Anabaptist s Turned Goodies:

Transcription

1 Anabaptist s Turned Goodies: A Story of Anabaptist Identity in a Changing World Chris Stoltzfus - Copyright July, 2010 ABSTRACT Beginning in the Switzerland the story of Amish identity started to develop. Through decades of persecution, the Anabaptist movement persisted and then split. Some came to the New World and eventually gave rise to the Goodie youth group in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. With the pressures of technology and spiritual renewal, other movements formed and thus changed the lives of many within the Amish community.

2 Chris Stoltzfus 2 Anabaptist s Turned Goodies: A Story of Anabaptist Identity in a Changing World Numerous changes were sweeping across the Mennonite and Amish world of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania during the 1950 s and 1960 s. Winds of change were blowing from several directions as religious desire within these communities intensified over a lack passion within their own traditions. The Brunk Revivals of the 1950 s brought a fresh movement of the Spirit of God into Lancaster County. Very soon after this an Amish youth group known as the Goodies evolved. They were an unusual group known for their interest in Bible study and their actively recruiting new members to the group. Their boldness and new spiritual interest within the Amish Church pushed them to the fringes and eventually led many of them into a new way of life different from their fathers and mothers. In addition, modernization was creating growing challenges in a church known for its resistance to change. New mechanical innovations, which some Amish districts had accepted and others rejected, sparked the 1966 schism in the Amish church of Lancaster County. Our purpose here is to consider the background which foreshadowed the formation of the Goodie group. We will begin our journey before the time when the Amish were a subgroup of Anabaptism then follow their movement into the Alsace in France and the Palatinate in Germany. After considering the new level of freedom they found there, we will move along as they again migrate to the New World for even more changes. Following the storyline we will arrive in the 1950 s when pressure for change in the Amish church was increasing and the Goodie gang was developing. Scattered throughout this historical narrative will be snippets of the author s family history as it fits into the larger context of the Amish experience in Europe, America, the Goodies and the New Order Church. We will follow the story of Peter Glick the progenitor of all Glicks in the Mennonite and Amish church and consider the story of Nicholas Stoltzfus, the father of all Stoltzfus in Lancaster County. Then we ll learn of their descendents and the changes of the generations. In more modern times we ll discover the parents of the author, Steve Stoltzfus and his wife Anna Glick (Stoltzfus) and some of their relatives, many of whom were early participants in the Goodie youth group. Interest in missionary activity will end up portraying the impact of the awakening that moved through Lancaster County in the 1950 s and 60 s. But in order to gain a context for the story to be told we will begin with an outline of the Amish formation in Europe, their migration to the New World and life in early America. Before the Amish Switzerland The year was 1644 and the problem of the Baptism- minded in Bern, Switzerland was becoming an increasingly difficult monster for the city officials to stamp out. In December of that year, a decree had been issued that the authorities in the surrounding areas were to produce a list of unbaptized children and of all marriages that had been performed outside of the state church. The decree declared that all children born into such marriages were considered illegitimate and should be snatched from their parents and placed into orphanages under state control. Furthermore, all of these Swiss Brethren 1 were to be brought to Bern and imprisoned after their property had been recorded. Their teachers, preachers and leaders were to be branded with a hot iron. 2 Although this decree was issued over one hundred years after the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in Europe, and although repeated attempts were made to stamp out the resisters of the state church, the Anabaptist movement persisted and continued to face ongoing resistance. For nearly two centuries continued rounds of persecution made life nearly unbearable for many Anabaptists in and around Bern. The persecution began just after the birth of the Anabaptist movement. In September of 1527 the Bernese officials sent a letter to Zurich inquiring how they had managed to get rid of the hated Anabaptists. Zurich 1 They were not called Mennonites in Switzerland 2 H. Frank Eshelman, Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of South- Eastern Pennsylvania and of their Remote Ancestors, from the Middle of the Dark Ages, Down to the Time of the Revolutionary War (Lancaster, PA: 1917), 97. Retrieved from on 05/05/2010

3 Chris Stoltzfus 3 responded that the best way to deal with them was to kill them. 3 From 1534 to 1540 records show that at least 158 were placed in prison, 109 were banished and 20 were killed for their faith. 4 The harassment continued for decade after decade. At times it would diminish for a period of time only to return again with full force. Repeatedly mandates against the Anabaptists were renewed. In 1640 authorities were warned to stop looking through their fingers and with God s help completely outroot this sect. 5 So serious were they that the council offered a bounty of one hundred Reichstaler 6 for each minister who was brought in and fines were leveled against those who rented anything to the rebels. 7 Repeated attempts were made to convert them back to the state church. When they refused to recant many were banished from the land and forced to make an oath not to return. The Bernese authorities took the issue so seriously that on January 4, 1659 they created a special Commission for Anabaptist Affairs to deal with the problem of this hated sect. 8 Occasionally the government allowed for a disputation to hear the beliefs of the Anabaptists. Not that they were open to their ideas, they only wished to bring them back to the state church. Five disputations were held in Bern during the 1530 s and 1540 s. Through these events the population often sided with the Anabaptists and came to view them favorably. But regardless of how ludicrous the Anabaptists made the state church appear, there was no chance for winning a decision. 