[continuing with Hopeful Church in Boone County, KY]
On the 10th of July, 1832, Father Carpenter wrote to Rev. Jacob Crigler of Berlin, Pa., in which he said:
"I have now been preaching the blessed gospel for a space of forty-five years, this last spring. I was about twenty-five when I began, and am now a little upwards of three score and ten; and according to the course of nature and my feelings, I cannot possibly hold out much longer. We may indeed expect the ordinary blessings of divine Providence, but cannot expect miracles. I have often had heavy thoughts about my little congregation here in the wilderness."
Rev. Carpenter urged Rev. Jacob Crigler to come and take charge of the congregation. Writing of a communion service, he wrote:
"On Whitsuntide we had the sacraments in our church, and I had the pleasure of seeing our old father-in-law, your two brothers and their wives at the communion table, but too many of the members stood back that I could have wished to have seen there. There were only twenty-one communicants, and a few years back I had as many as sixty-two."
Less than a year later, on 18 Feb., 1833, Father Carpenter went to his reward. As recorded in the Hebron Baptismal Register in Virginia, Wilhelm Zimmermann had been born 25 Mar 1762. Thus, he was just shy of his 71nd birthday.
The church was without a pastor for about fourteen months, but the Rev. Jacob Crigler (in 1826 he spelled his name as Kriegler) came in April of 1834. He was the son of Aaron and Catherine Crigler, and had been born in Virginia, 15 Jan. 1778. Father Crigler was first married to Lydia Utz, on her eighteenth birthday, 15 Jan 1799. She died, leaving two children, and Jacob married Nellie Tanner in 1808. They had twelve children.
Jacob Crigler had been pastor in Berlin, PA, for a number of years. He was active in denominational affairs, both in Pennsylvania and in Kentucky. Two brothers of Father Crigler, Lewis and Nicholas, had moved to Boone County before Jacob did. After Jacob came, two other brothers, Joel and Jonas, came also. With Jacob and Nellie's twelve children, and the siblings of both Jacob and Nellie, their families left a mark on Boone County.
Father Crigler held his first communion in the fall of 1834, when sixty-nine communicants came, including twelve people who were confirmed. The record of this was made in English, for the first time, and, at the annual meeting on 6 Jan. 1835, the minutes were first recorded in English; however, it was stated that the discipline was read in German.
The Kentucky synod was organized at Louisville in 1835, with Jacob Crigler elected as the first President. He is said to the author of the slogan, " Union, Concentration of Effort, and Decisive Action ".
I will end the discussion of Hopeful Church here.
(25 Feb 02)
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.