[70] REV. CHRISTOPHER SCHOLTZE (SCHULTZ)[E 70]; s of Melchior Scholtze and Susanna Kriebel (only daughter of Caspar Kriebel, 1650-1724) of N. Hdrf.; b Mar. 27, 1718; baptized Mar. 29, 1718; sponsors: Balthasar Kriebel, Anna Scholtz, Maria Kriebel. Christopher Schultz was the brother of George Schultz [E 68] and of Melchior Schultz [E 69], and came to Pa. in 1734 at the age of 16. He kept a diary of the voyage from which we have first hand information of this perilous journey across the Atlantic. On Oct. 9, 1744, CHRISTOPHER SCHULTZ was m by Rev. Balthasar Hoffman, to ROSINA YEAKEL [E 92], b Sept. 11. 1721; d Jan. 27, 1800; dau Regina and Balthasar Yeakel [22]. They settled on a farm in Washington Twp., Berks Co., Pa. [Plate C XVI]. Christopher Schultz was naturalized June 21, 17438; he d May 9, 1789, and is buried in Washington Schw. Cem.
Children (4):
Christopher Schultz, or Scholtze. was peculiarly fitted for eminent leadership among his people during the formative period of their establishment in America. For more than two centuries before him, his family had been a distinguished one in his native village of Harpersdorf, Silesia. He was born in that part of the village which is known as Lower Harpersdorf, Mar. 26, 1718 (the Harpersdorf Church Records say Mar. 27), the youngest son of Melchior Scholtze and his wife, Susanna, née Kriebel. Two brothers were older than he: George, b Dec. 6, 1711, and Melchior, b June 27, 1714. His parents were among the more prominent of the landholders in the community, and were also intensely spiritual in their Christian life and practice. The influence of frequent conferences, which were held in his home relative to the attitude of the Schwenkfelders toward the Jesuit Mission, which had come among them a year after he was born, permanently impressed him in childhood years.
Not alone his parents but also his grandmother, Anna Seholtze, threw Christian influences of enduring moment about his young life. On the eve of their flight from Silesia on Saturday night before Easter, 1726, to escape the religious persecutions imposed by the Jesuits, this same grandmother gave him a little prayerbook beautifully bound in leather. Several times in his later life he made reference to that good woman, and his heart was indeed heavy, when he found that she was not going with him across the wide Atlantic. She died Mar. 30, 1739, at the age of eighty-six years at Berthelsdorf in Saxony, whither he, his two brothers, and his grandmother had fled with his parents. After their flight from Silesia, they arrived in Berthelsdorf on May 1, 1726; here after a time the father of Christopher acquired a parcel of land, whereon he erected a small house, which was still standing within comparatively recent years.
Very early in his life he began his education. In a biography of his life written by his son, David Schultz, a year after the father’s death, we read that as early as 1726, while on their flight into Saxony,
when only in the ninth year of his age, young Christopher, then in Gérlitz, made extracts from a book treating of the ten chief religious persecutions. Later in his life he himself marveled that he should have been capable at so early an age of doing this. Owing to the impoverished condition into which the family was thrown through their voluntary desertion of all their real estate and wealth in Silesia for conscience’ sake, this child of tender years was compelled to find employment as a shepherd boy on the Saxon hills. He evinced so great a desire for books and learning, that he was granted all the available time possible to devote to his studies. He performed his allotted work in two-thirds of the ordinary time, thus gaining two days each week, during which he was able to pursue his studies under the spiritual leader of his people, the beloved and greatly esteemed Rev. George Weiss. Two of his manuscript school books, written in his own hand, are extant; the one is his arithmetie entitled: “CODEX ARITHMETICUS oder Reche Buch quis non alterius, sed ipsum solum singularemque possessorem hahet nempe Christoph Scholtzen Anno 1731 Dises Biichlein ist mir lib wer mir es stilt der ist ein Dib er sey ein Herr oder Knecht so ist er an den Gelgen gerecht. Lust and Libe zu iedem Ding macht alle Miih und Arbeit gring. Berthelsdorff.”’ This book is a quarto of 150 pages representing the work he did in arithmetic during the years, 1729- 1730. It touches every part of rudimentary arithmetic including weights and measures, and proportion; the whole of it was done by this boy before he had attained the age of thirteen years. The other, and if possible, more striking manuscript text book, is Christopher Schultz’s Latin grammar of 1730 and 1731, which is likewise a quarto of 217 numbered pages. It is remarkable that a youth less than thirteen years of age should be able to produce two such manuscripts. He had not been granted the privilege of attending one or the other of the then established schools; his mother would have been glad to see him derive the benefits from such a course, had she not feared he would become a “‘boy of the world,’’ as had so often happened to those who spent their lives in the schools of the day; his father was of like mind. They occasionally gave him money with which to purchase books, and it was through their influence that he finally went to George Weiss for instruction twice a week. Each day hespuna given quantity of flax to enable him to defray what little expenses were connected with his educational eareer. He not only gained a mastery of the Latin language but later he also took up the study of the Hebrew; in this latter subject his chief preceptor after his arrival in Pa., was Balthasar Hoffman.
