The following information has been graciously sent to me by Betty Riter, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer of the Springfield Township Historical Society. Over the past couple of years or more Betty has so kindly sent several pieces of information which have proved to be invaluable to my research. I would like to display pictures of these churches, if anyone has pictures or would like to add additional information please contact me. I am particularly interested in older prints. If any one has questions regarding the information, please contact Betty at www.bgriter@msn.com , or contact the Springfield Township Historical Society. Thank you Betty, for your help and support.
SALEM UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
3365 Route 212
42-017-055
Salem United Methodist Church is located on the northeast corner of Route 212/412 and Drifting Drive in Springtown.
Five years before the church came into existence, Bishop John Seybert, the first Bishop of the Evangelical Church, passed through Springtown. He stopped at the home of Henry Funk, and found there a place to preach. The congregation held services in private homes before a church building was erected.
1807. Henry H. Funk (the 2nd Henry Funk) and his wife donated land upon which to erect a schoolhouse. The schoolhouse was built with the condition that the building also be used as a place for holding religious services for the congregation. The schoolhouse was constructed with hemlock beams. After the schoolhouse was completed, the sermons of the first preacher were heard.
1837. The congregation was known as the Salem Evangelical United Brethren Church. The Reverend Solomon Altemos and the Reverend Jacob Reigel were the first to preach in the schoolhouse. They also visited the nearby home of Jacob Kooker. Jacob Kooker was the son of the first Jacob Kooker who owned and operated a tavern at 3298 Route 212. Jacob Kooker the second was involved with Salem Methodist Church. He was a Justice of the Peace. The Reverend Hummel, a missionary, also preached at the church several times.
1841. Salem Church was part of the Lehigh Circuit. The charge at one time included three churches, namely Springtown, Wassergas, and Hellertown. Pastors serving the congregation were Reverend I. F. Heisler and T. L. Wentz. The first congregation organized and met in the home of Jacob Clemens, near the tannery in Springtown, with Reverend Michael Maize as pastor. The church congregation met at the house later owned by William E. Hinton at 3350 Route 212. This house was the former tenant house associated with the tavern owned and operated by Jacob Kookert.
1842. The congregation erected a building that was to serve only as a church. The church was known as Salem Evangelical United Brethren Church. The church was erected on the site of a former limestone quarry.
1845. December 11. Deed Book 76:371. Lot size 2.667 acres.
1865. Salem Methodist Church congregation held memorial services when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.[1][1]
1868. The church building erected in 1842 was no longer large enough to meet the needs of the congregation, so the building was razed and was replaced with the present fieldstone structure.
1891. May 9. An article in the Springtown Weekly Times stated, "It would be a good time now to remove the old stump and repair the wall at the Evangelical Church yard, in town. It has been an eye sore since the cyclone last summer (1890), and does not improve the appearance of the place one bit."
1897. November 27. Salem Church. Reverend D. G. Hopkins.
1897. November. Advertisement. "Mrs. D. G. Hopkins. Artist In Wax, Worsted, Oil Painting, Hair and Fancy Work in General. Wax bouquet natural colors, 10 cents up, funeral designs in wax on short notice. Lessons in any of the above at reasonable rates. Come, see and receive fuller particulars. Mrs. D. G. Hopkins, Springtown, Pa."[2][2]
1897. "While coasting in H. S. Funk's field a quarter of a mile away, Henry Fackenthall, a student at the East Springtown grammar school met with a very painful accident. The sled breaking through the crust, stopped short, sliding off its occupant who slid on down the hill on his face. His nose and face suffering considerable damage. Charles C. Melchior was also an occupant of the sled, who fortunately escaped injury."[3][3]
1898. March 5. Reverend D. G. Hopkins.
1899. May 27. Salem Church. Reverend Henry Wentz.
1899. September 30. Salem Church. Reverend Henry Wentz.
1900. August 4. Sunday 7:30 P. M.; services by Reverend Henry Wentz. S. W. T.
1901. May 18. Sunday at 10 a. m., by Reverend L. A. Werner. Y. P. A. meeting at 7.30 p. m. The Young People’s Alliance of Salem Evangelical church in town, will have a special meeting this Sunday evening.[4][4] S. W. T.
