Photo by Ed Gerrard
Our History
The history of Old St. Paul’s congregation must be told by a piecing together of details from meager sources of information. It is about pioneer Pennsylvania German (Deustch) people who came down through the Shenandoah Valley to the wilderness of the Carolina colony in the 1740’s and 1750’s.
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Photo by Ed Gerrard Our History The history of Old St. Paul’s congregation must be told
by a piecing together of details from meager sources of information. It is about
pioneer Pennsylvania German (Deustch) people who came down through the
Shenandoah Valley to the wilderness of the Carolina colony in the 1740’s and
1750’s. These farmer folk, seeking fertile land to support
themselves and their families in the New World, discovered that the best land in
eastern Pennsylvania was already bought. As they married and left the family
farmstead they migrated south. Encouraged by the enthusiasm of trapper/explorer
Heinrich Weidner, they purchased land in this region from the agents of Lord
Proprietors in England. This heavily wooded land in the Catawba Valley was
obtainable for as little as fifty cents an acre! Weidner was born a Prince in Germany but as a second
son would never have ruled that principality unless his older brother had died
young. He decided to face the pioneer challenges and sail for America. Having
the strength of a Christian faith he was able to meet those challenges. Also
since his family was wealthy he bought over 10,000 acres of land in this area.
Two rivers flowed through this land; these he named for his sons, the Henry and
the Jacob’s Fork! In this migration of Germans there were two significant
factors different from most other settlements in America. First, they came here
without a spiritual leader. The pastors in Pennsylvania had enough work just
gathering the new European immigrants into congregations. Secondly, no
additional Germans came from either the old country or from their first
settlements in the New World. Probably Andreas Killian was typical of those first
settlers west of the Catawba River. He sailed into the port of Philadelphia in
1732 and fifteen years thereafter brought his family to a homestead on Clark’s
Creek. Between Adam Sherrill’s ford at the Catawba River and
Weidner’s place on the South Fork, the soon-after-constructed Deustch Meeting
House was the center of the German settlement. This meeting house was built to
serve two groups of believers, the Lutheran and the Reformed. Without a pastor,
these families assembled to worship, sing, pray, and listen to a sermon read
from a book. Their first log structure was erected close to the old cedar trees
in the back of the cemetery. It was very narrow and probably held no more than
one hundred people. It is very natural to conclude that together the two
congregations did not comprise more than two hundred souls. From this small
start have stemmed tens of thousands of Americans who can trace their ancestry
back to these God-fearing forebears. After several years that little log hut was struck by
lightning and burned. Then they decided to build a bigger, better structure and
put it up on the wagon road. The likely year was 1757, for a reliable report
says a Reformed minister named Martin preached to the congregation during his
travels in the year 1959. After already using the land for burials and buildings
for a goodly number of years, the church leaders went to the effort of recording
the deed to the property in Rowan County in 1771. Paul and Frony Anthony
conveyed the land to the Lutarin and Presbetaren Christian Churches for the
payment of one pound sterling from each of the parties. The tract contained ten
acres and was laid out most easily as an east-west, north-south, rectangle
straight on the compass points. John Gottried Arndt traveled west from the Lutheran
settlements near Salisbury in August 1776 and gave first communions. It would
not be until 1785 that he was made missionary full-time to the region west of
the Catawba River. Not until Arndt arrived here did people get rid of a sad
superstition of never marking gravestones with their names. For these pioneers
wrongly held that the devil would harass them until Resurrection Day if he could
identify their location. Immediately after Arndt’s pastorate began all graves
were inscribed in German with names and personal data. Native German Arndt
preached in that language and common speech among these folks remained that way
until Arndt grew old and virtually blind. The assistant pastor called to
accompany Arndt on his rounds of serving the eight to ten scattered flocks was
young Phillip Henkel. He was born in New Market, Virginia where he grew up
speaking English. The veteran circuit rider Arndt died in 1807. The immediate
influence of Henkel is evidenced by the usage of the English language on the
tombstones in 1808. Many family names had been altered by British record
keepers aboard ships that brought our forefathers to America. Hence when they
were administered the oath of allegiance to the British crown they came out with
Anglicized or even translated surnames. Those that did not get changed then did
so on property deeds or marriage bonds. Hardly any Carolina Germans escaped with
the original spelling of their names. Even Weidner and Wolfgang became Whitener
and Wilfong. Under the Lord’s blessing these families multiplied and
occupied more land. They grew numerous enough by the 1790’s to mother some new
