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 The 
 Church at Market Square. 
 
 Read at a meeting in the Chapel of Market Square Presby- 
 terian Church, Germantown, Philadelphia, on 
 Thursday Evening, November 17, 1898, 
 
 BY HENRY S. DOTTERER. 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE PERKIOMEN REGION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 Perkiomen Publishing Co., 
 
 1605 N. Thirteenth St. 
 
 1899. 
 

 FREE PRESS PRINT, 
 
 QUAKERTOWN, PA. 
 
 >X 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 Religious considerations held a large place in the plans of William 
 Penn for the colonization of Pennsylvania. This is well known. Francis 
 Daniel Pastorius, the founder of Germantown, was actuated by ideals 
 equally lofty. Pathfinder, colonizer, lawgiver, magistrate, scholar, philo- 
 sopher—all these Pastorius was. His genius established here a munici- 
 pality upon a foundation, wise, practical, just, adequate, which has 
 yielded its citizens an unbroken prosperity of more than two centuries. 
 But he was more. He was a Christian — pre-eminently a Christian. He 
 loved his God and his neighbor. In his letters to his co-partners of the 
 Frankfort Company and to his parents, his purpose of benefiting his fel- 
 low-man and glorifying his God is ever kept in view. In the letter to his 
 parents of March 7, 1684, after speaking of his work, his aims and his 
 hopes for Germantown, he says : Betrachtet nun, liebwertheste Eltem, ob 
 ich auff diese Weiss Gott und meinem Neben-Menschen nicht weiterepriess- 
 lichere Dienste leisten moge — Consider now, parents most worthy of love, 
 whether in this way I can not render praiseworthy service to God and my 
 fellow-creatures. His religion was broad. He welcomed godly men of 
 every faith. Under his liberal rule several denominations established 
 themselves soon after the founding of the town. From that day to this, 
 Germantown has been noted for the religious bearing of its people and the 
 number and prosperity of its churches. 
 
 Of the Churches which then took root here, one is now extinct. It is 
 the Reformed Church. Concerning this once prominent but now almost 
 forgotten factor in Germantown' s religious history, it is my purpose to 
 speak. And I will ask your patient attention to some facts that I have 
 grouped — some of them, familiar to you ; others, discovered by me in the 
 course of a three-months' rummage in the archives of the Reformed 
 Church of the Netherlands, (Hollands) where they had been buried for a 
 century and a half and longer. These facts deal with the beginnings of 
 the Reformed congregation having its house of worship on Market Square, 
 the vicissitudes attending the infant church, an allusion to its subsequent 
 prosperity, and a reference to its transformations later into a full-fledged 
 Presbyterian church. 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 The Reformed Church, let me premise; had its origin in the great up- 
 rising in the Sixteenth century against the Romish hierarchy. Ulric 
 Zwingli, Swiss Reformer and patriot, at Zurich ; John Calvin, French 
 
4 THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 Protestant, at Geneva ; Guillaume Farel, Reformer at Neuchatel ; Admiral 
 de Coligny, leader of the Huguenots ; William the Silent, Prince of 
 Orange, founder of the Dtitch Republic ; Frederick the Pious, Elector of 
 the Palatinate— names that shine with fixed and lustrious light in his- 
 tory—are a few of the heroes and martyrs of that Protestantism which 
 became the Reformed Church of Germany, Switzerland, Holland and 
 France. 
 
 THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. 
 
 This historic Church was brought to America by the Hollanders who 
 settled Manhattan island in 1623. Forty-four years before Penn established 
 his government on these shores, a Reformed Churchman, Peter Minuit, 
 inaugurated a colonial enterprise on the banks of the Delaware river. He 
 was the first governor of New Amsterdam (now New York). Afterwards 
 he entered the service of the Government of Sweden, which sent him to 
 found a colony on the South or Delaware river, which he did in 1638. This 
 Swedish settlement, and others made subsequently,- Penn found here upon 
 his arrival. Peter Minuit was born in the city of Wesel on the Rhine, 
 and was an officer in the Reformed Church there. 
 
 There are traces of immigrants of the Reformed denomination in this 
 locality prior to the coming of Penn. There is a tradition among the 
 members of the widely-dispersed Reifi family, that John George Reiff, 
 their ancestor, came to Pennsylvania before Penn set up his government. 
 Jacob Reiff, a son of John Reiff, was prominent in the establishment of 
 the Reformed church in Skippack in 1727, and had important relations 
 with the Skippack and Philadelphia congregations afterwards. He occu- 
 pied responsible public office under the provincial government. 
 
 THE BEHAGELS. 
 
 Reformed Churchmen became interested at its inception in the scheme 
 which led to the settlement of Germantown. Among the original asso- 
 ciates of the Frankfort Company was Daniel Behagel, who was of Hugue- 
 not or Walloon stock. In 1562, Jacob Behagel, his grandfather, a victim 
 of the persecutions of the Reformed, fled from the neighborhood of Lille, 
 taking refuge in the vicinity of Frankfort on the Main. Daniel Behagel 
 was born November 18, 1625, in Hanau, Germany, and married, May 20, 
 1654, at Miihlheim near Cologne, Magdalena von Mastricht. Jacob von 
 der Wallen, another original purchaser, was a brother-in-law of Daniel 
 Behagel. In 1655, Jacob von der Wallen, from Rotterdam, and Johanna 
 Behagel, a step-sister to Daniel Behagel, were married. In 1661, Daniel 
 Behagel and Jacob von der Wallen applied to the councils of Frankfort on 
 the Main and of Hanau, for permission to establish the manufacture of 
 faience, and four days later Hanau granted their request. Their produc- 
 tions found high favor. To this day, the name Behagel is identified with 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 5 
 
 the porcelain business in Franldort. Von Mastricht was the surname of 
 Daniel Behagel' s wife, and Dr. Gerhard von Mastricht was another partner 
 of the Frankfort Company. In 1730 and later Isaac and Carl Behagel, 
 merchants and bankers of Frankfort, were designated to receive moneys 
 contributed in Germany and Holland for the use of the needy Reformed 
 churches in Pennsylvania. An estimate of the high standing of this 
 family may be formed from the record of its acknowledged loyalty and 
 services to the reigning sovereigns. In 1697, Isaac Behagel was decorated 
 ^Yith a gold medal and gold chain, by William the Third, King of Great 
 Britain, and their High Mightinesses the Stadtholders of the United 
 Netherlands, for services rendered in the war from 1688 to 1697 ; and 
 Fel)ruary 26, 1706, he was similarly honored by Frederick I., King of 
 Prussia, with two gold medals — one commemorating the capture of 
 Gueldres (Gelders) from the Dutch in 1702, the other for services rendered 
 in 1705 in connection with the obsequies of Sophia Charlotte, Queen of 
 Prussia, sister of George I. , of England, a lady noted for her literary and 
 philosophical tastes. 
 
 ISAAC DILBECK. 
 
