xt7xgx44rh9z https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7xgx44rh9z/data/mets.xml Lentz, H. Max. 1902 books b92-78-27212099 English P. Anstadt, : York, Pa. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Lutheran Church Kentucky. Lutheran Church Clergy Biography. History of the Lutheran churches in Boone County, Kentucky : together with sketches of the pastors who have served them / H. Max Lentz. text History of the Lutheran churches in Boone County, Kentucky : together with sketches of the pastors who have served them / H. Max Lentz. 1902 2002 true xt7xgx44rh9z section xt7xgx44rh9z

REV. H. MAX LENTZ.

A HISTORY

OF THS

Lutheran Churchce il Boone County, Kcntacky

TOGETHER WITH

Sketches of X Pastors Who Have Served qlkem

With Miany Illustrations

REV. H. MAX LENTZ

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR

YORK, PA.
P. ANSTADT SONS
I902

This page in the original text is blank.

To the many Boone County friends who for more than ten years
stood lovingly and loyally by the writer, and about whom
will cluster pleasant memories while life shall last,
these imperfect lines are affectionately

Vetcateb

This page in the original text is blank.

PREFACE.

LOCAL history often lacks appreciation. Valuable records are often
neglected or even destroyed and the people who make history
are careless in preserving facts for the future. The brief sketches
here prepared are the outgrowth of some articles published in a parish
paper, and running there through a series of a few years. There
have been changes and additions, but the importance of such work
was made manifest by the labor involved in gathering material for the
articles for the Banner.
The book has been printed with special reference to its acceptance
with those who continue the service of the Master in the Boone County
work, where so much of value has been accomplished in the past.
The work there does not show up great in figures, but in comfort and
strength for the weary toilers in the vineyard there has been much
done, and the churches of that region have been vast powers for good
in the lives of the citizens. The work has been a labor of love and we
have tried to accomplish it at odd moments in a busy life. The publi-
cation has been made possible by the cooperation of the following:
Mrs. E. V. Rouse, Messrs. M. P. Barlow, J. W. Crigler, J. B. Dixon,
W. E. Dixon, D. B. Dobbins, B. A. Floyd, Wm. E. Glacken, Wm. G.
Graves, G. 0. Hafer, Frank Hossman, R. C. McGlasson, B. C. Sur-
face, E. H. Surface, J. S. Surface, E. K. Tanner, J. H. Tanner and
M. M. Tanner.
No one is more conscious of the defects of the work than the
writer. His study of the whole subject has given him some advantage
in that line. Some of these defects he could not remedy and others
must be allowed because further expense could not be incurred.
Naught has been put down except in love, and we have endeavored
to handle facts in such a careful way that in the future the sketch
might prove of value to others who desired to make further investiga-
tion. The larger part of the cuts have been furnished by various
friends, and we have received much kindness and encouragement from
former pastors and other friends, for all of which we desire to express
grateful appreciation.

CHRISTMASTIDE, 1901.

This page in the original text is blank.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER

VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.

CHAPTER XI.
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
CHAPTER

XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Introductory,
The Emigration to Kentucky,
The Organization of Hopeful Church,
The Pioneers and their First Pastor,
The First Communion, a New Constitution
and a New Church,
The Death of Father Carpenter, His Successor
and His Family,
The Pastorate of Rev. Jacob Crigler,
Conclusion of Father Crigler's Pastorate,
The Pastorate of Rev. John Surface,
'The Second Vacancy and Its Supply by Rev.
Daniel Summers, - - - -
The Pastorate of Rev. D. Harbaugh,
The Pastorate of Rev. D. Harbaugh (Con-
tinued),
The Pastorate of Rev. J. G. Harris,
The Pastorate of Rev. W. G. Harter,
The Pastorate of Rev. Thomas Drake,
The Pastorate of Rev. W. A. G. Emerson,
The Pastorate of Rev. S. B. Hyman,
The Pastorate of Rev. W. C. Barnett,
The Interregnum at Ebenezer,
The Pastorate of Rev. A. J. Dou glas, - -
The Vacancy of 1884, - - -
The Pastorate of Rev. \V. H. Keller, -
The Pastorate of Rev. H. Max Lentz,
The Pastorate of Rev. S. E. Slater, -
The Parsonage,
The Joint Council,
Public Worship, Music, Sunday Schoolsand the
Burial of the Dead, -
Woman's Missionary Society and Young Peo-
ple's Societies,
Synodical Relations and Relation to Other
Denominations,

