Rev. Jacob Beecher 1 2 4
- Born: 2 May 1799, Littlestown, Adams, PA 1
- Marriage (1): Hannah Mitchell on 16 May 1827 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 1 2 3
- Died: 15 Jul 1831, Shepherdstown, Jefferson, WV at age 32 1 4 5 6
- Buried: Shepherdstown: Reformed Graveyard, Jefferson, WV 5
Another name for Jacob was Rev. Jacob Bucher.
FamilySearch ID: MJV2-2CF.
Death Notes:
The inscription on his tombstone:
The Reverend Jacob, late pastor of the Reformed Church of Shepherdstown, Smithfield and Martinsburg, who entered into rest July 15, 1831, in the 34th year of his age.
Noted events in his life were:
1. Occupation: minister with the Reformed Church in Shepherdstown, Jefferson, WV. 1
2. Census in 1800 in Germany Twp., Adams, PA. 7 Several related families appear on the same Census page in 1800 in Germany Township.
A Samuel Beaher is listed with this household:
Males (born)
Under 10 (1791-1800) = 1 son Jacob
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 father Samuel
Females (born)
Under 10 (1791-1800) = 3 daughters
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 wife
William Beaher has this household:
Males (born)
16-25 (1775-1784) = 1 son
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 William
Females (born)
45 & over (<=1755) = 1 wife
On the same census page are several allied family surnames that marry the Bucher/Beecher families:
Barbara Wintrode married Samuel Bucher, and Catherine Wintrode married his brother Frederick. On this page we find their father, "Jacob Winterode Capt." and the households of a younger Jacob Winterode, Adam Winterode, and Barbara Winterode.
3. Census in 1810 in Germany Twp., Adams, PA. 8 Living in the household of Samuel Beecher:
Males (born)
Under 10 (1801-1810) = 1 son (William)
10-15 (1795-1800) = 1 son (Jacob)
16-25 (1785-1794) = 1 son (Henry)
26-44 (1766-1784) = 1 father (Samuel)
Females (born)
10-15 (1795-1800) = 2 daughters
26-44 (1766-1784) = 1 wife (Barbara).
4. Census in 1820 in Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 9 In 1820 Samuel Beacher's household had:
Males (born)
10-15 (1805-1810) = 1 son (William)
16-25 (1795-1804) = 2 (son Jacob and father Samuel in wrong age bracket)
Females (born)
10-15 (1805-1810) = 1 daughter
16-25 (1795-1804) = 1 daughter
45 & over (<=1775) = 1 wife (Barbara)
Related families appear on the same census pages: uncle William Beecher, and grandmother Catherine Beacher.
5. Probate: When Samuel died without a will, Washington Co. MD bound Jacob Beecher, Samuel Eckleberger and Frederick Rohaer for $5000, as administrator's of Samuel's probate, the bonded sum to be voided when they submitted the estate accounts., on 17 Oct 1821, in Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 10 10
6. Newspaper: The Torch Light: "Notice. I have appointed Mr. John H. Fechtig my Agent, and hereby authorise him to settle all accounts relating to the estate of the late Samuel Beecher, deceased, during my absence. Jacob Beecher, Adm'r.", 4 Nov 1823, Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 11
7. Court gave Jacob Beecher, administrator, permission to sell Samuel Beecher's merchandise inventory on 6 Nov 1821 in Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 12 On application of Jacob Beecher Administrator of Samuel Beecher, It is ordered by the Court that he sell at private sale all the merchandise returned in an Inventory to this Court if practicable, if not then at Public Sale with the rest of the property contained in said Inventory on a credit of six months and that he give three weeks notice thereof, He is also permitted to sell at private sale a Negro Girl for not less than the Appraised Value.
8. Occupation: minister with the Reformed Church in 1826 in Martinsburg, Berkeley, WV. 1
9. Newspaper: United States Gazette: MARRIED. On Wednesday evening, the 16th instant, by the Rev. Dr. Ely, JACOB BEECHER, of Sheppards Town, Virginia, to Miss HANNAH MITCHELL, daughter of Mr. Jacob Mitchell, of this city., 22 May 1827, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. 3
10. Jacob Beecher filed his 2nd account of the estate of deceased father Samuel Beecher. List online at https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYMK-NPF?i=124&wc=SNY8-K6D%3A146536101%2C146584001%3Fcc%3D1803986&cc=1803986 on 1 Jun 1825 in Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 13
11. Evidence: 1828. 1 An oil portrait of the Reverend Jacob Beecher, painted by Edmund Brewster in 1828 is owned by Craig M. Bennett, Charleston, S.C.