9 In one instance the persecuted movement offered to submit an explanation of their teachings to the Bern City officials in hopes of gaining some pity. They were invited to come to Berne to discuss their views with the possibility of having their existing prisoners released. However, the Anabaptists were again upbraided for not venerating the Virgin Mary. It was said of them that these devilish, brazen Anabaptists are not ashamed of themselves for refusing honor the Virgin Mary since God himself gave her honor by making her the mother of the Savior through she remained a Virgin. 10 The decision of a debate in 1538 concluded that the Anabaptists had refused to accept teaching from scriptures and refused to confess their errors. 11 They were threatened again that if any of those who had been banished return to the land, they would be put to death. More decades passed and the persecution continued with vigor. A mandate on September 8, 1670 stipulated that those who refuse to swear the oath of allegiance must leave the area within three weeks while those who had been dealt with and warned a number of times were to be punished by death. 12 Others who refused to recant were whipped and taken to the border and warned that if they returned, they would be branded with a hot iron. Under such dire circumstances many fled the area looking for a more hospitable environment with nothing but what they could carry with them. The state officials confiscated their property and turned it over to the church. If the children of the Anabaptists chose to join the state church, at times they would be awarded the inheritance of their parents. But many of the funds were used to help the poor, repair church buildings or later used for the founding of the political townships of Switzerland in Northward Movement The intensity of the persecution spurred a movement of the Swiss Brethren northward into France and Germany. At first it was only a trickle of those banished by the state, but openness in the North created an 3 H. Frank Eshelman, Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of South- Eastern Pennsylvania and of their Remote Ancestors, from the Middle of the Dark Ages, Down to the Time of the Revolutionary War (Lancaster, PA: 1917), 97. Retrieved from on 05/05/ Delbert Gratz, Bernese Anabaptism (The Mennonite Historical Society, Goshen College: Goshen, IN, 1953), Ibid., This is equal to $ at the time of printing in Gratz, Ibid., Ibid., Eshelman, Gratz, Ibid., Ibid., 35.

4 Chris Stoltzfus 4 attraction that many chose to accept. In 1664 the Anabaptists were invited to come to Alsace and the Palatinate under the suggestion of Elector Karl Ludwig. Although they were offered greater freedoms than in Switzerland, several stipulations had to be accepted before migrating. First, they were required to enroll in a register; next, they were limited to having twenty people in their assemblies; in addition, they were required to abstain from proselytizing any member of the state church and lastly, every family was required to pay a fee of twenty Gulden. 14 Although it may have seemed like a compromise to refrain from propagating their faith, many took up the offer and moved. From 1671 through 1711 hundreds of Anabaptists left for the French Alsace region and the German Palatinate searching for greater freedom. Many arrived with nothing more than their children and what little they could carry with them. Most of the refugees had come by foot, writes John Ruth, some brought nothing with them but a little bedding. There were teenage girls with no money; parents whose spouses, unwilling to live under the cross had stayed back in the Emmental; persons with physical handicaps; a ninety five year old man; and several ministers. 15 These poor and needy folks needed assistance in getting settled into this new area. Soon help arrived from their Mennonite brothers and sisters in the Netherlands who had by this time become a people with wealth and respect within their communities. They provided a means for many weary Anabaptists to become settled into their new environment. The Swiss Brethren came to a land which had been ravaged by the Thirty Years War ( ) between Protestant and Catholic forces. The war not only destroyed the local landscape, nearly half of the population in some areas had been wiped out by the devastation. Vast areas of farmland were left untilled and in need of skilled farmers to reclaim the land. The Anabaptists were well able to fill this role since many of them had lived removed from centers of civilization in Switzerland and had developed an agrarian lifestyle. They settled in and began the hard work of becoming a new community living in relative freedom. Life in the Alsace and Palatinate Although the thirty years war ended with the Treaty of Westphalia thus allowing the local prince to choose the religion of his people, Anabaptism was not one of the options or one of the religions permissible, to either prince or commoner. 16 So even though Anabaptists were invited into the Alsace and the Palatinate regions, they were not accorded equal status with the local population. Intermarriage with the local German and French population was not a common practice due to state prohibitions. Nolt discusses the unusual number of Amish and non- Amish marriages in this area and says it seems these families were the result of one partner converting and joining the Amish later in life, while the other remained a state church adherent. 17 However, there were others who joined the Anabaptist church for various reasons. Nicholas Stoltzfus was born in the Palatinate town of Zweibruken, Germany. He was of the Lutheran faith and his father Christopher Gottlieb Stoltzfus was a wigmaker and a Lutheran preacher. After the death of Christopher, when Nicholas was at the tender age of five, his mother raised him alone. Nicholas writes about his life in a request on January 14, 1744 to the local authorities in Zweibrucken in which he asked to marry an Amish woman. He writes: I was living with my mother in the land, but after my mother s death I very soon needed to go to strangers for employment, for this reason from that first time on, having given up my first employment, I settled in and around Cron Wyssemburg, steadily, and had the opportunity to be among that kind of people and no other Anabaptists, and got used to them and was among them, and 14 Marcus Meier, The Origin of the Schwarzenau Brethren, trans. Dennis Slabaugh (Brethren Encyclopedia: Philadelphia, PA, 2008), John Landis Ruth, The Earth is the Lord s (Herald Press: Scottsdale, PA, 2001), Elmer S. Yoder, The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches (Diakonia Ministries: Hartville, OH, 1987), Steven M. Nolt, A History of the Amish (Good Books: Intercourse, PA, 2003), 58.