 Isaac Dilbeck, who came in the same ship with Pastorius, and who 
 was one of the original dwellers in Germantown, was of the Reformed 
 faith. He was in the employ of the Frankfort Company. The ship 
 America, in which he came, it will he remembered, reached Philadelphia 
 before that i\'hich brought the Crefeld iinmigrants, who were the main 
 bf)dy of original settlers of Gem:iantown. It sailed from Deal, England, 
 on the 10th of June, 16S3, and was ten weeks in making the passage. 
 On the 16th of August, 1683, its passengers first descried America, on the 
 18th they arrived in Delaware bay, and at twilight on the evening of the 
 20th, they reached the town of Philadelphia. Pastorius, in his letter to 
 his parents dated March 7, 1684, which I found in Switzerland and which 
 I have not met with on this side of the Atlantic, says : "Isaac Dilbeck, 
 who apparently was the strongest in the company, was down (with sea- 
 sickness) the longest. ' ' And in another part of the same letter he says : 
 "Isaac Dilbeck has been somewhat indisposed the past eight days." 
 Dilbeck was a weaver. He soon became a landowner in Germantown. 
 On the 27th of Third month (May), 1686, Francis Daniel Pastorius, as 
 attorney and partner of the Frankfort Comjiany, in fulfillment of the 
 contract between Dilbeck and the Company, conveyed to Isaac Dilbeck, 
 twenty-five acres of land in Germantown — twenty-acres within the 
 inhabited part of the town and five acres in the side land (including a 
 half town-lot), both bounded southeasterly by lands of Paul Kastner and 
 northwesterly by lands of Francis Daniel Pastoriiis, the twenty acres hav- 
 ing a breadth of 7 jjerches 2 feet, the five acres a breadth of 3 perches 12 
 feet. It was subject to a yearly rent of a piece of eight or one Reichsthaler, 
 payable, on first day of First month (March) of each year, to the Frank- 
 
fi THE C:HUR0H at ^MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 fort Company. There was another c( .nditi( .n atta(-l i ed which is notahle for 
 its moderateness : "In addition, Isaac Dilheck promises for himself, and 
 his posterity who may be inclined to work hy the day, to work for our 
 Frankfort Company in preference to all others for the same wages that they 
 can earn from anyone else." ["Anhey verspricht Isaac Dilbeck vor sich 
 und sein posteritiit dass wofern diesellje geneigt seven wiirde umb taglohn 
 zu arl)eiten, sie ^•or alien anderen imsercr Frankfurt. Cie wercken \vollen vor 
 dergleichen lohn welchen sie by jemand anders verdienen konnten."] 
 
 Isaac Dilbeck' s half lot was o]i the east side of German town road. 
 In a Ust made April 4, 1687, it was nunil)ered 1.5, his neighbors lieing 
 Cornelius Bom, No. 14. and Enneke Klosterman, No. 16. The lot out of 
 which Market S(|uare was afterwards taken was No. 10. Isaai- Dilbeck 
 participated in the initial labors of i)laiiting the new town. He took Kindly 
 to the new life in these primitive wilds. He was a model colonist. His 
 Avife was Mary Blomerse. They -were married in Europe, and they brought 
 with them to this land their two sons, Al)ra,ham and Jac-ob. On the 7th 
 of Third month, 1691, he was naturalized. On the first day of the Fifth 
 month, 1696, Isaac Dilbeck, with the consent of Maria, his wife, sold the 
 25 acres of land to Daniel Geisler, for £V2 14s. current silver money of 
 Pennsylvania, subject to the original quit rent. Evidently he preferred the 
 activities of a large farm. On the 8th of Februar)', 1700, he purchased 
 of George Keith five hundred ata'es of laud in the adjacent toAvnship of 
 Whitcmarsh, on the Plymoutli road. On the 28th of Sejrtendier, 1709, 
 Isaac Dilljcck and Jacob Dilbeck, whom we take to liave ))een the jDioneer's 
 sons, wei'e natin-alized liy act of the Assemlily <if Pennsylvania. In the 
 year 1710, Isaac Dill )eck and his wife, Mary Blomerse, were mem1)ers of 
 the Wliitemarsh Reformed congn'gation, organized l)y Paulus Van Vlecii, 
 the Dutch minister at Neshaminy. He was the junior ekU'r. Inl72She 
 was an officer of the German Reformed congregation at Whitemarsh under 
 the pastoral care of John Philip Boehm. 
 
 In this connection it may be of interest to read a ivw more paragraphs 
 from the abovc-ciuoted letter of Pastorius to his jiarents. It is written in 
 the familiar terms of a dutiful son in a "far country," It is datetl from 
 Philadelphia, although ({ermantown had been previously laid out by 
 Pastorius and settled l)y the pioneer colonists. Speaking of the ocean 
 trip, he says : "The religious lieliefs of the passengers, and their voca- 
 tions, were so varied that the ship might b(^ compared to Noah's ark. * * * 
 I brought with me four men servants, two women ser\-ants, two children 
 and one apprentice. Among these ww adherents of the Romish, the 
 Lutheran, the Calvanistic (Reformed), the .Vnaliaptist, and the Eno-hsh 
 Churches, and only nne Quaker. * * * Lal)i.rers and farmers ar(> nee(k-d 
 most, and I heartily wish for a dozen sturdy Tyrolese to fell the mighty 
 oaks, for whichever way one turns it is : /////■ !„ nnfupwm ,i/lntm, e\nn-y- 
 thing is forest." * * * H<' speaks of the fruits and nuts found in the 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 7 
 
 forests, and continues: "On the 16th of October I found pretty Marc-h 
 violets in the woods. Also, after I had laid out the town of Germantown 
 on the 24th of October, and when returning the day follomng, the 25t]i, 
 with seven others to this place, (Philadeliihia) we saw on the way, cling- 
 ing to a tree a wild grape ^'ine upon which hung about four hundred 
 bunches of grapes. To get the grapes we cut down the tree; and the 
 eight of us ate as many as satisfied us, after which each of us brought a hat 
 full home with us. * * * Two leagues from here hes our Germantown, 
 where already dwell forty-two persons in twelve families, who are mostly 
 linen weavers, unaccustomed to husbandry. * * * The path to German- 
 town has by frequent going to and fro been so thoroughly beaten that a 
 road has been formed." This sentence seems to explain the cause of the 
 eccentric lines of our Germantown Road : the plain first citizens of Pas- 
 torius's budding Germanopolis attending to their simple errands in the 
 neighboring city, were the unconscious engineers of the historic highway. 
 
 WILLIAM DEWEES. ' 
 
 Another Reformed Churchman prominently identified with early Ger- 
 mantown «'as \\'^illiam De\\'ees. He came from Leeuwardcn, province of 
 Friesland, in Holland, about the year 1689, landing at New York with 
 others of his family. He ^vas then about thirteen. His sister, Wilhelmina 
 Dewees, and Nicholas Rittenhouse were married by the pastor of the 
 Dutch Reformed church of New Amsterdam, or New York, on the 29th 
 of Mav, 16JS9. Nicholas Rittenhouse prior to this had located at South 
 ri^-er (as the Dutch called the Delaware river country), and soon after 
 the marriage the Deweeses came over from New York to Germantown. 
 "William Dewees learned the trade of paper maker, doubtless from the 
 Rittenhouses who were the pioneers in the manufacture of paper in 
 America. His mte was Anna Christina Meels. March 1, 1690, Gerrit 
 Hendricks DeAW-es bought a full lot of land fronting on the Main street in 
 the inhabited part of Germantown, containing thirty-eight acres, and ad- 
 jacent land towards Plymouth, containing twelve acres. April 18, 1701, 
 Zyntien DeWees, his widow, sold half of this lot and adjacent land to John 
 Conrad Codweis, who sold it Fe))ruary 10, TTOo, to William DeWees, who 
 held it until 22d of 11th month, (Ja,nuary) 1706, when he conveyed it 
 to Conrad Rutters. In these transactions he is styled a husbandman. 
 December 23, 1701, the attorney of the widow of Gerrit Hendricks 
 DeWees sold the remaining half of the purchase made by her husband, to 
 John Henry Mehls. Whether Gerret Hendricks DeWees and Zyntien his 
 wife were the parents of ^^'illiam DeW'ees has not been definitely ascer- 
 tained; the archives at Leeuwarden ma}- be required to determine this 
 point. In 1708 William Dewees bought land in Bebber's (afterwards Skip- 
 pack) township, but he did not live upon it. In 1710, he erected the 
 second paper mill in America., on the west side of the Wissahickon, in that 
 part of Germantown called Crefeld. He built one or more grist mills, and 
 