PAGE.
9
13
I 6
I9

28
33
36
40

44
46

49
53
57
6o
63
66
69
77
80
84
87
91
105
Io8
'II

115

1 22

1 2 7

V11.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.
Rev. H. Max Lentz, Frontispiece
Mrs. Susannah (House) Tan-
ner, - - - - 8
Joel Tanner, - - - 8
Ephraim Tanner, - - - 19
Simeon H. I'anner, - - 19
Jeremiah Carpenter, - - 2 1
Mrs. Julia Ann (Rouse) Car-
penter, - - - 2 1
W. E. Carpenter,- - - 22
Mrs. Mary F. Dixon, - - 23
Mrs. Susan Dixon, - - 23
Abel Carpenter, - - 24
W. V. Crigler, - - 30
" Old Kentucky Home," - 32
Silas Joshua Rouse, - - 36
Jacob Baxter Crigler, - 37
Jacob William Rouse, - - 37
W. 0. Rouse, M. D., - 38
Miss Ora E. Rouse, - - 38
Rev. John Surface, - - 40
Noah Surface, - - - 41
Benjamin Cornelius Surface, 41
John Silas Surface. - - 42
Eli Harris Surface, - - 42
Benjamin Tanner, - - 45
Rev. David Harbaugh, - 47
Rev. J. G. Harris, - - 54
Rev. Thomas Drake, - 61
Rev. W. A. G. Emerson, - 64
Rev. W. C. Barnett, - - 70
Rev. D. H. Bauslin, D. D., - 73
Rev. G. M. Grau, D. D., - 74
Rev. F. M. Porch, D. D., - 78
Rev. A. J. Douglas, - - 8i
Rev. Lloyd Douglas, - - 83

PAGE.
Rev. W. H. Keller, - - 88
Rev. Francis M. Keller, - go
J. C., Lentz, Rev. D. S. Lentz,
E. J. Lentz and Rev. A.
W. Lentz, - - - 94
Rev. H. Max Lentz and
family, - - 95
Jacob Lentz, - - - 96
Rev. E. K. Bell, D. D., - 97
Welcome Home, - - 98
Rev. H. Max Lentz, - - 99
Pastor's Birthday, - - 100
Rev. S. E. Slater, - - - 105
James M. Utz, - - - l09
M. P. Barlow, - - - I II
The Joint Council, - - 1 I 2
Frank Hossman, - - - JI3
W. E. Glacken, - - '13
Rev. C. W. Sifferd, D. D., - I I6
Mrs. Isabel Frances (Rouse)
Deiph, - - - I19
Fred. Shaffer Brittenhelm, - I9
Capt. W. H. Baker, - - 120
Mrs. Mary Serena Lentz, - 122
Mrs. Mallie Beemon, - 123
Mrs. Emma V. (Tanner)
Rouse, - - - - 123
Mrs. Mary (Tanner) Surface, 124
Mrs. S. D. Surface, - - 124
Mrs. Laura M. Lentz, - - 125
Mr. and Mrs. Ezra K. Tan-
ner, - - - - 126
Mr. John Cyrus Tanner, - 129
Mrs. Emily Frances (Crigler)
Tanner, - - - 129
Rev. W. H. Davis, - - I30

vii.

A History of the Lutheran Charches in Boone County, Ky.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY'.