12. He has conflicting death information of 14 Jul 1831 and Shepherdstown, Jefferson, WV. 14
13. Newspaper: Baltimore Patriot: Died: On the 15th inst. At his residence, Shepherdstown, Va. Rev. Jacob Beecher, Pastor of the German Reformed Church in that place., 21 Jul 1831, Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 4
14. Newspaper: 28 Jul 1831, Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 14 DIED, On Thursday night 14th inst. At his residence in Shepherdstown, VA. [now West Virginia] The Rev. Jacob Beecher, formerly a resident of Hagerstown.
15. Newspaper: 21 Jan 1852, Hagerstown, Washington, MD. 15 From Hagerstown Herald of Freedom and Torch Light newspaper, 21 Jan 1852, page 3 column E:
PUBLIC SALE OF VALUABLE OUT LOTS!
The subscriber as Agent for the heir, and the widow of Jacob Beecher, dec'd, will offer at public sale, in front of the Court House, at Hagerstown
On Saturday the 7th day of February next.
TWO LOTS OF GROUND
In Mary Ann's town, known on the plan of said town as lots No. 33 and 34, containing for each eighty-two feet in breadth, fronting on the road heading from Hagerstown, and running back 240 feet in depth to lots owned by Mr. C. Winter.
The Terms of Sale will be one-half in hand and the balance in one year, with interest from the day of the sale, and when the whole purchase money is paid, a good and sufficient deed will be executed from the widow and heir for the same to the purchaser.
Jan. 21, 1852. JNO. D. RIDENOUR.
16. Book: The Fathers of the German Reformed Church in Europe and America, 1872. 16
REV. JACOB BEECHER.
1799-1831
The memory of this excellent man is still held in grateful remembrance by many who once enjoyed his ministry. He was truly a good man, and seemed intent on doing good to his fellow-men.
Mr. Beecher was born near Petersburg, in Adams County, Pa., on the 2d day of May, 1799. His parents were respectable, lived on a farm, and were in easy circumstances. He continued to reside in the place of his nativity, assisting his father on the farm during the summer and attending a country school in winter, until the spring of 1814, when his parents removed with him to Hagerstown. Here he was under the earnest and efficient ministry of Rev. James R. Reily, at that time the pastor of the Hagerstown charge.
In his twentieth year, while attending catechetical lectures, he became deeply interested in the claims of religion, and anxious to make himself useful in the Church of his fathers. Some time in the year 1822 he commenced his studies in the Academy at Hagerstown; and at the expiration of about twelve months he repaired to Jefferson College at Canonsburg, Pa., and became a studious member of that institution. During his stay here, his piety received a new impetus and a deeper tone during a season of special religious interest that occurred among the students and the citizens of the place; and during his entire subsequent course of study it continued to influence him and bring him forward in the Christian life, until finally he became the ardent, zealous, and devoted minister of Christ, for which he was so justly distinguished.
In the fall of 1824 he completed his college course, and as the Reformed Theological Seminary was then not yet in existence, he immediately entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton,
N. J., where he pursued his theological studies. During this period his health became very much impaired, and after two years he was compelled to relinquish his studies, and retire from the institution for a season. He had contracted a severe cold, which settled on his lungs, and subsequently brought on repeated and most violent hemorrhages. In one of these attacks he was brought nigh unto death, but by the blessing of God recovered from it in due time.
After his restoration, he repaired to the Seminary of the German Reformed Church, then located at Carlisle, Pa., where he pursued his theological studies, in connection with that of the German language, for the space of six months, until the fall of 1826, when he was set apart and ordained to the gospel ministry by the Synod of the German Reformed Church, which held its sessions that year in Frederick City, Md.