1901. June 29. Salem Church. Reverend L. A. Werner.
1901. December 10. “…tore out pulpit Salem Church. Put up scaffolding to fix walls.”[5][5]
c. 1907. Picture. Note the iron gate set between stonewalls that surround the church.
1908. July 11. Salem Church. Reverend C. K. Fehr. July 23. Reverend A. W. Buck.
1912. April 6. Salem Church. Reverend C. C. Hoffman.
1912. April 21. Sunday. The first quarterly conference of the year in Salem Church in town was held by Presiding Elder Reverend T. L. Wentz, who will be assisted by the new pastor, Reverend George Trumbower of Perkasie.[6][6]
1913. September 27. Reverend George W. Trumbore of town. (Salem Church)
1913. September 27. Salem Church. Reverend T. L. Wentz, and Reverend George W. Trumbore.
1914. November 28. Twenty-eight dollars was collected in Salem Church in town, toward the European war suffrage fund.[7][7] [8][8].
1916. November 11. Salem Church. Reverend J. W. Roth.
1917. April 7. Salem Church. Reverend I. F. Heisler.
1917. April 14. Salem Church. Reverend I. F. Heisler.
1918. March 16. Salem Church. Reverend H. E. Hildt.
1938. May 22. Sunday. Reverend F. H. Fletcher of Salem Evangelical Church gave the sermon for Baccalaureate Exercises held at Springfield Church for the graduating class of Springfield High School Class of 1938.
In the 1940’s, Reverend Quay, Pastor of Salem Church, lived at 3171 Route 212, the location of the former White Horse Inn later owned by Jacob Hess and still later by Harvey Strock. Reverend Quay’s daughter was the same age as Alverta Frey Mesko who resided at 3268 Route 212, the site of the former Springtown Bakery. The two girls would sit on the steps of the quay residence and chat.
1958. March 14. Salem Methodist Church purchased the East Springtown Elementary School. Deed Book 1418:217.
1968. April 28. A Service of Rededication celebrated the renovation of the interior of the sanctuary.
1986. Reverend Edgar W. Roberson, Jr., was the pastor. The church was now known as Salem United Methodist Church.
1991. September 15. A service was held to celebrate completion of the removal of stucco covering the exterior of the church building, and the cleaning and re-pointing of the original fieldstone structure. The pastor was Reverend Robert R. Shank.
1995. The Pastor is Julia Bright.
1998. The Pastor is Michael S. Netznik.
Warren Dieterly did the beautiful woodwork in the present-day Salem Methodist Church building erected in 1868. Warren Dieterly, born in 1901, was a son of John A. Dieterly. His second wife was Mary Ann Frankenfield Dieterly. He was a brother of Erwin Dieterly. Warren Dieterly's daughter is Nina Mae Dieterly Kramer Bove.
A small cemetery on the church grounds is no longer used for burial. The cemetery is located on the west side of the building, and extends around behind the building. At one time, a low fieldstone wall surrounded the church and cemetery. A wrought iron gate was at the southwest corner of the wall.
The cemetery at Salem Methodist Church contains a grave stone marked "J. Kooker 1744 – 1812. 60 years". Another gravestone is for Jacob Kooker and is marked “1814, Oct 17. 67-3-1”.
Other gravestones read: Sarah Dean 1827; Mary Dean, wife of x, 1738-1839; Captain Samuel Dean 10-7-1718/9-21-1817; Samuel Henry Dean 1809; Amanda Drake 1815.
Note: Re the Dean and Drake names.
“Captain Samuel Dean served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, enlisting as a private in Captain Abraham Miller’s Company, recruited at Mount Bethel, Northampton county, in 1775. The following year he was appointed Lieutenant of Col. Hart’s Battalion Flying Camp, and on April 9, 1777, was promoted to Captain. He died September 12, 1817, aged 69 years, and his body rests in the old part of the Evangelical burying ground at Springtown. His descendants, some of them bearing the same name, lived in Springtown for many years after his death.” The Pennsylvania-German Volume IX NO. 5. May 1908. Captain Samuel Dean would have been born in 1748 if he was age 69 years at the time of his death.
