, 
 published by the Grafton press of New York in 1904 
 will attest. These poems show the love of God and 
 nature permeating them, lifting thought to higher 
 and better things. They are the ripening of the deep 
 spiritual nature of the woman. She has written 
 poems for various publications — this little volume 
 being selections from them. In 1889 sne spent the 
 summer in Europe with a party of N. C. teachers 
 and a very interesting sketch of her travels was pub- 
 lished on her return. 
 
 She is a fine botanist and discovered a new plant 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 33 
 
 which she sent to Albany, N. Y., to the State Bot- 
 anist's office. This plant is named for her Mono- 
 tropsis Lehmani. May she long live to commune 
 with nature and nature's God, and give of the great 
 talents with which He has blessed her to her sisters 
 all over our land. They in turn will impart this 
 knowledge and training to another generation, and 
 the influence of this good and brilliant woman will 
 be a continuous call to higher and better things in 
 the lives of our people. To quote from her beautiful 
 poem "The Silent Village," may the Master say to 
 her for yet many years 
 
 ' ' The time is not yet 
 
 Tis scarcely noon — there are foes to be met — 
 
 Thy work is still to be done 
 
 The evening will brine thee home. ' ' 
 
34 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
 PROF, A. L BUTNER- 
 
 ¥ 
 
 ROF. ALBERT I. 
 BUTNER, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, 
 was born in Bethania in 
 September, 1822. His first 
 teacher was the Rev. J. C. 
 Jacobson who was pastor 
 in Bethania at that time. 
 In 1833 he was sent to the 
 Boys' School at Salem and 
 four years later to Nazareth 
 Hall, Penn., where he com- 
 pleted the course at the 
 Theological Seminary, then connected with Nazareth 
 Hall, graduating with honor before his twentieth 
 birthday. 
 
 He began his career as teacher in the Boys' School 
 at Salem that fall, teaching there till 1849. For a 
 year or more he taught in Yadkin County, also for 
 a while in Bethania during the fifties, going to Col- 
 umbus County in 1853 where he took charge of 
 Whiteville Academy. He came back to his native 
 village to live in 1873, where soon after he took up 
 the work of teaching, and for thirty years labored 
 faithfully in his chosen field. 
 
 He soon built up a first-class school by competent, 
 thorough work, his pupils coming from various parts 
 of this and other counties without solicitation on his 
 part, his good teaching being his only advertisement. 
 
 In later years the public school of the district was 
 moved to Bethania, and he had charge of it till 1903, 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 35 
 
 when he resigned owing to the physical infirmities 
 of advancing years. 
 
 He filled with great efficiency the position of Su- 
 perintendent of Public Schools of Forsyth County, 
 for a number of years, making one of the best Su- 
 perintendents the county ever had. 
 
 All of his pupils as they have grown in years and 
 wisdom, realize his great ability as a teacher. In his 
 school were pupils of all grades, from children of 
 tender years to grown young men and women. He 
 had the gift of teaching, knowing how to impart his 
 knowledge, and keep his pupils interested in the sub- 
 ject under consideration, explaining patiently and 
 clearly all knotty questions. He was alike kind and 
 impartial to all. 
 
 His curriculum included all branches of study from 
 the A-B-C primer to the advanced English course, 
 from elementary Arithmetic to higher mathematics, 
 besides giving lessons in German and Latin. The 
 "blue-back" speller was in daily evidence. Great 
 stress was laid upon learning to read well, reading 
 being one of the daily classes taught. He instilled 
 the love of the good and beautiful in literature, occa- 
 sionally reading aloud selections from the Prophets, 
 Psalms and Proverbs. The nineteenth Psalm was a 
 favorite of his, and how beautifully and with what ex- 
 pression and feeling he would read it ! Often he 
 would quote from the poets, notably from Burns and 
 Byron and memory still recalls among many others, 
 these lines from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage — 
 
 " There was a sound of revelry by night 
 And Belgium's capital had gathered there 
 Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright 
 The lamps shone o 'er fair women and brave men ; 
 A thousand hearts beat happily" — 
 
36 BETHANIA 
 
 and ours would beat but not happily, when after be- 
 ing transported to Belgium's capital where we heard 
 the music and dancing and the cannon's roar, we 
 came back to the little school room and the lesson, 
 having forgotten it meantime. That meant 
 coming after in recess until we had mastered it, what- 
 ever it was. It meant "line upon line" in memory 
 and NOT on paper. 
 
 Pupils who went from his school were thoroughly 
 grounded, and well advanced in their studies. Cor- 
 poral punishment was so seldom resorted to that it 
 gave a touch out of the common (not alone to him 
 who was touched) but to all, something out of the 
 daily routine, long to be remembered. He maintain- 
 ed good discipline and his pupils respected and liked 
 him. So thorough was he in his work that pupils 
 were required to give any rule they had learned for 
 which he might call, also the tables of weights and 
 measures. Beginners were taught the four elemen- 
 tary rules in arithmetic and made to work and prove 
 all examples he gave, before beginning to use the 
 arithmetic. Certainly there were no short cuts to 
 learning in his school. The multiplication table was 
 not considered known unless the pupil could come 
 down the ladder backward from twelve, as gracefully 
 and glibly as he or she could scale it from one up- 
 ward. 
 
 Although he has passed the four score mark, being 
 now eighty-eight years of age, he is still mentally as 
 bright and alert as when he dealt out knowledge and 
 waged war on ignorance, in' the little white school- 
 house on the corner. That has given place to another 
 building and is slowly going to decay on a back 
 street. The little bell that hung in its belfry and 
 wakened the echoes in the encircling hills around Be- 
 thania, (though its tones are as clear as the day it 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 37 
 
 came in 1763), is now a relic of the past. The 
 Teacher (than whom there was not a better in his 
 day)., though in years belonging to a past generation, 
 is still remarkably active for one of his age and takes 
 exercise about the home that would tire many young- 
 er men. He is greatly interested in the church and 
 church work, in all public questions and current 
 events of the day, finding great pleasure in reading 
 good magazines and newspapers. He is still fond 
 of history and the old Latin classics, reading them 
 with thorough enjoyment by the hour. When not 
 reading he still keeps busy in many useful ways about 
 the home, the old Moravian habits of industry and 
 thrift that were a part of his youthful training, still 
 clinging to him. The evening of his life is passing 
 peacefully in his native village, among those who love 
 him and those he loves, like the close of a calm, 
 beautiful day. In thinking of his life one is reminded 
 of this passage from Job, ''Thou shalt come to thy 
 grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in 
 in his season." 
 
38 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
 REV* JAMES B- JONES 
 
 A 
 
 T the beginning of 
 the Civil War James 
 B. Jones, a youth of 
 fourteen years, came home 
 from Nazareth Hall, Perm., 
 where he had been attend- 
 ing the Moravian school for 
 boys. He continued his 
 studies at home for a year 
 or two, and later taught 
 for a short while, his young- 
 er brothers and several 
 other children in the neigh- 
 borhood. Early in 1864 he enlisted in the army as 
 a Junior Reserve in Company A, First N. C. Bat- 
 tallion, and was in active service until Lee's surren- 
 der at Appomattox Court House, making his way 
 home on foot with a number of other soldiers after 
 the surrender. 
 
 In the fall of '65 he went to Kentucky where he 
 was employed in the cement mill of his uncle, the 
 late W. A. Hauser, of Louisville. While here he de- 
 termined to attend Kentucky University and pre- 
 pare himself for the ministry of the Christian church 
 of which he had been a member for several years. 
 He graduated in 1873 in the college of the Bible and 
 also in the College of Arts, and for sixteen years de- 
 voted his time to the ministry, until failing health 
 compelled him to go into another branch of church 
 work. For more than two years he was financial 
 agent of the Board of Missions for the Christian 
 church of that state, and was also a member of the 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 39 
 
 executive committee of the Board of Trustees of 
 Kentucky University. In 189 1 he began teaching 
 in Hamilton College, Lexington, Kentucky, a church 
 school for girls. In 1896 he was offered the presi- 
 dency of Christian Orphan School of Fulton, Mis- 
 souri. When he took charge of this school it was 
 very much in debt and though he knew nothing of 
 this when accepting it, having put his hand to the 
 plow he did not turn back. He has had charge of 
 the school for fourteen years and in this time the 
 patronage and faculty have been doubled, and the 
 course extended. Several modern buildings have 
 been erected, notably a fine auditorium and new dor- 
 mitory, while the grounds have been enlarged and 
 beautified. Through his efficient management and 
 the generosity of Dr. W. S. Woods, of Kansas City, 
 whose name it now bears, a large number of girls are 
 educated gratuitously each year. Daughters of mis- 
 sionaries are educated here, and several William 
 Woods College alumnae are now in foreign fields as 
 missionaries. 
 
