Tulpehocken Evangelical and Reformed Church, Richland, Lebanon County

How would you like to be able to pay your rent in flowers? 

'Red rose rent' is specified as being a type of "quit-rent," which is not a commonly used term nowadays. It has its roots in feudal Europe, in which a tenant either worked the land or provided military services for his liege lord (either the king or a lesser noble) in lieu of paying rent or taxes on the property he occupied. In essence, the quit-rent took the place of feudal services. The practice continued all the way into colonial America, where the quit-rent was more or less a kind of land tax. In the case of 'red rose rent,' though, it's a merely symbolic gesture, usually because the person creating the rental agreement was being generous for one reason or another. For the princely sum of one red rose every year, the renter continues to have the full use of a specified building or tract of land.

I don't think there are too many modern examples of 'red rose rent' being used anymore, the economy being what it is. But here in Pennsylvania, there are a number of historic locations which still pay homage to the tradition, and one of these is a church in Lebanon County.

The man who set up this particular rental was named Caspar Wistar, which is probably the only fact about him on which every source is in agreement. The records surrounding him are all a bit muddled - some say he was born in Germany, some say he was born in Philadelphia. Some say he was born in 1717, some say that was the year he came to America. Some say he was a glassmaker, some say he was a doctor. Like I said, rather muddled and confusing. It doesn't help that some of the records directly contradict one another - according to the records of the University of Pennsylvania, he became a doctor after being a teenage nurse during the Battle of Germantown in 1777, yet the plaque you'll see later in this article has him setting up the 'red rose rent' on some of his property in 1745, at which time he couldn't have even been born if the Germantown story is true.

Eventually, however, I figured out what was happening - or at least, I think I did. (As always, if you have information which proves me wrong, let me know!) It seems that there were two Caspar Wistars. The first one, the glassmaker, was married to Elizabeth Mifflin, a niece of Pennsylvania's first governor Thomas Mifflin. He's the one whose actions led to this week's quest. Caspar and Elizabeth had two sons, Richard and Mifflin, and Richard in turn had a son named Caspar in honor of his grandfather. This younger Caspar was the doctor, the one who turned to medicine after the Battle of Germantown, and was later a teacher at the University of Pennsylvania and good friends with Thomas Jefferson. It took me a while to unravel the tangle, and the only reason I finally found the answer is because I tried searching for Caspar Wister, with an E. That seems to be the spelling attached to the grandson. But many of the records retain the Wistar spelling for him, thus leading to him being frequently mixed up with his grandfather.

Whether I'm researching history or playing a video game, I'm always interested in the lore, and when the lore disagrees with itself it always bothers me a little. So I'm glad I could get that (presumably) sorted.

Caspar Junior was a fascinating character and I enjoyed learning about him. But for the purposes of this blog post, we're talking about Caspar Senior. He was rich - really, really rich. Through a series of intelligent land purchases, he amassed roughly 22,000 acres of Penn's Woods. At one point he owned more land in Pennsylvania than anyone else except the Penn family themselves. Being wealthy and comfortably established, Caspar was inclined to be generous, and - calling on the traditions of his ancestors in Germany's Palatinate region - he set up a handful of 'red rose rent' situations with his various neighbors.

The first of these was created in what today is the community of Richland, just outside of Myerstown. Caspar granted a hundred acres to some of his fellow Germans so that they could have a place to build a church, and in exchange all he asked was the annual gift of a red rose. On this land, they built an enduring church building, seen here, as well as a schoolhouse, and they also established a cemetery for their faithful departed. The congregation traces its origins to 1727, and the church originally bore the name of Trinity Reformed. It later became the Tulpehocken Evangelical and Reformed Church, because the property was originally part of Caspar's Tulpehocken holdings.

Today, the church is called Tulpehocken Trinity. Its modest exterior conceals some stunning interior views, and they maintain a number of community outreach programs. The church building is also home to the Church of God the Good Shepherd (Iglesia de Dios El Buen Pastor), a Spanish-speaking ministry which hosts services there on Saturday mornings. 

And yes, the rose is still paid to this day. You can see here the original PHMC marker, a bronze plaque on the side of the church building, paying its respects to the generosity of Caspar. The church wall also holds a smaller plaque, dated 1987, "In continuing recognition of The Deed of 1745 by Caspar Wistar, from his descendants." Since 1745, the congregation has held an annual ceremony called the Rose Feast Celebration, and as part of the festivities they present a red rose to a direct descendant of Caspar Wistar. In 1902, they started also presenting a white rose to the descendants as a token of their gratitude.

It's been almost three hundred years since the pact was made, but I guess you could say that Caspar's gift is still blooming.

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Sources and Further Reading:

Official website of Tulpehocken Trinity

Groh, Joshua. "The stories behind six lesser-known historical markers that can be found in Lebanon County." Lebtown.com, July 28, 2021 (updated March 23, 2024).

Atkinson, Stephen. "Caspar Wistar and 'The Red Rose Rent'." PeachRidgeGlass.com, September 26, 2013.

Tulpehocken Evangelical and Reformed Church and One Red Rose at the Historical Marker Database 

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.