Jacob Kooker, the son of Jacob Kookert, senior, from Susanna, his second wife, also went by the name Jacob Kooker. He took up residence in the former Kookert’s Tavern at 3298 Route 212 and farmed the land of 180 acres. His wife was Jane Dean Kooker. They had no children. Jane Dean Kooker’s sister was Elizabeth Dean, married to John Eakin. Jane Dean Kooker, the widow of Jacob Kooker the 2nd, left to her sister, Sarah Dean, spinster, life rights to the new end (the one with the cellar) in her tenant house. At this time, Andrew Jackson Strock was still residing in the tenant house. 1846. April 7. Francis L. Bodder and Zachriah Drake, executors for Jacob Kooker, deceased, granted and conveyed 56 acres and 157 perches of the Jacob Kooker property to John Eakin and his wife, Elizabeth Dean Eakin.[9][9] Deed Book 73, page 370. Elizabeth Dean Eakin was the sister of Jane Dean Kooker, wife of Jacob Kooker, the second. Martha Dean was married to Dr. Zachariah Drake of Doylestown
Among burials at the cemetery are the following:
Benjamin Jacoby born September 9, 1786 in Durham Township, died October 28, 1850. Married Fall 1809 to Margaret Landis. Margaret Landis Jacoby was born November 25, 1788 in Haycock Township, died January 27, 1827, and is buried at Durham Union Cemetery.
Barbara Shelly Jacoby. Barbara Shelly was the daughter of John and Mary Shelly. She was born April 16, 1815 in Milford Township. She was married August 30, 1837 at Greenville, Montgomery County, to Peter L. Jacoby. She died June 12, 1904.
Peter L. Jacoby. Peter Jacoby was the son of Benjamin and Margaret Landis Jacoby. He was born February 9, 1812 in Nockamixon Township. He died July 3, 1876.
Amanda Jacoby Unangst . Amanda Jacoby was a daughter of Peter L. and Barbara Shelly Jacoby. She was born April 15, 1845 in Springfield Township. She was married August 11, 1866 at Hellertown PA to Henry Unangst. She died February 16, 1888.
Henry Unangst. Henry Unangst was a son of David and Catherine Deemer Unangst. He was born October 19, 1843 in Williams Township. He died March 13, 1913.
(H. Wilson Unangst is the son of Henry and Amanda Jacoby Unangst. He was born May 30, 1868 near Springtown. He died September 3, 1954 and is buried at Springtown Cemetery in Springtown PA. H. Wilson Unangst was married on February 17, 1894 at Hellertown PA to Laura D. Koch, a daughter of John L. Koch and his wife Effie Funk Koch. Laura D. Koch was born January 15, 1876 in Lower Saucon Township. She died September 23, 1957 at Easton PA. She is buried in Springtown Cemetery, Springtown PA. John L. Koch was born 6/29/1840 and died 10/30/1911. Effie Funk was born 1/16/1847 and died 1/10/1917. Both are buried at Union Cemetery, Hellertown PA.
The parking lot of the church was once the site of a little building that served the combined needs of church and school. Erected in 1807, the little building was known as East Springtown Elementary School.
There are eight stained glass windows in the sanctuary of Salem United Methodist Church. Each window is rectangular and has a cross its entire length. At the center of the cross is an oval shape and within the oval is a scene, a different scene for each window.