After a sojourn of nearly eight years in Saxony, where his family with the other Schwenkfelder refugees had enjoyed comparative liberty and quiet under the kind protection of Count Zinzendorf, conditions arose which made it unsafe for their liberty and their faith to remain there longer. Consequently it was decided to migrate to Pa. On the 30th of March, 1732, the mother died and on Feb. 15, 1734, almost on the eve of their departure, the father too passed away; thus Christopher, not yet sixteen, and his two older brothers, were left orphans. On that long trail of 1734 from Saxony to Phila., it was the sixteen year old Christopher Schultz, who studiously kept a diary recording the important events which happened to that emigrant band in its wanderings over the Saxon plains to Pirna on the Elbe, and thence down that ancient river to the sea, and across the Atlantic in the “Saint Andrew.” It is a thrilling story written by this youth of a glorious destiny.
From his two brothers he had learned the art of weaving and in that occupation he was engaged during the first year of his lifein Pa. In the year 1735, he with his two brothers purchased a tract of land in what is now Upper Hanover Twp., Montg. Co., Pa., and at aspring thereon ‘where the bear and deer at first seemed inclined to dispute possession,” in 1736, with the assistance of Melchior Neuman, carpenter, they commenced felling the tall oaks, rolling them on a scaffold over a trench, sawed them by hand into three-inch planks, whereof the outside wall of their capacious two-story house was construeted. Wagon-wheels were made of the same article; horse collars were skillfully plaited of straw; traces were made of hemp, and grubbing hoe preceded the plow with wooden mouldboard; no saw-mill was within reach, no grist-mill within fifteen miles. For clothing the Schultz family raised their own flax and wool, spun it with the aid of a single spindle (without wheel or machinery of any kind), erected a weaver’s loom and wove the yarn into cloth. When the supply exceeded their wants, they took it to
Phila., and on one occasion, sold it to the Governor of the Province at eight shillings per yard. The Governor spoke very highly of their linen, which encouraged them not a little.
After ten years the brothers dissolved partnership and Christopher purchased and settled on a farm which until recent years was in the possession of his descendants, near Clayton, Pa.; it was located a mile north of the originally established homestead. Here he lived to the end of his life. And it is on this tract that the Washington Schwenkfelder Meeting House grounds and burial plot are located. During his lifetime his newly established home became one of the chief centers, if not the chief one, among the Schwenkfelders. Beyond the pale of his own people, there were hosts of other Pennsylvanians who sought his counsel, and in so doing enjoyed the hospitality of his home. Members of the Society of Friends especially became closely associated with him, among them Israel Pemberton and Anthony Benezet.
Like his fathers for generations before him, Christopher Schultz earnestly promoted the religious doctrines projected and expounded by Caspar von Schwenckfeld (1490-1561), of Ossig in Silesia. He acquired and read an almost complete collection of the printed literature on the subject and of the less accessible manuscript sources he made transcripts for purposes of study. In this matter he eminently followed in the steps of George Weiss and Balthasar Hoffman, and like them he too became a preacher and pastor among the Schwenkfelders. For more than twenty years he was the leading light and spiritual adviser among them. During that time he preached in their meetings for worship and at their annual Memorial Day services on Sept. 24th; conducted their funeral services; instructed their children in the Catechism; in short, he performed all the duties devolving on a pastor in a territory extending from the Hereford Hills in Berks Co. to Whitemarsh and Chestnut Hill near Phila. At the same time he earried on an extensive correspondence with the remnant of Schwenkfelders who had not come to America at the time of the migration. He became somewhat of a pastor to those in Silesia as well as to those in Pa.