12Y LANGUAGE, colonial connection and other ties of strength,
V the dominating influence in this country has been English, but
the German influence has been of no mean proportions. The Ger-
mans closely followed the English in point of time and numbers
and equalled them in heroic endeavor and later in devoted loyalty
to the independence of the colonies. Among the earliest of these
German colonists were a few Alsatians and Palatinates who had
started to Pennsylvania and who after many hardships during their
voyage, had been purchased by Governor Spottswood and sent by
him to his settlement on the Rappahannock River in Virginia, which
he called after them Germanna. These were recruited by a small
band of Palatinates from North Carolina who had escaped massacre
there and now came to Virginia to cast in their lot with their breth-
ren. 1'hese families were Protestant and had left their native land
because they were required to deny their faith. They had received
encouragement and some help from Queen Ann and now they re-
solved to try new homes in a strange land. They founded a church
at Germanna. which they called Hopeful Church, as expressive of
their feelings that the faith should be preserved and the Augsburg
confession be held as a lasting exposition of the truth of God's
word. There is some difference of opinion as to who was the first
minister to these people. Some think Rev. Gerhard Henkel was
their first pastor, and indeed that he was the first German pastor
in Virginia. On the other hand it has been maintained that Rev.
Henry Hoeger was their first pastor and the following extract seems
to favor that view very strongly.

030ONE COUNTY HISTORY.

From the letter book of the Venerable Society in England for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, we obtain the fol-
lowing document headed-
CASE OF THE GERINIAN FAMILIES IN TIHE YEAR I 720.
"The case of thirty-two Protestant German Families in Vir-
ginia humbly showeth :-That twelve Protestant German families
consisting of about fifty persons arrived April I7, in Virginia, and
were therein settled near the Rappahannock River. That in 1717,
seventeen Protestant German families consisting of about four score
persons came and settled down near their countrymen. And many
more both German and Swiss families are likely to come there and
to settle likewise. That for the enjoyment of the ministries of
religion, there will be a necessity of buildin, a small church in
the place of their settlement and of maintaining a minister who
shall catechize, read and perform divine offices among them in
the German tongue, which is the only language they do yet un-
derstand. That there went indeed with the first twelve German
families one minister named Henry Hoeger a very sober and
honest man of about seventy-five years of age, but he being
likely to be past service in a short time they have empowered
Mr. Jacob Christopher Zollicoffer of St. Gall, Switzerland, to go
into Europe, and there to obtain, if possible, some contributions
from pious and charitable Christians toward the building of their
church and bringing over with him a young German minister to
assist the said Mr. Hoeger in the ministry of religion and to
succeed him when he shall die; to get him ordained in England
by the Right Reverend Lord Bishop of London, and to bring over
with him the Liturgy of the Church of England, translated into
High Dutch, which they are desirous to use in public worship.
But this new settlement, consisting of but mean persons, being
utterly unable of themselves both to build a church and to make
up a salary sufficient to maintain such a minister, they humbly im-
plore the countenance and encouragement of the Lord Bishop of
London and others, the Lords, the Bishops, as also the Venera-
ble Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
that they would take their case under their pious consideration
and grant their usual allowance for the support of a minister
and if it may be to contribute something toward the building of
their church.

I O

PASTORATE OF' REV. JOHN CASPAR STOEVER, SR.

, And they shall ever pray that God may reward the be-
neficence both here and hereafter."
Later, about 1727, came John Caspar Stoever, Sr., as their
pastor, and by him a second church was built some distance from
Germanna, and this church, which was called Hebron, gradually
absorbed all the German strength.
Colonel Byrd in his visit to General Spottswood in I732, speaking of Ger-
manna, says, " The famous town consists of Col. Spottswood's enchanted castle
on one side of the street and a baker's dozen of ruinous tenements on the other
where so many German families had dwelt some years ago, but are now removed
some ten miles higher up the fork of the Rappahannock to land of their own. "r
Stoever was its first pastor, and he with two of the mem-
bers, Michael Schmidt and Michael Holden, went to Europe in
I 734 to collect a fund for the endowment of the church. In
this they were very successful, not only obtaining a large amount
of money, /3,oo, but also a valuable library for the use of the
pastors. One third of the money was used to pay the expense
of the voyage and for collecting, another third was used in build-
ing a frame chapel and the purchase of farm lands, and the other
third was used to purchase slaves to cultivate the lands."+
A candidate for the ministry, George Samuel Klug, offered
to return with them as an additional pastor, and he was or-
dained for the work in St. Mary's Church, Danzig, August 30,
1736. The young minister proceeded to his new home with one
of the laymen. Stoever remained in Germany, most of the time
with John P'hilip Fresenius, at Darmstadt, for the purpose of
completing the collections, and finally died at sea on his return
in 1738. Much could be written about the history of these
early fathers but the most important part of their history could
not be written even if we had full data. Their hardships, temp-
tations and struggles and triumphs are known only to one who
kept all their tears in a bottle. The Pennsylvania Synod, at its
session in Lancaster, Pa., in June, 1784, was petitioned by the
Lutherans in Rockingham, Shenandoah and Frederick counties in
Virginia to ordain Paul Henkel as a pastor for them or to ex-

Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia. Vol. II. pp. 75 if.
-Meade's Old Families of Virginia. Vol. IT. p. 75.
.'Amnerican Church History. Vol. IV. p. i85.

I I

12 BOONE COUNTY HISTORY.

tend his license to act in that capacity. He was followed by
Rev. William Carpenter, who became pastor in I 787, and when
he removed in I8I3, Rev. Paul Henkel, who was then at New
Market, again became pastor of Hebron Church. Pastors Kurtz,
Goering and J. G. Butler had often preached in both Hopeful
and Hebron churches on the Rappahannock and the Rapidan.t-

tSee Ratterman's History of Hopeful Church in Boone County, Ky.

PASTOLRATE OF' REV. W.M. CARPlENT IEIR.

CHAPTER II.

THE EMIGRATION TO KENTUCKY.

THE first settlement in Boone county was made at Peters-
1 burg, then called Tanner's Station, from the Rev. John Tanner,
the first Baptist preacher in this part of the State. The settle-
ment was made on his lands by a company from Pennsylvania,
some twenty years earlier than the settlement from Virginia,
which was followed in a few months by the organization of
Hopeful Church. Boone county was settled within a few years
after the first settlement of the state at Harrodsburg and Boons-
borough. The times were still in great confusion, and the great
events of the recent years were fresh in mind. Kentucky had
been known as Transylvania, and there had been many difficul-
ties of various kinds, which only partly ceased when the Tran-
sylvania colony had been given up and the country organized
as a county of Virginia, and called Kentucky.
About this time the State of Franklin was formed out of
the territory now known as Tennessee. The state was poor and
there was little or no money. It was enacted that a pound of
sugar should be worth a shilling, the skin of a raccoon or a
fox a shilling three pence, a gallon of good rye whiskey two
shillings six pence, a gallon of peach brandy or a yard of good
linen three shillings, etc. A bear skin, otter skin or deer skin
was to be worth six shillings. Much merriment was caused by
this, and it was claimed that at least this currency could not
be counterfeited, but it was not long before a bundle of otter
skins were found to be coon skins with otter tails sewed on
them. :
The leading currency of Virginia was tobacco, and the most
valued property was the slave. The early servants, as a rule,
were not Africans, but whites, who from poverty or crime had

History of the People of the United States. McMaster. Vol. 1. p. 264.

I ,

BOONE COUNTY HISTORY.