8 THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE, 
 
 owned and sold lands, mills and dwellings in Crefeld pri'-r *« 1725^ 
 William Dewees, as also his wife, was a member of the U hitemarsn 
 Reformed congregation, organized by Paiilus VanVlecq m laO, and ne 
 was chosen senior deacon at the same time. They brought their children 
 to the dominie for baptism. 
 
 It is recorded that some of the pious colonists of early Germantown 
 scrupled at the assumption of public office, and paid penalties for non- 
 performance of such service in preference to doing violence to the dictates 
 of their consciences. Wilham Dcwces was a man of a different stamp 
 In his veins flowed the blood of that people who suffered the tortures of 
 the inquisition and who made indescribable sacrifices for the Reformed 
 religion which the arms of proud Spain, then powerful now humiliated, 
 sought to wrest from them. There were no battles to fight in peaceful 
 Germantown; the mild government of Penn, administered in brotherly 
 kindness by Pastorius, precluded that. But Dewees readily answered 
 every call to public duties. Note some of the contracts and positions 
 taken by him : 
 
 Decemljer 3, 1703, the Council of ({ermantown rescjlved that as 
 speedily as possible a prison (Gefangenhaus) l)c built, and an agreement 
 was made with Wilham de Wees to cut 600 feet of lumber for this pur- 
 pose at eleven shiUings per hundred. December 31, 1703, it was resolved, 
 further, that, beside the prison, stocks and a cattle pound should be 
 erected. Wilham de ^\'ees undertook to put up the pound, under minute 
 stipulations as to number and quahty of posts and rails, their length and 
 form. On sixth of 11th month (January) 1703-4, it was resolved that 
 the prison, stocks, and pound be built in the market place. October 14, 
 1704, William de Wees was chosen Sheriff. December 1, 1704, the duties 
 of court crier and court messenger were added to that of the shrievalty. 
 20th of 12th mo. (February) he was appointed fence inspector of his 
 district. November 23, 1705, a committee was directed to audit his ac- 
 counts, which were evidently found correct, for on December IS, follow- 
 ing, he was re-appointed sheriff and fence inspector. On the 23rd of ."ttli 
 month (April) the Court required him to furnish a bond for the faithful 
 performance of the duties of the office of Sheriff; and he was directed to 
 call in all taxes in arrears before the next session of the C^ourt, and iv sue 
 those who would not pay. December 4, 1706, he was chosen one of the 
 Council (composed of six men) of Germantown. Here you have the 
 record of a faithful public official. 
 
 For twenty years, from 172.5 until his death, the Whitemarsh Re- 
 formed congregation, John Philip Bcehm, pastor, used the house of 
 William Dewees for its place of worship. He was an officer in the church 
 all these years. The house used l)y this congregation, at least the latter 
 part of the time, stands opposite St. Joseph's convent, close to the AMssa- 
 hickon, at the farther end of the Germantown and Perkiomen turnpike 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 9 
 
 bridge over the stream. William Dcnvees died March 3, 1745. His body 
 rests in the Upper (or Axe) burying-ground. 
 
 Cornelius Dewees and Garret Dewees, relatives (possibly brothers) of 
 William Dewees, and men of similar character, also located at or near 
 Germantown. Cornelius Dewees and Margaret Koster, his wife, brought 
 their son John Dewees for baptism to Dominie Van Vlecq at Skippack on 
 the 29th of May, 1710. Cornelius Dewees performed various public 
 services at Germantown. Noveml)er 23, 1704, he was chosen constable 
 for the period of one year, or until a successor should be appointed; and 
 on December 1, 1705, he was appointed, in addition to the constableship, 
 to the office of court crier and messenger of the council. 
 
 James de la Plaine came to Germantown from New York about the 
 year 1692; The de la Plaines were French Reformed people, otherwise 
 called Huguenots. 
 
 Evert Ten Heuven (otherwise In den Hoif, Im Hoff, now Dehaven) 
 came in 1698 from Miihlheim on the Ruhr, bringing his family. He was 
 of the Reformed Church, and was ordained senior elder of the White- 
 marsh Reformed congregation on the 4th of June, 1710, the day of its 
 organization. His wife was Elizaln^th Schipbouwer. The Dehavens 
 afterwards located on the Skippack. 
 
 Hendrick Pannebecker lived in Germantown at least as early as 1699. 
 He left Germantown in 1702 and settled at Skippack. His wife was Eva 
 Umstead. On the 29th of May, 1710, they brought their three children, 
 Adolj)h, Martha, and Peter, to Pastor \^an Mecij for baptism. Hendrick 
 Pannebecker was the ancestor of our learned friend, Judge Pennypacker. 
 He was a surveyor, and in that capacity much in the service of the Penn- 
 sylvania Provincial government. He was a large landholder. He ren- 
 dered invaluable assistance to the immigrant colonists in securing for 
 them lands adapted to their particular wants, in suitable localities. Thus 
 he was a benefactor to that great influx of eager emigrants from the Conti- 
 nent of Europe — from Holland, Germany, Switzerland and France — who 
 carried irresistibly forward the work of subduing the forests, clearing the 
 land, cultivating the soil, and evolving the prosperity of the Province. 
 
 Hans Hendrick Meels (John Henry Mehls) on the 23rd of December, 
 1701, bought a half lot on the main street in the inhabited part of Ger- 
 mantown, containing nineteen acres and six acres of side land, from the 
 widow Zyntien Dewees, whose husband, Gerrit Hendricks Dewees, had 
 purchased the whole lot on the first of March, 1690. He was Reformed. 
 In June, 1701, John Henry Mehls was chosen Recorder of Germantown. 
 
 John Revenstock came in 1702. He anciently owned Lot No. 2, 
 containing two hundred acres, in the Sommerhausen division of German- 
 town. He was a member of Pastor Van ^^,ecq's Whitemarsh Reformed 
 congregation in the year 1711. In July, 1728, he was an officer of John 
 
10 THE CHURCH AT ^[ARKET SQUARE. 
 
 Philip Bcohm's Whitemarsh congregation, which worshipped at the house 
 
 of ■W'ilUam Dewees, on the AMssahickon. 
 
 EEV. SAMUEL GULDIN. 
 
