The pamphlet of the history of Old Fort Herkimer Church was contributed to our site by Faith Lustik. No date appears on the pamphlet although there is reference in Part 3 that this book was being written in 1923. As Lou D. MacWethy, editor, published other pamphlets and articles in the 1930s, it may have been written a few years prior to World War II. Dr. W. N. P. Dailey's book "The History of Montgomery Classis R. C. A.", mentioned below, was published by Recorder Press, Amsterdam, New York, in 1916. History of the Old Fort Herkimer Church German Flatts Reformed Church 1723 By W. N. P. Dailey, D. D. Published by the St. Johnsville Enterprise and News Lou D. MacWethy, Editor, St. Johnsville, NY, Price 35 cents Post Paid (on cover) Old Fort Herkimer Church Historical Stetch of the German Flatts Reformed Church at Fort Herkimer, NY. In the Beautiful Mohawk Valley Organized in 1723. Land given 1730 and 1773. Present Edifice begun About 1730. A Story of the Palatine People and Their Early Struggles. Many Names of First Settlers. In the extensive repairs and enlargement of the church certain items of cost are of interest as the lightening rod, $15.38 (91 lbs.), the high pulpit and canopy, $110.00 (originally of mahogany design beautifully inlaid with scroll work), printing the pew deeds, $4.00, "scrubbing", $32.75, stove pipe, $42.00, church seal, $5.00, painting church, $77.00, "taking down the old church" (?) $1.12 etc. The sale of the pews realized $4,497.02 while the expense of repairs was $4,265.49, leaving a balance of $231.53. There was a shrinkage in the pew sale as not all paid the amount they bid, and sixteen members of the consistory and congregation, and the minister, who supervised the repairs, were paid for the time so spent, for signing the pew deeds, auctioneering, etc. For several years following these repairs and reconstruction the church finances were the principal topic of discussion at the meetings of the consistory. The prevalent system in vogue for about a century in both churches was to arm each elder in the consistory with a subscription list for the minister's salary, which was paid semi-annually (when it was paid), and turn them loose on the congregation. At times actually years elapsed before these lists were accounted for by those who had circulated them. In 1816 when these salary arrears and other debts had become a great burden the Chancery Court at Albany authorized the German Flatts church to sell certain of their glebe to meet the same. Subsequent to these sales many questions arose as to the boundary lines of several parcels, and members of the consistory were paid large sums to act as arbitrators of the difficulties. In the year 1812 the pews down stairs in the German Flatts church on the south side were rented by Christopher P. Bellinger (1), Conrad Hess (2), Michael Ittick (3), William Clapsattle (4), Jacob Ittick (5), Daniel C. Fox (6), Conrad Hess (7), John Rasbach (8), Fred Bellinger, Jr. (9), Nicholas Steel (10), Peter Bellinger (11), Mary Shoemaker (12), Marks Casler (13), Frederick Hess (14), Adam Rasbach (15), Frederick Frank and John Mahon (16), Frederick Orendorf (17), Henry Crontz (18), Jacob G. Weber (19), George A. Clapsattle (20), Ludwig Campbell (22), John T. Casler (23), John Casler, Jr. (24), Henry Starring (25), Nicholas Casler (26), Nicholas Starring (27), Christian Fox ( ), Jas. Fox (31), Frederick Frank (32), George Rosencrantz (36), John T. Bellinger (38), Frederick Casler (39), Nicholas Spoon and John Miller (41), Nicholas Casler (42), Michael Fox (43), Frederick Orendorff (44), Michael Ittick (45), Henry Myers (46), John Shoemaker (47), Christopher Casler (48), Rudolph G. Steel (49), Daniel C. Fox and George Rosencrantz (50), Laurence Shoemaker (51), John Frank (52), Stephen Eyseman (53), George Clapsattle (57), Jacob Crontz (58), John Frank (59), Peter Bellinger (60), Peter Piper (61), Adam R. Steel (62), Richard Steel (63), Jacobus Casler (64). In the gallery pews were rented by Christopher P. Bellinger (1), Michael Ittick (2), Frederick Hess (3), Jas. Fox (4), John Rasbach (5), George Clapsattle (6), Andrew Piper (11), Peter Bellinger Jr. (12), Peter Helmer (14), Thomas Rankins (20), Nicholas Casler and Henry Starring (26), Henry Myers (28), Jacob C. Folmer (29), John A Clapsattle (30), Jacob Folmer (31), Nicholas Spoon and John Miller (32), Peter F. Bellinger (33), Christopher Casler 934), George Bellinger and Jacob Ittick (35), Silvenus Seeber (36), Peter Bellinger (37). The rental for the pews on the floor amounted to $3427 and those in the gallery $514.75, deeds for which were given in most cases, and these pews were deeded down the line to the descendants. The numerals indicate the number of the pews. Names of Families on the South side The names of the families on the south side in 1823 are shown, in part at least, by the men who subscribed a century ago toward the salary of Domine Spinner: Warner Folts, Daniel W. Folts, Jacob C. Folts, John R. Steel, Dennis Clapsattle, William Clapsattle, Peter Clapsattle, Nancy Clapsattle, Rudolph G. Steele, Adam Steele, George Dygert, Jr., Conrad Eady, Jacob Edee, George Myers, Michael Widrig, George A. Clapsattle, Christian Edee, William Dygert, Silvenus Folts, Jacob Buckdorf, Richard D. Steel, Henry F. Myers, John A Clapsattle, George Fulmer, Thomas Fulmer, Henry Waren, Lana Piper, Rudolph Shoemaker, Mantimus Spark, Andrew Clapsattle, Robert Shoemaker, David Dievendorf, Jacob Myers, Daniel Dygert, Jacob Cristman, Benjamin Cristman, John S. Devindorf, Michael F. Myers, Jacob Flipsee, Peter F. Orendorff, Frederick Frank, Jacob G. Edick, Frederick Fox, Frederick C. Fox, Conrad Hess, David C. Hess, Frederick Bellinger, Jr., Christopher Fox, Hugh McLaughlin, Lany McLaughlin, Adam R. Steele, Henry Ohrendorf, Fred'k Ohrendorf, Patrick Stahring, Frederick H. Myers, Frederick P. Helmer, Peter H. Stauring, Nicholas Casler, Jr., Jacob Flagg, Jacob H. Miller, John Dagert, Daniel Hess, Marks Grants, Frederick Zoller, Joseph Eysaman, Stephen Eysaman, Jacobus Casler, Peter M. Stahring, Rudolph Shumacher, Peter F. Bellinger, David Bellinger, Jacob Casler, Wm. Steel, Ludwig Barsh, George F. Bellinger, John Shoemaker, Jr., John John Shoemaker, Thomas T. Shoemaker, Peter F. Bellinger, Richard Steel, Lorentz Shoemaker, Richard L. Shoemaker, Frederick L. Shoemaker, John P. Bellinger, John S. Shoemaker, Christopher Edee, Andrew Piper Jr., Casper Kaller, Michael Keller, John Keller, Jeremiah Overacker, Andrew Piper, Richard R. Steel, Henry Stauring Jr., John Eyseman, Henry Eyseman, Joseph Bowers, Daniel Rankins, John H. Stauring, Nicholas Miller, John M. Casler, John I. Casler, Joseph Casler, Marks N. Casler, Frederick Casler, Abraham Casler, Lawrence Fox, John T. Bellinger, Rudolph Casler, Daniel Seckner, Peter Rankins, Richard Casler, Malchert Rincken, John J. Casler, Richard P. Casler, Peter Seckner, Elisabeth Gerber, Thomas Rankins, David Rankins, Richard C. Casler, Henry Sponenbergh, Richard I. N. Casler, Jonas Casler, Amos Casler, James T. Rankins, John Hakes, James I. Campbell, John Miller Jr., Abraham Rosencrantz, Daniel Bellinger, Jacob Bell, John Miller, George Lodrige, Jacob Belling, Suffrenes Seeber, Henry Seeber, Geo. Adams, John Snell, Marks Casler, Richard M. Casler, Richard I. Casler, Geo. Rosencrantz, Augustus Hess Jr., John Burkdorff, John Burkdorff Jr., Peter B. Tenbrook, William G. Cughnet, John C. Bellinger, Abraham G. Rosencrantz, William Sponenberg, Henry Uhle, John Uhle, Jacob Simons, C.P. Bellinger, Nicholas Moyer, Peter H. Bellinger, John P. Casler, Lawrence Helmer, Wm. Shoemaker, James L. Campbell, Jacob Crontz, Michael Grants, Henry Grants, Peter Steel, Rudolph Steel, Jacob P. Stauring, Lemuel Wood, Peter B. Casler, Frederick F. Myers, Abraham Dygert, Henry Dodge, Denis Dygert. Rev. Abraham Rosencrantz kept church records of the congregations on both sides of the river. The baptismal records for Fort Herkimer begin with 1763, even before this, as the book shows that pages have been lost from it. At First Rev. Rosencrantz kept the records for both churches in the Stone Arabia book. Later he copied those that belonged to German Flatts in a separate register. This