fallen into slavery. Indeed we have seen that some of the Ger-
man fathers, starting for Pennsylvania, were sold for their pas-
sage, and thus they came to Virginia, and their descendants af-
terward to Kentucky. At one time (167I) there were three white
servants to one black in Virginia. Later white slavery was dis-
continued, and the bondage of the blacks was made perpetual.
Kentucky was organized as a separate territory in 179o, and
was admitted as the second state in the Union in 1792, and
our church history proper opens a few years later.
Rev. Wi'm. Carpenter, then pastor at Madison, Va., made a
journey to KentUcky in 1804. His journal now before us records
the expense at eighteen pounds, or say ninety dollars, bUt he is
silent as to the object of his visit. As several families from Vir-
ginia moved here the year afterward, we are, no doubt, right in
assuming that he came to Kentucky on a tour of investigation,
and that those who came twelve months later came with his
approval and likely at his suggestion.
Rev. I). Harbaugh, in his history of Hopeful Church, says
that On the 8th of October, i 8o, the following brethren and
sisters left Madison, Va., viz:-George Rouse, Elizabeth RouLse.
John House, Milly House, Frederick Zinimerman, Rose Zimmer-
man, Ephraim Tanner, Susanna 'Tanner, John Rouse, Nancy Rouse,
and Elizabeth Hoffman. Thev, with their lamilies, arrived in Boone
Co. the 25th of November, 1805.
It is difficult for us at this time to conceive the trials and
the hardships of these early pioneers. 1 hey could bring but a
small part of their meagre possessions wvith them and they must
submit to a long, slow and dangerous journey. They gathered
with their grreat Conestoga wagons on the banks of the Rapi-
dan, and first went to New Market, Va. Thence they traveled
down the Shenandoah valley until they came to the Holston
river, and they followed up that until they struck the path that
Daniel Boone had made throuoh the forest from North Carolina
to Lexington, Ky. From Lexington they took the ridge route
(now Lexington Pike) to Kennedy's Ferry (Covington).
-The greater part of the country was then a perfect wil-
derness. These families, however, were furnished with cabins,
with the exception of George Rouse, who pitched his tent in
the dense forest, not far from where Hopeful Church now stands.
Burlington, the county seat of Boone County, consisted of a few

TrHE EMIGRATION To KEN'rUCKY. 1 5

houses, a log court house, and a log jail. Florence had no ex-
istence. Where Covington is now situated, there was a farm
and orchard. Cincinnati consisted of two brick and two frame
houses with a number of log cabins."
Here amid the beech forests, these hardy pioneers set them-
selves to work to help bring about the great results of the after
years.

A History of the Ev. Luth. congregation of Hopeful Church, Boone Co.,
Ky. A discourse delivered at Its 48tli anniversary, Jan. 6, 1854.

BOONE COUNTY HISTORY.

CHAPTER III.

'THE ORGANIZATION OF HOPEFUL CHURCH.

jS soon as the brethren had erected their cabins, they resolved,
though destitute of a good pastor, to hold religious meet-
ings in private families. The first meeting was held at George
Rouse's, at the close of I805, or at the beginning of i8o6.
The meetings were conducted in the following manner: after a
suitable hymn, one of the brethren offered prayer, after which
Ephraim TIanner read a sermon, selected from Rev. Schubert's
sermons. After the sermon, the exercises were concluded with
prayer and singing. These exercises were conducted in the Ger-
mant langagc an d kep t up regularly, unless Providentiall pre-
vented, eve,' Sabbathz for nearl eight years, or until October i813.
The old church in Madison Co., Va., was composed of both
Lutheran and Reformed members, and it was uniformly the cus-
tom at that time for the Lutheran and Reformed members to
worship in the same church. Indeed there was so little differ-
ence between them at some places, that it is an old story that
the only way you could tell them apart was by the Lutherans
saying - Vater unser" and the Reformed "I unser Vater."
When Ephraim Tanner wrote father Carpenter for advice,
he sent them a constitution and advised them to organize a
church, which they did January 6, i8o6. We have the old Ger-
man constitution with its signatures of the fathers before us.
Yellow and worn with age, we handle it tenderly, for it is a doc-
ument of precious value. Rev. H. in his discourse translates it
entire and we give his excellent translation:
" We, the undersigned, living in Boone County, State of Ken-
tucky, members of the Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Re-
formed Church, unite in the following articles of agreement for our
government:-
I. - We will unite in the establishment of public worship in
our midst, according to the Protestant faith, and by God's help we
will continually uphold it.

T'HIE ORGANIZATION OF HOPEFUL. CHURCHI.