 In the year 1710 a strong character was addeil to Germantown's Re- 
 foriiied contingent. That year Samuel Guldin, a minister of the Reformed 
 Church of Switzerland, came to Pennsylvania. He was born in the city 
 of Berne. He first preached in the neighborhood of Berne, but his repu- 
 tation as a forcible pulpit speaker led to his election as associate pastor of 
 the minister of Berne, and subsequently he became the minister of the 
 three chief church(>s of the city. His fervid presentation of Christian 
 truth gave offence to his ecclesiastical superiors. He was accused of 
 Pietism, and in 1699 declared guilty of the charge. He was then rele- 
 gated to the pastorate of an inferior and obscure congregation outside of 
 Berne. On the 16th of January, 1710 (probably r7S-f), then a resident 
 of Roxborough township, he bought 275 acres of land located along A\'issa- 
 hickon creek. Residing so near Germantown, and sometimes in the 
 the town, he became intimately acquainted Avitli his Reformed brethren 
 here, and as would be expected he preached to them occasionally. After 
 his coming to Pennsjdvania he issued three pamphlets. The first of 
 these, dated 1718, entitled Kurtze Apologie, is a self-vindication of his 
 course at Berne; the second, also in 171S, is a short Guide with Contrasts 
 for the explanation and defence of Divine Truth;, the third, in 1743, was 
 an argument in opposition to the coalescence of the several religious de- 
 nominations as proposed by Count Zinzendorf and his friends in Pennsyl- 
 vania at that time. In the first and last of these publications he repre- 
 sents himself as former preacher in the three principal churches of Berne, 
 in Switzerland. Guldin was possessed of a considerable estate. Besides 
 his Roxborough property, he owned land in Oley, and personal property 
 as well. He has been heretofore regarded as one of the original settlers of 
 Oley, a fertile region in the present Berks county, but recent investigation 
 indicates that he never lived there, and that his son of the same name was 
 the Oley pioneer. The Rev. Samuel Guldin died in Philadelphia on the 
 last day of the year 1745, aged eighty-five. He left a curious paper in- 
 tended for his last will and testament, a medley of business directions and 
 pious admonitions, a mixture of English and German and Latin. His 
 purpose was to dispose judiciously of his considerable means, remember- 
 ing old friends, designating laudable benevolent interests, and caring 
 appropriately for his immediate family. But the paper having not been 
 executed was inoperative. 
 
 Thus we see there was a steady, although small, stream of incoming 
 colonists of the Reformed faith, who located in and a))out G(>rmant<iwn in 
 the earlier years of the Province. The great rush of the Palatines came 
 later, ^■\"hat opportunities had these primitive st^ttlers to worship after 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. , 11 
 
 the manner of their fathers in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and 
 France? Prior to 1710 we know of no clergymen of their faith in the 
 ■ Province. It may he, however, that upon occasion one or another of the 
 Reformed dominies at Manhattan Island penetrated southward through 
 the wilderness — such is, and always has been, the indomitable missionary 
 spirit of the Holland Church— to bring the Word to his fellow Chris- 
 tians at Germantown. If any did, there was an open door for him 
 here. There was built as early as 1686 a house of worship for the com- 
 mon use of the jjeople. Pastorius, in one of his letters to Europe, says: 
 "A^'ir haben allhier zu Germantown Ann. 1686 ein Kirchlein fiir die 
 Gemeinde gebauet" — We built here in Germantown in the year 1686 a 
 small church for the community. It was built for the Gemeinde — the 
 community. Gemeinde, it is true, is in America usually understood to 
 mean a religious society or congregation. But in Germany the word 
 means primarily a political district, comprising in its limits a State church. 
 A Gemeinde there comprehends all the inhabitants of the district, irre- 
 spective of their church connection. The government of Germantown 
 was set up, by special permission of Penn, upon the lines then and still 
 in vogue in the villages, or dorfs, of Germany. So it happened that 
 Pastorius caused the erection of a Kirchlein fiir die Gemeinde — a small 
 church not for any particular denomination, there being no State church 
 in Pennsylvania, but for the use of the community in general. 
 
 In the course of time the Reformed people of Germantown crystallized 
 into a congregation. On the 20th of May, in the year of Our Lord Jesus 
 Christ 1710, says a cotemporary record, Mr. Paulus Van Vlecq was in- 
 stalled pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ at Shamminie, Bensalem, and 
 Jermantown, and the neighboring villages. A congregation was organized 
 liy this minister, to meet the needs of the Germantown people, on the 4th 
 of June, 1710, under the name of the \\'hitemarsh church, with Hans 
 Hendrick Meels as senior elder, Evert Ten Heuven junior elder, and 
 Isaac Dilbeck senior deacon. On the 25th of December, 1710, the officers 
 installed were: Evert Ten Heuven, senior elder; Isaac Dilbeck, junior 
 elder; William Dewees, senior deacon; and Jan Aweeg, junior deacon. 
 On the same day, Christmas, 1710, Sibes Bartels and Marytje Hendricks 
 his wife, and Kasper Staels, were admitted to membership upon pro- 
 fession of faith. The recorded members of the congregation in 1711 were: 
 Hans Hendrick Meels, Isaac Dilbeck, Jan Aweeg, Antonie Cicert Verkes, 
 Geertruij Reinbergh, Marritje Blomerse, wife of Isaac Dilbeck, Catrina 
 (Christina?) Meels, wife of William Dewees, Annchen Barents, wife of 
 J. Pieterse, Maria Selle, wife of Gerret Ten Heuven, Evert Ten Heuven, 
 Johannis Jodden, Johannis Revenstock, Geertrui Aweeg, Elizabeth 
 Schipbouwer, wife of Evert Ten Heuven, Elsje Schol, Sibillae Revenstock, 
 wife of Hendrick Tibben, Margaret Bon, wife of Kasper Staels. Pastor 
 Van Vlecq' s ministry apparently ended here in 1712. 
 
12 THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 About the year 1720, John Phihp Bojhm, a parochial schoolmaster, 
 then just arrived from the Palatinate of the Rhine, began to hold religious 
 meetings among the Reformed settlers at Whitemarsh and elsewhere. On 
 the 23rd of December, 1725, he administered the commmiion to twenty- 
 four persons of the congregation which he had previously organized at the 
 house of William Dewees, who then lived in the Crefeld district, on the 
 Wissahickon. This congregation maintained an existence until 1745. 
 
 In 1727, George Michael Weiss, a regularly ordained Reformed min- 
 ister, a graduate from Heidelberg, was chosen pastor o" the Reformed 
 congregation then organized in Philadelphia. Aljouo the same time he 
 was placed over the High Dutch church at Germantown. On the 24th of 
 Novem))er, 1729, he was more specilically placed in charge of the Phila- 
 delphia and Germantown congregations by the ministers of the Dutch 
 Reformed Church of New York city. Pastor AVeiss then and there de- 
 clared his desire to become subordinate to the Classis of Amsterdam, and 
 promised to endeavor to bring his Germantown and Philadelphia congre- 
 gations into similar relations. At the same meeting the New York minis- 
 ters engaged to urge the Amsterdam Classis to send over whatever moneys 
 had been collected in Europe in behalf of the congregations of Mr. ^^''eiss 
 at Germantown and Philadelphia. 
 
 Weiss went to Holland the following Spring in quest of funds for the 
 churches, Init when he returned to America he did not resume the pastor- 
 ate at Germantown and Philadelphia, but preached in the Province of 
 New York for some years, and then came back to Pennsylvania, engaging 
 in pastoral labors in the interior. 
 
 ,T0HX BEf'HTEL. 
 