 Much of the success in his chosen work he attrib- 
 utes to his early training under Moravian influ- 
 ences. 
 
40 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 I 
 
SESQUI-CENTEN X I A L 41 
 
 SKETCH OF BETHANIA FOR THE 
 SESQUI-CENTENNIAL IN 1909. 
 
 BY MISS E. A* LEHMAN 
 
 ^j^% ETHANIA, from its very first inception, had 
 IJfi a cu ff crent individuality from any other Mora- 
 '^ vian settlement in Wachovia. Count Zinzen- 
 dorf is said to have remarked that he feared it was 
 the entering wedge, that would end in doing away 
 with Moravian exclusiveness. 
 
 During the troubled times of the Indian wars, a 
 number of people had refugeed to Bethabara, around 
 the mill, where palisades had been put up, as a pro- 
 tection. One of our immediate ancestors fled from 
 an Indian outbreak on New River with an infant of 
 two days in arms, and, with her friends, arrived in 
 Bethabara on foot. 
 
 These refugees were not favorably inclined towards 
 the common house-keeping, or choir arrangements at 
 Bethabara, its communism. It was with the idea of 
 accommodating them, that Bishop Spangenberg and 
 several others selected the locality of Bethania, where 
 friends of the church, as well as members, could be 
 allowed to locate themselves. On Tuesday, June 
 12, 1759, Spangenberg, his wife, and Bishop Seidel, 
 Jacob Lash, and Renter, the surveyor, repaired to 
 the Black Walnut Bottom, 3 miles north of Be- 
 thabara, and there agreed upon the site of Bethania. 
 A survey was made in the centre of which there was 
 to be a square, 280 feet by 165 containing the church, 
 and other public buildings. This square was, how- 
 ever, discontinued, because cattle were grazed there, 
 
BETHANIA 
 
 and it became later, unsafe for the children. Twelve 
 lots were laid out above, and 12 below the square. 
 The upper lots were to be given to friends of the 
 church, not as yet, full members, but the lower ones 
 should be given only to genuine, true-blue Mora- 
 vians, — charter members as it were. In conse- 
 quence of this arrangement, the lower lots were 
 again divided, so as to form 18, instead of 12 — and 
 they are smaller to this day. They set apart, for 
 each lot, a proportionate quantity of bottom and up- 
 land, so that each lot was equally valuable. Some 2000 
 acres were set apart for the use of the congregation. 
 
 The 8 married couples who settled in the lower part 
 of town were Godfrey Grabs, Balthasar Hege, Chris- 
 tian Opiz, Christopher Schmidt, John Beroth, Adam 
 Kramer, Michael Rank, and Henry Bieffel. They 
 formed the nucleus of the new settlement. They 
 began to fell trees July 10, 1759; on the 15th the lots 
 were distributed by lot, and on the 18th Grabs, with 
 his wife and little son William, occupied the first 
 house. 
 
 A contract was entered into with the following 
 friends and neighbors, who according to their re- 
 quest, should be allowed to occupy the lots above the 
 church, they were Michael Spoenhour, John Strub, 
 Philip Shaus, and the widower Frederick Shore, and 
 his son Henry. Renter, the surveyor, was, at once, 
 sent to lay out a road to the Bethabara mill. The 
 next day Seidel, the minister, Jacob Lash, and eight 
 others started early from Bethabara, and got 
 lost, but finally, after much halloing, they were 
 set right again. The German names of both 
 Bethabara and Bethania proving too hard to pro- 
 nounce, by English speaking friends, Bethabara 
 was soon called by them "the ( )ld Town," while 
 Bethania became the New Town. The name "Sa- 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 43 
 
 lem" later was more readily pronounced, and there- 
 fore retained its original form. 
 
 The main street of Bethania was laid out, 66 feet 
 wide ; cross streets or lanes were laid out, at regular 
 intervals, 3 on each side. The Bethabara friends were 
 to work on the houses, while the Bethania citizens 
 were to prepare the ground for cultivation. During 
 these first days, the terrible epidemic of typhus fever 
 came to Bethabara, and 12 new-made graves on the 
 hill side, of their best men and women, made a great 
 gap in the heroic little band. Seidel the minister, 
 who was at Bethania, assisting wherever he could, 
 was called home to Bethabara by the illness of his 
 wife, who died in a few days, and the devoted hus- 
 band died very soon thereafter. Kalberlahn, the 
 skillful physician also departed. Truly, "God buries 
 his workmen, but his work goes on." 
 
 By April, 1760, ten houses had been built in Be- 
 thania, and occupied, and the first meeting-house was 
 consecrated, on the south-west corner of the square, 
 where Oehman's cooper-shop stood. This church 
 was a small frame structure used till 1771 when the 
 second floor of the so-called Congregation House 
 was consecrated as the second place of worship, while 
 the minister's family occupied the first floor. The 
 third and last real church, this one, was dedicated in 
 1809, one hundred years ago. 
 
 A graveyard was laid out, on the hill, east of the 
 square, and on April 23, 1760, the first funeral took 
 place, the infant daughter of George Hauser, the first 
 seed thus sown in a spot where so many dear ones 
 have been laid, since that time. Bishop Spangen- 
 berg, on bended knees offered a fervent dedicatory 
 prayer. Spangenberg was a great man. A noted 
 authority stated, that the three greatest Moravians 
 after Zinzendorf were Comenius, the model educator, 
 
44 BETHANIA 
 
 Zeisberger the model missionary, and Spangenberg 
 the model administrator. The first child baptized was 
 John Shore, son of Henry and Barbara Shore, June 
 22, 1760, by Brother Ettwein, in a public service. 
 
 The first place of worship proving too small, the 
 laying of the cornerstone of the second, or Congre- 
 gation House took place on Monday, March 19, 
 1770. Bethren and friends from Bethabara, Salem, and 
 vicinity, together with members and friends of the 
 congregation, more than 300, assembled to witness 
 the solemnity. The old meeting-house being too small 
 they moved into the garden in front of where the 
 new house was to stand, and the services began at 
 11 o'clock. Brother Marshall read the inscription to 
 be placed in the cornerstone. 
 
 "In the year of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 
 1770, in the 10th year of the reign of our most gra- 
 cious king, George 3rd, King of Great Britain, on 
 the 19th day of March in the name of the Holy and 
 ever glorious Trinity, the cornerstone of this Con- 
 gregation House was laid. The Moravian village of 
 Bethania was begun eleven years ago, in the dis- 
 trict called Wachovia, which the Brethren had just 
 begun to occupy. It was during the Indian war, but 
 still, by the gracious favor of our Lord the number 
 of adults and children of the congregation as well as 
 of neighbors agreeing with the doctrines taught by 
 the brethren did increase so much, that the building 
 used as a meeting house being too small, this corner- 
 stone was solemnly laid. The texts for the day were 
 given, then followed the names of all the ministers 
 in Wachovia, and all the members and children of 
 the congregation in and around Bethania. May the 
 Lord and His spirit come to dwell here. As Be- 
 thania was commenced that it might be dedicated to 
 the Lord, so may he cause this house to prove a 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 45 
 
 blessing to old and young', to become a beacon light 
 directing many souls to the knowledge of God, and 
 be gathered into the bundle of God's elect." 
 
 This description was put into a leaden box and 
 firmly soldered by Brother Valentin Beck. The as- 
 sembly then moved in procession to the spot selected 
 for the new building, when they formed a circle, the 
 children in the centre. After singing, Melchoir Rasp, 
 assisted by the Master Mason adjusted the corner- 
 stone in the front corner north, and put the box into 
 the opening prepared for it in the stone. Bro. Graff 
 placed another stone on it, and stepping thereon, of- 
 fered a fervent prayer, closing with the benediction. 
 
 After a short interval all assembled again in the 
 garden to celebrate a love-feast of bread and wine 
 mixed with water. It was a happy meeting, making 
 a pleasing impression on all that were present. Un- 
 til the year 185 1 the annual Church Festival was 
 held on the Sunday nearest this day March 19, when 
 on account of unpleasant weather so often prevailing 
 so early in the year, it was transferred to the Sunday 
 nearest to June 12. On Sunday, June 23, 1771, this 
 second meeting-house was solemnly dedicated to the 
 service of Almighty God. 
 
 The new house was built on high ground, almost 
 directly opposite to the old one, which stood in a 
 low place, and being built without proper foundation, 
 so much loose earth had been washed towards it, 
 by every rain, that it had risen above the threshold ; 
 necessarily, the dwelling room, and adjoining prayer 
 hall were sunk so deep into the ground as to be un- 
 fit for use. At length, after a year and a half, the 
 new building was completed. This length of time 
 required, was a matter of course, because the mem- 
 bers had done almost all the work with their own 
 hands, having only a few pounds sterling at their 
 
4^ BETHANIA 
 
 command, as might have been expected of a congre- 
 gation mostly of poor people. 
 