The stained glass windows in the church are dedicated as follows: As you enter the sanctuary, the first stained glass window on the rear wall, left, is dedicated to Reverend B. H. Quay. The window on the rear wall, right, is dedicated to Reverend F. H. Fletcher. Beginning on the left wall, memorial windows are:
Herbert S. Kressler by the Family
Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Cressman and Family. David Henry Cressman (1870-1954) and wife, Emma Detweiler (1868-1952). David Henry Cressman was born in December 1870. He was a son of David Aaron Franklin Cressman (1841-1930) and his wife, Elizabeth Horlacher Cressman (1831-1909), residents of Springtown in 1897. D. A. F. Cressman was a housepainter and paperhanger. In 1893, David Henry Cressman married Emma Detweiler Hafler (1868-1952). She was born in April 1868, a daughter of Reading and Catherine Detweiler Hafler. In 1897, they moved to 3210 Route 212, Springtown. On May 1, 1906, Paul Cressman, son of Henry David Cressman and Emma D. Cressman was born. He died in infancy in 1906. David Henry Cressman was a rural horse and buggy mail carrier. In 1916, when the post office was moved from the little frame building attached to the east end of Mills Store to J. Harold Stoneback's Store, the two mail carriers lost their jobs. David Henry Cressman was then a housepainter and paperhanger. He also worked at garages in Hellertown. He gave people rides in his car when he went to Hellertown. On April 6, 1912, Miss Ida Lewis, who is staying at the home of her aunt, Mrs. D. Henry Cressman in town, will spend the Easter holidays with her parents in Easton.[10][10] Ida A. Lewis was born March 8, 1901. she died April 29, 1997. She came to live in Springtown at age 9 years. Around 1912, Henry David Cressman and his wife adopted Ida Lewis. Ida Lewis Cressman married Raymond Ira Unangst (1902-1994) in 1924. In 1927, Raymond and Ida Unangst started a dairy and milk delivery route. Ida Cressman Unangst, a member of Salem Church, was the church organist for many years. Ray Unangst, her husband, was the church treasurer.
Wilson and Emma (Shive) Strock by the Family. Wilson A. Strock, born April 17, 1854, was a son of Andrew Jackson Strock and his wife Elizabeth Shive Stock. Emma Elizabeth Shive Strock was born September 6, 1857. Wilson and Elizabeth Stock had twelve children. Their home was at 3189 Drifting Drive in Springtown. In his early years, Wilson Strock taught school in Bingen, near Hellertown. In the 1902 Farm and Business Directory of Bucks County he is listed as a farmer in Springtown, and according to the 1914 Directory, he was the owner of a 74-acre farm. Wilson Strock raised and sold chickens and eggs, and grew and sold potatoes. Wilson Strock died June 6, 1944. Emma Strock died April 12, 1934. They are buried in Springtown Cemetery.
Joseph and Susanna Cressman. Joesph Cressman was born March 29, 1829. He married Susanna Landis born February 6, 1831, died November 13, 1906. Joseph died February 16, 1906. Both are buried in Springtown.
George L. and Clara A. Cressman. George L Cressman was born November 30, 1856, in Bursonville. He was a son of Joseph and Susannah Landis Cressman. His occupation was teacher and farmer. He was married to Clara Arabella Myers on December 16, 1882, by Reverend D. T. Koser. She was born in March 4, 1864, in Durham Township. Around 1907, George Cressman and his family lived in the stone house at 2804 Route 212, later the property of Stephen Komada and family. Paul Cressman was a son of George Cressman, and his son Oram Cressman was a district school principal.. March 12, 1934. George L. Cressman, aged 77 years, well known as a teacher for many years in the public schools of Durham and Springfield, died. Intelligencer 3/16/1934. Narrator Alumni news (Springfield High School student magazine). “Mr. George Cressman died at his home in Springtown March 12, 1934. “We regret the passing of Mr. George Cressman, a veteran teacher of the township, whom many of us remember as the teacher who helped us with our troubles and kindly gave the little ones pennies for our effort.” Clara Cressman died August 25, 1950. Both are buried in Springtown Cemetery.
John L. and Alice V. Cressman. John L. (1870-1948) and Alice V. Cressman. John L. Cressman was born in 1870. He worked as a clerk at Stoneback's store for years and years, before the fire in 1941. John Cressman was married to Alice Bealer. December 20, 1888, a journal of Alice V. Bealer lists “Scholars of West Springtown School.” Henry B. Strock was the teacher of 17 girls and 21 boys. Alice V. Bealer was born in 1875. She was a daughter of Charles G. Bealer (1852-1945) and Mary Schrantz Bealer (1852-1900). Charles “Pappy” Bealer was the village tinsmith. Alice Bealer Cressman worked as a clerk in Stoneback’s store. John L. Cressman died in 1948. Alice Bealer Cressman died on her birthday, January 20, 1937, at age 62 years. Both are buried in Springtown Cemetery.