2. We will unite in the erection of a small house, which
shall be regarded as a union house of worship, in which we will
unitedly worship God.
3. "One of us, for whom it is most convenient, shall give
an acre of ground upon which said house shall be built. And this
acre of ground, with all that shall be built thereon, or that per-
tains to it, shall forever belong to this united congregation and
their successors ; so that he who gives it shall not have the power
to sell it to any other person.
4. -To prevent discord and offenses, no one shall be per-
mittecl to conduct public worship in the house owned by us, un-
less he is a regular Lutheran or Reformed minister.
5. - We will assemble ourselves every Sabbath or as often
as circumstances will permit. and by reading a sermon and with
singing and prayer we will strengthen one another when we
have no pastor.
6. -We will unite in inviting a worthy minister, at least
once a year. or oftener if possible, to preach the Word of God
to us, according to the foundation of the prophets and apostles,
and administer the holy sacraments for wvhich we will reward
him according to our ability.
7. -It shall be the duty of each one belonging to this con
gregation to lead an orderly, Christian. and virtuous life; to ab-
stain from all gross sins, such as cuirsing, swearing, card-playing,
drunkenness, and all such ungodly actions.
8. "Should any one be guilty of any of the above sins,
which may God in his mercy prevent, then the remaining breth-
ren shall have the power and it shall be their duty to deal
with him according to the directions of our Savior: Matt. xviii.
15-17.
" The above articles shall remain unchanged until all the
members, or at least a majority of them, shall deem it neces-
sary to alter or amend them.
"Adopted on the 6th day of January i 8o6,
George Rouse, Ephraim Tanner,
John Rouse, John House,
Fred. Zimmerman, Michael Rouse,
John Beemon, Jacob Rouse,
Daniel Beemon, Simeon Tanner."

1 7

I8 BOONE COUNTY HISTORY.

Five of these brethren came in I 805, and five came later.
George Rouse gave an acre of ground on which to build a
church, and accordingly in 1807 they built a cabin church. "It
was a cabin church in reality, built of unhewn logs. The roof
and door were made of clapboards; the floor with puncheons,
and the seats were made of saplings. An opening was made at
each end by sawing out some logs for windows. These were
always open, that is, without sash or lights. They had neither
stove nor fire-place in it, and yet they met for worship during
the winter. Such were some of the inconveniences and privations
of our fathers and mothers."

Harbaugh's Historical Discourse pages 6-7.

The Tanner family has had a large
I= t place in the pioneer development of the
church and Ephraim Tanner and his de-
scendants have wielded the larger part
of that great influence. His wife, Mrs.
Susannah Tanner, was born in Madison
County, Virginia, November 20, 1784,
and died in Boone County, December
12, I870. She was among the early
settlers of this county, coming here with
her husband, Ephraim Tanner, ini 1805
The world owes a large debt of grati-
tude to the sturdy pioneers of those
early days who by great sacrifices and
MRS. SUSANNAH (HOUSE) TANNER labor prepared the way for better things
in our time. Mother Tanner was a
woman of character and influence in
her own day and her influence continues
to increase as the years move along.
She was the mother of fourteen children.
They became a large and growing influ-
ence in the community and their de-
scendants to-day are numbered by
scores, while by marriage they are re-
lated to practically everybody in this
vicinity. The quiet, pious, industrious
character of the parents has descended
to the generations following and Mother
Tanner's character may well be held
dear for long years to come while all _
about us are beheld the influences she _
helped to put in motion. JOEL TANNER.

Joel Tanner is past ninety-four years
of age and while he is unable to travel
far he is still active about home and is
in good health for one of his years. He
was for long years an active member at
Hopeful Church, but for some time he
has been unable to get to church; but he
has never lost his interest in the church
and he remains true to his profession of
4 faith. Ephraimn is ten years younger,
but he is fully as feeble as his elder
brother. He was also very active in the
church until recent years.
Moses Tanner was the most recent
of the brothers to pass away. He
died January 2, 1895, when more than
EPHRAIM K. TANNFR. seventy-six years old, and left a precious
memory as he was noted for a sincere____________
Christian man. Simeon, another brother,
died April I, 189I, aged 85 years, 4
months and 3 days. He left a large Z
family most of whom are active mem-
bers in one or another of the Boone
County churches. He had been an
active and faithful member for years
and was a leader in prayer and song,
and when near death's door he had
his sons sing and his pastor read and
pray with him. His widow under a
burden of years and heavy affliction
survived him a few years and kept her
faith firm amid all the trials of suffering
and infirmity. SIMEON H. TANNER.