5 Chris Stoltzfus 5 was instructed in their religion, and convinced to remain among them and had further opportunity to work for such people. 18 He was asking to marry Katharina Bermann who he had come into contact with through his work. Due to sensitivities of the time, first the authorities denied Nicholas request. The legal action stated that: On account of the recorded circumstances of the applicant, and because this person who benefited by the religion of his parents, the Evangelical (Lutheran) religion, for eight or nine years according to what his parents say, and then went over to the Anabaptists sect, for this reason the requested marriage certificate was denied, as recorded February 13, Interestingly, one year after Nicholas mother died the council changed their ruling and granted them permission to marry with one condition; they were to leave the area after the wedding 20. Nicholas and Katharina married around 1744 and many years later the family sailed to the New World on the ship Polly with two children Christian and Barbara. 21 Nicholas life shows a bit of the paradox of Anabaptist life in their new land in the north. Despite the openness the Mennonites and Amish experienced there, long- term security was not guaranteed. A change in a local leader could suddenly jeopardize their standing and require them to be on the move again. This was the case in Sainte- Marie- aux- Mines where Jacob Amman, the founder of the Amish was residing. For decades the Swiss Brethren lived there in relative peace and were tolerated and in some respects, accepted. Amman was recognized by local authorities as a leader of his congregation and in 1696 won exemption for his congregation from the civic duty of the Hiemburg. This was a responsibility given to citizens to collect taxes and protect the city that at times required one to carrying a sword 22. According to city archives Amman also represented the church in regards to church orphans and was an outspoken critic of the state church. Records show that he would create a stir on the streets by arguing with the Catholic priests on the streets of Sainte- Marie- aux- Mines. 23 But the peace in the Alsace was not to be a long- lasting solution. In 1712 Luis the fourteenth demanded that all Anabaptists leave the French Alsace region. From there they scattered and records have been lost as the Jacob Amman s whereabouts. Some moved on to other parts of Europe and others to eventually found their way to the New World. But before visiting the Anabaptists in America, we will consider the causes of the 1693 Amish division led by Jacob Amman. The Amish Division While in the north relative freedom was the order of the day, those who stayed behind in Switzerland continued to experience severe governmental pressure. Although the Anabaptist Commission was dissolved at the end of 1743, it wasn t until 1798 that Anabaptists were finally officially tolerated around Bern. 24 The result of ongoing persecution often forced Anabaptists to depend on sympathetic locals for survival. These True- hearted or half- Anabaptists as they were often called became a life- line of survival for Swiss Anabaptists who chose not to immigrate to the north. Nolt writes that, during times of state harassment, friendly neighbors could mean the difference between imprisonment and freedom. 25 The True- Hearted were people within the state churches who respected the Anabaptist s and viewed them as the best Christians due to their pure lifestyle. In 1693 a Swiss Reformed pastor wrote that many people see the Mennonites as 18 Ernest Drumm, Revealed Life of Nicholas Stoltzfus, researched and compiled by Levi L. Stoltzfus, (No Publisher Name: 1986), Ibid., Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead, Nicholas Stoltzfus, 2006, (accessed May 5, 2010). 21 Drumm, Steven M. Nolt, Class Lecture: Elizabethtown College, April 8, Ibid., 24 Delbert Gratz, Bernese Anabaptism (The Mennonite Historical Society, Goshen College: Goshen, IN, 1953), Steven M. Nolt, A History of the Amish (Good Books: Intercourse: PA, 2003). 29.

6 Chris Stoltzfus 6 saints, as the salt of the earth, as the true and chosen people and the proper core of all Christians. 26 Many believed that Anabaptism was the most sure way to attain salvation. 27 Although many refused to join the Anabaptist church to avoid the persecution, local sympathetic folks within the state church became important allies for those under severe persecution. Since life for the Mennonites in the France and Germany was so different than it had been in Switzerland they were not as dependent on the local population for survival. Jacob Amman and his group of ministers in the Alsace and the Palatinate were living in a freer and more open environment. Amman had migrated north around 1680 and was enjoying these local freedoms that the Swiss knew nothing of. He and his people no longer needed protection from outsiders, they could survive without their assistance. Hence, they tended to view the True- Hearted as outsiders who were not in the kingdom of God. Conversely, many of the Swiss Brethren, including some leaders, refused to declare those who had aided them in their distress outside the kingdom of God. Hans Reist went so far as to claim that it could be possible that the True- Hearted were saved outside of the Anabaptist Church. 28 Amman and his fellow ministers saw this acceptance of unbaptized folks as a serious compromise and a sign of decline. Other issues surfaced and further convinced them that the Swiss church was in need of change. To bring that change Amman advocated holding communion twice annually. This would force people to reexamine their lives more often and bring about renewal. But the dissension soon centered on the issue of the ban and a woman who had lied and when confronted had denied it. Later she was forced to admit it and it became public knowledge to the congregation but the church had refused to place her in the ban. 29 In light of this, Amman and three fellow- ministers traveled throughout the region in Switzerland, France and Germany visiting the church leaders and asking how they believed regarding the ban. Some ministers professed that they did believe in the ban but applied it only to withholding erring members from the communion table. This softer approach contrasted the