Rebecca Moyer ^{1 2 3 4}

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Church: Zion Red Church Record Book: Rebecka Sayler nee Moyer, b. Brunswick, died 12 Sep 1827, bur. 14 Sep, age 46 years 11 months 12 days, 14 Sep 1827, West Brunswick Twp.: Zion Red Church, Schuylkill, PA. ²

2. Book: The Evangelical Association of North America and History of the United Evangelical Church, 1896. ⁵
Page 29

A Wayside Meeting. In 1812 an officer who had died in the war with England then in progress, was brought to his home in Hamburg for interment. To this funeral, which was attended with considerable demonstrations, Mrs. Saylor, of Orwigsburg, came, accompanied by her son, Joseph M. Saylor, who was then a boy of nine years of age. The town was full of people who had come to witness the obsequies of the dead officer. The attention of the mother and son was attracted by a crowd gath- ered around a man who was holding a religious service on the pavement. The mother drew near and with close attention lis- tened for the first time to an Evangelical preacher, who was none other than George Miller, who eleven years before had first heard Albright preach from the millstone, a few hundred yards away. Miller was at this time the chief man in the society. An incident which impressed itself upon the mind of the little boy was that of a man who took off his hat and reverently bowed his head when Miller kneeled on the pavement in prayer, while all the rest of the hearers kept on their hats and laughed and talked in a disrespectful manner.

Page 69

The First Church. The first church edifice of the Evangelical Association was erected at New Berlin in 1816, and dedicated March 2, 1817, by Rev. John Dreisbach, who preached from Psalm xxxvii. 4. The building was a log structure, 34x38 feet in dimensions. In later years it was remodeled and surmounted with a belfry and bell. When the church was demolished in 1873, a general expression of regret was manifested in all parts of the church that a place of such historic interest was not preserved. How sacred the memories that clustered around it.In it the infant church, which but the previous year was named "The Evangelical Association," found a home, and for five successive years the annual conference was held in it, (1818-1822), besides thirteen times thereafter, also three sessions of the General Conference. Men who afterwards became prominent in the church here received their commissions, among whom may be mentioned Bishops Seybert, Long and Orwig, James Barber, P. Wagoner, Adam Kleinfelter, John Breidenstein, John Hamilton, J. M. Saylor and Francis Hoffman. In this church also, great revivals took place. Immediately in the rear of the church, on the bank of the creek, stood the school-house where the remarkable incident recorded in the biography of Walter occurred.

Page 94

The Saylor Family Converted. Another incident worthy of record is the case of the widow Saylor, whose sons Joseph and Jacob have already been referred to. This woman, with a large family of children, some of whom were quite young, lived with her father, who was bitterly opposed to the work. After she and her children were converted, they erected a family altar, against which the father demurred. The godly mother, however, gathered her loving children around her as aforetime and offered her petitions at the throne of grace. The cruel father finally declared that if they did not cease going to the "Strawveler" meetings and quit their family prayers they would be compelled to leave his house. This was a trying ordeal for the poor widow. A family council was held and she, with the devoted children, decided to remain faithful to their God and the Church. She accordingly left the parental roof, accompanied by her little ones, and made her home in a little house near the canal, where for several years she supported herself by selling refreshments to the boatmen who daily passed her door. The Lord was her support and she never came to want, but lived to see two of her sons become useful preachers. She enjoyed the sympathy of the public because of the harsh treatment of her father, while her blameless life won the esteem of all, and when at last the Lord granted her a triumphant death, she was deeply lamented by a very wide circle of friends.

Rebecca married Jacob Saylor. (Jacob Saylor was born on 21 Feb 1780 in West Brunswick Twp., Schuylkill, PA,^{6 7} died on 12 Aug 1824 in West Brunswick Twp., Schuylkill, PA ^{6 7} and was buried in West Brunswick Twp.: Zion Red Church, Schuylkill, PA ^{6 7}.)