 In 1726, John Bechtel, a native of Weinheim, about twenty miles 
 north of Heidelberg, came to Germantown. "Reared in the German 
 Reformed Church, and being an earnest, pious man, two years after he 
 settled in Germantown," according to John \V. Jordan, of the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania, "he began to hold religious meetings for his 
 Reformed brethren in the town, and was instrumental in doing much good 
 prior to the arrival of Schlatter and the organization of a Synod. At first 
 he kept these meetings in his own house, not only on Sundays, but evcr\' 
 morning and evening on week-days. The congregation which he gathered 
 built a small church on Market Square, and in 1733 he was given a call 
 as pastor, and a license to preach was sent him from Hcidelbero- Univer- 
 sity. * * * He was not ordained, however, until April IS, 1742, and 
 then by Bishop Nitschman of the Moravian Church." 'What place of 
 worship the Reformed people of (iermantown had prior to the building of 
 the church referred to by Mr. Jordan is not at present clear. The pains- 
 taking and exceedingly thorough editors of the English edition of the 
 Halle Reports — Rev. Dr. Schmuckor and Rev. Dr. Mann — sav the corner- 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 13 
 
 stone of a Reformed church was laid here in 1719 by the Swedish pastor. 
 However this may be, as late as January 9, 1733, in a list of church 
 edifices in C4ermanto\vn reported by Arent Hassert, Jr., a native of Hol- 
 land, but long a resident of Philadelphia, no mention is made of a Re- 
 formed church. He wrote: German town is six English miles from 
 Philadelphia. It has a large Quaker meeting house (the name by which 
 the Quaker chxirches are called), a Iligh Oierman Mennonite church, and 
 a similar one in which the Crefeld or broken Hollandish is used. Has- 
 sert' s report was made at the request of the Synods of South and North 
 Holland and is preser\'ed at The Hague. 
 
 We come now to the first purchase of lantl on Market Square for a 
 church. It was a lot containing one-eighth of, an acre of ground. It was 
 con\'eyed on the 8th of November, 1732, by Henry Frederick, of German- 
 town, carpenter, and Anna Barbara, his wife, to John Bechtel, turner, 
 Christopher Meng, mason, Jacob Bauman, carpenter, and George Bensel, 
 yeoman, in trust for the Reformed congregation. In the trust deed made 
 Ijy these persons, on the yth of November, 1732, it is recited that ""said 
 land and premises were so as aforesaid conveyed unto vis by the direction 
 and appointment of the inhabitants of Gei'mantown aforesaid belonging to 
 the High Dutch Reformed Congregation ... in Trust to the intent only 
 that "we, or such or so many of us as shall be and continue in unity and 
 religious fellowship with the said High Dutch, Reformed congregation, and 
 remain members of the same . . . shall hold it for the benefit, use and 
 behoof of the said congregation forever and for a place to erect" a meeting 
 house for the use and service of the said congregation. ' ' The description 
 of the lot was as follows: Beginning at a stone set for a corner (by the 
 Germantown Market Place), lieing also a corner of Nicholas Delaplaine's 
 land, thence by the same northeast eight perches and four foot to a stone 
 set for a corner, thence southeast two perches and seven foot to a stone set 
 for a corner by land late of John Midwinter, thence by the same south- 
 west eight perches and four foot to a stone set for a corner by the ' said 
 Market Place, thence Ijy the same northwest two perches and seven foot, 
 to the place of beginning. 
 
 The land purchased was part of lot No. 10, on the main street in the 
 original plan of the toMai. On the 18th of Sixth month (August), 1689, 
 Francis Daniel Pastorius, partner and attorney of the Frankfort Company, 
 deeded fifty acres to Dirk op den Kolck, in compensation for work done 
 in Germantown under a contract March 23rd, 1686, for Thomas Von 
 Willich and Johannes le Brun, partners in said company. By the terms 
 of this contract Op den Kolck was to work for his employers one day of 
 each week for the period of four years. Op den Kolck, by deed poll 
 dated and acknowledged the 6th of Third month, 1691, transferred this 
 tract of fifty acres to James de la Plaine. It is described as bounded 
 along the Mill street ;md Wolter Simon's land on the one side and with 
 
• 14 THE CHURCH AT IMARKET SQUARE. 
 
 the lot of Wigart Levering on the othrr side. On the 6th of Eleventh 
 month (January), 1701, James Delaplaine sold to the Bailiff, Burgess and 
 Commonalty of Gennanto^vn, pne-half acre for a market place. It had a 
 front of fourteen perches on the main street, and a depth of five and three- 
 quarters perches. May 30, 1723, James Delaplaine and Hannah, his 
 wife, conveyed seventeen and a quarter acres of his land, part of the fifty 
 acres, to John Midwinter. April 26, 1727, John Midwinter and Sarah, 
 his wife, granted to Henry Frederick a half quarter of an acre, i)art of the 
 seventeen and a quarter acres. This one-half quarter acre, we have seen, 
 was purchased for the Reformed congregation in 1732. 
 
 The following year, 1733, a house of worship was erected upon the 
 lot. It was well built of stone, and of good capacity. Rev. John Philip 
 Boehm, in a communication addressed to the Holland Church authorities, 
 in 1739, describes it as "Eine wohlgebaute, ziemlich grosse Kirch, von 
 Steinen." 
 
 In 1733, Rev. John Bartholomew Rieger jireached in Gennantown. 
 We do not understand that John Bechtel had any relations with the 
 congregation at this time other than as lay member and voluntary leader 
 of meetings of its members. Under date of March 4, 1733, (unless this 
 is 1731, it must have been before the new church was built) the consistory 
 of the Philadelphia Reformed congregation wrote a letter to Holland, in 
 which is this statement: The Skippack, Germantown and Philadelphia 
 congregations have a minister — Bartholomew Rieger — who came a year 
 and a half ago to take the place of Dominie AVeiss. He preaches on one 
 Sunday at Skippack, the second at Germantown, and the third at Phila- 
 delphia. Mr. Bartholomew alsf) attached his signature to his letter thus: 
 
 Job : Barth : Rieger, Verbi divini 
 
 Minister Eccles: ad V. D. Reformatorium 
 t|uix Christo Philadelph : Germantown : 
 et Colliguntur. 
 
 In 1734, the year following the construction of the church, the con- 
 gregation numbered thirty members. So Mr. Bwhm advised Holland, 
 on the authority of figures received from two of the ciders, Jleng and 
 Bensel. In October of the same year Boehm characterizes Germantown 
 as a place jjossessing many advantages—' 'een seer vi)ordelige plaats. ' ' It 
 appears that Rieger had now left Philadelphia and Germantown. In the 
 same letter, upon request, Pastor Boehm points out to the Synod of South 
 and North Holland how four additional pastors could be usefully placed 
 in Pennsylvania. Among his suggestions was this: One minister to take 
 charge of the Philadelphia and Gennantown congi-egations, and in con- 
 nection with the latter the Whitemarsh congregation could be served as it 
 was but four English miles away. ' 
 
 It may be- proper to explain at this point the reason for the activity 
 of Rev. Mr. Brehm in the affairs of the Germantown congregation of 
 
 e 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 15 
 
 which he was not, and had not been, so far as we are advised, at any 
 time pastor. From the year 1729 the Reformed churches of Pennsyl- 
 vania generally, few in number it is true, were subordinate to the Holland 
 Church authorities. A year or two before this date the Synods of South 
 and North Holland began to contribute money for the sustentation and 
 advancement of these Pennsylvania congregations. The Hollanders were 
 able and eager to supply the men and the money necessary for the up- 
 building of the Church. They went about this matter in a methodical 
 yvaj. Their first step was to find out where the congregations were, what 
 others could be judiciously organized, and how much money each would 
 undertake to contribute for the support of its pastor. The Hollanders 
 tried several means to obtain the required information, but without suc- 
 cess. They then applied to Mr. Boehm for help in this respect. He had 
 lieen here for about ten years, was well acquainted with the condition of 
 affairs, and proceeded energetically to supply detailed statistics and facts. 
 When sufficiently informed they sent over the needed ministers, Bibles, 
 books for parochial schools, and money to build churches and pay school- 
 masters. In 1793 these relations between the Holland and Pennsylvania 
 churches ceased. A great debt of gratitude is due to noble Holland — an 
 obligation hardly acknowledged — for its unstinted liberality to the Penn- 
 sylvania Reformed congregations for a period of nearly sixty-five years. 
 