streng- Meidung which Amman and his followers had adopted from the Dordrecht Confession of Faith created in the Netherlands. When Reist was confronted about this, he gave a rather vague answer but made it clear that he only believed the ban was to be applied only at the communion table, not the dinner table. Tensions increased as the two sides came together in 1693 at the suggestion of neighboring ministers. A meeting was planned to be held in Niklaus Moser s farm at Fridersmatt, Switzerland. Many of the Swiss ministers refused to attend and even Hans Reist himself failed to attend the meeting. Several leaders at the meeting suggested that the matter be decided through Bible study and with the help of all the ministers and leaders so another meeting was planned for two weeks in advance. During that time both Amman and Reist made efforts to garner support for their cause. Reist refused to declare that the True- Hearted were lost and even circulated a letter encouraging his people not to give too much regard to the teachings and discipline of the younger [ministers]. 30 The stakes were high at the weeks passed. The second meeting came and again Reist and several of his fellow ministers failed to attend. The story is told in the words of Peter Giger in Letters of the Amish Division. He writes: Then we were sorry that the other brothers were not also there. There were also three sisters with us and we sent them to see why they were absent. After a while, a message came from one or two of the brothers saying that they could not come [since] it was in the middle of harvest and a busy time. Then Jakob Amman began and said: This is the way they act, that they indeed cannot be persuaded 26 Steven M. Nolt, A History of the Amish (Good Books: Intercourse: PA, 2003) Delbert Gratz, Bernese Anabaptism (The Mennonite Historical Society, Goshen College: Goshen, IN, 1953), Steven M. Nolt, A History of the Amish (Good Books: Intercourse: PA, 2003) Ibid., Ibid., 37.

7 Chris Stoltzfus 7 to come here, and [he] said that Hans Reist was a rabble- rouser who slandered and shamed God s Word. 31 The Swiss ministers present also refused to stand with Amman on the issue but rather begged for time and forbearance. However, he was not be dissuaded from his plan. He withdrew a letter and read six complaints against Reist and declared that he should be excommunicated from the church. Amman then proceeded to excommunicate Reist and any other ministers at the meeting who refused to confess shunning with him. Then he and his co- ministers left the barn without shaking hands or greeting even those who had not been excommunicated. The waves of his quick action were felt widely. Suddenly the Swiss Brethren were forced to take sides. Would they accept the strict Meidung or side with Reist and his more lenient view? Letters with harsh words of condemnation from either side went back and forth as each tried to offer an explanation and defense of their actions. Although the excommunicated ministers were soon reinstated by others who had not been banned, several years passed and the rift between the two sides remained. In fact, when Nicholas Stoltzfus joined the Amish Church around 1744, locals knew of two groups of Mennonites. The one sect, called the Hook Mennonites, wore hooks on their clothes, and were followers of Jacob Amman. The other sect, the button Mennonites were followers of John Reist. 32 Attempts at Reconciliation Five years after the dramatic event in 1693, Amman and his group admitted they had been to rash in applying the ban. They repented and sought reconciliation with the Swiss churches but to no avail. Their desire for reconciliation became so serious that they literally excommunicated themselves from the fellowship to prove their sincere desire for healing in the relationships. However, the request for forgiveness was viewed more as a victory by the Reist group than an opportunity for renewed relations. Ulli Amman, possibly a brother to Jacob Amman wrote that when the Reist group received the confession, they became very happy and, as one says, fluffed up their manes and shouted all over saying: Now one can see who was right and who was wrong. Then they let themselves believe that they were excused of all mistakes and that all responsibility for the dispute was now to be found on our side alone. 33 Interestingly, Reist group celebrated the proof that they had been right in the issue of the ban even though the Amman group still maintained their position on the shunning. They only wished to accept diverse applications of the ban in different churches. Reconciliation never came between the Amish and Mennonites in Europe and before long, some were again uprooted and moving to new lands across the waters. Amish Migration to America Amish and Mennonite migration to America came as a result of William Penn s holy experiment in Pennsylvania. The goal of this endeavor was to establish a colony where all religious persuasions could live together in peace and harmony. Penn was part of the Quaker group that had been a marginalized and persecuted religious group in Europe and wished for such groups to settle in the land he had been granted. He made a special trip to the Rhine River region where many Amish and Mennonites were settled to advertise his dreams for settling the New World. 34 The first Mennonites arrived in Germantown around 1709 and settled in Skippack, east of Schuylkill, PA. Then on April 10, 1710 another group of Mennonites appeared at Rotterdam, Holland unannounced. They were on their way to Penn s Woods and would become some of the first European settlers in Lancaster County. They came with most of the fare needed to make the trip across the waters and were able to secure the remaining funds while they waited to board. 35 The journey across the waters ended in Germantown, PA on September 16, After spending the winter in Germantown acclimating to their new environment, the group set out 31 John D. Roth, Letters of the Amish Division (Mennonite Historical Society: Goshen, IN), Ernest Drumm, Revealed Life of Nicholas Stoltzfus, researched and compiled by Levi L. Stoltzfus, (No Publisher Name: 1986), Roth., Steven M. Nolt, A History of the Amish (Good Books: Intercourse: PA, 2003), John Landis Ruth, The Earth is the Lord s (Herald Press: Scottsdale, PA, 2001), 162.

