Early Yellow Creek Dunker Congregation, Bedford PA

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States

"Early" to distiguish this original Yellow Creek congregation from a later one which was origninally named Hopewell. "Because in the Hopewell congregation not far away was a postoffice named Yellow Creek and many confused this name and the one of the congregation, on April 23, 1895, the [Early] Yellow Creek church changed its name legally and hereafter it is known as New Enterprise" (Royer 1924, p 134). (Yellow Creek is six miles southeast of New Enterprise.)

"This early group of [German Baptist Brethren] centered at New Enterprise [originally Yellow Creek] and the territory in which they were scattered embraced all of Bedford and much of Fulton counties. Among the early settlers especially in Bedford and Huntingdon counties were a large number of Brethren whose descendants trace their ancestry to Franklin County, (Pa.) ... The first of this migration can safely be placed as early as 1750 or 1760. The earliest record of [their] presence [is] a deed for a tract of land containing 269 acres, located in Morrison's Cove on the Three Springs branch of Yellow Creek ... convey[ing] from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Samuel Ullery and Jacob Brumbaugh said tract on December 12, 1785 ... The consideration was [£6 19s 5p].

"So far as is known this Samuel Ullery was the first minister in this church. Just when he came is not known. He died in 1822 ... Jacob Brumbaugh, the other person named in the deed ... was also a minister. ... The time of the organization of this church and who were the participators are unknown. As was usual in those days the members and friends met for worship in homes, some of which were purposely constructed to meet this purpose." (ibid, pp 125-127)

"In the first the Yellow Creek consisted of Snake Spring and part of the Cove. The first minister was a man ... by the name of Overholser ... (second) David Mikesell ... (third) perhaps Abraham Teeter, Senior, but never preached ; (fourth) Samuel Ullery, who ... was a very influential minister ; (fifth) Isaac Ritchey and John Holsinger, Senior, elected at the same time, ... Some time after, [the congregation] divided into two separate districts and brother Ritchey fell to Snake Springs and Holsinger to Yellow Creek ; (sixth) then some time Elder Martin Miller was elected to the ministry in the Yellow Creek District ; (seventh) David Brumbaugh was elected some time after by the Snake Spring Church, then afterwards moved to Yellow Creek Church ; (eighth) then about 1830 Brother Jacob Gochnour was elected to the ministry." (ibid, p 126 footnote)

A somewhat different list of early ministers: "Samuel [Ullery,] the first Tunker minister in the Cove ... preached in the Yellow Creek congregation, southeast end of the Cove, in the vicinity of New Enterprise. So far as I remember, his successors in office were Martin Miller, John Holsinger, David Brumbaugh ..." (Brumbaugh 1913, p 50, quoting S.B. Furry)

Membership of the Early Yellow Creek congregation can be partially reconstructed from the 1790 U.S. Census. Huntingdon county had been formed 19 Sep 1787 from the northern part of Bedford county, with the deviding line about halfway between Clover Creek and Early Yellow Creek churches. The list below consists of known or probable Dunkers recorded residing in Bedford county in 1790; townships were not reported. Known non-Dunkers in italics.

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The 1790 census reported only name of head of household, and number of free white males 16 and over, free white males under 16, free white females, all other free persons, and slaves. Only free whites are included in this list since the last two categories were invariably absent. "None" was indicated by a blank, transcribed here as ".." to preserve proper spacing.

George Butterbough (1)

1 4 3

│

John Snider (2)

1 2 2

│

Jacob Snider (2)

1 3 1

Jacob Studibecker (2)

3 3 6

│

Casper Moler (3)

1 2 2

│

Valuntine Bowser (4)

1 1 2

Adam Burket (5)

2 3 1

│

Jacob Butterboug (1)

1 3 3

│

Joseph Long (6)

2 1 2

John Bowman

2 1 2

│

Abraham Overhaster

2 .. 2

│

Rinehart Repingogle {7)

1 1 1

Rinehart Repinogle (8)

4 3 3

│

Jacob Stootsman

2 4 2

│

Abraham Teter

1 6 5

David Ulery (9)

1 5 2

│

Samuel Ulery (9)

1 1 3

│

Isaac Shively

1 .. 5

Adam Replong (10)

1 .. ..