copy was never finished since there is a gap in the records of baptisms from May 1767 to October 1775. The baptismal records for German Flatts up to 1772 are in the Stone Arabia register. Mr. Rosencrantz notes at the close of 1787 that he had baptized 1444, excluding six Indian papooses and those of the years 1767-1775. If this average was sustained during the rest of his ministry his baptisms would reach above 2200. Spinner Volumes of Vital Records Perhaps we might better continue the description here of the vital statistics of both churches. In the interim between Rev. Rosencrantz and Rev. Spinner no records were kept by Rev. Pick. But Mr. Spinner took up the records so scrupulously kept by Mr. Rosencrantz and pursued his task until 1848. There are three Spinner volumes of vital records, namely, the Birth and Baptismal records for both churches (1801-1810), the Confirmation records for both churches (1802-1840), the Marriages for each church (1801-1829), and the Deaths (1802-1831). A second volume of Fort Herkimer statistics alone covers the Baptisms of 1811-1847, the Marriages for both churches during 1831-1847, and the Deaths covering the period of 1832-1847. Then there is a third volume for German Flatts only that covers the Births and Baptisms from 1811-1847. Rev. Spinner frequently employed a cross in his records, thereby indicating a death.Rev. Mr. Cox says in his history that at the beginning of the pastorate of Mr. Spinner the German Flatts congregation was the larger owing to the people who attended from Columbia, Warren, Manheim, Little Falls, and other places. Why Baptisms Were Not Recorded Under date of December 1814, in a Latin note of record, Mr. Spinner deplores the fact that so few persons are willing to have the birth of their children recorded, partly through fear of cost of the same, which was two shillings, and also because certain "fanatics" think that baptism is an absolutely senseless act. It is noted that while the German Flatts baptisms from 1802 through 1810 averaged one hundred and twenty annually, in 1811 they had fallen off to forty-four. At least that was the number registered but undoubtedly the birth rate had kept up. Under date of Dec. 17, 1835, the thirty-fourth year of his pastorate, Domine Spinner tabulates the statistics as follows, - Received into the Church - 1000; Married - 692; Funerals - 649; Baptised - 3449. In this same 1813 report Mr. Spinner reported 750 children in the German Flatts congregation and 60 Africans. In 1824 Herkimer reported 395 members and German Flatts 290. After this the congregations declined so that in 1834 Herkimer had 210 members and German Flatts 121. Fort Herkimer Glebe Rents In a previous paragraph the Peter Remsen deed is referred to, establishing the Glebe Rentals, the proceeds of which were to go toward the minister's salary. The names of the lessees who paid glebe rents are recorded here as of interest to those now paying the same or to the descendants of the same. They are all on record in the County Clerk's office at Herkimer and the originals existing in the keeping of the Herkimer Church. The names are as follows with numbers of acres in parenthesis: Conrad Zacheonor (50), Elisabeth Zacheonor (43), John Jacob Casselor (38), Richard Casler or Richard Jac. Kesselar (65), Steffanes Eyseman (135), Nicholas A. Staring (55 1/2), Nicholas Kilts (50), Luke Odle (89 3-4), Paul Custor (50), John P. Woolaver (15 1/2), Henry Warner (89 3-4), Joel Doolittle (1), Peter Getman (36), John Getman (87 1/4), David Tygert (50), Johannes Bayderman (50), John Frank and Nicholas Frank (143), Andrew Piper (144), Francis Crouch (92 3-4), Daniel Morse (15), Henry Campbell (87), George F. Beauchert (8 6-160), Joseph Sackner (43 3-4). Most of the rents began in 1800 and were twelve and a half cents per acre. The present glebe rentals (1923) amount to about $125.00 a year, but annually there are protests registered and most of them are collected against the good will of the person paying. Of late years there has been a disposition to buy off these incumbrances, and the same has been done