Jacobs Lutheran Church
Masontown, Pennslyvania

.....I am indebted to others for the article on this page. Linda Blanchard Tantlinger forwarded this to me, and it is intended solely for the enjoyment of those interested in this church and in the Greater Family members involved with this Church.
.....I have two sets of 4th great grandparents buried at this churches cemetery and also a number of other family members. The grandparents are John and Doraday Huhn and Joseph and Katarina Elizabet Becker Yeager. Both John and Joseph are listed as members of fthe founders of the church and Joseph is listed as a trustee. Other members are in interred at nearby Mount Moriah Cemetery at Smithfield. I would like to have a photo of Jacobs Luthern.

.....This church is believed to be the oldest Lutheran Church in America, west of the Allegheny Mountains. As late as September, 1893 the old timers, many of whose lives over-lapped that of Barbara Brandenburg Franks (1741-1839), observed the year of 1768 as the date of the founding of the self-organized congregation.
.....In the fall of 1765 these families built the Block-House known in Military History as Riffle's Fort and in the community as the Dutch Meeting House.
.....Dr. Passavant believed it to be the oldest Lutheran Church west of the mountains: and published a sketch of it under the title in "The Missionary", July 3, 1856.
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The property of the Congregation was held jointly by the Lutherans and Reformed in 1773. An old German document now in the Archives of the Pittsburgh Synod, attests this important fact. The following is a free translation:
31st of July, 1773
"The conditition of this agreement concerning the Reformed congregation is that the Lutheran congregation shall have as much right to the church as the Reformed congregation. If the congregation should become too strong, and should a dispute arise, then both congregations must build another church in the same form as this, and our Reformed congregation bind itself for 50 pounds Pennsylvania current money, and no minister shall come into the churches to preach unless he has good testimony that he has been ordained by other ministers.
John Ertman, Jacob Reich, Casper Bohner.

.....All other church documents and records earlier than 1792 have been lost. It must be remembered that an organization as described would have been different from an organization today. If the men of a >settlement assembled and appointed three Lutherans and three Reformed as overseers, with one of them acting as treasurer, that would be sufficient. It is likely that this was the simple form of the original organization in Jacob's, and that the three names subscribed to the above document are those of the three Reformed trustees. Their first church was never dedicated for the reason that there was no minister near to conduct such a service. They built this church for both educational and religious purposes, and were accustomed to gather here for devotional services on the Lord's Day. When Father Trautman was near to the close of his life, he was asked why they would build a church when they had no pastor, and his answer was: "Well, we could go to the House of God every Sunday, hear the teacher read a sermon and listen to Barbara Brandenburg sing,"
.....Their eagerness to secure a pastor is seen in the fact that the first petition from Western Pennsylvania to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania for a minister came from these people in 1781. The record says: "These congregations are situated toward Pittsburgh; Redstone is the chief place. They own 300 acres of good land, but they need a man who is strong and can ride much, for they are scattered." Title of their land was secured in a remarkable way, as described in the autobiography of their first pastor, the Rev. Johannes Stauch.
....."They borrowed the money from Martin Mason, who was taken captive in the time of General Braddock's defeat at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) by the Indians, while on his way to carry provisions to his father in the army, and who was sold to a French general for a bottle of gin in A. D. 1755, and was taken to Canada, and when grown up returned to his native land and brought this piece of gold with him, and let it to the congregation to pay for the land, and became and lived a devoted Christian and member of that Lutheran Church." Read the Autobiography of Rev. Johannes Stauch Gettysburg Historical Library.

.....The warrant for this land was dated, February 2, 1786, and the patent issued July 22, 1794. The tract contained 117-3/4 acres, on which a church has been built several yrs. in advance of the warrant of survey. It is said that the first person buried in the grave yeard was a child of Andrew M. and Elizabeth Riffle, one year old, who died during the course of an Indian uprising. Barbara Brandenburg made a coffin out of rough slabs, and dug a grave with her own hands, the men of the settlement being away from home. This grave is as old as the first church. Riv. W. F. Ulery says of this old log church:

....."This house stood some distance east of the present church, and served as a place of worship for a number of years. Later a second church was built, which stood in the old grave yard a few rods west of the present church. It was built of hewn logs, and had a somewhat better plan and finish than the first church.
.....It had a gallery like the old church at Harold's, an alter and wine-glass pulpit, but was otherwise plain in all its appointments. In this house the fathers of our church in German Township worshipped for many years. It was repaired in later years, and much improved on its original plan and finish by putting new seats and windows. It stood for a number of years after the first brick church had been built, and was not removed until 1853." (See History of the Southern Conference, W. F. Ulery, page 85.)