 The consecration services were largely attended 
 by members of the conference, friends and members 
 from Salem and Bethabara, many having assisted 
 in the building of the house with their own hands. 
 These all met at 9 o'clock in front of the old meet- 
 ing-house, and moved in procession to the second 
 story of the New House to have their first meeting 
 in the new prayer hall. They were accompanied by 
 musicians, and after a short address, all bowed the 
 knee, and Brother Graff offered up a prayer. The 
 next meeting was preaching, preceded by the Litany. 
 At 1 p. m., the love feast was held, 220 being pres- 
 ent. During the afternoon Bro. Marshall kept a 
 meeting for the children in the room intended as a 
 school room. The festival meetings closed with the 
 Holy Communion. 
 
 In 1760 David Bishop and his wife moved to Be- 
 thania from Bethabara to attend to the daily meet- 
 ings, but the preaching of the word, and the sacra- 
 ments were for several years, attended to by breth- 
 ren from Bethabara, such as Backhoff, Ettwein, 
 Ernst, Graff, Wolle and Tiersch. Bishop died in 
 Bethabara 1763 aged 60 years. In the latter half 
 of 1773, the Bethania congregation was regularly 
 organized ; a committee took the Salem Statutes, as 
 a guide, and formulated a constitution for themsel- 
 ves. On Oct 17, 1773, Bro. Ernst and his wife 
 were regularly ordained to keep all the festival ser- 
 vices and sacraments, laid down in the text book. 
 
 This Congregation House faced South, the gable 
 ends being East and West ; the entrance door, oppo- 
 site Mr. Grabs' former residence was at the south- 
 west corner, a small roof protecting it. As you en- 
 tered, you came into a short hall where one flight 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 47 
 
 of stairs led up the south side, by which the brethren 
 went up into a similar hall, and thence into the 
 prayer hall, which occupied the whole second floor 
 except two small rooms on the east side, one a guest 
 room, the other a school room. 
 
 A similar flight of stairs on the north side led to 
 the women's side of the prayer hall. A large tile 
 stove stood between the two doors ; these, and all 
 the other doors had long wooden latches. In the 
 lower hall hung a rope, by which the bell was rung. 
 This bell was brought to Bethania in 1763, and hung 
 in a small turret on the building. It was later used 
 on the school house, and it now remains a valued 
 relic of by-gone days to be treasured along with the 
 first chair used by the minister, etc. 
 
 The pastor's part of the Congregation House must 
 have been rather circumscribed. There were two 
 large rooms to the right of the entrance hall, and a 
 kitchen in the rear. This building served as a sec- 
 ond place of worship from 1771 to 1809, when our 
 present church was built. It served as a parsonage 
 till 185 1, when it was torn down, and the present par- 
 sonage built. While this last parsonage was being 
 built, Rev. M. E. Grunert with his young w T ife, lived 
 in the so-called yellow house ; this was built for Rev. 
 Mr. Kluge who came as assistant to Rev. C. T. Pfohl, 
 St., who became unable to do full service from 181 3- 
 1819. This house stood near where Mr. Rufus 
 Transou's house stands. A house for the fire engine 
 occupied the north-east corner of the lot. 
 
 On October 22, 1806, the cornerstone of our pres- 
 ent church was laid, as the old meeting-hall was be- 
 coming quite too small. Brethren and friends from 
 our other congregations met in the old prayer hall 
 at 10 a. m. Rain having continued for several days, 
 and still not ceasing, only a few sisters could be 
 
4 8 BETHANIA 
 
 present. Rev. G. Reichel opened the services by 
 singing ; then in a short address he stated why the 
 new building was necessary, and communicated what 
 was to be inserted in the cornerstone, viz : The texts 
 for the day, and "In the name of God the Father, the 
 Son, and the Holy Ghost in the year of the birth of 
 our Saviour i8c6, Oct. 22, in the 31st year of the In- 
 dependence of the United States of America. 
 Thomas Jefferson being President of the United 
 States in the 53rd year of the settling of the first 
 members of the church of the United Brethren in 
 North America, in the 48th year since the beginning 
 of Bethania, the foundation of the church for the 
 use of the congregation of the United Brethren set- 
 tled in and near Bethania, is laid in a solemn man- 
 ner, in the presence of said congregation, and their 
 children, and with the best wishes of the Brethren's 
 congregations in North Carolina, in Salem, Be- 
 thabara, Friedland, Hope, and of our brothers and 
 sisters in Spring place, in the Cherokee country etc." 
 Thereupon he read the names of the members of the 
 different conferences, the bishops and ministers of 
 the country congregations, and of the members and 
 children of this congregation. 
 
 All of these documents together with a Liturgy 
 Book being put into a brass box, it was placed upon 
 the minister's table, and soldered, during the singing. 
 Then, all who could conveniently do so, formed in or- 
 der, and proceeded to the spot where the building 
 was to be put up. Rev. G. Reichel headed the pro- 
 cession with Benzien, Peter, and Pfohl, the latter 
 carrying the box. Then followed the Salem Confer- 
 ence, the brethren and boys. Owing to the copious 
 rain, which had made the corner very muddy and 
 slifc^perv the sisters remained in the ,old building where 
 tnW could all hear, and many could see the proceed- 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 49 
 
 ings. The church band rendered the scene more 
 solemn by playing chorals. 
 
 After singing, Rev. G. Reichel said: "In the name 
 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, we now 
 lay the cornerstone of a meeting house to be built on 
 this spot. While putting the box which Rev. C. Pfohl 
 handed him into the place cut in a large stone, and 
 lying at the south-west corner, he added, "May the 
 Saviour's blood and righteousness be the glory of 
 this house." During the singing which followed, 
 Benzien, Peter, Pfohl, and John Christian Lash cov- 
 ered the cornerstone with another stone, which was 
 fastened by the master mason, — Abraham Lash, 
 Reichel, and each of the four brethren mentioned, 
 struck the stone three times with the hammer. Then, 
 Rev. G. Reichel, stepping on the stone offered up a 
 fervent prayer. After singing the doxology, the 
 solemn services were concluded. 
 
 On March 19, 1809 the church was consecrated. 
 The Conference, and many friends came, so that the 
 new church was crowded. Bro. Reichel held Ger- 
 man preaching in the morning at 10 o'clock; at 1 
 o'clock Bro. Benzien preached in English, and at 8 
 o'clock p. m., the congregation and friends met with 
 Rev. Simon Peter. The next day, March 20, 1809 
 the congregation and friends met to celebrate their 
 jubilee, the 50th anniversary of the place. By the 
 tender mercy of our God, their children's children 
 met in the same place on March 20th, 1909^0 begin 
 the celebration of their Sesqui-Centennial, 100 years 
 having been added to the 50. 
 
 In their jubilee, in 1809, Reichel held the festival 
 service. After that Bro. Benzien held a meeting in 
 which the sister Catherine Spoenhour and the girl 
 Rebecca Spoenhour were received into the congrega- 
 tion. In the afternoon, at 2 o'clock a love feast was 
 
3ETHANIA 
 
 held by Bro. Reichel. Afterwards, a service for the 
 communicants by Bro. Benzien, where they partook 
 of the cup of covenant (Kelch.) At night, the ser- 
 vices closed with Liturgy No. 9. 
 
 The century from 1809 to 1909 lies before us, with 
 its varied experiences of joy and sorrow. During 
 the first 50 years, the fathers had to contend with 
 Indian outbreaks, with the Revolutionary War, dur- 
 ing which among other hardships and troubles, an 
 army of 7,000 British Regulars, under Lord Corn- 
 wallis, coming by way of the Shallow Ford on Feb- 
 ruary 9th, 1 78 1, spent the night in Bethania, Corn- 
 wallis and his staff occupying the house now owned 
 by Prof. A. I. Butner, earlier known as Henry or 
 (Saddler) Hauser's. Devastation and destruction, of 
 course, followed, 23 fine horses were carried off, the 
 pastor Ernst, being strictly held as a hostage till 
 they were forthcoming. Martin Hauser, from 
 Munpolgard, Switzerland, with his two married 
 sons, was among the first settlers of the upper part 
 of Bethania. George Hauser lived in the house now 
 occupied by Prof. A. I. Butner and was the inn-keep- 
 er of the village when Cornwallis and his army pass- 
 ed through. As the British left Bethania, driving 
 before them everything that could walk but people, 
 a horse they had taken came galloping back rider- 
 less with bridle and saddle upon it. Annie Hauser, 
 daughter of George Hauser, seeing the horse, ran 
 into the street, caught the animal, unbuckled the 
 saddle and carried it in doors and hid it, and led 
 the horse into the stable through a side lot as 
 quickly and quietly as possible for fear some soldiers 
 might then be searching for it. She no doubt en- 
 joyed the capture that her bravery had regained for 
 it was her father's own horse. Every live creature 
 fit for food, that could be found, was killed, and of- 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL Si 
 