in some cases. The laws of 1851 gave the church the right to sell the land in fee simple, the proceeds to be invested for the same purpose for which the trust was granted. By an act of the legislature in 1870 the leases then in effect were recorded in the County Clerk's office at Herkimer and are a lien upon the property. In 1892 the Legislature empowered the Consistory to give quit claim deeds whenever expedient. On July 13, 1912, at the suggestion of the Montgomery Classis Missionary, Rev. W. N. P. Dailey, the existing members of the Consistory, Elder Lucius Shoemaker and Deacon Frank Staring, were authorized by Judge Irving R. Devendorf to deed the property of the Church to the Classis of Montgomery, its governing body, which was duly carried out. On Sept. 4, 1822, George Fox, the treasurer, reported that to date he received $2416.93 and had disbursed $2301.16, leaving a balance of $115.82, from which is deducted tow percent on receipts (collecting the glebe rents), leaving a balance of $67.49. At this date there was due from the glebe rents $546.05. Mr. Fox was appointed treasurer June 5, 1816 and the report might well cover the six years. At a meeting of the consistory, July 23, 1823, Mr. Lawrence Ford appeared in behalf of English preaching by Rev. Mr. Ketcham. Mr. Ford said that ""he German Flatts Church is the largest society existing in the State" and was abundantly able to support both Mr. spinner and Mr. Ketcham; that Herkimer was not able to support a minister alone and wanted help; and that those who subscribed would become members of the society. But the request was denied, and Classis approved the action of the consistory. The Fort Herkimer Reformed Church Ministry
Rev. George Michael Weiss 1736-1742 One of the early preachers at Herkimer, was Rev. Wilhelmn Berkenmeyer, pastor of the Loonenburg (Athens, NY) Lutheran Church (1731-1751). His diary in the Lutheran Seminary at Gettsburg, Pa. tells us of visiting at the house of Hannes Hess (Johannes Hess had Lot No. 31 on the south side, next to the Welleven lot from which the acre was given for the church), and visiting Jurgh Dacksteder and Johan Jurg Kast on the north side. He held service in the church on Aug. 14, 1734. On this trip he had gone as far as Rynhard Scheffer's place, shown on one of the "Crown" maps (1756?) at what is now the site of Utica. The Lord's Supper was celebrated first at Dachsteder's house and on the following day at the church (Herkimer). The first settled pastor at Fort Herkimer was the Rev. George Michael Weiss who resigned his charge at Catskill (Leeds) and Kocks Hackq (Coxsackie) on July 6, 1735, and, doubtless came directly to this new field. The Ecclesiastical Records of New York have several references to Weiss' work. He was a Palatinate by birth (1700) and ordained May 1, 1728. In company with 400 Palatine emigrees he landed at Philadelphia Sept. 18, 1727. After three short pastorates at Philadelphia, Skippack, and Germantown, Pa. he became the first settled pastor at Schoharie in November 1731, where he remained but four months, going next to Catskill (Leeds) and was installed Feb. 25, 1732, Rev. Petrus Van Driesen of Albany officiating. On Nov. 25, 1733 he married Annatche, daughter of Captain John Bronck of Catskill. He remained here three years and then came to Burnetsfield (Herkimer), its first settled minister, and was here until he accepted the call to the Low Dutch Church of Rhinebeck Flatts and the High Dutch Church of Rhinebeck in 1742. In 1746 he went back to Pennsylvania and was pastor at Goshenhoppen from that date until his death in 1761. His wife died June 2, 1765. Both were buried at New Goshenhoppen. While at Burnetsfield Domine Weiss wrote a pamphlet treating of the lives and habits of the Indians which he sent to the Classis of Amsterdam (Holland). For nearly a decade following the Weiss pastorate the services here were but intermittent, judging by what records there are. Rev. Peter Nicholas Sommer of Schoharie seems to have made semi-annual visits to the congregation through the years 1743 -1751, as are noted in his