Day 4: Bethany United Church Of Christ Augusta MO 63332-1219, United Church Of Christ.

The Hisotry of  Bethany United Church Of Christ Augusta & pictures. i am always intrested in knowing the history of the places where i live. recently i visited Bethany United Church Of Christ Augusta.

The story of any congregation is the story of families, in this case the Berger (Barger) and Keinadt (Koiner) families. Both had their beginnings in Germany, had probably been influenced by William Penn who had traveled extensively in Germany giving glowing accounts of America; both had first emigrated to Pennsylvania, and then to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

The Shenandoah Valley, whose name means "Daughter of the Stars", had been inhabited by Native Americans and explored as early as 1669 by John Lederer, a German who made his way to the crest of the mountains with three Native Americans, and when he saw the expanse of the green valley, prostrated himself upon the ground, saying: "God is nigh!"  

In 1716 Governor Spotswood and his party made their passage through the mountains and traveled through country described as so fertile and rich that the grass which sprang from the limestone soil could be tied across the saddles of the travelers.  

The town of Staunton was laid out in 1748. It was fairly quiet in the area between 1764-1774, hunting and trapping wolves being one of the more important industries. In 1774 Indian attacks resumed for three years. Augusta County was 20% German at this time, many of the Germans having come from Pennsylvania to find new places to live, plant crops, build log houses, stables and barns (covered sometimes with thatched roofs), and generally transform the frontier.  

This, then, was the Valley to which the Berger family came early in the 1700's, and where Jacob Berger was born in 1745. This Jacob Berger is referred to as the patriarch of the congregation. He married Elizabeth Hedrick, whose father owned 625 acres," and their first child, Anna Margaret, was born October 28, 1771 .
The record of this child's baptism on April 6, 1772, before the Boston Tea Party and before the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia , is the first entry in the records of Bethany-Trinity Lutheran Church . (Margaret grew up and became Mrs. Casper Koiner) Five other Berger children were baptized between 1773 and 1794. Jacob Berger's wife and children remained at their home while he served under General George Washington during the Revolutionary War. When he returned he settled with his family on a large tract of land in Augusta County .

Michael Keinadt, whose name has been traced back to the Reformation, and whose name is now spelled Koiner, Coiner, Coyner, etc., came to America in 1740, lived in Pennsylvania until the close of the Revolutionary War, when he and his wife Margaret, nee' Diller, bought 303 acres of land on the South River and moved with 12 of their 13 sons to the Shenandoah Valley, (one son remained in Pennsylvania).  
The Keinadt's sixth son, Casper , spoke and read English fluently, was a diligent student of the Bible and some of Luther's work. He had preceded his parents to the valley and had fallen in love with Margaret Barger. Jacob wasn't too happy to have his daughter marry this stranger, so Margaret and Casper went to Staunton in March 1788, were married, and left before the pursuing parents arrived. Twelve children were born of that union, and their descendants constitute the most numerous branch of the Koiner family in America . This large, God-fearing family was for many years the strong support of the congregation now celebrating 200 years. It was this Casper Koiner who erected the first brick house in Waynesboro and who cleared and developed many farms and built houses for his nine sons.  

These early settlers brought with them copies of Luther's Bible, his Catechism, and their hymnbooks. As soon as a cabin had been built and their crops planted, they usually sought out others of their faith, gathered several families in a house, barn, or schoolhouse for devotional meetings, the laymen among them conducting simple services when a minister was not available. As far as is known, a Rev. A. Naumann was the first man who preached here. He was killed by a falling tree about the year 1788. Congregations in existence during this era seldom had the services of a Pastor, probably no more than once or twice a year.

After the end of the Revolutionary War, new settlers came into the area and conditions improved. In the summer of 1794 Jacob Barger, Casper Koiner, Nicholas Busch and Kasper Clemen built a log church, the first Lutheran Church in Augusta County , 36' x 40', located nearly in the center of the present graveyard. Michael Keinadt, who was then 71 years old, made the nails for the log church which became known as Spindle's Meeting House, as the Rev. Adolph Spindle (Spindler) preached here until about the year 1809. Spindler was presumably a native of Germany , ordained in 1803 by the Pennsylvania Ministerium that had been organized in 1748.  

Before this first log church was finished, Jacob Berger died in his 49th year, and is buried in Trinity cemetery. His wife lived another 47 years.