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Subject: Brueders Thal to Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, pt. 1
Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 21:05:20 EDT
Afternoon List,
I am going to relate Appendix B of H. Austin Cooper's book "Two Centuries
of Brothersvalley 1762-1962." This is because I want to see if anyone can
document any of his statements via primary sources. While it is understood that
Mr. Cooper's books leave his sources open to speculation and thus casting doubt
on the accuracy he is wont to titilate the imagination and possibilities. In
part two of this email I will direct the questions that I would like answered.
My interest lies not only in the insight that this may shed on the
Botetourt Brethren of 1799, signatories to a petition for redress of fines, but also
on the possible Sabbatarian leanings of Elder Jacob Miller of Franklin
county, Va. and Montgomery county, Ohio. It is starting to come to light that Elder
Jacob Miller was influenced somewhat by Elder George Adam Martin and Conrad
Beissel. This has ramifications on the Virginia Conference of 1811(Lower Miami
Church, Mont. Co., Ohio) and the Four Mile Church of Indiana. This also
impacts the Universalist church to which some German Baptist changed their
affiliation to.
Appendix B
Migrations to Valley of Virginia
The period from about 1765 to 1800 saw sizable groups of the Brethren
moving into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from Stony Creek and Brothers
Valley. In 1764, Jacob Miller from Lancaster County, moved into the Stony Creek
congregation and was ordained that year. In 1765 he removed to Beaver Dam,
Maryland, in the old Pipe Creek congregation. He stayed for several months in
Franklin County, Pennsylvania, among the Upper Antietam brethren. He went to the
southern end of the Valley to settle in Franklin County. It is said that this
elder went all the way to the old Stony Creek country in Northwestern Ohio
and established that church in 1805, making John Huber the resident elder and
George Cook minister. They named their church "Stony Creek Church" but few
stones are found there.
Elder John Garber was elected to the ministry in the old Brothers Valley
congregation in 1771, ordained the same year, moved to Beaver Dam, Maryland,
1773. He left a brother in Brothers Valley, and several sons in Beaver Dam.
He removed to the Flat Rock Creek Church, Virginia, 1775. About this time
forty members removed from Pipe Creek, Antietam, Middletown Valley and several
areas of Pennsylvania to the Valley of Virginia. In 1769, the Henry Kagey family
moved to Smith Creek. He was the son of Elder John Kagey of Berks County,
who in 1783 moved to Somerset County.
In 1782 Elders Martin and Samuel Garber, removed from Beaver Dam in
Forestville area. Along with them went Michael Wine from York County, who settled
for a few months near Berlin and then went to Beaver Dam, near present Union
Bridge, Maryland. Samuel and Martin were sons of Elder John Garber and married
daughters of Elder Jacob Stoner, presiding elder of Pipe Creek. The Stoners
had lived in Brothers Valley for several years before going to Beaver Dam.
The left a son, John Stoner, who settled near Berlin, on the former Wagerline
tract.
Elder John Glick moved to Brothers Valley in 1766. He was an elder from
Lancaster County. He had trouble with George Adam Martin and on arrival in
Virginia visited the Brethren around Strasburg and set them right about Elder
Martin and stopped the brethren in that area from going Seventh Day Baptist as
Martin tried to lead them. Elder Martin visited there, 1763, 1764, 1768, 1773,
1778. It is said that Elders John Glick, Benjamin Bowman, and John Zigler
(who also lived for a while in Brothers Valley, near Somerset), did more to save
the Brethren around Strasburg from the grasp of George Adam Martin and his
followers than any other elders. The Brethren in that area who followed Seventh
Day Baptist doctrines and practices moved in a body to the New River section,
now West Virginia, about 1790, and started an Ephrata movement but died out
about 1819.
In 1781 three Bowman brothers: Peter, Benjamin and Joseph, left Brothers
Valley and moved to near Linville Creek area. The left a brother Jacob in
Somerset County. He always spelled the name Bauman. John went on to near
Lexington, Kentucky, and thence to near Harrodsville, Kentucky, and there built a
fort called Bowman's Fort. He was a colonel in Revolution, also an elder.
The following ministers and elders moved from Stony Creek and Brothers
Valley: 1786, Daniel Good; 1785, Jacob Good; John Kagey, Jr., about 1800;
Christian Myers, about 1795. From 1785-1795 no less than six strong elders left
Brothers Valley and Stony Creek. This left the area weak, except the
Meyersdaly-Elk Lick area, where Elder John Kagey became the Bishop in 1783. The great
snows of this period, plus the work fo Elder Martin, and the land speculation in
Somerset County, and the rise of militarism caused many Brethren families to
seek areas where there was less tension.
About 1800, John Cline, the father of the famous Elder John Kline, moved
from Brothersvalley to the Valley of Virginia. His home was a meetinghouse
for over forty years.
In 1769 Daniel S. Arnold, from Middletown Valley, Maryland, moved into
the Stony Creek congregation and was elected to the eldership that year. He had
the oversight of the four churches on the East-side of the Allegheny
Mountain, which extended into Bedford County. In 1785 he removed to the Beaver Run
Church, Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia).
Brothers Valley was the "spring-board" of action for the Brethren on
their Westward and Southern spurs of movement as they settled out frontier. The
came and went, a never stopping steady current of humanity, always moving
across the face of the land. But many stayed and built strong families,
communities and churches in Somerset County.
Wayne
Brethren Roots Newsletter Editor
Fellowship of Brethren Genealogists: Homepage
Visit my web site at:
Montgomery County, Ohio Research Services
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