Reading Between the Lines:
Stories of Women Leaders in the
Franconia Conference

By Mary Jane Hershey

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The stories of the leaders in the Franconia Mennonite Conference have been recorded in the official histories. J.C. Wenger's History of the Mennonites of the Franconia Conference, published in 1937, and John L. Ruth's Maintaining the Right Fellowship, published in 1984, tell the stories. But few of us know what women did. Filling this gap is difficult since sources are incredibly scarce. Looking, searching, talking, and reading between the lines may give insight into the contributions of women in Franconia Conference history. The telling of the stories that follow, though incomplete, wide-ranging, and meandering, is an attempt to to read between the lines in order to illuminate a few of the shadows.

The Lot and the Library
First, to prepare for this paper, I checked the indexes of our two Franconia histories, but the name of Catherine Delp Kulp (1772-1844) does not appear.. J.C. Wenger tells a story about the ordination of her husband, Jacob, at Doylestown in 1818. When the congregation decided they needed another minister, nominations were received from the men of the congregation. But somehow Catherine was asked who she would nominate for a new minister. Catherine said she hardly knew anybody in the congregation, since her family was from Lower Salford and Hilltown, but she knew that her husband, Jacob, could preach. From her recommendation, Jacob's name was put into the lot, and the lot fell on him.

Although Wenger records this delightful story, Catherine's name does not appear in his index, only her husband's name. John Ruth finds this story in Wenger's book, and recounts it in his history. But Ruth doesn't tell us her name; he only tells us she is "Jacob Kulp's wife."

Another example of a woman whose name was not recorded is in an essay published in The Pennsylvania-German in April of 1909. An article about Preacher Jacob Mensch (1835-1912) from Skippack gives information about his "exceptional library." The anonymous writer says this about the library: "the nucleus of his collection having been laid by his grandfather and then added to from year to year by his father and himself." Someone has underlined the word "grandfather" with a line out to the margin and written in a very shaky hand in pencil, "Grandmother Bechtel." She was the mother of Mary Bechtel (b. 1808), who married Abraham Mensch, and the grandmother of Jacob Mensch. Grandmother Mary Bechtel was born in 1773, the daughter of Rosina Weiss (1747-1806) and Garret Bechtel (d. 1796). This "exceptional library" is now called "The Jacob Mensch Library," and is in the possession of the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania. Did any of us know that Grandmother Bechtel also had a part in accumulating this collection?

Wills and Windows
We find the descriptions in early wills written by husbands and fathers to be generally quite caring and concerned about the economic and social condition of their wives and families.

As an example, the Bucks County will of John Landis (b. 1720) of Lower Milford Township, which was probated in 1750, provides for the family in the following way. Their youngest son was nine years old when his father died. The will mentions by name only Samuel and Jacob, both of whom were of age at the writing of the will. It seems there were nine children in the family, but it is unclear how many children were under eighteen when their father died. John Landis gives to his wife Ann, "our Bed & Bedstead two Cows of her choosing amongst my Cows and the Still Kettle, and one Horse (Paul) of my Horses, and three Sheep . . . one third part of my Estate real and Personal be it Lands or Cattle or any other thing. [She is to have] Privilege to live on my land in my House and of the Stove room Kitchen, Cellar and what room she has occasion for . . . but if her having room in the said House and Stove Room could not be Effected in Peace and Unity then a house with a warm Room shall be built and added to my House and firewood ready for use be delivered to her Door." She is also to get portions of the following crops: "Yearly twenty Bushels of Grain--to witt one half part to be Wheat and the other part Rye, one hundred and fifty Pounds of Pork and fifty Pounds of Beef, one third part of the Kitchen Garden, and one third part of the orchard Fruit and thirty pounds of flax the said above mentioned Parts and things my said Son Samuel Landus shall give unto his Mother out of my said Lands, besides her share of the said one hundred and fifty Pounds and he shall keep for her in free fodder and stabling, two Cows, a Horse, or Mare and three sheep as well Provided for as his own."

John Landis' will is typical of how a husband prior to his death, made plans that his wife would be adequately supplied and cared for after his demise. Husbands did this in their wills by instructing the sons in the family to care for their mothers.

