There is a book by Rev. H. Max Lentz entitled " Lutheran Churches in Boone Co., Kentucky " which was published in 1902, in York, Pennsylvania. Rev. Lentz states that the first church in the Boone Co. area was a Baptist church. The remarks here are confined to Hopeful Church, the daughter of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madison Co., VA (Hebron Church).
The Rev. William Carpenter, then pastor at Madison, Virginia, made a journey to Kentucky in 1804. His journal now before us records the expense at eighteen pounds, or say ninety dollars, but he is silent as to the object of his visit. As several families from Virginia moved here the year afterward, we are, no doubt, right in assuming that he came to Kentucky on a tour of investigation, and that those who came twelve months later came with his approval and likely at his suggestion.
[Lentz quotes Rev. D. Harbaugh, who, in his history of Hopeful Church, says, "On the 8th of October 1805, the following brethren and sisters left Madison, VA, viz: - George Rouse, Elizabeth Rouse, John House, Milly House, Frederick Zimmerman, Rose Zimmerman, Ephraim Tanner, Susanna Tanner, John Rouse, Nancy Rouse, and Elizabeth Hoffman. They, with their families arrived in Boone Co. the 25th of November 1805."]
As soon as the brethren had erected their cabins, they resolved, though destitute of a good pastor, to hold religious meetings in private homes. The first meeting was held at George Rouse's, at the close of 1805, or at the beginning of 1806. The meetings were conducted in the following manner: after a suitable hymn, one of the brethren offered prayer, after which Ephraim Tanner read a sermon, selected from Rev. Schubert's sermons. After the sermon, the exercises were conducted in the German language and kept up regularly, unless Providentially prevented, every Sabbath for nearly eight years, or until October 1813.When Ephraim Tanner wrote father Carpenter for advice, he sent them a constitution and advised them to organize a church, when they did January 6, 1806. We (Lentz) have the old German constitution with its signatures of the fathers before us. Rev. H. in his discourse translates it entire and we give his excellent translation.
(to be continued in following notes)
[ Please note that these are Rev. Lentz' opinions and that he is quoting Rev. Harbaugh. The statements should be subject to scrunity. These comments were brought to my attention by Ellie Caroland and appeared in Beyond Germanna in vol. 4, issue 3. John BLANKENBAKER]
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.