congregations in the area such as Grace, Zion, and St. John’s Lutheran. After
the turn of the nineteenth century the Deustch Meeting House became known as
"South Fork Church." Additionally as individuals they acquired more acreage
and therefore began buying slaves to share in the booming cotton economy. So
these people decided to tear down the one-story church and build a two-story
church having a slave gallery on the second floor. The usable logs were retained
from the one-story church and used in the two-story building. Probably in 1818 Henry Cline was given the job of
constructing a very plain but practical log church. This building, sealed by
boards, is still standing solidly against the sky in our midst. As a carpenter,
Cline was a genius, realizing a seating capacity in the small structure of 250
people. He used steep narrow stairwells and high steps to the tiers of the
balcony achieving a space-saving specialty. For a reminder of the old country a canopy, or sounding
board, was placed over the head of the preacher in the pulpit. The seats
downstairs were designed to have an opening for the hoop skirts or bustles which
were the ladies fashion at that time. Only the pews in the center had solid
backs to seat the church board. Cline was sure that there could never be a woman on the
church council, but that day has come to Old St. Paul’s congregation. Thankfully
we can now rejoice that the talents of all God’s people can be recognized and
utilized. For some unexplained reason a second deed was drawn for
the historic church in 1818 as the third edifice was constructed. It is signed
by John Smyre and made out to trustees John Propst and John Wilfong for the two
congregations. After the civil war slaves no longer occupied the
balcony so the young men and boys were shifted to that section. They were as bad
to carve names in school desks and church pews as youngsters today. In the soft
wood of the upstairs seating, initials and even a few names abound! Pastor Arndt and his congregations helped form the
North Carolina Synod in 1803. In 1820 the influence of the Henkels for
confessional Lutheranism caused most of the western North Carolina flocks to
shift to the Tennessee Synod. But in 1846 Adam Miller Jr., an uncompromising
opponent of innovation in doctrine or discipline, was convinced that the
Tennessee Synod had also become too liberal and formed the Tennessee Synod
(Reorganized). The new grouping of Lutherans applied after the Civil War for
admission into the Joint Synod of Ohio. In 1884 they were received into that
church body with Ohio headquarters and in the 90’s convinced said assemblage to
start a seminary in Hickory. This school, known as St. Paul Practical Seminary,
served as ministerial training base for Carolina pastors until it closed in
1910. The church building was shared by the two Lutheran and
Reformed denominations until 1901 when the Reformed congregation built their own
house of worship three miles south at Startown. A few years later in 1905 the Lutheran congregation split over synodical
affiliation differences and one group moved several miles south and became known
as St. Paul’s Lutheran Church at Startown in the Tennessee Synod. Since both St.
Paul’s were on the same mailing route ours came to be distinguished as Old St.
Paul’s congregation. Perhaps the most prominent pastor in service of Old St.
Paul people was George Luther Hunt. Tutored by Adam Miller Jr., he arrived here
after the War Between the States. He bought a sizeable portion of land and
remained for the rest of his lifetime. He stemmed from eastern Tennessee stock
and often rode his little black mule, "Coaly", that far in his circuit riding
ministry. A church history book in German form 1901 says St.
Paul’s Church near Newton had 100 communing members. That must have dropped
substantially in 1905 when St. Paul’s at Startown was formed. Membership in
1952, when the present brick building was built across the road, was about 150
communicants. A significant step was taken in 1956 when after a dozen
years of sharing Pastor Schillinger with St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hickory, a
parsonage was built and Calvert Love was called to become our first full-time
pastor. The years have taken their toll on our old church
building and in 1994 a "Friends of Old St. Paul’s" committee was formed to
completely restore the structure. Pastors who have served Old St. Paul’s Lutheran Church:
J. G. Arends
1785 – 1807
Phillip Henkel
1805 – 1814
Daniel Moser
1815 – 1820
David Henkel
1820 – 1831
Adam Miller Jr.
1835 – 1846
P. C. Henkel
1849 – 1869
George L. Hunt
1868 – 1895
J. C. Moser
1896 – 1897
E. J. Sox 1897
– 1899
F. K. Roof 1900
– 1905
George L. Hunt
1905 – 1907
L. P. Propst
1907 – 1909
R. M. Carpenter
1912 – 1916
J. C. Barb 1916
– 1924
Luther M. Hunt
1925 – 1938
Royal Walther
1938 – 1943
Sylvanus
Schillinger 1944 – 1956
Calvert Love
1956 – 1961
Charles Boaz
1962 – 1970
Luther Knauff
1971 – 1987
John Groth 1988
– 1993
Elvin Bumgarner
1993 – 1994
Richard Hefner
1994 – 1994
David Ridenhour
1994 – 2002
Richard Hefner
2002 - 2003
Ronnie L. Church, Jr. 2003 - 2008
Paul Christ 2008 - 2009
Robert Sain 2009 - present
Research by Rev. Luther Knuaff
Photo by Ed Gerrard
The historic building is opened to the public for
Sunday afternoon tours during the months of April through October.
Tax deductible contributions for restoration and upkeep of this structure may be
sent to:
Friends of Old St. Paul’s Church
2035 Old Conover-Startown Road
Newton, N.C. 28658