│

John Bowser

1 .. 1

│

Abrm Lingelfelter (11)

1 .. 2

Jacob Lingelfelter (11)

1 .. 1

│

George Lingelfelter (11)

1 3 3

│

Peter Rench

1 1 3

John Overhults

2 .. 2

│

Conrod Broombough

1 6 4

│

Daniel Ulireth (12)

2 2 4

Stophel Mericle (13)

1 1 5

│

Casper Dillener (14)

1 1 2

│

Hanah Teter (15)

.. 4 6

John Teter (16)

1 1 3

│

Peter Miller (17)

1 .. 1

│

John Miller (17)

1 .. 2

Elies Miller (17)

1 .. 2

│

John Broobeaker

2 2 5

│

Jacob Broobeaker

1 2 1

Jacob Stootsman (18)

1 2 1

│

John Stootsman (18)

1 1 1

│

John Hersberger (19)

1 6 4

--------------------------------

-

-------

John Brumbaugh (20)

1 1 3

│

John Holsinger (21)

1 1 2

│

Notes:

1. George & Jacob Butterbough were brothers.
2. John & Jacob Snider were brothers; Jacob Studebaker was married to their sister Mary Snider (1756-1832).
3. Casper Moler's son John (1787–1872) was evidently a Lutheran minister, so the family was probably not Dunker.
4. The Bowsers were probably German Reformed but some of their family married Dunkers.
5. Adam Burket (abt 1760-abt 1846) m Mary d/o George Butterbough; probably unrelated to Israel Burket (abt 1723-abt 1805) and family.
6. Joseph Long's son Christian became a Dunker minister in 1804.
7. Rinehart Replogle Jr (1759-1813), baptized German Reformed or Lutheran; some children married into Dunker families and many descendants were Brethren including several ministers.
8. Rinehart Replogle Sr (1720-abt 1796), German Reformed or Lutheran but some children married into Dunker families (Metzger, Cripe, Shively).
9. David & Samuel Ulery were brothers; Samuel was a Dunker minister.
10. Adam Replogle Sr. (1762-1823), possibly a Dunker; moved to Ohio abt 1815.
11. Abraham Lingenfelter was father of Jacob and George; some descendants were Dunkers.
12. Second male over 16 probably s/o Daniel Ulrich Jr (1756-1813), with his family.
13. Christopher Markley (1745-1819), son-in-law of Daniel Ulrich Sr.
14. Johann Casper Dilling (1756-1838), son-in-law of George Butterbough.
15. Susanna (Ulrich) Deeter (1755-abt 1804) d/o Daniel Ulrich Sr & widow of John Deeter (1745-1790) who died shortly before the 1790 census.
16. Possibly Johannes (Ditrich) Deeter (abt. 1755-abt 1828), who settled in Brothers Valley; not a Dunker.
17. Peter, John & Elias Miller were brothers, recorded on consecutive lines in the 1790 census. Peter's son Andrew Miller (1803-1855) was a Dunker minister; Elias' son Abraham was a minister of the Christian church.
18. Jacob & John Stutzman were sons of Christian Stutzman (bef 1732-1770); Amish.
19. Dau Mary Ann married Daniel Studebaker Snider (1772-1866), a Dunker minister.
20. Recorded in 1810 census, with sons Jacob & Daniel Brumbaugh on adjacent lines.
21. Recorded in 1800 census, with brother George Holsinger entered on line below without data; Dunker minister, sons John, George and Daniel also became Dunker ministers.

References

• Royer, Galen Brown, 1924. "A history of the Church of the Brethren in the middle district of Pennsylvania." Prepared and Published Under the Supervision of the District Conference through its Home Mission Board.
• Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus, 1913. "Genealogy of the Brumbach Families, including those using the following variations of the original name: Brumbaugh, Brumback, Brumback, Brombaugh, Brownback, and many other connected families." Frederick H. Hitchcock, Genelogical Publisher, New York, NY.
• United States Census (1790), returns for Bedford, Pennsylvania.