The literature of the Schwenkfelders was greatly enriched by the contributions which Christopher Schultz made thereto. He compiled the first American Sechwenkfelder Hymn-Book, which was published by Saur in 1762; also the Catechism, first printed in 1763, reprinted in 1784, and again revised and printed in 1855. Then too, he wrote the book of history and doctrine, known as the “‘Erlauterung”’ of the Schwenkfelders; the manuscript of this book was sent to Silesia in March, 1769, and was published at Jauer, Silesia, in 1771; it was reprinted in America in 1830 and still is the best available source-book of the entire Schwenkfelder field. At his death he had also completed an extensive manuscript in the form of a Schwenkfelder ‘“Compendium”’ of faith, which was not published until 1836. In addition he was largely instrumental in drafting the articles of agreement used as a constitution for the Schwenkfelder School System established in 1764. He also prepared an extensive paper on items of history among the Schwenkfelders.
Although Christopher Schultz and Balthasar Hoffman had been conducting regular and systematic instruction in the Catechism among the youth of the Schwenkfelders, since 1763, and although religious services for worship were conducted in the private homes, the lack of a closer organization was aceountable for constant losses that threatened annihilation. A tentative organization effected in 1762, very largely under the leadership of Christopher Schultz, was in operation until the adoption of a constitution among the Schwenkfelders twenty years later. The Constitution which was finally adopted by them in 1782 was drafted by Christopher Schultz, and on its basis there was then organized what is today the Schwenkfelder Church. He was very properly referred to as ‘“‘Father Schultz,” for it was largely through his persistence and faith that the organization was brought about. In numerous matters pertaining to the affairs of this body of Christian believers, he was the leading spirit in directing its destiny; so also he was the one among them who projected the Charity Fund which is still functioning. There are hundreds of papers and letters that were written by him, which testify to the directive influence he exerted upon all the religious activities and upon many of a purely secular character among this people.
Within a comparatively short time after his arrival in America Christopher Schultz had gained a mastery of the English language, and in that language he frequently corresponded with the English speaking people in the province. He was highly esteemed by them and his counsels were sought in the settlement of difficult matters during the colonial period. Following the Indian alarm which circulated among the Schwenkfelder settlements in the Goshenhoppen country in 1755, Christopher Schultz and others were instrumental in forming a union among the Schwenkfelders to aid the Friends in their efforts to calm the troubled natives through ‘“‘The Friendly Association for regaining and preserving peace with the Indians by pacific measures.’’ His regard for the country of his adoption is very well expressed ina public document bearing his signature and addressed to Lieut. Governor Robert Hunter Morris in 1754, in which are these words: ‘‘We know very well that we cannot give sufficient thanks to the Almighty for having conveyed us into such a country, and under so mild a government where
the best privileges in the known world are established.’’ Twenty years later, July 15, 1774, he was one of the deputies from Berks County in a provincial meeting in Phila., where the following resolution was unanimously adopted: ‘‘We acknowledge ourselves and the inhabitants of this provinee, liege subjects of his Majesty, King George the Third, to whom they and we owe and will bear true and faithful allegiance.”
The political situation having grown more tense, the following December a county committee of observation was chosen at Reading for Berks Co., and Christopher Schultz was a member of that committee. He attended the provincial convention held in Phila. in Jan., 1775, where a series of strong resolutions was adopted against the arbitrary acts which the British Parliament was then attempting to force upon the American colonies. The high feeling then arising in the colonies brought out the two factions—the one in favor of, and the other opposed to a war with the mothercountry. A third element also entered, a company of people who from religious motives were opposed to the bearing of arms— among them the Society of Friends, the Mennonites, the Sechwenkfelders, and the Church of the Brethren. These people held a meeting at Reading, Sept. 1, 1775, where it was resolved by the deputies to stand by their conscientious convictions. At the call of the Continental Congress, the day, May 17, 1776, was designated as a day of prayer; Christopher Schultz led those services among the Schwenkfelders, and the manuscript of the sermon he delivered on that occasion is still extant. The very next year, May 1, 1777, he drafted “‘A Candid Declaration of Some So-Called Schwenkfelders Concerning Present Militia Affairs,” the concluding paragraph of which contains the lines that the ‘‘undersigned who adhere to the apostolic doctrines of the sainted Caspar Schwenckfeld and who seek to maintain the same by publie services and by instruction of the young have mutually agreed, and herewith united themselves to this end that they will mutually with each other bear such fines as may be imposed on account of refusal for conscience’ sake to render military service in case deadly weapons are carried and used.” Efforts had been made afew weeks before, on Mareh 31, 1777, to induce Christopher Schultz to accept a commission as one of the Justices of the Peace, but there is no record whatsoever that he ever served in that capacity. Although he at no time compromised his convictions in regard to the question of conscientious objection, it was largely through his influence that a satisfactory solution was found to the serious problems then arising. At the end of that trying period he could say that God’s protecting hand had been over him and his people in a fatherly way.