 ten thrown aside, wasted. One of our old people 
 told how she and her companions in walking- out 
 next morning, saw wagon loads of beef just killed, 
 and wantonly thrown aside. The older women were 
 kept busy all night, baking and cooking for the 
 soldiers, who sometimes snatched the bread half- 
 baked from the large ovens. Mrs. Strub going 
 across the street to her father's, on her return, 
 found her house turned into a hospital, filled with 
 straw, and occupied by as many wounded soldiers 
 as could be piled in. Fires were built all around 
 barns, and everywhere, and but for the rain that fell, 
 general destruction might have ensued. All the 
 young women and children were gathered in the 
 prayer hall of the parsonage, for safety, and they 
 were protected, by the same faithful God who pro- 
 tected their children, during our late Civil War, when 
 Gen. Stoneman's Brigade, passed through Bethania 
 on that memorable Monday night of April 10, 1865, 
 just as its people were coming out of their usual 
 Easter meeting. Gen. Stoneman himself spent the 
 night at Mr. Elias Schanb's, just next door to the 
 place where Cornwallis had lodged 84 years before. 
 The Union soldiers acted, not one whit better than 
 the British had done ; every house, except Mr. 
 Schanb's was entered and ransacked, and nearly 
 every horse taken. When our astonished and alarm- 
 ed people came out of church, the whole street, 
 from side to side, was filled with a surging mass of 
 men and horses. They did not camp here, but went 
 out to the Shallow Ford, piloted by an old colored 
 man. 
 
 SCHOOLS. 
 
 Wherever a Moravian settlement was founded, a 
 place of worship followed, as a matter of course, and 
 
BETHANIA 
 
 under its shadow, just as naturally, a school house 
 was built. The minister was the social, educational 
 as well as religious autocrat of all such places. 
 Wherever a boy showed any desire for improvement, 
 the minister found some way. In this way Eugene 
 C. Lehman, I. G. Lash and others took lessons in 
 music from Rev. Peter Wolle, a musical genius of 
 high culture. In 1825 as lads of 15 years old, they 
 began to play the organ by turns. 
 
 Before 1820 the minister or his assistant probablv 
 did all the school teaching that was done. Then, a 
 man named Peter Yarrell taught there ; about 1830 
 came Benjamin Oppelt, who also painted in water- 
 colors, made his own reward of merit cards, and 
 was evidently a man of culture. When the present 
 church was built, the old prayer hall became a school 
 room. Mrs. Oehman who had before her marriage 
 been one of the first teachers of S. F. A., taught a 
 good while. After her death, teachers followed in 
 rapid succession. A flourishing school was taught 
 for several years under Mr. Herman Ruede, later as- 
 sisted by Prof. Butner in the early fifties. Later 
 teachers were Rev. Mr. Baldwin, Miss Anderson, 
 Miss M. Siewers, E. A. Lehman, Mrs. Amelia Reich. 
 Then, Prof. Butner taught for a series of years. In 
 1897 a Pythian Plall was built with an addition for 
 a public school, and now, within the last two years 
 an educational revival has set in. 
 
 A High School, in connection with the public 
 school, was opened by Prof. Daniel in 1908 in the to- 
 bacco factory of the Kapp estate which led to the 
 purchase of the former Pythian Hall, and now, the 
 High School building is a credit to the place as well 
 as the intellectual centre of new life and action. 
 During the second year of its existence, in June 1909, 
 the enrollment of pupils reached 60 while the com- 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 53 
 
 mon school swelled the number to nearly twice that 
 amount. The late commencement showed the re- 
 sults of the good work done by Prof. Daniel and his 
 assistants. 
 
 As to the earlier school building while the older 
 parsonage was being torn away the school was car- 
 ried on in the colored church which stood north east 
 of town. A smaller school house was built princi- 
 pally by E. C. Lehman, E. Schaub and T. B. Lash, 
 where Dr. Strickland's office now stands. Later, it 
 was removed to the rear, and a new building took its 
 place, as before stated. 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL. 
 
 Bethania was the pioneer in establishing Sunday 
 Schools in this section. Under the fostering care 
 of Rev. J. C. Jacobson, a Sunday School was begun 
 there in 1833. Salem had no Sunday School till 
 1849 when Rev. G. F. Bahnson first began the work 
 there. In Bethania, the pastor Rev. J. C. Jacob- 
 son, called a meeting of members November 24, 
 1833, to consider the practicability of such a school, 
 and on December 3rd the school was opened with 
 25 scholars and ten teachers, 5 men and 5 women, 
 who offered to attend alternately as desired. A 
 Constitution was prepared and adopted, and a Board 
 of Officers elected. Rev. J. C. Jacobson, President ; 
 H. H. Butner, Vice-President; Isaac Lash, Secre- 
 tary, and Peter Transou, Treasurer. The time was 
 to be from 1 to 3 o'clock, P. M. A blue ticket was 
 given for attendance, and one for every six verses 
 of scripture, or three verses of a hymn recited. Five 
 blue tickets were equal to a red one. At the close 
 of the quarter, Reward Day came, and scholars 
 could buy books with their tickets. May 30, 1834, 
 the board of officers and a number of subscribers 
 
54 BETHANIA 
 
 met to consider the beginning of a Sunday School 
 Library. On June ist the Library was opened; on 
 July 13, the school was opened by Rev. G. F. Bahn- 
 son, successor to Rev. J. C. Jacobson as pastor. 
 Reward Day, December 7, closed the first year of 
 the Sunday School in Bethania. 
 
 INDUSTRIES OF BETHANIA. 
 
 While Bethania was a farming community the 
 great strength of its earlier settlement lay in the 
 trades and small industries that were carried on. 
 There was not a citizen who did not have a trade 
 or special occupation, besides the farm he cultivated. 
 Our forefathers were long-headed, earnest, practi- 
 cal people, and we do well to consider if we are 
 living up to our ancestry. 
 
 Of course mills were a necessity in any new set- 
 tlement so the Bethabara Mill (whose first miller was 
 Jacob Kapp) supplied all the country round till 1783 
 when the first Bethania Grist mill was begun and 
 completed in 1784. It lay just north of town, and 
 was later bought by Abraham Conrad, probably of 
 the church, in 1822. Jonas Warner was his first 
 miller. This mill was burned down by deserters in 
 1865, and no vestige of it remains, save a few stones. 
 
 Other mills followed in due course of time. It 
 was supposed that the Hauser Mill, just below Be- 
 thania, was one of the earliest, but it was built in 
 1825 by Mr. Henry Hauser (usually termed Sad- 
 dler) under church direction. His son, Benjamin, 
 kept it up and at length it was discontinued by his 
 son-in-law, Mr. William Leinbach in 1862. 
 
 The Kapp mill was built by John B. Miller, first 
 as a saw-mill, corn-mill and wool-carding machine, 
 between 1845 an d 1848. It was sold to Mr. Thomas 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 55 
 
 Kapp in 1852. He built the grist mill in 1855 ; it 
 was closed in 1901. 
 
 The old Lash Mill was built by Abraham Lash 
 as a corn-mill. The whole mill plant was consumed 
 by fire in 1879 or '80. The Lehman and Butner Roll- 
 er Mill was put up in 1899 and is still in operation. 
 
 THE LASH FAMILY. 
 
 The Lash family became prominent in Bethania 
 from the marked business capacity of Jacob Lash 
 who was born at Schoharie, N. Y. in 1722. His 
 father, George Lash, emigrated from Germany to 
 N. Y. when only 18 years old. Those early Lash's 
 were Jacob, Balthasar, Herman, Adam, George, and 
 six daughters. Jacob Lash was in the first com- 
 pany that came to Bethabara in 1753, and at once 
 became business manager of the new colony. His 
 dealings with the Indians showed great tact and 
 skill and he became the leader in Bethania affairs. 
 In 1758 he qualified as the first Justice of the Peace 
 in Wachovia. He and Bulitschek (Bolijack) built 
 the Bethania organ, the pipes being brought from 
 Europe, and Lash was the first organist. Later he 
 went north, and died in New Jersey 1782. His three 
 boys, however, came South. In correspondence 
 with one of his grand-daughters, she mentioned how 
 her father remembered that as a little boy of five 
 years old, he sat on the organ bench beside his 
 father (Jacob) when he played the organ which we 
 have before us to-day. In the memorabilia of 1773 
 we are told that the Salem Organ had been used 
 the previous year at the Married People's Festival, 
 September 7, but that in this present year, our organ 
 was sufficiently near completion to be used, so that 
 was probably the first time it was used. After that 
 time, the organ, who played it and how much pleas- 
 
56 BETHANIA 
 
 ure it gave, were mentioned on every festal occasion. 
 
