Today is April Fool's Day, but this is not a prank: the hit count on this blog in the month of February was over 28,000, which was an all-time high. But in March? You crazy history fiends smashed that number! March ended with a monthly hit count of 39,726, and I was stunned speechless. That's a rare event, as many people could tell you. So whoever has been coming here and reading what I have to say, thank you so very much. It means a lot.
There are a lot of history-related events happening around here in the coming weeks, now that the onion snow has fallen and winter is finally leaving us. In particular, on April 11th and 12th, the community of Trappe will be dedicating the Speaker's House, which was the home of Frederick Muhlenberg and his family. He has a connection to today's blog post. The community has spent the last 25 years (no, that's not a typo) restoring the house to its colonial glory and preparing it to be a jewel of the historic community. The event is free to the public and you can find details here.
Also, one month from today - May 1st - will be the grand opening of the Stevens & Smith Center for History and Democracy in Lancaster. I'm hoping I can be there! The festivities will begin at 9 in the morning, though, so the odds are not in my favor. If you're interested in being there too, get the details here.
Meanwhile, it's time to get back into the regular flow of blogging and kick off this month with a return to scenic Montgomery County. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going.
 |
| The marker stands on the church grounds at 2036 Swamp Pike, Gilbertsville/New Hanover Township |
As I mentioned in that post, many people in the late 1600s and early 1700s left the Palatinate region and came to accept William Penn's invitation of religious freedom, including my own earliest ancestors in the state. A fairly large number of Lutherans came from the city and province of Hannover, Germany, and upon settling in what today is Montgomery County, they named their new home "New Hanover" in memory of what they had left behind them. Like many settlers, they worshiped in private homes at first.
To this settlement came a young man named Daniel Falckner. He was a German, and had traveled to Penn's Woods to work for the Frankfort Land Company, surveying land and selling it to colonizers, but he was also a theological student. He realized that these transplanted Lutherans needed someone to minister to them. Returning to Germany, he received his ordination shortly before the dawn of the 18th century, and then went back to New Hanover to fill the role. The first log cabin church was erected in 1700, and this is regarded as their founding year. Thus, New Hanover is the oldest continually worshiping German Lutheran church in the United States.
During the American Revolution, while Frederick Muhlenberg was pastor, the church served as a hospital for injured soldiers in the Continental Army. Frederick later served in both the Continental Congress and the first Congress of the United States; he was named the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, which is why his home in Trappe is still known as the Speaker's House.
As the 19th century got underway, New Hanover continued to share its pastor with a few other congregations in the region. They all had a desire to bring this practice to an end, though, and finally got their wish in 1886 when each of the churches at last had their own dedicated pastor. Meanwhile, the church at New Hanover had added several other structures to the property, including a a school and a working farm. Both the pastor and the schoolmaster were allowed to graze their sheep on the grounds and make use of the crops and animals from the farm. A stonecutting shop was also added, and various buildings served as the parsonage for some time. Within the sanctuary itself, there came additions of stoves for winter heat, a Dieffenbach organ, and a steeple with a bell. The cemetery, which was first established in the previous century, was modified throughout this time period; its honored dead include men who served in the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. The congregation originally worshiped solely in German, but they began adding English elements in 1853, and gradually over the next seventy years English came to completely replace German as the language of services. The full change to English came as a direct result of the two World Wars, for what I imagine are obvious reasons.
As the 20th century dawned, the congregation continued making changes to the church interior. The sanctuary was completely renovated in 1905, with the installation of a new heating system, furnishings, and flooring. The colonial-style walls were redone, and magnificent stained glass windows designed by Fred Reith of Philadelphia were added. Following the conclusion of World War II, the rural surroundings of the church saw a steady increase in population, with the addition of new homes, and so the congregation was growing steadily as well. The church was enlarged with the addition of a new annex, as well as the construction of a memorial parish house. The church received electric lighting and indoor plumbing, plus paved roads and a parking lot due to the increasing popularity of cars, with the last horse shed being removed in the 1940s. The growing congregation was also given new ways to serve, including a women's Missionary Society, choirs, Men's Brotherhood, and Altar Guild. There's also a Scouting program for boys and girls named Camp Falckner, in memory of the church's first pastor, which hosts an annual homecoming festival playfully known as the Great Swamp Picnic. A second renovation in 1969 changed the church's interior design to a Greek revival style, which remains to this day.
Today, New Hanover is proud to share their heritage of faith and fellowship. They are part of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and welcome everyone regardless of their race, gender, orientation, age, or culture. "Christ's door is open to all, so is ours," the website says. They celebrated their 325th anniversary in 2025 with a yearlong observation of various historical activities, including a living history cemetery tour and a vintage fashion show demonstrating different items of clothing worn from the 1700s to the 1980s. They also published a booklet, which you can find linked in my sources list below, which contains many fascinating images from throughout their history such as a painting of the dedication of the stone church building.
May their next 325 years be just as historic!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I would love to hear from you!