 An idea of the confused state of the affairs of the Market Square 
 church in 1738 may be gathered from the advices sent from Pennsylvania 
 jMarch 1, 1738, by Rev. Mr. Dorsius, sent from Holland for the special 
 purpose of examining and reporting upon the state, of the several Penn- 
 sylvania churches, who wrote: At Germantown, six English miles distant 
 from Philadelphia, is a fine church but a miserable minister, a Quaker- 
 inclined weaver, who performs all the work of a minister there, although 
 not authorized to do so. (Tot Germantown ... is well een fraai kerk 
 maar een ellendingen leeraar, een quaker-gezinden wever die daar alle het 
 werk van eenen leeraar verrigt zonder daartoe geregtigt te zyn. ) 
 
 A glimpse of the condition of the congregation in 1740 was obtained 
 by me in the Church archives at The Hague, in a report made, at the 
 request of the Holland church people for a statement of the sum the 
 congregation felt able to pay towards a pastor's salary. The response to 
 the inquiry was, translated from the German, as follows: 
 
 Owing to dissensions caused by all kinds of sectarian persons the 
 Germantown church is in a very pitiable condition. However, if the 
 Germantown and Whitemarsh congregations can be united. Ten Pounds 
 Pennsylvania money can be collected annually for a pastor's salary. 
 Signed as members of the congregation, by 
 
 Jacob Baumann, 
 Germandon, 18th March, 1740. Johann Nicklaus Rausch. 
 
 The year 1742 was the most turbulent in the annals of Market Square 
 church. On the 24th of November, 1741, Count Zinzendorf came to 
 
16 THE CHURCH AT MARKET SCiUARK 
 
 Philadelphia, having as one of his purposes a scheme to unite the leading 
 men of the several denominations in Pennsylvania, especially the Cei- 
 mans, for evangehcal work. John P.eehtel at <.mce entered heartily mto 
 the movement. Henry Antes, a pr.jminent Reformed churchman, issued 
 a call for the first meeting in furtherance of this ohject to he held m Ger- 
 mantown on New Year's Day, 1742. Market H^uare Reformed church 
 was now the storm centre. John Philip Brehm, who ai^pears to have at 
 this time.l)een nominal pastor here, in connection with his pastorate of 
 Philadelphia and other congregations, vehemently o])posed the in-ojcr.t^ of 
 the Count from the uutset. But Bechtel and those of his way of thinking 
 were in control. On the 31st of December, 1741, the Count was invited 
 to preach in the church, and he did so. But of course contrary to the 
 wishes of Bcehm. The fifth conference of the repix'sentatives of the Zin- 
 zendorfian movement was held, April 17-20, 1742, h; this church. On 
 Sunday, April 18, 1742, Bishop Nitschman consecrated Bechtel to the 
 office of inspector, overseer, and teacher, over the Reformed preachers m 
 Pennsylvania. [Fi-esenius Nachrichten, Dritter Band, Frankfurt und 
 Leipzig, 174.S, p. LS;-!.] On the second day of Easter, the same year, 
 according to Boshm, Bechtel arranged to administer the communion to the 
 members of the church, and some accepted it from him. Count Zinzen- 
 dorf came to German town on New Year's eve (December 31, 1742), and 
 preached in the Reformed church. Nine days later he sailed from New 
 York for Europe. In the i-ourse of the year 1742, the aims of the Count 
 and his friends were greatly modified. The establishment of the Moravian 
 Church in Pennsylvania was the outcome of their efforts. Mr. Bechtel' s 
 connection with the Reformed Church of Germant(jwn terminated in 
 1744. In 1746 he removed to Bethlehem, and there jwrformed respon- 
 sible duties for the Moravians. Mr. Boehm's influence at Ciermantown 
 now became stronger. The congregation now accejtted the ordinances of 
 the Holland Church, which under Mr. Bechtel' s ministrations it had 
 refused to do. 
 
 A graphic recital of doings at our first Market Square t'hurch during 
 its early years is given in another manuscript preserved in the archives at 
 The Hague. It was forwarded to the Holland Chirrch Fathers l)v John 
 Philip Boehm in 1744. Its WTiter had strong prejudices, for which allow- 
 ance must l)e made. Divested of its sharp strictures on Ba>hm's oiipo- 
 nents, the narrative runs substantially as follows: 
 
 As to the congregation at German town: It is true, they built a hand- 
 some stone church, many years ago, for which they are still considerably 
 in debt; but against our admonitions, warnings , and protestations thev 
 have continually p(Tinitted the believers of all kinds of erroneous views 
 to Ijecom* associated with them. Bartholomew Rieger, while pastor at 
 Philadelphia, preached for them a short time. When he left them they 
 permitted John Bechtel to preach rcsgulaxly in their church. So also did 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 17 
 
 the aged Samuel Gulden, who according to his own printed writings was 
 formerly minister of the three principal churches of Berne in Switzerland, 
 but on account of his Pietism was forced to leave, and then came to this 
 country. At this time he resides in Germantown and much of the time 
 he preaches in their church. At the same time they allow a sectarian 
 crowd to assemble therein every Sunday afternoon. Among these people 
 is one of the Inspired, another a Pietist, a Separatist — persons of all the 
 denominations known here. These meet in the church, select a subject 
 from the Bible, and then discuss it. The pubUc calls these persons dis- 
 putants; but they call themselves the free assembly. At other times they 
 allowed Count Zinzendorf and his Moravians to occupy the church and 
 the Count to preach therein. And John Bechtel, the turner, was one of 
 the Count's most willing lieutenants. But because the Count became 
 involved in a difficulty with the Separatists, who pressed him too hard, 
 he turned the congregation at Germantown over to his brother, the said 
 John Bechtel, took his departure, and went to Philadelphia. 
 
 Now the unthinking people allowed themselves to be led captive by Bech- 
 tel. He promised in future to teach faithfully the Reformed doctrines by 
 conforming to the Heidelberg catechism in every respect. With this under- 
 standing they engaged him on the 27th of January, 1743, to be their 
 minister for the term of one year, making a written contract. But scarce- 
 ly a week elapsed before he requested the four chosen wardens of the con- 
 gregation to subscribe to a letter omitting the 80th and the 114th ques- 
 tions=!= from the Heidelberg Catechism. Asked why? he replied; The 
 80th question is not needed in this country, and the 114th (said he) was 
 not true, because those who had become converted to God cease to commit 
 sins, and can not only keep the commandments of God, but that it was 
 very easy for them to do so. Whereupon the greater part of the congrega- 
 tion became dissatisfied; l)ut as they had made a written agreement thej^ 
 had to submit until the expiration of the year. In the course of the year 
 a gallery was built in the church, and an organ was purchased for sixty 
 pounds and placed in the gallery. At the end of the year which the con- 
 tract covered, on the 27th of January, 1744, the membership again 
 became masters and Bechtel was discharged, and he left the church; but 
 for the expense of building the gallery and for the cost of the organ they 
 are responsible, and the sums paid on account or contributed for the pur- 
 pose they must restore. How this can be done I cannot figure out. 
 