 Jacob's children were John Christian, John Jacob, 
 Abraham, Anna Phillipena (Mrs. Moench), Susanna, 
 Catherine and Elizabeth (Mrs. Shultz). John Chris- 
 tian ran away and came South because his father, in 
 accordance with the German custom, wanted him to 
 learn a trade. The German Kaiser today makes 
 every one of his six boys learn a trade. Jacob Lash 
 owned 1700 acres of land in this state. By his will 
 the oldest son had choice, so John Christian got a 
 good start here in business. He had the first store 
 in Bethania, a large plantation and slaves, and later 
 the Tavern; the Tan-yard, Oil Mill, Grist and Saw 
 Mills were originally the property of Abraham Lash. 
 At his death John Christian bought them for his 
 younger sons, I. G. and T. B. Lash. John Chris- 
 tian was married three times and had three sets of 
 children. 
 
 In the early mercantile days he would send a 
 four-horse covered wagon with a nail-keg of silver 
 and gold in the back part ; the trusty driver, jogging 
 up through Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania to 
 Philadelphia, up Chestnut street, where he would get 
 his load of goods, paying for them out of the nail- 
 keg, and then leisurely jog back again, a six weeks 
 drive to Bethania, and this load of goods would 
 serve for the year. He made money too, verily, 
 times have changed. 
 
 About 1841 the cigar-making industry was added, 
 and their choice cigars were known all over the 
 South ; no old cigar stumps or elder leaves were 
 worked in up there. Bethania has never been noted 
 for anything shoddy, or make-believe. L. H. Liv- 
 ingston the agent was probably the first specimen 
 of the genus "Drummer," as with his colored driver 
 Frank, he travelled in a commodious wagon, all over 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 57 
 
 the States. Frank was later hanged for murder, 
 but that did not impair his early efficiency, when as 
 a dandified copy of his master, he was known ev- 
 erywhere. With the Civil War all these industries 
 went down. The younger members of the family 
 started a factory here that turned out very fine wool- 
 len goods in 1879 or '80, but the times were too un- 
 settled for any such industry to flourish. They 
 closed out in two or three years, and the machinery 
 was sold to the Snow Camp Woollen Mills in Ala- 
 mance County. I. G. Lash who inherited the finan- 
 cial ability of his family to an extraordinary degree 
 early came to Salem where he conducted the Branch 
 Bank of Cape Fear until failing health closed his 
 life in 1879. 
 
 POST-OFFICE. 
 
 The first Post-office was established here with J. 
 C. Lash at Postmaster. It remained here till about 
 1853 when it was removed to Lehman's Store which 
 had been opened at the lower end of town Novem- 
 ber 22, 1836. The firm of Lehman and Butner con- 
 sisted of H. H. Butner, his son-in-law, E. C. Leh- 
 man, and later H. R. Lehman for a time. The Post- 
 office has remained at this store till the present time, 
 with a brief exception during the troubled times of 
 the Civil War. For some little time it was kept by 
 Rev. R. I. Devin and later by Mrs. Amelia Grabs, 
 but it gradually gravitated back to its place at the 
 lower store. 
 
 The store of Lehman and Butner has continued in 
 business at the same place, with the exception of 
 a short time toward the end of the war when it was 
 closed owing to the absence of the two younger pro- 
 prietors, O. J. Lehman and F. A. Butner, in the army. 
 Later they started anew as "O. J. Lehman and But- 
 
58 BETHANIA 
 
 ner" also taking in J. H. Kapp about 1871 or *J2. 
 His death in 1896 necessitated another change. A 
 Roller Mill was also started and the store went on 
 till 1908, when (). J. Lehman sold out to a Stock 
 Company then formed and now being operated at 
 the old stand. At one time the firm of "O. J. Leh- 
 man and Butner" carried on five stores, one at 
 Stony Ridge, one at Kapp's Mills, Surry County, one 
 at the old Lash stand, the home store and for a time 
 one at Vienna or Brookstown. A flourishing To- 
 bacco Factory was also begun at the Lash store but 
 later removed to the building known as "the Fac- 
 tory" at the lower end of town. The factory closed 
 with Mr. Kapp's death in 1896. 
 
 CONRAD'S. 
 
 The Conrads were also a prominent family in and 
 around Bethania. Jacob Conrad lived about one 
 and a half miles north of town where he had a store 
 in early days, owned numerous slaves and was a 
 noted business man. Abraham Conrad lived in Be- 
 thania till later he removed, with the family of his 
 daughter, Dr. and Mrs. B. Jones, to a beautiful site 
 just above town beyond his mill. John Conrad lived 
 on a fine plantation on the Yadkin, while the home- 
 stead of Isaac Conrad, Sr. was at Vienna or Brooks- 
 town. 
 
 OTHER INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Various other industries were carried on, more es- 
 pecially in earlier days, though it is interesting to 
 note how certain families run in the same lines down 
 to our days. The Kapps were the first millers, and 
 so continued for years. The Transou's, Solomon 
 and Joseph, carried on wagon making as did the el- 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 59 
 
 der John Transou at the same place. The Grabs 
 were blacksmiths, invaluable as were millers in a 
 new country, Herman Butner as a gun-smith, car- 
 ried loads of rifles and shot-guns out to West Ten- 
 nessee and then selling out his stock even his wagons 
 came home on horseback. The last of these wes- 
 tern trips was made about 1852. The Warners and 
 Oehman's were coopers, William and Henry Lehman 
 tailors and shoe-makers, John Christian Lehman was 
 a shoe-maker, and trained his three boys to the trade, 
 but Eugene took up the mercantile business early. 
 Daniel Butner was a black-smith and had a shop 
 where later stood the tall smoke-stack of the Kapp 
 factory. Thomas Schaub made buggies and carria- 
 ges. Elias Schaub was a jeweler and silver-smith. 
 The Stoltz's, Simon and his sons, coppersmiths, so 
 that every one had a good trade to fall back upon. 
 Cigar and snuff making were carried on by Gertrude 
 Stoltz, and later by Betsy Hauser. Distilling was 
 also a prominent industry. 
 
 ROADS. 
 
 Roads, too, have had their part in the general trend 
 of progress. The first road after the one from Be- 
 thabara, which came in at the upper end of town, was 
 the so-called "Old Richmond" road coming in from 
 the west by Lash's store, and thence straight out to 
 Bethabara through the opposite lane. When Leh- 
 man's store began business at the other end of town, 
 the lower road to Salem was cut out and gradually 
 became the stage road to Mt. Airy, and the upper 
 road was disused. 
 
 The Fayetteville or Western Plank-Road was 
 boomed about 1853 but did not prove a success. It 
 was to go to Mt. Airy, 45 miles farther on, but stop- 
 
6o BETHANIA 
 
 ped in front of Lash's store. Our fine bottoms, south 
 of Bethania, were for a time mined, as the broad 
 road cut diagonally right through the most fertile 
 portion. Gradually the planks rotted, the road was 
 not kept up, — was discontinued — and now, to look 
 at the rich waving corn and luxuriant grass of these 
 bottoms we would find it difficult to conceive of the 
 banks of hard clay that once disfigured them. In 
 our day and time we have builded better ; the good 
 roads of the present are macadamized and will not 
 decay as did the plank-road of fifty years ago, which 
 is now replaced by the excellent macadamized road 
 from Bethania to Winston-Salem. Other roads 
 leading from Bethania are the so-called old Hollow 
 road due north, and the Shallowford road southwest. 
 
 Look at our iron and steel bridges, too, compared 
 with the weak wooden structures of the past, washed 
 away by the next freshet. With good roads, fine 
 bridges, with industrial and educational development, 
 our beloved Bethania is surely arising to new life 
 and vigor and progress. 
 
 We are proud of the deeds of our ancestors, but 
 we dare not stop here. Fifty years ago, a good 
 many of us were here to celebrate our Centennial, 
 and the Jubilee of our church building. In 1859 our 
 church had but then discarded its old-time reading- 
 desk, and rejoiced in a white enamelled pulpit built 
 by Rev. Jacob Siewers the pastor, for that occasion. 
 In 1884, under the energetic leadership of J. H. Kapp, 
 the interior of the church was re-modelled into its 
 present condition ; the north gallery was torn out, 
 the pulpit removed from the east side to its present 
 place. 
 
 The old organ is still the same. We love it as our 
 fathers did. We think of those who played it in the 
 past, beginning with Jacob Lash, William Grabs, Dr. 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAE (n 
 
 Shuman, Mrs. Oehman, E. C. Lehman, Maria But- 
 ner, Mrs. Sallie Kapp beginning- when she was twelve 
 years old, and continuing till increasing family cares 
 put a stop to it, Mrs. Almira Kapp, and the present 
 organist Mrs. Strickland, who has played it thirty 
 years, and its tones are still sweet in our ears. But 
 we dare not stop here, we must do our part in the 
 great onward march of Progress and show ourselves 
 worthy descendants of those who toiled and prayed 
 and wrought here 15c years ago. 
 
