History

The early German settlers brought scant possessions withthem, but amongthe intangibles -- for most of them anyway -- was theirfaith. The journalsof itinerant preachers contain many references topeople in the ShenandoahValley hungry to hear the word ofGod.

Further evidence of the pioneers' faith is the fact that achurch wasoften the first community building erected. A Moravianmissionary passingthrough "the Chanador," as the area aroundStrasburg was sometimescalled then, in 1747 reported the existence of a"church," thefirst reference to what became St. Paul LutheranChurch.

If, though, a church is considered the gathering of even afew believersto worship and praise God, the congregation's roots extendeven further.John Caspar Stoever Jr., the first German minister based inVirginia, madeseven trips through the Valley between 1734 and 1742. Hisfirst recordedbaptism on the Shenandoah was of young John FrederickBrintzler on March31, 1735.

George Samuel Klug, Stoever'ssuccessor at Hebron Church at Madison,also made regular visits to theGermans in the Valley. Their fervor forLutheranism is evident in two ways.Several of the Moravian missionariesreported a frosty reception from thesettlers. George Dellinger, the Lutheranelder who let the Moravian LeonardSchnell preach in his house in 1747,refused to let him do so again twoyears later because of the criticismhe had received from his fellowparishioners. Second, they made severalattempts to secure the services ofa resident Lutheran minister.

There was only a handful of Lutheranministers in the colonies, though,and not until 1772 when John PeterGabriel Muhlenberg accepted a call tothe Valley did a Lutheran pastor livein the Valley. When Muhlenberg leftto fight in the Revolutionary War,another gap ensued until Christian Streitaccepted a call to the northernValley parishes in 1785.

The settlers did not lack spiritualnourishment between the random visitsof the itinerant ministers, however.Simon Harr, a layman with enough theologicaltraining to be licensed as acatechist, conducted services at the Lutheranchurch throughout the lasthalf of the 18th century. He also was schoolmasterat the church's school,the first in Strasburg.

Harr corresponded with Henry MelchiorMuhlenberg, the patriarch of Lutheranismin America and the father of PeterMuhlenberg. Although considered merelya missionary pastor by the churchfathers in Germany who had dispatchedhim to America, Henry Muhlenbergfunctioned as a bishop, nurturing fledglingcongregations, counseling andencouraging ministers and seeking to maintainrigorous pastoralstandards.

The church that missionary Schnell was denied use of inJuly 1747 waslocated on the church farm at Clary. The 200-acre parcel,part of Lord Fairfax'simmense holdings, was surveyed on Dec. 20, 1751,"for the use of theDutch Chappel or Society of Dutch Protestantsincluding the said chappel."Listed on the survey are the names ofLaurence Snapp, Heironimous Baker,Martin Roller and Henry Felkner,"Elders of the Lutheran Church andCongregation." Their namesalso turn up in St. Paul's early churchrecords. The same structure isreferred to in the will of George Sheasler,drafted in February 1749, as"the Dutch chappel."

When the original church on this loton Washington Street was built isunknown, but it was probably in the late1760s. In 1768 the congregationpurchased the lot from Peter Stover, thefounder of Strasburg, and the firstchurch records date from1769.

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg noted in his journal that fundcollectors fromStrasburg and vicinity had visited him on July 3, 1765."They wereformerly prosperous, but several years ago they sufferedmuch from the hostileIndians, etc. Now that they appear to have somedegree of peace, they areagain coming back to their ruined settlements andare anxious to build achurch."

The log church was locatedslightly to the west of the present sanctuary,near the parish house. Itfaced Washington Street, was 50 feet wide and40 feet long with a balconyon three sides. Above the front door, in thegallery, was a pipe organ,said to have been built in Germany. Philip Eberly,who was born in 1822reminisced in 1907 that the organ was a "monster,.. but it was notso sweet-toned as that of today."

The old church had no heatat first and some members opposed the installationof stoves, saying thatthey "were not bought with a view to obtainingcomfort" but were"being prompted by pride." The lack ofheat made naps during longsermons less likely.

The condition of the old church deterioratedover time and by 1840 memberswere complaining that it was "crumblingdown" and "very inconvenient"for worship. A survey by thecouncil showed that it was "more judicious"to erect a new churchthan to attempt to fix the old one.

The church farm was also indisrepair -- the church fathers had troublecollecting rent from thetenants -- and the Virginia General Assembly wasdisplaying new coolness tochurch- owned property, which was not on thetax rolls.

The twinproblems of the "dilapidated" church and the farmthat"diminished yearly in value" combined for a solution:Proceedsfrom the sale of the farm were used to build a new church, whichwas dedicatedon Nov. 10, 1844 "to the worship of the Triune God"and calledfor the first time "St. Paul's LutheranChurch."

Descriptions of the new church's interior aresketchy, but Miss LucyLudwig, longtime school teacher and church organist,noted that the buildingcontained a gallery "for colored friends"and the Sunday Schoolprimary department. Two small rooms at the front ofthe church were enteredfrom the porch. The room at the left contained thefuneral bier, the roomon the right the steps to the gallery.