8 Chris Stoltzfus 8 in the spring of 1711 and walked through the woods to several thousand acres they had secured near Willow Street. The Hans Herr house, which acted as a residence as well as their first meeting house, still stands within a mile of the Willow Street Mennonite Church. The Amish started coming to the New World several decades after the Mennonites. They came in three major waves beginning in the last half of the 1730 s. In all only about 500 migrated to Pennsylvania during the years 1736 and 1770 making their homes in Penn s Woods of Eastern Pennsylvania. At first they moved further north into Berks County, PA, but later found their way into Lancaster County. Most of the Old Order Amish in America have descended from the first wave of Amish settlers. Nicholas Stoltzfus and his family came to America in 1766 with the first group of Amish immigrants. 36 Several years later On April 6, 1771 Nicholas settled on a tract of land next to the Tulpehoccon Creek in Berks County. 37 The Sears store of the Berkshire Mall in Reading, PA stands on the property he owned and Nicholas house, which has been restored, can still be seen there today. 38 Later migrations of Amish occurred between 1817 and 1860 in which about 3,000 came. Most of them settled further west in states like Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. Others moved north into New York and Ontario and still others settled in Pennsylvania. Later in 1860 to 1914 another fifty or more families arrived in the New World and settled in already established Amish communities. 39 Others in the New World Just as William Penn had envisioned, other religious groups also began moving into Pennsylvania during this time. Some came for economic purposes and others to escape religious persecution in Europe. For example, the Peter Glick family immigrated and settled in Windsor Township, Berks County. 40 They arrived on September 15, 1748 in Philadelphia, PA after a long and treacherous journey. Although the Glicks were not Amish when they came, Glick is a common Mennonite and Amish last name today. Luthy writes that the German name Glick comes from the word Gluck which means luck, good fortune, success, prosperity. 41 However, when tragedy struck in the Peter Glick home, good fortune escaped them. During the French and Indian War ( ) the family lived in an area where many of the settlers were raided, scattered, kidnapped and massacred. 42 On a tragic day the Indian warriors attacked the Peter Glick home and created a terrible carnage. Although variant accounts exist which give differing details of what actually happened, it remains fairly certain that all the family members but little Johnny were massacred. An entry in one historical records states that on March 23, 1756, at and near the house of Peter Cluck in Windsor Township, 7 killed, 1 wounded. 43 One rendering of the story is found in Glicks in America (private printing, 1985) and describes it this way: The Indians were fighting with the settlers. One day, when the settlement where John lived, was having church, the doors being locked, the Indians attacked! They broke down the door of the house, and beginning with the ministers, they massacred everyone in the house, including John s entire family; or so they thought, but John s father had hidden him under one of the benches and told him to stay there. The Indians then set fire to the house, and while it burned, they danced and celebrated 36 Ernest Drumm, Revealed Life of Nicholas Stoltzfus, researched and compiled by Levi L. Stoltzfus, (No Publisher Name: 1986), Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead, Nicholas Stoltzfus, 2006, (accessed May 5, 2010). 38 John A. Parmer, The Nicholas Stoltzfus House: Ten Years of Progress (Nicholas Stoltzfus House Preservation Committee, 2010), Steven M. Nolt, A History of the Amish (Good Books: Intercourse: PA, 2003), David Luthy, Orphaned by Indians: Glick Family History, Family Life, March, 1994, Ibid., Ervie Lowell Glick, From Judith to the Round Barn: A Peter Gluck Family History (Masthof Press: Morgantown, PA, 2009), Ibid., 18.

9 Chris Stoltzfus 9 outside. John had to escape from the burning building. The Indians saw him run from the burning building into the nearby woodland. He managed to find a hollow log and crawled into it to hide. The Indians, after hunting for him, sat on the very log and talked; and he was sure that they would hear his heart beating and find him. However, it grew dark and the Indians went away. Awhile after they went away, John crawled out of the hollow log and ran through the woods to another settlement, where a family who was childless raised him. 44 Another rendering of the story is found in The Fortunate Years: An Amish Life by Aaron S. Glick. There we learn that the Glicks and others were moving away from the area due to the dangers from the Indians. Their Amish neighbors left a day prior to the Glicks and for some reason happened to take little Johnny with them. That night Indian John s family was massacred by the Indians. 45 And since Gluck is a very common name among the Jewish population, another story weaves into it the Jewishness of Peter Glick. The details of the story are blurred both by little Johnny s age and the centuries between the actual event and its being written. Johnny was so young when this incident occurred that he couldn t give many details as to what happened. Some suggest that he may have been a mere three years old at the time he was orphaned. 46 When folks asked him how many family members there were he is said to have raised his hand and said Viele, Viele. 47 But despite the variant stories of the event, we do know that the young orphan somehow ended up with an Amish foster family, grew up in Mifflin County and joined the Amish Church thus becoming the progenitor of all Glicks in the Anabaptist Churches. Indian John married Magdalena Fisher Miller and raised a family. They had a full house of ten children, two of which died in infancy. 48 His son Samuel Glick married Barbara Lantz whose father, Samuel Lantz was the founder of the Amish community in Union County. 