 MINISTERS OF BETHANIA. 
 
 John David Bishop, 1760 — 1763 
 L. G. Backhoff, 1761 — 1770. 
 John G. Ernst, 1770 — 1784. 
 Valentin Beck, 1784 — 1791. 
 Simon Peter, 1791 — 1802. 
 • Christ. T. Pfohl, 1802— 1823. 
 J. P. Kluge, Assistant, 1813 — 1819. 
 Peter Wolle, Assistant, 1819 — 1822. 
 Chas. Van Vleck, 1822 — 1826. 
 J. C. Jacobson, 1820 — 1834. 
 G . F. Bahnson, 1834— 1838. 
 Julius T. Beckler, 1838— 1844. 
 F. F. Hagen, 1844 — 185 1. 
 M. E. Grunert, 185 1 — 1857. 
 Jacob Siewers, 1857 — J 865. 
 C. L. Rights, 1865— 1873. 
 E. P. Greider, 1873 — 1877. 
 R. P. Leinbach, 1877 — 1892. 
 
 E. S. Crosland, 1892 — 1901. 
 
 F. W. Grabs, 1901 
 
62 
 
 BETHANIA 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 63 
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 REV. J. KENNETH PFOHL 
 
 ^Li T is a great pleasure to be able to be present 
 njl with yon on this memorial occasion and to have 
 ^-^ part in these exercises. In fact, I am not so 
 sure, but that my interest in this event is as great 
 if not greater than that of any other person present. 
 When mention was first made of the approaching 
 celebration I felt an interest in it, and when asked 
 by Bro. Grabs to take some part, I was prepared to 
 signify my willingness to do so. But since looking 
 over the records of the years, in preparation for my 
 part in the exercises, my interest has been greatly 
 increased. I had known, of course, that my family 
 history and that of Bethania were in very close touch 
 with each other, but how closely it had been con- 
 nected with important occasions of this kind I did 
 not known until quite recently. From the list of 
 pastors of this congregation as given in Clewell's 
 History of Wachovia, I learned that in 1809 when 
 this congregation was fifty years old my great-grand- 
 father, on my father's side, the Rev. Christian 
 Thomas Pfohl, was the pastor of this congregation 
 and as such had charge of the exercises incident to 
 that occasion. Again fifty years later, when in 1859 
 the congregation observed its one-hundredth anni- 
 versary, my grand-father on my mother's side, Rev. 
 Jacob Siewers, was the pastor of the congregation 
 and of course took part in the centennial celebra- 
 tion. It is but natural then, after another fiftv vears 
 has gone by, that I, the only descendant of these two 
 
64 BETHANIA 
 
 former pastors of the Bethania congregation in the 
 ministry of the church, should be interested in tak- 
 ing part in the exercises of this Sesqui-Centennial 
 anniversary. 
 
 Whether it is due to inheritance through both 
 branches of my family or to the influence of this hour, 
 I cannot say, but I feel that I have somehow caught 
 or been caught by the spirit of the place and occasion, 
 and am in full sympathy with you in this important 
 celebration. I feel that you do well to celebrate the 
 event. It is well to call back the sons and daugh- 
 ters who have been led to make their homes else- 
 where, that they may mingle together as in earlier 
 days, renew their friendship, strengthen the ties which 
 bind them together, and come under the healthful 
 influence of the old home again. It is fitting, too, 
 to pause in the midst of our busy life to think 
 of those who lived and wrought for the upbuilding 
 of this community but who have long ago rested 
 from their toil and whose ashes lie on yonder hill, 
 and to pay tribute to their memory. And you will 
 find it helpful, I'm sure, to take an inventory, as it 
 were, of your resources, see what has been accom- 
 plished, whither you are tending and how you may 
 wisely and successfully continue the work which has 
 ii]) to this time been so well done. 
 
 One hundred and fifty years! How shall we view 
 it? As a long or short period of time? Measured 
 in the light of eternity it is very, very short, scarcely 
 a breath. But viewed from the standpoint from 
 which earthly things are viewed it is a very con- 
 siderable space of time. I had thought of the hun- 
 dred and fifty years of life here, but had not realized 
 how long a period it was, until I held in my hand 
 the little card announcing these execises, at the top 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 6=5 
 
 of which I saw side by side the two dates 1 759-1909. 
 With the latter date I was familiar enough, but the 
 former appeared very unfamiliar. "1759!" Away 
 back in the middle of the 18th century. What of it? 
 I asked myself. I was bewildered. Rip Van Winkle 
 was not more so when he found himself in the 
 midst of strangely new scenes, than I, as I tried 
 to make my way back through the scenes and events 
 of which I had heard and read to the time when 
 Spangenberg, Seidel and Lash on June 12, 1759 made 
 their way from Bethabara to the sloping hillside 
 north of the Black Walnut Bottom and decided on 
 the exact location of the settlement to which they 
 gave the name Bethania. 
 
 In my journey through the years my own experi- 
 ence was of small moment, for my earliest recollec- 
 tions led me not even a fifth part of the way. So I 
 searched among the memory records for information 
 gained from parents and grandparents. I recalled 
 having heard of weekly visits paid by a young book- 
 keeper of Salem to the daughter of a former pastor, 
 who though a teacher in the Salem Female Academy, 
 spent her vacations at the Bethania parsonage. But 
 I found that those days when my father was wooing 
 the Bethania pastor's daughter led me back no 
 farther than the early sixties of the 19th century. 1 
 was still more than 100 years from the beginning. 
 Once more I sought within my family history to see 
 if I could find out how long it had really been since 
 the beginning of Bethania. I went back to the time 
 of my great-grandfather — four generations back — 
 and found that five pastors had served the congrega- 
 tion before his time and that I was still in the 19th 
 century. Back to the time of my great-grandfather 
 and still fifty years from the beginning! Bethania 
 
66 BETHANIA 
 
 was in my estimation becoming hoary with age. All 
 family connections having failed me, I turned to the 
 dates of important events in our country's history 
 which I had stored in memory's vaults. 1789 — the 
 year of the organization of the government of the 
 United States with Geo. Washington as its first 
 president — but I found that Bethania was already 
 30 years of age at that time. 1775 — when the brave 
 sons of Mecklenburg county sent forth their famous 
 Declaration of Independence. But I found that then 
 already the work in Bethania was firmly planted and 
 that one of the most authentic records of this im- 
 portant event was found in the diary of this con- 
 gregation. Once more I searched and the years 
 1754 to 1763 stood before me. With them I had al- 
 ways associated the French and Indian war, when 
 British and French were struggling for the mastery 
 of the new world and determining whether the influ- 
 ence of French or English should predominate in the 
 colonies. And there in the very middle of that strug- 
 gle with which there had always been associated in 
 my mind the adventures of the young surveyor Wash- 
 ington and the awful atrocites of the Indians — in that 
 period, when as yet there was no thought of inde- 
 pendence of the mother country, when the need of 
 the union of the colonies was just beginning to make 
 itself felt, when as yet not one single important 
 event had taken place looking to the formation of 
 the American Union — Bethania's foundation was 
 laid. 
 
 How far off the beginning appears to us now ! 
 How many the events which have crowded into the 
 years since that time ! How important the items of 
 news which from time to time reached the ears of 
 the villagers here. At the village store, the men, and 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 67 
 
 in the home around the quilting frame, the women, 
 discussed such items of news as the battle of Bunker 
 Hill and the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Of all 
 the exciting events connected with the Revolution, 
 the happenings incident to the formation of our gov- 
 ernment and of the growth and development of our 
 great country, this settlement has been an interested 
 witness and in many of them she has played her lit- 
 tle part. 
 
 But you ask me, what of the place itself? What 
 of the life here during these one hundred and fifty 
 years ? What is there to show for the toil and strug- 
 gle of those who have lived and wrought here? 
 What have they accomplished? How have they 
 builded ? 
 
 These are questions in which all are interested. 
 Of these things many of you have been thinking as 
 your thoughts turned towards this Sesqui-Centennial 
 celebration. How shall they be answered? 
 
 The true measure of things is never to be sought 
 for in times of quantity but quality. It is not the 
 extent of costly possessions or the vastness of busi- 
 ness enterprises that counts for most, but character 
 and influence. This we are accustomed to reckon 
 true of individuals. It is none the less true of com- 
 munities. Of all things, character alone is enduring, 
 it remains when all else has perished. Though ma- 
 terial prosperity is not to be despised, yet it is by no 
 means the highest good, and the worth of a com- 
 munity to the State and to the world is not dependent 
 primarily on its wealth or its industry, but upon its 
 character and influence. That a community as well 
 as an individual has character there is scarcelv need 
 to state. Neither need we waste words in declaring 
 that the character of a community is very powerful 
 
68 BETHANIA 
 
 and influences for good or ill not only the citizens 
 of the community as such, but the county, the State 
 and even the nation. 
 