 But as these people are of steadfast disposition, and can be relied 
 upon, and with a view to bringing the congregation under the rules of the 
 church, it was worth while to offer them a helping hand. But up to this 
 time they have not made a request to come under our rules. 
 
 ♦The 80th question is: What difference is there between the Lord's Supper and 
 the Popish mass? The 114th question is: But can those that are converted to God 
 perfectly keep these (the Ten) commands ? 
 
LS THE CHUECH AT MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 For when they had been releaseii l)y Bechtel, and almost all the neigh- 
 boring Reformed people, from far and wide, came the Sunday thereafter 
 (the most of the members of Whitemarsh being also present) to take 
 counsel with each other as to placing the congregation in good condition, 
 (William de Weese, the Whitemarsh elder, testifies to this) there was not 
 a single member present who did not vote to call me to Germantown to 
 become the regular minister there, in conjunction with the A\'hitemarsh 
 congregation. But as one miist be circumspect when dealing with such 
 people, it so happened, on the 20th February last (1744), when passing 
 the house of a man named Meng at Germantown, I stopped to speak to 
 him concerning these things. I informed him that I was very glad that 
 the matter had finally been brought so far. And that if the people would 
 come under the ordinances, and into Christian fellowship with the 
 Whitemarsh congregation, whose regular minister of God's W^ord I was, 
 I was heartily willing to undertake to ser^-e them. I desired a written 
 declaration to this effect. Meng replied : That shall be done. But they 
 have not done so. It appears one man who has arbitrary power is op- 
 posed to coming under the ordinances. This member of the congregation 
 upon his o-tvn responsibility, on the 11th of March, allowed a wandering 
 minister, named Slotemaker, from Raritan, to preach in the church. And 
 this was done without consulting the four elected elders. This informa- 
 tion I have from one of them. 
 
 This act I regard as no better than was the taking of Bechtel. The 
 more so because Bechtel on a Sunday in the latter part of the year of his 
 service preached in the morning and announced that in the afternoon 
 Slotemaker, who was then present, would preach. And this came to 
 pass. From this one may judge that Bechtel and Slotemaker are of the 
 same character and that they play into each other's hands. 
 
 A word as to the severe comments in this communication. Bcehm 
 its author, had been ordained to the ministry by the Reformed clergymeii 
 in New York by authority from Holland, and he had brought the "^Penn- 
 sylvania congregations, as far as he was a)ile to do so, under the rules 
 governing the Holland Church. He looked to Amsterdam for inspiration 
 in matters of doctrine and for guidance in matters of government. He 
 had organized congregations in the various sections of the Province settled 
 by Reformed colonists. This was a difficult task, requiring many lono- 
 journeys on horseback into the inland wililerness. His strong ru^^o-ed 
 character was suited for this work in those rude times. He was a rigid 
 observer of the letter of the law of the Church, and he insisted upon entire 
 obedience from the congregations to that law. His comljative disposition 
 not unfrequently brought him into collision with individuals both of hi^ 
 own and of other denominations. The announcement of the Zinzendorfian 
 movement was the signal for instant resistaiuie from him He saw in its 
 success the probable disruption of the Pennsvlvania Reformed church 
 
THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 19 
 
 organizations. Accordingly he exhorted the membership to shun it. 
 Snch of them as disregarded his warnings, one of whom was Bechtel, he 
 pursued with severest censure. He issued two pamphlets, couched in 
 strong language, in opposition to the unity movement. His vigorous 
 exertions saved the Reformed Church from disintegration. 
 
 Bechtel was a man of quite different disposition. He was meek, 
 averse to strife, obedient to the spirit rather than the letter of the law of 
 the Church. He leaned to the Swiss view of Reformed Church doctrine. 
 He did not make submission to the rules for church government prescribed 
 by the Holland authorities; nor was he ever a beneficiary of Holland's 
 largess. When Zinzendorf came upon the scene, Bechtel hastened to his 
 stanr'ard. In the movement for unity of Christ's followers, he saw the 
 realization of his heart's desire. Doctrine concerned him little. His 
 main endeavor was to find the footsteps of the Redeemer that he might 
 walk therein. \\'hen Boehm was inveighing in his pamphlets, Bechtel 
 was calmly compiling a catechism. Bechtel' s work was limited to the 
 Germantown congregation. He followed the trade of turner, and was in 
 comfortable circumstances. In all probability he received no compensa- 
 tion for his religious labors. If we read the character of the man aright, 
 his sense of duty as a follower and lover of Jesus would have recoiled 
 from accepjting pay for doing the Master's work. 
 
 Let us not misjudge these two unlike men. Both are deserving of 
 honor. Boehm stands forth as the zealous founder and preserver of the 
 Reformed Church in Pennsylvania. Bechtel comes down to us as a guile- 
 less teacher of the "Word, who longed and jsrayed and worked for the 
 salvation of men. 
 
 And now let us turn to a few more items of interest touching the 
 Market Square Church, gleaned from the manuscripts in the archives at 
 Rotterdam and The Hague. A letter dated 14th July, 1744, from the 
 members of the German Reformed congregation of Germantown, address- 
 ed to the deputies of the Synods of South and North Holland, was 
 signed by 
 
 Niklaus Achs, Eltester Fridrich Lorentz 
 
 Fritrich Gortner, Eltester Conrad Weydner 
 
 Jacob Bauman Hanes Biiber 
 
 Christoph Meng Henrich Bard 
 
 George Bensel Johannes Von Sanden 
 
 Daniel Kroninger Jacob Madori 
 
 Jacob Kunff (?) Johann Georg Riess 
 
 Jacob Weidman Jacob Maag 
 Bastian Miiller 
 Adam Miiller 
 
 This letter was received and read at the Synod of South Holland, 
 held at Gouda, July 6-16, 1745. 
 
 In 1745, the Germantown congregation received some additions to its 
 
20 THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 membership from a nearby source, as explained by a letter -written by 
 Rev. Mr. Boehm to the Holland supporters of the Pennsylvania churches. 
 His words are: The Whitemarsh congregation, which at all times consist- 
 ed of but few members, has, through the death of the aged, faithful elder, 
 William Dewees, come to a standstill (because his house was at all times 
 our church, but since his death it can be so no longer, nor is there oppor- 
 tunity at hand to worship elsewhere, much less the means to build a 
 church). The lower portion of the membership has gone to German- 
 town, which will serve to strengthen that congregation somewhat. 
 