DESCENDANTS OF REV. WM. CARPENTER.

CHAPTER IV.

THE PIONEERS ANI) THEIR FIRST PASTOR.

THE men who signed that first constitution were devoted and faith-
1 ful, and surely these hardy pioneers, here on the frontier holding
weekly services for nearly eight years without a pastor, are worthy of
much honor. Jacob RouLse had been a soldier all through the Revo-
lutionary war, and no doubt others of them who were younger were
heroes too, for they all made brave soldiers of the cross.
Ephraim Tanner, who was then not forty years old, had written
to Father Carpenter in Va., for a constitution and advice about organ-
izing a congregation, and when they began services, he usually read
the sermon. He was a man of strong character and far reaching in-
fluence. Simeon Tanner, who signed the constitution at the same
time, was his brother. Jacob, Aaron and MIoses 'Fanner, who united
later, were his brothers, while by his sisters he had a wide circle of re-
lations. Elizabeth married Solomon Hoffman; Susan became the wife
of Joshua Zimmermann; Annie married Benj. Aylor; Jeminia. Henry
Aylor; and Nellie married the Rev. Jacob Crigler.
He had fourteen children, Rhoda, who married Wm. Aylor, lien-
jamin, Frances who married AuLgustus Carpenter and afterward an
Adylotte, Simeon, Joel, Enos. Caleb, Joshua. Ephraim, Moses, Su-
sannah who married Eli Carpenter, Aaron, Cornelius, and Mary who
married Noah Surface. These nearly all, or possibly all, united with
the church, and some of them became very useful members. Many
interesting things are told of -Uncle Ben," who was decidedly active
and faithful. Joel, Ephraim and Mary are still spared though the
youngest is nearly three-score and ten. All the rest have gone to
their final rest and reward. The three remaining are all faithful mem-
bers at Hopeful, and we hope they may -go late to heaven."
From the first it was resolved that they would have a regular
minister, at least once a year, to administer the sacraments, and Rev.
Wm. Carpenter, of Madison, Va., came here at least twice for that
puLrpose. In October, 18I3, he moved here and became their first reg-

BOONE COUNTY HISTORY.

ular pastor. He was born in Virginia, May 20th, 1762. When only
sixteen years old, he entered the army and served as a soldier until
the close of the Revolution. He seems to have studied theology un-
der the Rev. G. Henkel. and, as he was a member of the Pennsylvania
Ministerium, it was likely he was ordained by that body. His ordina-
tion must have been satisfactory, for he was called upon to minister in
Episcopal pulpits without question !!
He was a man of good education and worthy character. We
have before us a system of theology which he likely copied from his in-
structor, but there were many reasons for believing that he was a good
scholar and a sound Lutheran. He was somewhat quiet and dignified,
but lie always had a pleasant greeting for every one. There must
have been much of the soldier militant in his appearance as he wore
knee breeches and gold buckles as long as he lived. He was a man
of means, but very kind to the poor, and the very soul of honor. At
one time. going to his crib, lie discovered a neighbor there stealing
corn. When he saw the preacher coming. he was greatly frightened
and began to empty his sack in a hurry. " Hold on ! Hold on!"
cried the parson, waving his cane at the frightened neighbor. "You
surely would not come here for corn unless you needed it. Now fill
your sack and go along, and when you need corn again, come and ask
me for it, and don't try to steal it." At another time a man by the
name of Jacobs who lived in the village of Covington, was trying to
buy corn, and he learned that Father Carpenter had corn for sale, so
he sent a man out over, or rather /hroug/h the mud roads to get corn,
with instructions to pay his price. On arriving he said, -Have you
any corn to spare " ' Yes, sir," was the reply. "I came out to buy
some." "Have you got the money to pay for it " said Father C.
Yes sir, I have." Well, then, you cannot get any corn here. If
you have money, you will have no trouble in getting corn. I must
keep my corn for poor people who have no money to buy."
It is said that he would sell only a small quantity (two bushels
a