 Of this community around which our interest is 
 centered today, it may be said that in the progress 
 of these 150 years it has developed a strong and well 
 defined character, a character well known by all who 
 have come into contact with its life and which has 
 given it an influence for good wherever it is known. 
 
 In determining the character of this community two 
 important factors have been at work — the one from 
 without, the other from within — the one almost 
 wholly material, the other spiritual. 
 
 The influence from without has come from the 
 peculiar position of the community in relation to the 
 great trade centers and the principle avenues of 
 trade, to its location and its natural envions. 
 These things have determined the occupations of the 
 people, their habits of life, and, to a very large extent, 
 they have been responsible for the lack of any great 
 industrial development. Then it must always be 
 borne in mind that the purpose of those who planned 
 and for many years directed the life of this place, was 
 not to make of it any large center of activity. They 
 threw their influence and strongest efforts in the 
 direction of the settlement founded a few years 
 later at Salem, and it was never their intention that 
 Bethania should be other than a small settlement. 
 It may easily be seen too, how this fact has called 
 away, from time to time, young people of strength 
 and ability who have gone to build up other places 
 and has thus taken from the home community much 
 of vigor and young strength. In this respect I know 
 of few communities which have suffered to the same 
 extent as Bethania, and vet it is to her great credit, 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 69 
 
 and it should be to her a cause of just pride and a 
 splendid testimonial to her character, that they have 
 added strength and efficiency to those communities 
 with which they have cast in their lot, that they have 
 brought honor upon the old home that sent them 
 forth, have preserved her fair name and have wit- 
 nessed to the true worth of the life of this place. 
 
 The other force that has operated to determine the 
 character of the place has been the ideals of its peo- 
 ple — a force always more potent in shaping charac- 
 ter, whether of an individual or community, than any- 
 thing else. From the ideals of the men and the wo- 
 men who during a century and half have labored and 
 wrought here and have builded much of their ideals 
 into the life of this place, there has come the de- 
 termining force which has moulded the Bethania 
 character and developed the Bethania spirit. 
 
 Do you ask me what it is? It is made up of three 
 factors. 
 
 The first of these of which I shall speak is — 
 Industry. 
 
 I. The first settlers were industrious people — men 
 of unwearied toil, who gave themselves with zeal and 
 devotion to the building of a home here in the wil- 
 derness of Carolina which should stand for the high- 
 est and best there was in life. That they were men 
 of great industry was evidenced by the extent of 
 their accomplishments. Entering this unbroken 
 wilderness they soon cut roads, cleared fields, erected 
 dwellings, built industries, harvested crops — in fact, 
 in a short space of time established here the best and 
 most flourishing industrial center of their time, 
 which was sought eagerly by the citizens of the coun- 
 try for a hundred miles around. They were a busy, 
 hard working people, who brought to their work 
 
70 BETHANIA 
 
 earnest consecration of purpose. They were careful 
 workers. They were building not for a day only. 
 They were systematic in their efforts. They worked 
 after plans had been well matured and not from the 
 standpoint of self, but for the good of all. This prin- 
 ciple of industry has been maintained. Development 
 of large business centers has worked great hardships 
 and has caused enterprises here to cease, has led 
 many sons and daughters to go elsewhere, and yet, 
 those who have gone from you and those who have 
 remained have been true to the ideal of industry and 
 honest toil. 
 
 II. The second ideal is that of education or the 
 training of the young. In this world of change, 
 where one generation comes upon the stage of life, 
 plays its part, and passes off to make room for an- 
 other, there are few things more important than 
 education. How else shall the life be kept from fall- 
 ing to a lower level than by the training of the chil- 
 dren, by instilling into them high ideals and the 
 spirit of lofty endeavor. This is a principle to which 
 the Moravian Church has ever sought to be true. 
 And here, in Bethania, from the earliest times, the 
 education of the youth has been most strongly em- 
 phasized. The ideal has been for education in its 
 broadest meaning — not simply the education of the 
 mind — the training of the intellect — but more impor- 
 tant still, the education of the heart as well. Moral 
 and spiritual training have here gone hand in hand 
 with the intellectual and the young have been taught 
 to live as well as to know. It has made Bethania a 
 community of more than ordinary intelligence and 
 morality. In accordance with this ideal there has 
 likewise been instilled into the young a love for the 
 higher arts — those things that bring that broader 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 71 
 
 culture uot to De gained from books alone. Here 
 you find a love for music and a proficiency in the 
 art not found in many rural communities ; here your 
 young men have shown commendable zeal in con- 
 ducting their debating clubs, and these things, with 
 frequent lectures and entertainments, have given to 
 your people and community a culture and polish 
 which is always noticeable to the visitor and which 
 has given tone and color to your life. 
 
 The third factor of the Bethania spirit is Godli- 
 ness. 
 
 III. I mention it last purely for emphasis. It 
 properly belongs first, for it has been the very foun- 
 dation of the life here. If one principle was more 
 prominent in the life of the early settlers than any 
 other, it was their godliness. They recognized their 
 dependence upon God ; they implored his guidance 
 and sought his aid. They were men of simple child- 
 like faith, who had committed their way to Him and 
 whose first purpose was to serve Him. Men who 
 believed that God's favor was to be sought in secular 
 as well as spiritual things. If you would catch 
 something of the godliness-of those men, who in 1759 
 laid here the beginning of this work, you would be 
 greatly aided by the record given in the History of 
 Wachovia. There we read that on July 12, 1859, the 
 little company of brethren gathered on the spot 
 where the Grab's house, the first house in Bethania, 
 was to be erected, and there the morning prayers 
 were conducted and there they prayed that those 
 who would reside in the house, as well as the future 
 inhabitants of the town, might be blessed. Continu- 
 ing we are told that the diary adds — "The service 
 drew us very near to each other in the tie of brother- 
 ly love." Such was the spirit of the men of that far 
 
72 BETHANIA 
 
 off day. Whatever else they may or may not have 
 been, of this we are sure, they were godly. 
 
 Their motive was not a selfish one that brought 
 them as Pioneers of civilization into these Carolina 
 wilds. They came because the church wanted them 
 to come ; they came under the direction and authori- 
 ty of the church, believing that in obeying the church 
 they were obeying God. They came to their work 
 of cutting roads, of erecting houses, of tilling fields, 
 in exactly the same spirit that the pastor goes to his 
 new field of labor or the missionary to his distant 
 home. They brought to their work the same con- 
 secration and the same holy purpose. They were 
 laymen called of God to labor for Him. 
 
 It was this spirit that brought it about that from 
 the beginning this community began to witness for 
 God. It was for His glory that they laid their 
 foundation here and sought to build thereon, and, 
 than, this, I know of no higher motive than can 
 actuate men. In so doing they were carrying out 
 the supreme purpose of God with man. 
 
 If to me it has been given to understand God's 
 purpose with man and his desire for the world, it is, 
 that, throughout the length and breadth of the earth, 
 wherever man dwells, he may witness for Him, 
 that he may cause it to be known that there is a 
 God in heaven who rules over the affairs of men and 
 desires them to live in obedience to His commands 
 and to seek to carry out his purpose. 
 
 That here, in this little corner of the world, the 
 corner into which God led them to make their home, 
 our forefathers sought to carry out this great pur- 
 pose of God, is that which today should furnish the 
 chief joy of this anniversary occasion. 
 
 That, in the beginning, Bethania was as a light in 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 73 
 
 the wilderness shining for God, that, today, her citi- 
 zens are still seeking to be loyal to Him and are en- 
 deavoring to celebrate this occasion in a spirit of wor- 
 ship and devotion to Him, is your chief glory. Than 
 this there is no greater privilege, there is no higher 
 honor. This must ever be the crowning glory as it 
 should be the chief end of every community's life. 
 
 It is in my heart today to wish for you, the citizens 
 of this community, and for old Bethania, many years 
 of opportunity and service. I would have them be 
 years of earnest toil, of zealous striving, of noble 
 endeavor, of glorious attainment. But if they are 
 to be such, you must be true to the great ideals of 
 your fathers. You must build upon the foundation 
 of faith in God. You must seek ever to witness for 
 Him. You must be most careful and faithful in the 
 training of the youth. You must be most diligent in 
 your toil and labor. Then will the blessing of God, 
 for which, on the first day of the life here, the fore- 
 fathers prayed, abide with you always. 
 
74 BETHANIA 
 
 SKETCH OF CELEBRATION. 
 