While his lands multiplied, and his material possessions mightily increased, by his last will and testament, dated Oct. 24, 1788, he devised unto his children about 800 acres of land, and his personal property inventoried at £1745. 8s. 9d. He also assembled a vast library of books and papers; these covered a variety of subjects, the more important among them being those dealing with religious themes, languages, history, and public charities. He is known to have been a great reader and a tireless student. In appearance he was robust in body, broad shouldered, a full face adorned with prominent eye-brows, a double chin, brown eyes, and black hair. He had a full clear voice which made him an effective public speaker, and he delighted in singing.
Here was 2 man who was born in a home of plenty, who was reduced to absolute poverty through no fault of his own or that of his parents, who was forced into exile where a new home and a new civilization had to be carved out of a virgin forest, fatherless and motherless in youthful years, a shepherd and a toiler at the loom, who rose like many another to position and influence—an influence which is still continuing to contribute to the common welfare of humanity. It has been said that Matt. 19:29 is the explanation of it all.
He never sought the plaudits of the crowd, the practice of his whole life being to give God alone the honor. During the closing years of his busy life, frequent indisposition of body gradually wore down his life. Nevertheless he still made his accustomed journey to Phila., where he was always a welcome guest in the homes of his Quaker friends. The last of these journeys was made late in April, 1789, when he returned home on the 29th of April, apparently in health and in good spirits. The very next day he felt indisposed and in a few days his condition rapidly grew worse; his body did not respond to the medical applications and on the 9th of May, 1789, he passed away. From his family and a host of friends he took leave with the words: ‘‘A little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.” On the 11th of May, his body was laid to rest in the Washington Schwenkfelder Burial plot. The funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Christopher Hoffman, who took for his text 2 Tim. 4: 7,8. This sermon written in the handwriting of Rev. Hoffman is still preserved.
Thus closed the earthly career of one of God’s chosen leaders, eminent among those who gave themselves to the laying of a firm foundation, whereon a great commonwealth was erected. [Z. HE. S. J.]
LETTER SHOWING CHRISTOPHER SCHULTz’S INTEREST IN MuSIC ‘Worthy Friend Christopher Schultz.
I hope thou’st rec. my last on my Return from Sunbury—lI’ve since severely felt the Effect of that Journey by a contracted intermittent Fever, but am at present in a State of Convalescence.
Inclos’d I send you some cantatas composed in this and preceding Years, on the festive Seasons of our several Choirs in Bethlehem. ...I observ’d you expressed a particular Satisfaction in parusing one of thé Like, when last at my House & which, if I mistake not, you took with you... . .Zion’s Welfare I know is they earnest Wish... . the Labours of the Brethren, in that Intention, I’m persuaded will meet they Approbation & Blessing... . . These musical Solemnities are expressive Testimonials of that happy State & Condition each Choir or principal Division in the Congregation should live in the constant Enjoyment of—in other Words they may be aptly compared to a kind of Looking-Glasses, wherin their respective Wants & Imperfections, by the Help of the Spirit, may be palpably discerned & a fuller possession thereof aspired after.
Take my Freedom in good Part & believe me to be one of they sincere & fast Friends. J. Okely Beth. 13 Sept. 1784” [S. H. L.]
The following references give Rev. Christopher Schultz’s official connection with the Revolutionary War: ‘Proceedings of Comittee (1774)
“Pursuant to advertisements dispersed through the County, a respectable number of the inhabitants met this day at the Court House, in this Town, and proceeded, by ballot, to the election of a Comittee, as recomended by the Congress, when the following gentlemen were duly chosen:
Edward Biddle, Christopher Schultz, Doctor Jonathan Potts, William Reeser, Balser Geho, Michael Bright, John Patton, Mark Bird, John Jones, John Old, Sebastian Levan, George Nagel, Christopher Witman, Jacob Shoemaker, and James Lewis.”” [Pa. Arch., 2nd Ser., Vol. XIV, p 307.)
‘At a Provincial Convention for the Province of Pennsylvania held at Philadelphia Jan. 23, 1775, and continued by adjournments from day to day to the 28th.
Phila. Co.— Melchior Waggoner
Berks Co.—Christopher Schultz” [Pa. Arch., 2nd Ser., Vol. III, p 625.]
“A Member of Berks County Committee of Observation, chosen on the fifth of December, 1774.” [Pa. Arch., 2nd Ser., Vol. XIV, p 247; Sth Ser., Vol. V, p 138.]