He immediately accepted a call from the German Reformed congregations of Shepherdstown, Martinsburg, and Smithfield, Va., and entered with zeal upon the work before him. In this charge he continued to labor with peculiar success for the period of five years, although his labors were repeatedly interrupted by the declining state of his health, which required him to absent himself from his people at several different times, for a season, in order to recruit his strength. But during these seasons of leisure he could not consent to be idle. He uniformly united the works of benevolence with the pursuit of his health. Once he made a brief missionary tour to North and South Carolina, and visited and encouraged the long-neglected churches in that region, and made arrangements to send them pastors. Twice he engaged for a time in the toils and self-denying labors of a responsible agency, and as often returned to his pastoral charge with increased strength and brighter hopes. He had spent the winter of 1830-31 in the South, in the service of the Sunday-School Union, and returned late in the spring greatly improved. But how deceitful were these flattering appearances! Only a few weeks after his return, he was again taken with bleeding of the lungs. It was his last attack.
Mr. Beecher died at his residence in Shepherdstown, Va., on Friday morning, about ten o'clock, July 15th, 1831, aged 32 years, 2 months, and 13 days.
Although so young, he accomplished more good, and did more work for the Church, than many who were permitted to spend a long life in the ministry. He did not live for his own pleasure, but for the honor of Him "who loved him and gave himself for him." He sought not his own, but the things which are Jesus Christ's. The great and stirring interests of the Redeemer's kingdom were his favorite pursuits, in which he could forget all others, and for which he was willing, if need be, to forsake all that was dear to him on earth.
His exertions in the winter of 1828-29, to raise a capital of $10,000 for the Theological Seminary of the Church, then yet in its feeble infancy, saved the institution at that critical period from ruin, and gave its friends new courage, and inspired them with increased zeal in the work of sustaining it and advancing its interests. One prominent matter of regret to him, in view of his early death, was the thought that he could not live to aid in the full and permanent endowment of the Theological Seminary.
The cause of Sunday-schools, in which he engaged with all his heart, owes much to his exertions and prayers. He spent one year for the Sunday School Union in the Valley of the Mississippi, with a view of establishing schools and awakening an interest in the subject. He has the honor also of planning the first Education Society in the Reformed Church of this country.
Accustomed to elevated and extensive views of duty, he was constantly meditating plans of general usefulness to the Church of Christ. He was indeed, in all respects, a model and an example to all younger ministers. Blessed are they who enter the gospel ministry in the spirit, the devotion, and the self-sacrifice of Mr. Beecher. Even when dead, and gone from the stage of earthly toil, their memory will be gratefully cherished; and, like him, though dead, they will still live and speak by an influence left behind which shall never cease.
Mr. Beecher's early death, especially at that time, when his services were so much needed and so much appreciated by the Church, was truly a severe loss to the Church and to society at large, of which he was so useful a member. His exemplary piety, consistent deportment, and numerous labors of love are pleasantly and gratefully remembered by many who "continue to this present." He was indeed a man of God, who, in every situation in which he was placed, and under all the circumstances of life, possessed his soul in patience, and maintained an intimate communion with his Saviour.
Mr. Beecher was married to a Miss Mitchell, of Philadelphia, in May, 1827. To her he was devotedly attached; whom, together with two interesting little sons, he commended most earnestly and touchingly, on his dying bed, to the care and keeping of his God and Redeemer. His two sons have since followed their father to their final home.
As Mr. Beecher lived a life of faith and hope in Christ, so he was a man of faith and hope in his death. One of the witnesses of his dying hours said: "His calmness and strength of hope in the prospect of death were unbroken. His mind was entirely composed and submissive, and his views sometimes rapturous. He seemed to be fully emptied of self, and lost in adoring contemplations of the riches of divine grace. In the course of one of his last conversations, he exclaimed, with the deepest emphasis and feeling, "It is all of grace." When he spoke of his approaching exit, a smile was seen to play upon his lips; affording an assurance that death had been disarmed of its terrors. All his own wishes were lost in the will of God; and all his worldly interests he was happy to trust into the hand of his Redeemer. As the last gleams of thought were streaming from his eye, he turned to one who waited beside his bed, and said: "The day of my redemption draweth nigh." These were almost the last words that fell from his lips, and in a few moments afterwards his soul spread its wings for immortality. Thus happily ended the days of Mr. Beecher on earth; but for him "the eternal years" continue in heaven.
For those who throng the eternal throne,
Lost are the tears we shed;
They are the living, they alone,
Whom here we call the dead!.
17. Book: History of Western Maryland, 1882. 17
The Reformed Church in the United States is the American representative of the Reformed Church of Germany and Switzerland. It derives its origin from the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Among its founders and early leaders were Zwingle, Calvin, and Ursinus. Its confession of faith is the Heidelberg Catechism.