diary. The marriages he performed here as well as a list of his congregation are to be found in the Schoharie Lutheran Church records. Following Rev. Weiss in the pastorate here was a Rev. Mr. Rosencrantz, a brother of Rev. Abraham Rosencrantz, his successor. He came to this country with Rev. Johannes Aemelius Wernig whom the Reformed Church at Stone Arabia sought (unsuccessfully) to be their pastor. The "Ecclesiastical Records of NY" tell us the incident. When Rev. Mr. Rosencrantz died, after a very brief pastorate, perhaps in the winter of 1751 - 1752, Abraham Rosencrantz came to the church to take up the work, his call being dated June 5, 1752. He remained the pastor of this church, except for the year 1759, until his death Dec. 29, 1796. Rev. Rosencrantz Married Sister of General Herkimer Rosencrantz went to New York in 1758, a wedding trip for he had married in April of that year Anna Maria, sister of Gen. Nicholas Herkimer. He was back at Fort Herkimer in 1760. A receipt dated April 1, 1761, signed by Rosencrantz, still exists for salary at Fort Herkimer. The amount is thirty-one pounds. In New York he was pastor of what is now the German Reformed Church on West 68th street. Situated as they were at the extreme frontier in the west the Palatines were prey for the marauding French and their Indian allies. Some sort of defense was thrown about several of the houses but the Fort was on the south side and Col. Wm. Johnson had strengthened the military post there. The culmination of the raids took place in the early morning of Nov. 12, 1757 when the Palatine village on the north side (Herkimer) was completely destroyed by M. de Bellestre, a Captain of the French Colonial troops. A hundred were taken prisoners, including Johan Jost Petrie, the rest fleeing across the river to the Fort where several hundred soldiers were posted. The prisoners were exchanged Nov. 1, 1758. There is such a variety of reports of the devastation of the place, including footnotes to the Croghan narrative that may have been added later, that one cannot be sure of all the incidents that took place. There seems to have been an abundance of warning of the attack but not the least preparation to meet it, either by the villagers or the soldiers at the fort, or by the officials. In the Public Papers of Gov. Clinton and in the Sir Wm. Johnson papers one can find a great number of references to the continuous depredations of the enemy against the inhabitants of this section of the valley. And for years after peace prevailed everywhere else this whole upper valley of the Mohawk was terribly scourged by the Tories and their savage allies. On his return Rev. Rosencrantz divided his pastoral work between Stone Arabia and the Flatts on both sides of the river, but lived in the manse at Stone Arabia. He continued to preach at Stone Arabia until the year 1772. He wrote Sir Wm. Johnson from Stone Arabia under date of Dec. 13, 1767. In addition to this wide field he often journeyed over to Schoharie during the years 1760-1765. After leaving Stone Arabia it has been said that Rev. Rosencrantz served the Canajoharie Church (Sand Hill) until it was destroyed in the Tory raid of August 1780. This it is contended accounts for the lack of marriage records in the German Flatts registry during those years as these were lost in the burning of the manse and church. But there is no extant records to prove that these things are so. Rev. Mr. Cox says that if the church at Herkimer had any existence at the time it must have been a very feeble organization and really looked upon as a part of the Fort Herkimer congregation. Peter Sailey's Journal refers to his visit at Herkimer May 29, 1784 and says the village was made up of "only the poor cabins of an impoverished population". He calls it "German Flatts" altho the German Flatts district was set off on the south side Mar 24, 1772 and in 1773 was so called on the map. It is so termed on the Tryon map of 1771 while no place is then shown on the north side of the river. It was still in Montgomery County as Herkimer was not set off until 1791. What is