Alleghany Mennonite Meetinghouse

Jacob Bauman, a Mennonite, was the first settler in the Allegheny Valley of what would become Brecknock Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. According to a local tradition, around 1740, while searching for an area where game and fish would be more plentiful, young Jacob Bauman met a Native American at Bowmansville who offered to be his guide. The Native American told Jacob that to be successful in life, one must locate where the water flows toward the rising sun. So Jacob made his home along the eastward-flowing Allegheny Creek and was a lifelong friend of the native man. History does not record any hostilities between the natives and the white settlers in the Allegheny Valley. Jacob obtained a warrant on October 8, 1745 for seventy-seven acres of land. A short time later, he was followed by his brothers (John, Christian, and Peter), then the Hornings, Eshlemans, Webers, and others until the upper part of the Allegheny Valley was completely occupied by the Pennsylvania German Mennonites. 

In the 1800s, many of the settlers derived their living from the soil as truck farmers, selling their produce in the city of Reading at farmers markets. Early in the nineteenth century. Before lime was used to neutralize the acidity of the soil, the farmers believed the soil was worn out and began to migrate to other areas. As the result of problems encountered by the nonresistant Mennonites during the Revolutionary War and fear that the fledgling Colonial government might not honor the religious freedoms granted to them by William Penn, many began to migrate to Upper Canada, where they could live under the English Crown. 

Initially the Mennonites of the Allegheny Valley worshiped in homes led by their first minister Christian Bauman. Later they met in a log union meetinghouse jointly constructed by the Lutherans, Reformed, and Mennonites in 1767. Around 1800, a new building was erected that was too modern for the conservative-minded Mennonites, so they withdrew from the union church and again worshiped in their homes. Soon after their withdrawal, Christian Bauman’s son, Joseph, was ordained to serve the congregation. Oral history states that the new church included either a steeple or an organ, which would have been offensive to the Mennonites of that era. These circumstances were an early influence that led the Allegheny Mennonites to consider building their own place of worship. 

Deacon Henry H. Weber (1784-1873) chaired the building committee and kept a detailed record of donations and expenses in the German language. He notes that Solomon Weber donated one-fourth acre of land for this purpose. The cost for building and furnishing the Meetinghouse totaled $377.93. The Bowmansville Mennonite Church district owned the Alleghany Meetinghouse property, and the property was cared for by the trustees of this district. A neighboring member of the congregation served as a volunteer janitor who kept the building comfortable and presentable. 

The Meetinghouse was used for regular monthly services where the congregation was admonished, encouraged, and nurtured in their faith. Services included hymns, prayers, Scripture reading, and a sermon. The members faithfully continued this pattern of worship at the Alleghany Meetinghouse for nearly a century. Members arrived for worship on foot or by horse and carriage. After the automobile replaced the horse and buggy, the horse sheds were no longer used. According to oral history, the horse sheds were removed in the early 1940s. 

Alleghany Mennonite Meetinghouse, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed January 4th 2021. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994745.

Alleghany Mennonite Meetinghouse, Wikipedia. Accessed January 22nd 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alleghany_Mennonite_Meetinghouse.