Thenew building suffered the ravages of the Civil War. The interiorwas guttedby Union troops and used as a hospital, arsenal and stable. Onlythe shellremained The damage was so extensive that the Virginia Synod madeannualdonations to the Strasburg church for two years after the war, theonlychurch to receive such aid. It was repaired and rededicated in 1867andthen extensively remodeled in 1902

Union troops under Gen.Nathaniel Banks first took control of the churchin the spring of 1862. Asthe North's presence in the Shenandoah Valleyebbed and flowed, under thepersistent harassment of Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall"Jackson andhis successors, St. Paul's was often used by federal troopswhenever theywere in the vicinity.

It is doubtful that Southern troops everoccupied the church. Of sevenpeople who lived within two blocks of thechurch during the war, only onerecalled Confederate troops bivouacked inthe church, and then for onlya weekend in 1864.

While troops werenot in the church continuously throughout the war,what they did to thebuilding rendered it useless to the congregation. Parishrecords arenonexistent for the war years, but a church member said laterthat theLutherans held services at the town's Presbyterian Church, whichhadsuffered less at the hands of the armies.

Yet whatever damage anddislocations the troops caused earlier in thewar was overshadowed by thevandalism of October 1864, which gutted thechurch. "Nothing but thebare brick walls was left," a Union soldierreported. The churchfathers were more indignant: The minutes of May 12,1867, recounting therededication of the church, decry its "havingbeen torn to pieces anddefaced by the fiendish hand of the Union Army."

Union troopsfirst occupied the church in March or April 1862. Its proximityto therailroad line and fort Banks erectedon the hill just north of thechurchmade it ideal as a storage place for ordnance. But not for long.On May 24,1862, with Jackson racing from Front Royal to Winchester, Banks'rearguard, commanded by Col. Othenil De Forest, "emptied the churchof theordnance store and burned them."

Other Union visits were no soeventful although the church members wholived nearby recalled Northerntroops in the church whenever they were inStrasburg. In its federal claim,the church sought $25 per month rent asreimbursement in addition to theexpenses of repairing the church from thevandalism of October1864.

That incident is graphically described in a letter fromPrivate WilburFisk, Company E, Second Vermont Brigade, U.S. Army:

John S. Bowmanrecalled in an affidavit supporting the claims suit that"in 1862 whenthey [the Northern troops] first got hold of it was verygood -- but whenthey got through with it [it] was very much dilapidated.Torn to pieces youmight say, nothing left on the sides, except a littleflooring. To put thisbuilding back in the condition it was when UnitedStates soldiers first gotit there had to be a new floor, new windows andpaines [sic], a gallery,doors, pews and pulpit."

Helen R. Spangler, who lived a blockfrom the church during the war,echoed that view, but she also recalledthat in the fall of 1864 when theConfederate troops were falling back fromWinchester, they used the churchfor a few days to house their sick."The church at that time was notfit for anything as it was badlydemolished."

Minutes of the Virginia Synod indicate that theStrasburg church sufferedthe most devastation from the war. In 1866 and1867 the synod appropriated$200 to the congregation -- no other parishesreceived such donations --to help it recover from the war'sravages.

At its October 1866 meeting in Winchester synod reportedthat "oneyear of peace has not been sufficient to repair the injurieswhich our peoplehad sustained, it." The Strasburg congregation"is supplied withstated preaching" by W.A. Rusmissel, "but,owing to his superabundantlabors elsewhere, [it] can receive no pastoralattention from him."The Strasburg congregation "now standsdisconnected from any charge."Synod recommended "uniting it tosome other congregation." andmaking "an appropriation ... to aidin repairing their church as theysuffered so greatly, in that immediatevicinity, from the presence of contendingarmies." Synod also voted a$100 subsidy to the congregation to helppay for a permanentpastor.

The 1867 minutes from the conference in New Market reportthat Rusmisselhad accepted a call to Strasburg, with Lebanon as the secondparish. OnMay 12, 1867, the Strasburg church was dedicated "inconsequence ofthe desolations caused by the Federal Army." The Rev.W.T. Dosh, ason of the congregation who later served briefly as presidentof RoanokeCollege, preached.

The congregational minutes show theslow, persistent efforts to repairthe damage and to return tonormalcy.

On Feb. 9, 1866, the council elected officers anddiscussed subscriptionsfor "'rebuilding our Temple of Worship, now inruins." In Aprila building committee was appointed. By Augustsubscriptions to pay for theproject were being solicited and a newcommittee to repair the brick wasnamed. At year's end the council wasready to hire a pastor. Rusmissellbegan his ministry on March 1, 1867,with 113 members on the roll.

The church was rededicated on May 12,1867. Several pastors participatedand 48 members communed.

Thebuilding committee reported its costs on May 4, 1867: lumber,$179.79;carpenters, $570; painters, $245; hardware, paints, tinning,plastering,$446.36; total $1,441.15.

The United States providedrestitution to the church in the early 1900safter the trustees broughtsuit in the Court of Claims and provided documentationof the damage doneby federal troops. That payment helped finance the renovationof 1902 inwhich the bell tower was erected and the north and south wallsof thebuilding were reworked in the neo-Gothic style that survives tothisday.

Other changes followed, the most extensive being themajor renovationin 1986 that reversed the worship space and added anarthex and balcony.