now Herkimer was in the Kingsland District in 1772 when Tryon County was formed. The German Flatts District extended from Little Falls to Fort Stanwix and south to the Pennsylvania line, on the south side of the river. Closing Years of the Rosencrantz Pastorate We are able to give two pictures of the closing years of the Rosencrantz ministry, one by Rev. Timothy Dwight, D.D. President of Yale College who visited this section in 1799 and another by Francis Adrian VanderKemp who made a trip in 1792 from the Hudson to lake Ontario. Dr. Dwight's sketches were first published in 1822, some years after his death. He speaks of the settlers here about as mostly "Dutch farmers, raising wheat, peas and inferior grass." He says the people were a "quiet folk easy going and enterprising". He refers to the churches at Herkimer and Fort Herkimer. He devotes a good deal of space to a discussion of the morals and ignorance of the people which, with few exceptions, "were very low". Herkimer had thirty houses at the time while on the south side the houses were "a story or story and a half Dutch houses." Evidently Dr. Dwight did not make any distinction between the Germans and the Dutch. Then, again, his measurement was that of the narrow Puritan. Gen. Herkimer and Johan Jost Petrie and their successors will compare favorably with Gov. Endicott, Gov. Winthrop, and Cotton Mather as to morality and justice if not in education. Gen. Herkimer died quoting the Scripture but for a hundred years after the Pilgrims landed in New England the Bible was a forbidden book in their churches. Dr. Dwight was the first to tell the yarn about Hon Yost Schuyler. He says in this 1822 edition that it was the "father" of Hon Yost who was held as a hostage for the return of the "idiot son of the gypsy woman". Inasmuch as Hon Yost Schuyler's father had been dead fourteen years the following editions changed it to his "brother". We have never been able to accept the view of Dr. Dwight that the sister of Gen. Herkimer, the mother of Hon Yost Schuyler, was a "gypsy", nor that Hon Yost Schuyler, Cooper's "Harvey Birch" of the Oriskany Battle, was an "idiot" if he could outwit Barry St. Leger, or that Gen. Arnold would wantonly kill a near relative of his commanding officer, Gen. Schuyler. Religious Worship in the Wilderness The other picture is afforded us in the second volume of the Buffalo Historical Society Collections, in which among other letters of Francis Adrian VanderKemp about a trip he made from the Hudson to Lake Ontario, in 1792, he describes a Sunday spent with Col. Hendrick Staring, then first Judge of Herkimer County, who lived in the town of Schuyler, near Staring's Creek. When he came to Judge Staring's house he found he had gone to the church service which was being held in the colonel's barn. He continues, "I went thither; the assembled congregation was very numerous; our Lord's Supper was celebrated with decency, and, as it appeared to me, by many with fervent devotion. Four children were baptized by the Rev. Rosenkrantz of the German Flatts, who made this pastorate visit, to direct the religious solemnities. After the service the flock crowded promiscuously in the Colonel's house, and used sparingly some refreshments. The presence of the Rev. Pastor-the solemnity of the sacred festival-the presence of the Fathers of the baptized children-some of them related to the Colonel-procurred me a good dinner. A very good Soup, Salad, roasted Chickens, beef and pork, with bread and butter were soon destroyed by 15 or 16 hungry guests. The Rever. Rosenkrantz was born in the Dutchy of the Paltz-Tweebruggen, from a respectable family of Swedish origine. Endowed with a learned education he was not a stranger in elegant literature-a serious preacher who knew the art to enliven Society with a well regulated hilarity. At nine miles distant at old fort Schuyler I crossed the Mohawk river for the last time." On his return trip Mr. VanderKemp made a call on the domine. The parish of Domine Rosenkrantz was wherever there were German settlers in the Mohawk valley, from Schoharie to Fort