The earliest German Reformed Churches in Pennsylvania were founded about the year 1720. During the colonial period they were closely connected with the church in the Fatherland, and were supplied with ministers mainly through the zeal and liberality of the Synods of Holland. Subsequently a number of the most intelligent American ministers undertook to prepare young men for the pastoral office, and this method of perpetuating the ministry was continued until the establishment of the Theological Seminary.
After several unsuccessful attempts an institution for the instruction of candidates for the ministry was opened on the 11th of March, 1825. at Carlisle, Pa. This was done in consequence of a proposition from the trustees of Dickinson College, then under the care of the Presbyterian Church, to furnish rooms for the seminary, on condition that the Professor of Theology should teach history and German in the college. Rev. Lewis Mayer, D.D., was the first professor. The first class of students numbered five, of whom Rev. John G. Fritchey, of Lancaster, is the sole survivor.
Soon afterwards Rev. James R. Reily, one of the most zealous friends of the seminary, visited Germany to solicit contributions toward an enterprise that was so intimately related to the welfare of emigrants from the Fatherland. He was very kindly received especially in Holland, Prussia, and Switzerland, and collected $6700, in money and books. One of the most liberal contributors was His Majesty. Frederick William III., King of Prussia, and many volumes presented by him are still in the library of the seminary. About the same time Rev. J. C. Beecher, of Shepherdstown, Va., succeeded in this country in collecting a handsome sum for the endowment of the seminary, and thus, it is said, saved it from financial ruin.
The first notice of building a house of worship for the Reformed people in this section is in a minute of a "meeting of the subscribers for the building of a Reformed church in Cavetown, held on Saturday, Nov. 11, 1826," when five trustees were elected, viz.: William Kreps, George Colliflower, Daniel Huyett, Henry Lyday, and Jacob Lambert, who were to have the oversight in the building of the house. They determined to build of brick, size fifty feet long by forty-five feed wide. At this time Rev. Henry Kroh was the pastor, and the congregation had no connection elsewhere. The corner-stone was laid Aug. 8, 1827, and has inscribed on it "Christ's Church," and on another stone in the front above the pulpit window "German Refd Church." In the meanwhile the pastor, Rev. Henry Kroh, was called to another field of labor, but the work of building went on, and in the following year (1828) Rev. J. C. Bucher had taken charge, and the church was so far finished that in the month of October, 1828, it was consecrated, at which time the pastor was assisted by his predecessor, Rev. Henry Kroh, Rev. James R. Riley, Rev. Martin Brunner, and Rev. Jacob Beecher. The church was now completed, and the congregation was fully organized and entered on its mission and work. Rev. J. C. Bucher was a faithful and energetic pastor, and it is a matter of record that he, "aided by my Lutheran colleague," as he says, "was instrumental in organizing the first temperance society in Washington County, and in all of Western Maryland." He says "it occasioned a very severe struggle and sore trial, but was attended with good success and usefulness." The ministry of Rev. J. C. Bucher came to a close in February, 1830, and brief as it was, a great work was done for morals and religion. During this year the congregation was attached to those of Waynesboro and Salem, in Pennsylvania, and Leitersburg, in Maryland, and now had settled over it as Pastor Rev. G. W. Glessner, and as early as May 23, 1831, a record is made of a baptism he performed.
18. Book: 1889. 6
Beecher, Jacob. Born near Petersburg, Pa., May 2, 1799; P.T.S., 1823-25; Carl Seminary; ordained German Reformed Synod, '26; paster German Reformed churches, Martinsburg, Shepherdstown and Smithfield, Va., '26-31; agent Carl Seminary, '28-29; agent S. S. Union, '30-31; died Shepherstown, Va., July 15, '31. German reformed minister.
19. Fact: An oil painting of him by Edmund Brewster of Philadelphia about 1828 and a lithograph of the painting done by Albert Newsam and published by Peter S. Duval, also at Philadelphia, were owned in 1968 by Craig M. Bennett of Charleston, S.C., 1968, Charleston, Charleston, SC. 1
Jacob married Hannah Mitchell, daughter of Jacob Duche Mitchell and Rebecca Burden, on 16 May 1827 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.1 2 3 (Hannah Mitchell was born on 22 Aug 1802 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA,18 died on 23 Aug 1888 in Cape May Point, Cape May, NJ 19 20 and was buried on 28 Aug 1888 in Philadelphia: Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA 19 20 21.)
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