49 Samuel s son David E. Glick eventually moved on to Lancaster County in Glicks in the Valley and Beyond During the 1870 s dissension in the Mifflin County church seemed to reflect similar challenges of the Mennonite and Amish churches of that time. Some members of the Amish community in Buffalo Valley began meeting for Sunday School in a schoolhouse. Since this was against the Amish tradition it caused a big stir within the community. Esh writes that there was dissention in the congregation and the people failed to live in peace among themselves. 50 This motivated David E. Glick, a grandson of Indian John to load his cattle on three train cars and moved them to Lancaster County. After unloading their possessions in Bird- in- Hand, the family chased the cattle several miles to Cattail where they had purchased a farm for $ per acre. 51 David s son, Christian B. Glick eventually married Emma Kurtz who had come to America as a non- Amish during the second wave of the Amish migration. Among the other groups coming to America were the Dunkard Brethren, Lutherans, Seventh Day Adventist s and more. During the second Amish movement Edwin Kurtz and his wife Christina (Ortlieb) migrated from Germany. They were in the Dunkard Brethren church and came in 1847 for reasons unknown to the author. If they migrated for economic gain they were likely disappointed with what they found for again, great fortune escaped them. An undated paper written by Christian G. Esh tells the story of twin Emma in the New World. Emma and Katie, twin daughter of Edward and Christina (Ortleib) Kurtz were born in Monterey on September 8, They lived on the northeast corner of East Eby and Newport Roads. Edward was 44 Ervie Lowell Glick, From Judith to the Round Barn: A Peter Gluck Family History (Masthof Press: Morgantown, PA, 2009), Aaron S. Glick, The Fortunate Years (Good Books, Intercourse, PA, 1994), Glick, Christian G. Esh, Minister for 63 Years, Unpublished paper, No date. 48 Glick, Unpublished family paper 50 Christian G. Esh, Minister for 63 Years, Unpublished paper, No date. 51 Ibid., 1.

10 Chris Stoltzfus 10 a Wagoner and had come from Germany in He died when the twins were five years old and his wife could not support the four children, so the twins were put out to separate families. Emma went to live with her aunt and uncle, Christian Ortleib. He was a carpenter and a kind man but his wife was cruel to the child in his absence. She had to watch hogs in the woods with only bread spread with lard for her noon meal. Their wooden pump was so hard to handle that the little girl often went thirsty. How glad she must have been to see her uncle come home! There were more ways in which little Emma suffered and the neighbors would not stand to see more of it. They had her removed from that home within the first year. So at six years of age she was kindly taken into the home of John Berkeys who were Amish. It seemed to be their intentions to keep her dressed as a Dunkard. There was very little difference in dress and the ways of life at that time. But by begging for Amish clothes, Emma was soon dressed that way. 52 Reports are that Emma wished to be baptized by immersion like her sisters who were both married to men from the Dunkard Brethren church. But she was also determined not to marry a man who was a drunkard like both of her sisters had done. Finally as the age of twenty- one she was baptized by pouring in the Amish church on Stoltzfus family farm. The paper goes on to discuss Emma and her husband Christian s move into the tenant house on White Horse Road south of Old Philadelphia Pike and across from the Stoltzfus family farm. They later moved onto the farmhouse where Emma had been baptized into the Amish church. Sixty- six years later 53, after Christ A. Glick, Emma s son had moved onto the farm, her funeral was held in the same house. At the time of her death in 1954 the Old Order Amish church was facing new challenges. This time it would again divide families and change the landscape of Amish character in Lancaster County in many ways. Amish Change in Lancaster County The early 1950 s and 1960 s brought many challenges to the Amish experience in America. In Lancaster County the difficulty was on two fronts. Pressures of modernization coupled with a revival movement in the Mennonite Church were a well- known phenomenon. In addition, growing desire for a deeper spirituality seemed to contrast the formalism of the Amish and Mennonite way of life and fostered an interest in Bible Study, missions and a more vibrant expression of Christian faith. There was what John U. Glick described as a time of spiritual hunger among the Amish young folks especially. 54 The first Brunk Revivals in Lancaster County were held from July 3 to 22, Thousands of mostly Mennonites along with some Amish gathered each evening to hear the fiery sermons and responded to the theme Lose yours sins and find your Savior. 55 On the first night 2,000 are reported to have attended the meetings at East Chestnut Street in Lancaster City and by the end of the first week over 7,000 were in attendance. The meetings were unusual for the Mennonite world more accustomed to simple preaching and unadorned living than large tent crusades. Large banners declaring The Whole Gospel for the Whole World accented the electrified atmosphere. The momentum went on for seven weeks as local news outlets were even caught up into the excitement. They reported on the meetings and even wrote a small article of entitled Revival Meeting Leads Boy to Confess $10,000 Barn Fire and in 1952 Time Magazine reported on the revival movement which had begun in Lancaster County. 56 Due to the overwhelming crowds that were gathering, a larger tent was purchased and setup near the Lancaster Airport outside of the city. There it was reported that on July 15, 1951 there were 15,000 people present. 57 Participants in the meetings also spoke of the impact in their own lives as described by an eyewitness: 52 Christian G. Esh, Minister for 63 Years, Unpublished paper, No date, Emma passed away on July 30, John U. Glick, interview by author, April 23, Dean Taylor, Lancaster Revival of 1951, The Heartbeat of the Remnant, 2008, Ibid., John Landis Ruth, The Earth is the Lord s (Herald Press: Scottsdale, PA, 2001), 1047.

