CHURCHES BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS
A HISTORY OF THE
LUTHERAN CONGREGATIONS IN
PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
by
REV. D. H. FOCHT, A.M.
CHAPTER I
LOYSVILLE CHARGE
HISTORY
LOYSVILLE CHARGE
SOME of the very earliest settlers of the territory now included within the limits of Perry County were Lutherans. Their number was considerable before the Revolutionary war, and greatly increased, by constant accessions, for a number of years after its close. That they were occasionally visited by ministers of their own church before 1774 we learn from tradition, but are unable to give names and dates. Afterward they enjoyed the frequent visits of the Rev. John G. Butler, who was pastor of the Lutheran congregation at Carlisle from 1780 to 1788, and performed what may be called home missionary labor on the frontier. As Sherman's Valley then formed part of Cumberland County, and the number of members in the Valley was so great, they could not have escaped the notice of that zealous and indefatigable pioneer minister of the Gospel. From those small beginnings, the Church in Perry County grew up to her present number of members and congregations.