Share and Share Alike
Though there was inequality in may areas, sons and daughters seemed to be treated equally by parents. Both sexes were educated in the meetinghouse schools where students studied in quarter-terms, taught by competent schoolmasters who were members of the congregation, or who were well situated residents of the community. Perhaps girls received more days of schooling than boys. An inventory of 118 fraktur bookplates in manuscript hymn tune note books made for children in Bucks and Montgomery County meetinghouse schools from 1780 to 1845 show that of 118 surviving examples 66 were made for daughters.

Parents kept books in which they recorded in great detail items given to each child. The Clemens family book (1749-1857) notes the careful recordkeeping of several generations, detailing how the family wealth was shared. The dowry for daughters consisted of furniture, kitchen utensils, linens, animals and garden equipment. Indeed, in reading some of these lists, one wonders what the husband brought to the household! Later the daughters received sums of money to equal what the sons had obtained in buildings and lands. If the land a son received was valued higher than what his siblings were given, he paid this off in equal shares to his siblings. If everything was not equal when the last parent died, the will made provisions for continuing the sharing of the parent's wealth. Henry Lederach's will of 1799 mentions "My Book" and tells how son John is to pay off the real estate in equal share to his five sisters and one brother. Henry reveals his hope for his children when he writes, "Everyone has his full equal share and that my children shall share and do all in peace and quietness is my hearty desire."

Interestingly, this "share and share alike" tradition continued in the Lederach family into my generation. My father, Willis Kulp Lederach (1896-1983) a careful keeper of financial records had a book in which he recorded all funds given to his four children. Although we all graduated from Goshen College, my siblings studied at universities in Ohio, California and Texas. I did my graduate work in Philadelphia and obtained an assistantship which paid all expenses plus a stipend. Years after I had finished my graduate work, my father came to me with a sizable check. He said, "Jane, this is your share to equalize what I paid for the graduate studies of your siblings." I can remember the feelings of love, acceptance and worth conveyed by this unexpected gift.

The Knack for Making Money
Although the traditional primary role of a woman in the Franconia Mennonite Conference community was to be a keeper of the home and family, there were exceptions. A few women were involved in the economic growth of the community. Some had special gifts in business.

Ann Garges (1801-1885) married to Henry Lederach (1797-1876), a blacksmith in the village of Lederach, was a 19th-century general store proprietor. An account published in 1888 records that "Ann Garges, like nearly all the Gargeses, had the knack for making money." Ann, who lived in the village of Lederach, started a store in her home which was located on a main thoroughfare where three roads converged at a five-point intersection. Everyday the stage coach, which ran between Allentown and Norristown, stopped at this crossroad. When Ann first started her store "there were no shelves in the room, for she commenced on a small scale, a large table con[tained] all the dry goods. Groceries and other things were kept in small quantities, and the stock was increased no faster than the funds increased, thus doing a sure and safe business. Gradually, however as he (Henry) worked at his trade and she tended her store, the funds increased until they had not only shelves in their room but the shelves full of goods, and groceries and other things in large quantities, as was becoming to a country store."

Another general store was opened across the corner at the Lederach village intersection. However, this competing store did not succeed because the Lederach store was so well managed that "to run opposition against them was [like] running against the wall."

God Loveth a Cheerful Giver
Salford Church records show that women contributed significantly when special funds were requested by the Salford trustees. An 1850 proposal to build a meetinghouse records that from a list of 67 contributors, ten were women. A March 29, 1856 trustees' report on the expansion of the cemetery contains a list of 98 contributors of which fourteen were women. In 1874 money was collected to assist migrating Russian Mennonites and eight women gave alms.

In 1924 the entire congregation was solicited for funds to build a new meetinghouse. Three booklets record the names of all contributors with the amount of the gifts listed. Each booklet begins, "Dear Brother and Sister: Greetings in Jesus' name. We as a building committee solicit your aid in the erection of our new meeting-house which is to cost fifteen thousand dollars. God loveth a cheerful giver. II Cor. 9:7." These records show 152 contributing units. Some of these units consisted of wives and husbands as one unit, some were single men and some were single women. Of the 152 units, 46 were women contributing in their name alone. This was a remarkable 30% of the contributors.

