GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From: "Robert K. England" <>
Subject: Germanna descendents and other religions
Date: Sun, 09 Nov 1997 18:54:43 -0800

Recently some members have been questioning why some Germanna
descendents moved away from Lutheranism in favor of other religions,
most prominent of them the Baptist religion. I am of the opinion that
possibly many of the descendents were influenced by the various
itinerant preachers and revivals that occured after 1750. 1750 is a key
date in which historians regards as the begining of the "Great
Awakening" a religious movement that influenced all the thirteen
colonies. A movement which intially was a reaction to Anglicanism, but
gave rise to both the Baptist and Presbyterian churches. It was a
movement that appealed to the common people an increased numbers within
the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
A recent posting within the group within the group indicated the
following: "With few exceptions the Germanna descendents remained
Lutheran until they migrated to areas where there was no Lutheran
Church." Some of this statement may have some merit, but an example of
Germanna descendents that emigrated to Boone Cty., Ky. proves otherwise.
The settlement of Germanna descendents occurred initially in 1804. By
1805 they had established the Hopeful Lutheran Church near Florence,Ky.
In 1794 the first Baptist church was established in Boone Cty, again in
1825 another church was founded, the Gunpowder Baptist. Among the names
of the initial members one finds the following: Blankenbecker, Delph,
Utz, Aylor, Holsclaw, Rouse, Snyder,Carpenter, and Deer. This has the
appearance of a rather representative cross section of Germanna names.
Hopeful church had been established twenty years earlier. Suprisingly,
three of the members, Rhoda Aylor, Staunton Aylor, and Elijah Rouse
parents were signators of Hopeful's original constitution. From this
evidence I think one must look deeper into religious movements within
the times rather than just emigration locations for reasons of changing
religious affiliations. Other reasons could be dissatisfaction with
doctrine, preachers, or the failure of one religion meeting and
individual or family's spiritual needs.

Bob England

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This thread:

• Germanna descendents and other religions by "Robert K. England" <>