11 Chris Stoltzfus 11 I sat in my seat entranced, tears flowing down my checks at times, as I entered into the joys and concerns of those who spoke. There was the seventy- year- old Christian who proclaimed his love for Christ. The very young, the youthful, the middle- aged, and the silver- haired gave their testimonies. To be sure, no golden- tongued oratory appeared. There were large lines of people who know not what it means to stand before others to witness. They stumbled in their speech; they walked timidly; many did not say all they wanted to say. 58 No doubt, much was changing in the Mennonite and Amish world during that time. Steve Stoltzfus, a young Amish man at the time of the Brunk revivals tells of people in Morgantown plowing down their tobacco patches after meetings that were held there in The impact of these meetings was felt within the Beachy Amish church as well and paralleled what was happening in the Amish church. One of the issues which the Beachy Amish as well as Old Order Amish were questioning was that of assurance of salvation. The Amish taught and continue to do so, that one cannot know for sure if he is saved and going to heaven. However, the revival preachers had something different to say. They proclaimed a new doctrine which said that one could know for sure of his salvation. Aaron Lapp writes that One of the biggest breakthroughs came with the teaching of assurance of salvation To be born again, yes, but to claim assurance of salvation, or of the new birth, was a new and somewhat foreign idea. 60 Other Movements within the Amish During the same time Mose Lapp rose as an influential mover among the young Amish in the Lower Pequea area of Lancaster County. His vision to see Amish children learn to read the German script grew from his desire for them to understand the Bible. He started a Deitch School in the home where Ernie and Elmina Stoltzfus now live just over the hill from the former Christ F. Glick farm where the first New Order meeting was later held. The school was held on Saturday mornings during the winter months for children from the Gap community and is remembered by John U. Glick as a very special time. 61 Mose Lapp s son Omar, who would later become the founder of the Amish Goodie youth group, was one of the main teachers. Several of Christ A. Glick s sons and daughters attended these meetings where the students would read the German Bible together. The Mose Lapp family later became involved in Bible studies and even hosted a youth Bible study in March of About one year after the first Brunk Revival in Lancaster County, David A Miller of Thomas Oklahoma made a large stir in Lancaster County. He style of preaching was very unusual for the Amish church of his day. He preached Sunday and weekdays, in the morning sometimes afternoon and occasionally after an evening hymn sing in brooder houses, in barns and on lawns. 62 Anna S. Glick (Stoltzfus) remembers sitting next to a hay hole in the Samuel Beiler barn on Beuna Vista Road and hearing David s preaching when she was only seven years old and her brother John U. Glick recalls hearing him preach when he was only twelve years old However, the monumental sermon and the last that David preached for the Lancaster Old Order happened on a Sunday afternoon during a ten- day preaching tour. On August 10, 1952 he did something very unusual in the Amish society and held a special meeting for the youth. Over two- hundred Amish youth gathered in Mose Lapp s barn along with ministers Sam Stoltzfus and Christian B. Glick, the son of David E. Glick and great- grandson of Indian John. Although his preaching was in German like the Amish ministers, it was unlike the typical Amish sermon in a weekly church service. Participants say that he preached a message similar to the Mennonite evangelists, but custom- fitted to the Amish church scene. 65 John U. Glick reports that he spoke 58 Dean Taylor, Lancaster Revival of 1951, The Heartbeat of the Remnant, 2008, Steve Stoltzfus, interview by author, March 30, Aaron Lapp Jr, Weavertown Church History: Memoirs of an Amish Mennonite Church (Carlise Printing: Sugarcreek, OH, 2003), John U. Glick, interview by author, April 23, Elmer S. Yoder, The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches (Diakonia Ministries: Hartville, OH, 1987), Anna S. Stoltzfus, interview by author, March 30, Glick, April 23, G.C. Waldrep, The New Order Amish and Para- Amish Groups: Spiritual Renewal within Tradition, Mennonite Quarterly Review, July, 2008, 400.