.....In this humble building the fathers worshipped for many years. While this part of the country was less >exposed to Indian forays than that beyond the Monongahela, they often carried their guns with them to church. A block house fort was built where many anxious hours were spent. Their most trusted scout was "Big Jake Deffenbach," who kept them well informed in times of danger. The coming of Philip Schmidt to York Run in 1769, for the expressed purpose of being near a German church suggests that there may have been a considerable number of Germans in the settlement and a church earlier than 1773. (The Schmidt warrant for survey of 315 1/2 acres of land is dated June 1, 1769. See Land Grant Office, Harrisburg, Pa.)

.....For a number of years after the building of their log church, their only church services were conducted by their schoolmasters. Their first pastor was a layman of the Virginia glades, whose coming was like a visitation from heaven. After serving them for two years, 1791-1793, he was given a catechist's license by the ministerium of Pennsylvania. In 1794 the same body gave him a candidates license to preach at "Salem, Morgantown, Redstone and still farther west." The still farther west of this license was regarded by Pastor Stauch as his call to minister to the scattered Germans of the frontier; and he made a number of missionary trips to kentucky and Ohio for this purpose. He had ten regular appointments in Pennsylvania. Losing his wife soon after beginning his pastorate in Jacob's Church, he lived alone with his faithful horse for a period of three years. The Trautman family baked and washed for him, and evidently did it well, for Katherine Trautman became his wife in 1796. On May 11, 1795, he opened the first record of Jacob's Church.

.....At this time the congregation had about one hundred members, who pledged $125.00 for services every two weeks. > The work of the parish prospered until October 29, 1803, when two ministers named Eddinger and Pfreme were permitted to hold protracted meetings in the church, which resulted in such excess of emotionalism that many were deeply offended. During thise meetings some of the members of the congregation fell into a trance, and the simpled hearted pastor was puzzled. he didn't know whether this power was of the Lord or not.
.....While he hesitated, two factions were created, and the pastor was compelled to take sides. His opponents then secured the services of a man named Kiedelbach, who held competitive services in private homes. Failing to accomplish much by this method of work, they preferred charges against the pastor to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, but that body did not consider them worthy of attention. The opposition continued in the congregation, however, and Pastor Stauch held his last communion service in Jacob's Church August 31, 1806, and removed to Ohio. During his pastorate 489 were baptised and 73 confirmed. His successor was Rev. Johann Karl Rebenach, who was not acknowledged as a Lutheran minister by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania until 1816. After a pastorate of two years he removed to Martinsburg, West Virginia.
.....It is a mistake to say that the congregation was organized by Pastor Stauch. The evidence indicate that the congregation was self-organized as early as 1773, and perhaps even earlier. After the resignation of Pastor Rebenach, the congregation turned to Rev. G. Heinrich Weygandt, who served them from 1809 to 1829. His successor was Rev. John Brown, who ministered to them from 1829 to 1838, living for a time at Monongahela, then at McCullough's Store, and finally at Masontown, PA. He was not a man of such robust strength as Pastor Weygandt, and was not able to serve all the churches that constituted the parish of his predecessor. Often he found it difficult to meet his limited engagements, and Jacob's Church was sometimes reported vacant during this period. The next was Rev. Charles Rees, whose entries in the church record date >from April 25, 1840, to September 29, 1841. This was a trying time for the congregation, and they sorely missed the leadership of Pastors Weygandt and Brown. Separation from the Reformed caused much trouble.

....."A meeting was called on October 2, 1842, when it was found that the Reformed part of the council had been reduced to one member, Jacob Dieffenbach, who, on behalf of the Reformed congregation, relinquished all claim on the farm, etc., to the Lutheran congregation, to be used for the support of the minister, but it was provided that the Reformed still have the right to build up a congregation, if able to do so, and should be entitled to their interest in the church. On November 18, 1843, at a congregational meeting, a resolution was passed to petition the court to grant a charter to Jacob's Church. At the February term of court, 1884, a charter was granted and afterwards adopted by the congregation. (Improvements, amendments and alterations to the charter were granted by the court March 14, 1879.) See History of theSouthern Conference, W. F. Ulery, page 90.