 In 1746, Rev. Michael Schlatter, a Swiss Reformed minister, was 
 sent by the Holland Synods to Pennsylvania to supervise the churches 
 here. He assumed the pastorate of Philadelphia in connection with his 
 duties as superintendent. He wrote letters from Philadelphia dated 
 September 28, and October 3, 1746, which were read at the meeting of 
 the Synod of South Holland held at Gorichem .July 4-14, 1747, in which 
 he stated that he had jjreached at Germantown, and that in this congrega- 
 tion fifty-five men had subscribed the sum of £24 Pennsylvania money- 
 He advised making one charge of the Philadelphia arid Germantown 
 churches, with one service in each every Sunday. The congregation was 
 in good condition. When it was further canvassed, eighty-two male 
 members, whose names are in the Holland archives, subscribed £34 
 towards maintaining a pastor. A few of the principal subscribers ^vere : 
 Sebastian -Miller, deacon, £1 5 0; Nicholas Rebein, £1; Nicol Rausch, 
 £1; Joh. Georg Ries, £1; Jac. Bauman, elder, £1; Paulus Geisel, £1; 
 Christian Geisler, £1; Christofi Meng, elder, £1. 
 
 In 1747, in pursuance of his mission to introduce order among the 
 Reformed churches, Schlatter organized a Coetus, or Synod, subject to the 
 Holland Church government. At the initial meeting of the Coetus, held 
 in Philadelphia September 29, 1747, the Germantown congregation was 
 represented by Michael Schlatter, V. D. M., and Christophel Meng and 
 Paulus Geisel, elders. At the second Coetus, a year later, Mr. Schlatter 
 was still pastor of Germantown, in connection with the Philadelphia 
 congregation. 
 
 In 1752 a letter from Germantown congregation, dated 5th 9bris and 
 sent to Holland, was signed by these members : ' 
 
 Christoph Meng Jacob Caiman 
 
 Paul Geissel Sebastian Miiller 
 
 Nicholas Rehbein Johan Conrat Schutz 
 
 .Johann Georg Ries W^ilhelm Hoffman 
 
 .Johannes Zacharias Melcher Mono- 
 
 Henrich Schellenberg "^ 
 
 In the church books of the Race Street Reformed church is recorded 
 a, contract with Rev. William Stoy to preach for that congregation from 
 July 1, 1756, to July 1, 1757, for a stipulated sum. There is in this 
 instrmiient a postscript as follows : 
 
the; church at market square, 21 
 
 p. S. Hierbey ist austrucklich vorbehalten das weilen Hr. Pfarr Stoy 
 alien vierzehen Tag eine Predigt auf den Sontag in Germenton thun soil, 
 der obstehende accord doch in alien ClaQsule (clauses ?) was das Salarium 
 angehet veststehen und bleiben soil. 
 
 P. S. It is ejfpressly reserved that although Rev. Mr. Stoy is to 
 preach a sermon on Sunday every fortnight, in Germantown, the fore- 
 going agreement shall remain in force in all its clauses touching the 
 salary. 
 
 In 1762 the church was renovated and enlarged. The rear end was 
 takgn out and an addition built which doubled its former capacity. We 
 hear in connection with this improvement of a steeple on the church. In 
 this steeple, we are told by the late Townsend Ward, a faithful historian, 
 hung the historic bell, cast in 1725, bearing the words: "Gott allein die 
 Ehre" — to God alone the glory. 
 
 In 1771 the congregation was chartered by the Proprietaries, under 
 tbe name of "The Minister, Trustees, Elders and Deacons of the German 
 Reformed Congregation in Germantown." The names mentioned in the 
 articles of incorporation are: "Christian Frederick Fcering, the present 
 minister, Christopher Meng, Ulrich Zollinger, John Moore and John 
 Bockeus, the present trustees; Jacob Weidman, John Unruh, John Dedier 
 and Godfrey Bockius, the present elders; Peter Smith, George Walter, 
 Jacob Hoffman and Jacob Ritter, the present deacons. ' ' These incor- 
 porators are required to apply the income to the maintenance and support 
 of the ministers and officers of the said congregation, and their church- 
 yards or burying grounds, and other houses which do now or hereafter 
 shall belong to the said congregation, and for erecting a parsonage and 
 supporting one church more and a school house in said town. ' ' 
 
 May 10, 1794, Christopher Ottinger, on behalf of the congregation, 
 bought two and a quarter acres, fronting on Germantown road. 
 
 This ancient church has played a patriotic ]Dart in our national his- 
 tory. Mr. Ward, already quoted, says: "In the battle of Germantown a 
 battalion of Virginians, under Colonel Matthews, having been taken pris- 
 oners, were lodged in the church." Watson says: "The church was 
 where, during the fever of 1793, Washington regularly worshipped, as 
 often as there was English preaching, a service performed occasionally by 
 Dr. Smith, from the Falls of Schuylkill." 
 
 A succession of distinguished divines — at least seventeen in number 
 — proclaimed the Gospel of Christ from the Market Square pulpit, during 
 the hundred years from the coming of Schlatter in 1746 to the pastorate 
 of Rev. Jacob Helfenstein. This is the honored roll: Michael Schlatter, 
 Conrad Steiner, William Stoy, John George Alsentz, F. C. Faber, C. 
 Frederick Fcering, J. C. Albertus Helffenstein, Samuel Debendorff, J. C, 
 Albertus Helffenstein, a second time; Frederick Herman, William Runkel, 
 
22 THE CHURCH AT MARKET SQUARE. 
 
 Charles Helffenstein, Frederick van der Sloot, Casper Wack, John H. 
 Smaltz Albert Helfienstein, Jr., Truman Osborn, Jacob Helfenstem. 
 
 During the pastorate of Reverend Jacob Helfenstein a radical change 
 took place; the congregation's old affiliations ceased, and the church took 
 a new departure. Mr. Helfenstein dissented from certain phases of the 
 doctrines taught in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church. 
 On the 27th of March, 1853, he preached a sermon, entitled A Perverted 
 Gospel, which was a forceful presentation of some of the points at issue. 
 By degrees the ties which bound Market Square church to the Reformed 
 Synod weakened more and more. The congregation sympathized with 
 their pastor. The statistics of the Classis of Philadelphia of the Reformed 
 Church show that in 1 850 the congregation had a communicant member- 
 ship of 425 and two Sabbath schools. In 1863, 445 communicant mem- 
 bers were reported. The two succeeding years, 1854 and 1855, no report 
 was made. In 1856 the name of the Germantown cburch and of its 
 Pastor, Helfenstein, disappeared from the records of the Reformed Church. 
 A union was effected about this time between this congregation and the 
 Presbyterian Church, which continues to the present time. 
 
 This is the history in brief of the Reformed Church of Germantown. 
 It is, in other words, the story of the genesis of the Market Square Pres- 
 byterian congregation. The career of the old church has been marked, as 
 we have seen, })y sharp contentions, heroic labors, disheartening failures, 
 blessed triumphs. Could the worthies of the former times be with us this 
 day, they would with one accord give thanks to the Almighty for the out- 
 come of their unsuccessful and successful efforts. For be it ever borne in 
 remembrance, what they did, one and all, whether in hot controversy or 
 in gentle ministration, was done in the firm faith of its righteousness and 
 was meant for the glory of God. Their work has yielded a noble fruitage. 
 What marv^ous changes Time has wrought ! Look around. The 
 prosaic market square of the olden time, once the site of the prison, the 
 stocks and the pound, is now dedicated to patriotism and art, crowned by 
 an ornate monument to the memory of the valorous great-great-great- 
 grandsons of the primitive settlers. Where stood the humble meeting 
 house of 1733, albeit of stone and fine for its day, this spacious temple of 
 worship, replete with modern appointments, now rears its beauteous 
 front, a striking example of present-day ecclesiastical architecture.