12 Chris Stoltzfus 12 out against the use of tobacco, immorality and loose living and pointed people to consider the urgency of the new Birth and a changed heart. 66 The unusual tone of his sermons caused concern among the Amish and they felt it necessary to put an end to his influence. Before David reached his home in Oklahoma there was a letter informing him that he was no longer welcome among the Amish of Lancaster County. 67 Nevertheless, the message of repentance stirred some of the youth who had been living the typical wild life in Amish gangs. Amish Gangs and the Goodie Movement Many outsiders have read about or watched television shows regarding the Amish tradition of Rumspringa. During this time some Amish young folks are left loose to live a life outside the Amish church. Others choose to join an Amish gang that requires its participants to adhere to church prohibitions and avoid non- Amish dress standards. Stevick in Growing up Amish describes the gangs of Lancaster County saying, a gang simply denotes a local group of 50 to 150 self chosen peers. At age sixteen, Lancaster youth choose to join one of about thirty gangs. 68 The gangs vary widely in their way of life. Some groups chose to stay within the confines of the Amish church and might even become Church members and adhere to the Ordnung before marriage. Others break away from the tradition and drive cars, consume alcohol and live an English life until they are ready to settle down and join the church. For the Amish youth of the 1950 s and 1960 s the fastest, wildest and most liberal were the Groffies. They were more likely to drive cars and party on weekends says Stevick and others who were a part of the gang. 69 Although the girls in the group would not typically drink or smoke cigarettes, the young men lived very differently. Steve Stoltzfus remembers one young man who would bring a keg of beer to the parties and sell it to the other gang members. 70 Drinking was such a part of their gang life that avoiding it for any number of reasons could create suspicions about ones motives. One weekend when Steve was not drinking as normal a friend asked if he was getting goodie minded. He vehemently denied such charges. But at the same time, he and John Esh tried to hide their beer from each other. Things were changing as they became tired of their life of partying. The typical weekend consisted of a Saturday night party getting drunk and a Sunday night singing in the home of a friend. Band Hops were the ultimate party occasions where Amish bands would play their favorite music while the rest danced, drank beer and smoked. The author clearly recalls as a youngster sitting at home south of White Horse and hearing the loud music from an Amish Hop waft across the hills. Stevick describes these events very well saying, Over the normally quiet countryside, the twang of electric guitars and an electric bass turning up pinpoint the location. Loudspeakers crackle and boom with the background rattle of drums, and somebody s voice tests a state- of- the- art sound system powered by gasoline- or diesel- powered generator. A band hop is ready to begin, an event that can easily run all night until the next morning milking. 71 Being drunk at Amish gatherings was a norm for Steve Stoltzfus. He tells of a weekend mixed with pain and struggle when he ended up attending a viewing for a fellow Groffie who had been brutally murdered. The weekend had begun by offering a helping hand to his sister Anna who was married and lived on Meadville Road near White Horse. She was preparing for the traditional Amish church services the next day and Steve was helping with the work. But he also had something else very important on his mind. He was anticipating a date with the Sarah 72 who he had taken home the week before. 66 John U. Glick, interview by author, April 23, Elmer S. Yoder, The Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship Churches (Diakonia Ministries: Hartville, OH, 1987), Richard A. Stevick, Growing up Amish: The Teenage Years (The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 2007), Stevick, Steve Stoltzfus, interview by author, March 30, Stevick, Names have been changed

13 Chris Stoltzfus 13 Dating Patterns in the Gangs Typical dating patterns of that time began with taking her home on one weekend or possibly several weekends before going steady. Many couples practiced bed- courtship which is said to have stemmed from couples courting in unheated houses. 73 Steve remembers of his brothers bringing girls home and going to bed with them as a normal practice. That was the norm in their home. Although the couple spent the night together in the same bed, they were always expected to refrain from any kind of sexual activity until after marriage. At times a young man might take the girl home one weekend and then start dating, but later decide they were not ready to settle down. Such was the case with Amos who had been dating Sarah. He s not ready to settle down was the report that was floating around. 74 So during this time Steve Stoltzfus took Sarah home and wanted to begin going steady. It was on the Saturday evening that he was helping prepare for church that the date had been planned. With excitement he ran on foot the eight miles to his home in Honey Brook only to discover a letter saying that she was not interested in a date after all. It appears that after seeing that Steve was pursing Sarah, Amos decided it was time to settle down after all. Steve was dejected and spent the weekend drinking more than the norm. His emotions must have been frazzled both by the lost dating companion as well as the death of a fellow youth boy. Only a few days before the incident with Sarah, a young Groffie had been found dead alongside the road. Samuel was known to be among the wildest of the Groffie gang. He and his brother would at times escape to Lancaster City and live their wild Amish life there. Somehow, they must have contacted the wrong person and Samuel paid a heavy price. Very little information is available about the murder since his brother, who knew the details of the event spoke of it very little. According to rumors, the man s body was mutilated and his private parts torn out before being run over by a car. It seemed that the murder was the result of their escapades in Lancaster City. The viewing occurred on the same weekend that Steve had received the heart- breaking letter from Sarah. He recalls going to the viewing in a half- drunken stupor. 75 Events like this shocked the Amish youth, and especially those who were living the high life. Anna Glick (Stoltzfus) reported that after such events, they often danced to Christian music to reflect the somberness of the time. 76 The Goodies Revival movements and David A. Millers preaching within the context of the Amish gangs of the 1950 s and 1960 s combined to bring about changes. Young people were hungry as and some were experiencing spiritual renewal. Those who refused to engage in the old life of drinking and smoking soon became known as the Goodies. Being a goodie- goodie was not viewed with respect within the Groffie gang. So it seems very unlikely that an Amish gang in which most of the members came from Groffies, would eventually adopt that name. Omar Lapp, the son of Mose Lapp who began the Dietch School is credited with starting the Goodie youth group. The beginning came rather slowly, it seems and grew out of a desire for Bible study. According to research done by Ben Lapp, the first recorded Amish Bible study was held on April 22, 1953 in Morgantown, PA at the Allan Lee Stoltzfus home. 77 Emma Mae Glick (Stoltzfus) was among the early participants from the Glick family. She faced challenges for this when it came time to be baptized and was told she could not be baptized unless she ended her participation in Bible Study. Nevertheless, through 1954 and 1955 youth Bible studies seem to have increased. In addition, a tent revival across from the present location of the Gap Park held by Myron Augsburger in 1955 helped turn more young people to the way of the Goodies. John U. Glick tells of going to these meetings and feeling conviction. He didn t respond publicly because he still wanted to 73 Richard A. Stevick, Growing up Amish: The Teenage Years (The John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, 2007), Steve Stoltzfus, interview by author, March 30, Stoltzfus, March 30, Anna S. Stoltzfus, interview by author, March 30, Ben Lapp, interview by author, April 13, 2010