.....The first election was held under the new charter, July 1, 1844. in 1836 Rev. Abraham Weills came to Washington County, and served several churches of the large parish of Pastor Weygandt at different times until 1868. When he first came to Pennsylvania, Jacob's was still under the care of Pastor John Brown. Not until after the pastorate of Rev. Charles Rees, 1840-1841, did the congregation turn to him for their >supply. Serving as supply for several years, he was elected as a regular pastor in 1847, and continued as such until 1851. His successor was Rev. J. K. Melhorn, whose pastorate extended from June 27, 1852 to June 30, 1865. During these thirteen years he was compelled to travel 5,000 miles annually in order to meet his appointments, and the greater part was done on horseback. He paid more attention to church records than some of his predecessors, and it is therefore possible to note that he baptised 60 children, conducted 74 funerals, and added 175 persons to the communing membership.

.....The church in which Pastor Melhorn preached was built of brick, 42 x 50, and dedicated by Paster Abraham Weills in June 1847. The entire cost was $1,277.00, but much labor and material were donated. Thirty-three years later this church was enlarged and remodeled at a cost of $2,500.00, and parsonage was erected during the pastorate of Rev. Melhorn. A new constitution was adopted in June 1954, (should be 1854), which established the congregation for the first time on a firm Lutheran basis. The greater part of the Reformed element had either been absorbed by the Lutherans, or had entered the Presbyterian Church on the hill above McClellandtown.
.....In 1879 ten more acres of the church land adjoining the old cemetery were laid out in lots and sold to the members of the congregation for a nominal price. Many are the graves, marked and unmarked, found in the two >cemeteries, some of which are now more than 183 years old. The coal under the church farm was sold during the pastorate of Rev. Samuel Stouffer, at the rate of $200.00 per acre. The survey showed it to be 431 acres and 6 perches. the price received was $8,238.00. $7,300.00 of the purchased money was placed on interest. This interest was used in meeting current expenses. Soon after this sale the gas wells were drilled, yielding an annual income of $500.00 for some time. The gas wells ceased to produce in 1919, and much of the coal money was lost through the failure of J. V. Thompson, so that the church was weakened rather than strengthened by the use of this unearned income.

.....1904 saw new improvements under the pastorate of D. D. Miller, when a chandelier with a twelve light reflector was installed at a cost of $86.70. memorial windows were installed at a cost of $23.50 per window. New ceiling replaced the old. And a partition, chancel and chancel furniture. Also new pews were installed at a total cost of $1,222.50.

Photo Curtesy of the Jacobs Luthern Church Webpage

.....The graves of the first settlers in German Township and the first or charter members of Jacob's Church surround the Memorial Log Church. The grave of Jacob >Franks after whom the Church has been named is only a few paces from the Log Church.

.....A new Hammond Electronic Organ was purchased in1948 during the pastorate of W. Frederick Adolphson. Sunday, August 10, 1952 a memorial Altar Set was given by the descendants of Nichlus Fast, 1727-1818, and his son Francis Fast, 1780-1831. Ground has been broken for a new Parish and Educational Building 30 by 70.

Photo Curtesy of the Jacobs Luthern Church Webpage

.....On page 56 she also gives 11 that were erroneously missed.
.........Pg. 57 lists 33 Confirmants & 19 Marriages .....Another section of the volume contains the Cemetery Records which number 1174. She notes 9 Revolutionary men, 3 men in the War of 1812, 15 in the Civil War, 3 in the Spanish American War, 8 in World War I, and 8 in World War II & 1 in the Korean War.

..... A copy of the original warrant for Jacob's Lutheran, dated 15 January 1785. It was referred to as the Lutheran + Calvinist Church or Meeting House," and listed adjoining property owners as Michael Franks, Andrew Rabb, George A. Riffle, and Philip Mason. Trustees on the patent (dated 02 February 1785) were listed as Michael Everly, Joseph Yeager, Michael Frank, Nicholas Pock, John Mason, and John Artman.

Compiled by Della Reagan Fischer