Stanwix. A graduate of a German University, he was regarded as the most learned divine west of Schenectady. He was thot to have had Tory feelings towards the colonists but there was no overt action showing this while his connection with the Herkimer family undoubtedly held him above suspicion by the provincial authorities. He had four sons and some daughters. The sons were Henricus J., Georgius, Johan Jost Herkimer, and Nicholas. A son of Nicholas, Henry Rosencrantz had a son, Nicholas Rosencrantz, whose daughter Josephine Rosencrantz, lives at Ogdensburg, NY. During the last year or two of Rev. Rosencrantz's pastorate he was aided in the church work by Rev. Peter Fish of Rome, NY. He died on Dec. 29, 1796, in the present town of Little Falls, on Fall Hill, and at his request was buried under the pulpit of the old stone church at Fort Herkimer where it is said his brother also was buried. Shortly after the decease of Rev. Rosencrantz the consistories of the two churches were seeking another minister. Rev. Dr. Dirck Romeyn, pastor of the old Dutch church at Schenectady had some correspondence (printed in the Cox history) with the churches regarding Rev. John Jacob Wack of New Jersey. When they could not obtain Mr. Wack they turned to Rev. Dietrich C. Andreas Pick, his full name, as found in the old Fort Palin (Canajoharie) records was "Dietrich Chistoph Carl Andreas Pick", but he rarely used the "Carl August". Rev. Pick came to America in the early part of 1788 and on May 18th of that year accepted a call from the Stone Arabia and Canajoharie ("Sand Hill") churches. At first he lived in the "Sand Hill" manse. On March 10, 1789 he was married to Elisabeth, daughter of Capt. Adam Leib of the Canajoharie district, by Rev. John Henry Dysslin of the St. Johnsville Church. Nearly two years elapsed before he was installed at Stone Arabia, Jan. 31, 1790, the sermon being preached by Rev. Dr. Dirk Romeyn who also that day preached the dedicatory sermon of the new church just erected. Rev. Pick finished his pastorate at Stone Arabia May 6, 1798. His work at the "Sand Hill" church seemed to have ended about the close of 1796, his entries in the records ceasing with that year. Rev. Mr. Pick had been in touch with the Fort Herkimer consistory and aiding them to secure a minister. When they failed to find one they turned to Rev. Pick himself and offered him a call which was accepted by him May 14, 1798. German Flatts called Rev. Pick on a stated salary but arranged with both Coenradstown (Columbia) and Herkimer for a part of his time, but what ever monies were raised toward his salary were to be paid to the consistory of the Fort Herkimer Church. To be continued. Source: This digital presentation of the original booklet was prepared and contributed by Faith Lustik. Faith tells us "I am researching the WARN family that lived in Herkimer County, NY. Philip WARN born 1808 married Laura Brown born 1816. Their children were Elias born in Mohawk February 24, 1841, Mary born 1849, Calvin H. born 1852, John born 1854. The family moved later to Oswego County, NY. Also, I am researching the MYERS family of German Flatts. Peter MYERS born 1796 married Catherine born 1797 both in Herkimer. Children were: Jerome born 1826, Mary born 1833 and Franklin born 1835 (given the age span I am sure there were more children). They also moved to Oswego County but Peter and Catherine moved back to Herkimer County by 1850. Jerome MYERS married Eleanor Whaley, daughter of George WHALEY born 1800 and Lydia MCINTYRE born 1803. George born in Schyler, NY. Any information about any of these lines would be greatly appreciated." Email: lusyke@gisco.net Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this full paragraph remains on all copied material. These electronic pages, with commentary and underlying source code, cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation, or be used on any other site or CD-ROM. Back to Town of German Flats Page Back to Herkimer/Montgomery Counties GenWeb Last Updated: 8/1/98 Copyright ©1997 Faith Lustik/ Martha Magill All Rights Reserved. |