The young Lizzie M. Alderfer Heckler (1896-1987) who was widowed in 1918 when her husband, Harry B. Heckler, died from the flu epidemic at Camp Mean during WWI, gave $150. Lizzie did not remarry, but during her long and active life, she supported herself in the market and restaurant business in Philadelphia. Kate K. Delp (1847-1926) gave $1000 toward the 1924 building. If $1000 were converted to current dollar value, the significant amount of Kate's gift would become obvious.

Given to Hospitality
A wonderful, early example of a generous act of hospitality occurred about 1783 in Coventry Township, Chester County. There the almost-70-year-old Susanna Longacre "who labor[ed] under great bodily infirmity" gave food and drink to four weary, hungry travelers. Susanna's husband, Jacob, was not home when the travelers stopped. A young girl of eight or nine years was the only other person in the house with her. When the travelers arrived, Susanna not only fed them, but also, at their request, gave them directions to a site in the community. These travelers turned out to be spies sent by the Pennsylvania government to see if citizens were assisting British prisoners. Susanna explained that she fed these travelers, just as she did any other person who stopped at her door. She was cited by the authorities and ordered to pay a 150 pound fine or to receive 117 lashes on her bare back as punishment. She petitioned the state for relief from the penalty because, she said, her dwelling place is by the side of a public road, where the needy traveler has generally partaken of such refreshment as the house afforded. She said that what she did was "as act of hospitality corresponding with her general conduct for many years past." 54 of her neighbors supported her petition for relief from the punishment.

Feeding tramps and providing sleeping space for the homeless was part of daily life for 19th-century families. Although accounts of hospitality are recorded in the name of the male member of the household, it was the women in the home who did the work. Jacob Mensch kept 300 tramps in one year. "After giving them suppers he would shelter them and then give them their breakfasts; but in no instance would he accept their labor for his hospitality." Jacob's wife was Mary Bauer (1831-1906). Her daughter Barbara assisted in serving these meals, and even when her parent s were not home, the welcoming of visitors continued. On May 25, 1888, when Barbara was 22, she wrote to her parents who were traveling in central Pennsylvania, "I had 8 persons for supper Mond. eve."

Other records of hospitality include the account of Souderton minister Henry C. Krupp, who lived on Smokepipe Road in Franconia Township, Montgomery County. He fed 180 tramps in 1895, but surely it was Elisabeth Nice (d. 1900), his wife, who did the actual feeding and work. Jacob S. Rosenberger, who lived on Cherry Lane in Souderton, close to the railroad, recorded in 1897 that he lodged a total of 1148 tramps! This remarkable number of vagrants sheltered and fed surely caused an inordinate amount of work the women of the household. Anna G. Heebner (b. 1850) was his wife, and the daughters were Lily, who was 18, and Annie, who was just seven years old that busy year.

Good-Hearted, Kind-Hearted, and Peace-Loving
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the eminent Lutheran pastor at Trappe, Pennsylvania, records in his journal the death and funeral of a pious widow, 90-year-old Ann Marie Reiff, who was buried January 8, 1753. He wrote, "she heard the Word of God regularly, proved herself to be a true widow, lived in solitude, put her hope in the living God, and was instant in prayer day and night." Her son joined others in "testifying with tears that she had been a pious widow, a domestic preacher, an intercessor and a model of godliness." Affirming her son's testimony, "other impartial friends concurred, adding that she had been too little esteemed." Muhlenberg delivered the funeral address for widow Reiff in the Skippack Mennonite meetinghouse. She is buried in the Skippack Meetinghouse cemetery.

Anna Marie Reiff had a daughter-in-law, also named Anna. The younger Anna is remembered through an unusual document which she wrote in 1773. The manuscript was written with "a neat hand in English," quite exceptional because Ann lived in a German-speaking community from which most surviving hand-written papers are in German.

A story about Catherine Freed, who married George Heckler in 1764, was passed orally through several generations in the Heckler family. A descendant writing 100 years after Catherine's death, remembered the family relating that "Catherine was good-natured, kind-hearted, and peace-loving, and she was generous and kind to the poor." Catherine was particularly noted in her father, Peter's, will, written October 29, 1784. He instructed that she and her sister, Elizabeth, receive extra pounds "for their faithful attention to him in his old age."

Sabrina Garges, was a resident of Lower Salford Township, whose 18-year-old son, Jacob, bought a farm in 1810. The young Jacob was a productive, prosperous farmer, but Sabrina, was credited for his achievement. "[She] stood by him and he succeeded remarkably well."

Miss Gehman's Hospital
Emma Gehman Ruth (1881-1951) was born on the family farm in Bally. She was baptized in the Bally meetinghouse when she was fifteen. During her childhood she experienced unusual health problems which continued into her teen age years. Because of her illness, she lived in Philadelphia with a woman doctor where she received treatment and recovered completely.

Possibly because of this unusual circumstance of living outside of the Mennonite rural, farm community, Emma, as a young women, traveled alone to Canada, California and Florida. In California Emma took nurses's training and began to work in the health profession, concentrating particularly on assisting mothers in childbirth. On one occasion while working in Florida, she assisted in the delivery of an unwanted baby. She brought this child north with her and found a home for him with the family of her brother, John in Quakertown.

In 1921 Emma bought a house at Third and Juniper Street in Quakertown. In this house she opened a hospital and convalescent home, a facility recorded in various sources as "Miss Gehman's Hospital", "The Gehman Hospital" or "Gehman's Maternity Hospital." Her facility prospered and became a respected hospital in Quakertown. In 1927 when it became clear that the community needed a larger hospital, Emma Gehman was on the committee formed to plan a new facility. Her building was purchased by two doctors who converted it to their offices. On June 29, 1927, Emma's services to the community were recognized as she turned the first spade of dirt at the ground breaking ceremony. She appears, in her uniform, on a photograph of officials at the occasion.

As part of her sales agreement in closing the hospital, Miss Gehman promised not to open another health center within ten miles of Quakertown. The new hospital opened in 1930 and is today a major regional facility. After leaving Quakertown, Emma moved back to her hometown of Bally, married Harvey Ruth, and opened "Ruth's Convalescent Haven."

"Jacob, Be Quiet About The Ram Once"
Women filled roles as helpers to their ordained husbands. This co-worker relationship between husbands and wives is first noted in Franconia Conference history in 1769, when Christian Funk was about to be ordained as Bishop for the Franconia circuit. Christian Meyer, Jr., a confirmed deacon at Franconia, objected to the ordination of a bishop. At a meeting where the ordained men had gathered, those present seemed unable to change his thinking. Whereupon Magdalena, Christian Meyers's wife, called him out of the meeting. When he returned, the meeting proceeded. Christian no longer registered objection, and the lot was used to ordain Christian Funk as bishop. This incident may indicate that 250 years ago, wives were present at meetings and were influential in decisions.

This pattern continues in the dispute Bishop Christian Funk had regarding his position of support for the colonial government, instead of continuing loyalty to Britain. Christian Funk was the only recorder of this incident and possibly presented himself in a favorable manner. However, his recording of the events that led to his censure and the years following his excommunication, is informative in noting how wives addressed issues and were involved in the discussions as decisions emerged. Those events follow:

When Henry Rosenberger & Jacob Oberholtzer came to Christian Funk's house to tell Funk he could no longer give communion, Funk's wife, Barbara Cassel, was present and told Henry Rosenberger & Jacob Oberholtzer, " You always cause such quarrels before communion." Then Rosenberger and Oberholtzer spoke harsh words to Barbara that hurt her deeply.

Next Christian Funk visited the fourteen people who had complained about him. Funk felt that twelve of them were not totally negative. But two were. These were Maria Oberholtzer Bechtel, the wife of Samuel Bechtel, and Elizabeth Bechtel Gehman, the wife of Abraham Gehman. This mother and daughter team had husbands who were ministers at Rockhill. When Christian Funk asked them "Did you complain about me in the inquiry?" Maria Oberholtzer Bechtel, the mother, replied, "Yes, we did . . . because you have paid taxes (to the colonial government)." Funk said that Maria conveyed anger in her speech. Funk told them this was untrue; he had not paid taxes to the colonial government. Then, Funk writes, Maria and Elisabeth began to cry and indicated peace with him. Funk said he did not know if their husbands agreed with them. Does this mean the husbands were not present during the conversation?

Referring back to the initial conversation when Jacob Oberholtzer had told Christian Funk he could no longer give communion, Christian asked Jacob Oberholtzer if he had made peace with Christian's wife, Barbara. Oberholtzer said Funk should tell Barbara he had been in a uncontrollable rage that day when he said things that hurt Barbara. This continues the pattern showing Barbara had a persistent role in this conference conflict.

In 1778 when four of the ordained brethren came to Christian's house to tell him that he was being excommunicated, Christian was waiting for them with his support group, his wife Barbara and he sister Frone. Barbara and Frone were actively involved in the confrontation. At one point his sister Frone said to Hans Bergey, "Do you call (my brother) a liar to his face." Hans Bergey replied, "We're not calling him a liar." And Frone, not quiet and submissive, said, "You won't take him at his word."

In 1783 after the war was over, and the country was free from English rule, the controversy did not end, but became more heated. Specifically in 1783 Christian Funk was charged with the following: (a)Christian had cheated the township of about 25 pounds (money); (b) he had taken Jacob Bergey and Christian Meyer's good flour and replaced it with old wormy flour; (c) he had stolen and secretly sold Christian Meyer's ram; and (d) he had wanted to take a ram from Jacob Oberholtzer. In a meeting of ministers, with their wives sitting by and listening, Oberholzer accused Funk of trying to take his ram. Jacob Oberholtzer said that Funk had cut off one of the ram's ears. At that, Oberholtzer's wife, Elisabeth Clemmer, could not remain silent. She said, "Jacob, be quiet about the ram once."

Years later, in 1804 to 1806, these men acknowledged that the accusations had been fabricated. And in 1807, Jacob Oberholtzer, who had accused Funk of cutting off a ram's ear, approached Funk in humility and asked forgiveness. Apparently, in the heat of pettiness of the 1783 charges, Elisabeth Clemmer Oberholtzer was the one voice of reason. It seems she realized the absurdness of the charges and told her husband to drop the issue of the ram's ear. This account shows that the wives of these ordained men were present when problems were processed; in this case, they were deeply involved in the incident.

Anna and Annie, Sallie and Caroline
Anna Overholt (1855-1909) married Abraham M. Hunsicker. They were members at Blooming Glen, but their home was on Fourth Street in the town of Perkasie. In 1908 Anna became seriously ill. During this time she became concerned about the children who played on the streets in front of her home, children who had no access to Sunday School. She told her husband to contact William M. Moyer from the Blooming Glen congregation to ask him to buy the vacant lot close to her home and build a church on the lot. On January 18, 1909 Moyer had a meeting and by January 30, 1909 the lot was purchased.

The building was quickly erected and first occupied for worship on August 8, 1909. But alas, Anna died May 5, 1909 and never entered the building about which she had dreamed.

Annie C. Funk (1874-1912), a missionary in India from the Eastern District congregation at Hereford, wrote an insightful letter written from India in 1908. In the letter she lamented her ability to understand the culture in which she served: "I'm sure we do many things here which the Hindu mind misunderstands, because we do not understand them." Again in 1911, , she writes with discernment, "to present the truths in such a way that they can grasp the idea is such a difficult matter, because their mode of thought is so different."
Annie was a passenger on the ill-fated Titanic when it sank, April 15, 1912. She was returning to her home in Bally for her first furlough.

An interesting story concerns Sallie M. Alderfer (1899-1994), who was married to preacher Elias Landis from Salford. In 1928 Enos Godshall placed Elias's name in the lot for preacher at Salford. Although there were three others in the lot and Elias was the last to pick one of the four books, the lot fell on him. Several months after he was ordained, someone in the congregation asked Enos Godshall why he had nominated Elias, commenting, "Why, he isn't a good speaker." Enos Godshall gave this reply, "I knew Sallie would make a good preacher's wife."

She was Sallie M. Alderfer, and she was indeed a dedicated minister's wife. Elias died in 1957 when Sallie was 58 years old. She lived to be 94. During those 36 years she continued her ministry, even though she had lost her role as preacher's wife. One Sunday morning , several years before she died, I found her in the large main foyer at Salford This was unusual because she was almost always in the smaller front foyer. I commented to her that it was uncommon to find her in the main foyer. She spread her hands apart and said, "These are my people." She once talked about the time "we were ordained," very clearly understanding herself to be a part of that ordination with her husband.

Other women, who were not minister's wives, also filled nurturing roles. At Salford Caroline A. Alderfer (1915-1991) taught Sunday School and gave flannelgraph lessons for decades. Recently, her niece, Linda Alderfer Martin, asked everyone in the congregation who had been taught by Caroline to stand. A large proportion of the congregation arose. Linda said that on every birthday of her many nieces and nephews, Caroline would telephone and sing her own version of Happy Birthday with words that included, "Happy Birthday and Jesus loves you".

Missions: Keep The Place Clean
New opportunities for women who were single or who were married to unordained men opened up when the Franconia Mission Board was organized in 1917. The first Franconia Conference sponsored mission started at Norristown in 1919. All the superintendents who served from 1919 to 1936 were, of course, men. In Wenger's list of superintendents, Willis Kulp Lederach's term spans the years from 1921 to 1928.

During these years Willis (1896-1983) and his wife Mary Heckler Mensch (1898-1980) lived at the mission home at 21 West Marshall Street. While Willis went to work at the Bridgeport National Bank, Mary met with and related to people who lived near the mission home. Prior to their marriage Willis and Mary had been accepted by the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities as workers at a Chicago mission. In a letter dated May 10, 1921, S. E. Allgyer wrote to Mary, "I just want to inform you that your examination papers have passed through the hands of the committee and been returned to me, and are marked O K, Br. Willis the same . . . I am wondering . . . when we can look for you in Chicago."

Mary and Willis were married on June 1, 1921. During the summer months, their plans changed when the Franconia Mission Board invited them to go to the mission in Norristown instead of going to Chicago. Several decades later, Mary reflected on their seven years of service at Norristown, "Living at the Mission from 1921 to 1928 was a blessed experience. My time was spent cooking and cleaning, entertaining and making contacts, visiting S. S. children's homes and shut-ins, with the unexpected happenings often challenging both one's know-how and endurance. Missions stations in the '20's served as free hotels for traveling Mennonites. One never knew who was coming, or when." In another essay, Mary wrote, "Washing the linens for overnight guests and preparing meals for travelers never ceased."

Mary taught in the Sunday School and filled in when visiting preachers from the surrounding country churches failed to appear for the worship service. Willis recorded this in his journal, noting the name of the expected, but absent preacher and adding, "Mary talked."

Both Lederachs lamented their lack of wise counsel and preparation for the mission assignment. Mary wrote, "For the most part the Mission Board could give very little helpful advice (about how a mission was to be conducted) ....Some of them (the Mission Board members) evaluated you proportionately to your reliability in handling the money in the offering boxes and your ability to keep the place clean." On the same issue, Willis wrote, "No examination to take, not told what we were expected to do. I think one of the Mission Board members told us to take the offering out of the boxes."

Single women were intensely involved there as mission workers. After the Lederachs had children, Cora Landes came to help. Mary, writing in 1928, records, "Cora Landes is the worker here. The Mission Board pays her a sum each week for support, and we support our selves." Many single women commuted from surrounding towns to be "workers" on Sundays. At Norristown Wenger lists Martha Moyer, Mamie Freed, Alice Keeler, Grace Souder, Frances Lerch and Verda Moyer.

By 1935 the Mission Board had opened eight mission stations, providing many service opportunities for women. Interestingly the Gardenville Sunday School was started in 1920 because an aged Mennonite sister, Annie A. Kramer from Deep Run, gave $100 to start a Sunday School. And in 1939 Mary Henry Ziegler (1866-1944) donated a tract of land in Bucks County, adjoining her fruit farm in Montgomery County, to the rural Finland mission to build a meetinghouse. Because of her gender, Mary did not speak at the dedication of the new building.

Early in this century, the Doylestown congregation pioneered the involvement of women in congregational activities and mission work. This seems to have been a congregation that promoted mission activity and affirmed and used women's gifts. Hettie Kulp (1874-1965) became interested in mission work in 1896 when John S. Coffman of Elkhart, Indiana held evangelistic services in the Franconia Conference. After attending Elkhart Institute for two years and graduating with the class of 1900, she married Jacob D. Mininger from Souderton. They met when both were teaching at the Philadelphia Mennonite Home Mission. After the marriage in 1904, Jacob immediately transferred his membership to the Doylestown congregation. They would later be mission workers in Kansas City, Kansas.

A list in Wenger's book, remarkable because such a Franconia Conference record is unusual, lists women from Doylestown who had worked in mission activities: Catharine B. Kulp at the Los Angeles Mennonite Mission, Rebecca Histand Graybill at the Reading Mennonite Mission, Esther Histand at the Cottage City, Maryland Mennonite Mission, and Ruth Histand Moseman who sailed with her husband, John to Tanganyika, Africa. In 1935 the Sunday School gave $127.18 toward the support of Sister Esther Vogt.

Among the Franconia Conference Churches, Doylestown had the first sewing circle which began in 1908. Lydia M. Gross (1872-1938) and Mattie Detweiler learned of clothing needs and drove a team to the home of Preacher A.O. Histand and asked for permission to start sewing circle work. He was quite enthusiastic about this new venture and announced the first meeting to the congregation. Beginning in 1908 the Doylestown circle supplied clothing and bedding to Mennonite missions in India and South America, and to eastern Pennsylvania missions, the Eastern Mennonite Home and the Christ Home at Warminster.

Looking through the lists of women who served with the churchwide Mennonite Women's Missionary Society the only person recorded from the Franconia Conference was Lydia Gross from Doylestown. She was elected to a two-year term as district representative on August 30, 1917 at a meeting at Yellow Creek near Goshen.

Lydia Gross was involved in the discussions beginning in 1915 concerning the Mennonite Women's Missionary Society request to become an auxiliary to the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities. The appeal was rejected. Lydia Gross reported in November 1917 that although sewing circles and raising money for mission purposes was acceptable, the Franconia Conference leaders preferred that all money be channeled through the conference. Lydia wrote, "They do not approve of women having a separate board." Later this Women's Missionary Society was dissolved and all women's activities came under the name of "sewing circles".

This Lydia Gross from Doylestown was the only person born and raised in the Franconia Conference who served on the churchwide women's organization until 1965 when another Doylestown woman, Marie Althouse Stoltzfus was appointed. (Between 1917 and 1965 Lois Gunden Clemens served as Secretary of Literature. Lois, born in the mid-west, lived in Indiana prior to her marriage to Ernest R. Clemens of the Plains congregation in Lansdale). Sadly, it seems that the native-born Franconia Conference women did not have the freedom or encouragement to be involved in churchwide activities.


Conclusion
These stories illustrate how, in the continuing story of the Franconia Conference, women were effective in directing their interests and gifts. The stories also speak to women's involvement in church and community life and in family systems. By recording and taking a fresh look at these stories, by reading between the lines, perhaps some shadows have been illuminated and some insights have been gained.

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--Mary Jane Hershey, Harleysville, Pa., was a founder of the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania, and currently serves as president. She is also co-owner of Hershey Farm Agency, Inc. This article was first presented at The Experience of Mennonite Women Conference, October 20-22, 1994, Harleysville, Pa.

Sources:
Alderfer, Joel D. Peace Be Unto This House: A History of the Salford      Mennonite congregation. 1717-1988.
Bower, Henry S. A Genealogical Record of the descendants of Daniel      Stauffer and Hans Bauer. Harleysville, Pa. 1897.
Funk, Christian. A Mirror for All Mankind. Norristown, Pa, 1814.
Heckler, James Y. History of Lower Salford Township in Sketches,      Commencing with a History of Harleysville. Harleysville, Pa., 1888.
Keyser, Alan G., ed. The Account Book of the Clemens Family of Lower      Salford Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1749-1857. The      Pennsylvania German Society, 1975.
MacMaster, Richard K. Conscience in Crisis Scottdale, Pa, 1979.
Munro, Joyce Clemmer.Willing Inhabitants, Souderton, Pa, 1981.
Muhlenberg, Henry Melchoir, The Journals of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg      in Three Volumes. Philadelphia, Pa., 1942.
Rich, Elaine Sommers. Mennonite Women: A story of God's Faithfulness.      Scottdale, Pa., 1983.
Strassburger, Ralph Beaver. The Strassburger Family and Allied Families of      Pennsylvania. Gwynedd Valley, Pa., 1922.
"A Farmer Shelters Tramps for Forty Years," The Pennsylvania German,      Vol. X, No. 4.

 

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Mennonite Historical Bulletin, October, 1995