 ATURDAY, the first day of the anniversary 
 services, opened with a bright sky. In due time 
 the people began to arrive from different parts 
 of the Province and surrounding country and contin- 
 ued to come until we had a large congregation. 
 
 About half an hour before the opening the church 
 band announced the happy occasion by playing 
 chorals on the steeple. 
 
 Some time after ten o'clock the services began 
 with the congregation rising and singing, "Now let 
 us praise the Lord," after which the choir sang, "I 
 Will Extol." Rev. J. F. McCuiston, pastor of 
 Christ Church, Salem, led in a responsive reading, 
 and read Psalm 90. 
 
 Rev. E. C. Stempel, pastor of East Salem and 
 Centerville, led in prayer and read the greetings 
 from the Mission Board in Berthelsdorf. Rev. 
 James E. Hall, pastor of the congregation, and prin- 
 cipal of the school, at Clemmons, gave greetings for 
 the Province. 
 
 Rev. J. K. Pfohl, pastor of Salem Home congre- 
 gation, delivered the Sesqui-Centennial address, 
 which was followed by an anthem by the choir, 
 "Awake My Soul." 
 
 The close of the service consisted of the presen- 
 tation of the Lash Window and other memorials. 
 Two little girls, of the youngest descendants of John 
 Christian Lash, unveiled the window put in to his 
 memory by members of the family. Other Sesqui- 
 Centennial memorials, as announced by the pastor, 
 were: A painting in the arcli behind the pulpit, put 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 75 
 
 in for a former pastor Rev. E. P. Greider, by his 
 widow, Mrs. Sarah Greider, and daughter, Mrs. E. 
 M. Lehman ; pnpit pedestals, by Mr. E. T. Kapp ; 
 pulpit chairs in memory of the late J. H. Kapp, by 
 members of his family ; chair for communion table, 
 by infant classes of Bethania Sunday School; pulpit 
 Bible, by Miss E. A. Lehman ; Bible book mark by 
 Mrs. E. S. Crosland in memory of her son, Shober, 
 who was born in Bethania ; carpet and jardinieres, 
 by Young Ladies' Bible Class and Young Men's 
 Bible Class of Bethania Sunday School; window 
 transoms for ventilation, by Ladies' Missionary So- 
 ciety ; Sunday School piano purchased by united ef- 
 forts and contributions of people in, and outside of 
 Bethania ; concrete walk on church pavement, the 
 fund started by Mrs. E. M. Lehman's Sunday 
 School class and completed by contributions from 
 friends, in Bethania and Salem ; also painting on ex- 
 terior of parsonage and church, and graveyard fence. 
 Rev. E. S. Crosland, pastor of Calvary Church, 
 Winston, offered the dedicatory prayer. 
 
 After the closing hymn, "O Lord of heaven, and 
 earth, and sea !" Bro. Hall pronounced the bene- 
 diction. — 
 
 SATURDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
 The playing by the band in front of the church 
 was followed by the Sunday School Mass-Meeting, 
 in which Bethania, Olivet, Alpha, and Mizpah 
 schools had a reserved place in the middle row of 
 seats. Bro. Crosland, the only surviving former 
 pastor, presided. The Sunday School piano led the 
 singing. Hymns familiar to everybody were used. 
 
 The hymn, "Come thou fount of every blessing!" 
 and a responsive reading for leader, schools, and 
 
76 BETHANIA 
 
 congregation formed the opening. Bro. Pfohl of- 
 fered the opening prayer. 
 
 A historical sketch of the four Sunday Schools 
 of the congregation was read by the pastor, F. W. 
 Grabs. Mr. E. A. Ebert, president of Forsyth 
 County Sunday School Association, brought greet- 
 ings from the county. 
 
 Addresses were delivered by Bro. McCuiston and 
 Col. F. H. Fries. 
 
 After the closing prayer by Bro. Crosland, "Blest 
 be the tie that binds" was sung before the benedic- 
 tion. 
 
 SATURDAY NIGHT. 
 
 Promptly at seven o'clock a large congregation 
 assembled behind the church as the band played 
 Tune 159A and joined in singing to the same tune, 
 "All hail ! thy church's Saviour dear." 
 
 We then proceeded to the grave yard to hold the 
 service similar to the one held fifty years ago at 
 night. 
 
 When the people had arranged themselves on the 
 sacred burial ground, illuminated with electric lights 
 provided especially for our anniversary celebration, 
 two hymns were sung: "Children of the heavenly 
 king!" and "Come, let us join our friends above." 
 
 The pastor read a brief newspaper clipping from 
 1859 describing the grave yard service as held in that 
 year. 
 
 Bro. McCuiston led in prayer. 
 
 The brethren Crosland and Stempel read the Eas- 
 ter morning Litany. 
 
 Before the close Bro. Stempel read a letter from 
 Rev. George F. Bahnson, of Pennsylvania, referring 
 to his father, Bishop Bahnson, who took active part 
 
SESOUI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 7/ 
 
 in the graveyard service in the celebration in 1859. 
 
 A number of hymns were sung in the service, the 
 band leading. The happy and peculiarly impressive 
 occasion was closed with the anthem, "Sing hallelu- 
 jah, praise the Lord," after which Bro. McCuiston 
 pronounced the benediction. 
 
 SUNDAY FORENOON. 
 
 The second clay opened bright as the preceding 
 one. The happy Sabbath was announced by the 
 band, which played in front of the church. 
 
 The congregation was larger than on the day be- 
 fore, about five hundred being present. 
 
 "The service was opened with "Creation Hymn" 
 by the choir. The pastor led in the "Te Deum 
 Laudamus." Rev. H. E. Rondthaler, Principal of 
 Salem Academy and College, read the lessons for 
 the day and led in prayer. 
 
 The Sesqui-Centennial sermon was preached by 
 Rt. Rev. Edward Rondthaler, D. D., of Salem, 
 from the text : Jesus Christ the same yesterday, 
 and today, and forever — Heb. 13 :8. 
 
 After the sermon the choir sang "Nearer My God 
 to Thee," after which the pastor led in prayer. 
 
 Greetings were read from Rev. J. H. Clewell, of 
 Bethlehem, Pa., and Rt. Rev. M. W. Leibert, of New 
 York City. 
 
 After the closing hymn, "O God, our help in ages 
 past," Bishop Rondthaler pronounced the benedic- 
 tion. 
 
 SUNDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
 The band announced the Historical Meeting by 
 playing again in front of the church. 
 
 The service began with "Praise God, from whom 
 
78 BETHANIA 
 
 all. blessings flow.'' The pastor led in a responsive 
 reading. "Angel Bands in Strains Sweet Sounding" 
 was sung by the choir. Bishop Rondthaler offered 
 the! prayer. 
 
 The Historical Sketch of Bethania, written by 
 Miss E. A. Lehman, was read by Bro. H. E. Rond- 
 thaler and was heard with close attention. Miss 
 Lehman herself read the Sesqui-Centennial poem 
 that she had written for the occasion. 
 
 The pastor read greetings from Rev. Jonathan 
 Reinke, of the West Indies, as a representative 
 from the Foreign Mission work, Rev. Walter A. 
 Schmidt, of Herrnhut, as secretary of the work in 
 Bohemia and Moravia, and Rev. F. E. Grnnert, of 
 Stat'en Island, N. Y. 
 
 The congregation was dismissed by Bro. H. E. 
 Rondthaler. 
 
 SUNDAY NIGHT. 
 
 The closing praise service, with the electric lights, 
 the orchestra from Winston-Salem to lead in the 
 music, and the inspiring singing by the congregation, 
 was the most brilliant one of all. 
 
 The grand old familiar church hymns were used. 
 The congregation joined in the Lord's Prayer in the 
 opening part. The pastor read Psalm 122. Mr. F. 
 H. Lash offered the prayer. 
 
 The closing address was delivered by Col. W. A. 
 Blair. 
 
 Miss Ella Lehman sang a solo, "Beautiful Home 
 of Paradise" with orchestral accompaniment. 
 
 At different times in the service greetings were 
 read from Rev. C. A. Meilicke, of Grand Rapids, 
 Wis.; Rev. Paul M. Greider, of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; 
 Rev. E. S. Hagen, of Lititz, Pa.; Rev. S. H. Gapp, 
 
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL 79 
 
 editor of "The Moravian" and Professor in Moravian 
 College and Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa. ; 
 Rev. H. P. Mumford, of England, Editor of "Mora- 
 vian Missions"; and Bishop Berkenhagen, of 
 Kleinwelka, Germany. 
 
 After the Doxology in responsive reading the ser- 
 vice closed, as on the previous night, with the "Sing 
 Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" anthem, after which 
 the glorins Sesqui-Centennial celebration of 1909 was 
 ended with the benediction by the pastor. 
 
UNION REPUBLICAN PUBLISHING CO. 
 WINSTON-SALEM, N. C. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 
 00034024109 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION