My
father's line, the Bowser family, is of German Baptist heritage. Yes, you
might have heard them called "Dunkards" or "The Brethren".
The Brethren were established in 1708 at Schwarzenau,
Germany and first migrated to America in 1719. The name later officially became
German Baptist Brethren. Many congregations were organized in the area in
which I now live.
By about 1881, the membership of the church was estimated
to be over 50,000, however there was a great divide that came among them and
resulted in three separate units or factions. They were called "Old
Order" (aka Old Order German Baptist), "Conservative" (aka
German Baptist Brethren), and "Progressive" (aka The Brethren
Church). The Dunkard Brethren we sometimes hear about came from the
German Baptist Brethren who changed their name to the Church of the Brethren in
1908[1].
Recently, a friend of mine informed me that several German
Baptist books of history have been digitized and are available online at Internet Archives. Though
the list is impressive, my favorite source of information was in the digital book
I found online at the German Baptist Ministers & Congregations Site which I
have sourced at the bottom of this entry.
I was
also fortunate enough to be given a book a long time ago that had a few of my
German Baptist ancestors stories recorded in its pages.
Here are
some stories and pictures I have collected of my German Baptist ancestors from
the book entitled “Descendants of Jacob & Eve (Boone) Funderburg”, by Alvin
K. Funderburg.
George
Funderburg b. 1813 near Donnelsville, Ohio[2]
 |
| George and Margaret Leffel Funderburg ca. 1865 |
“Being wise and dedicated, he was elected
to the ministry of the German Baptist Church of Donnels Creek, which met in a
large, simple, frame building which George had helped to build. The church was less than a mile from his
farm. During his active years he
performed many marriages, baptisms, and anointings. Frequently he was called on to preach at a
funeral. Early in his ministry he would
preach in German, and then repeat the thought in English.”[3]
After George’s first wife, Margaret Leffel
Funderburg passed away; George married a much younger woman named Mary
Denlinger. Page 212 of the Funderburg
book states:
“Because George had married such a young woman, the
church elders felt his services as a minister should be terminated. Thereafter, George was denied the full
fellowship of the church, and injustice surely verified by the fact that the
two sons of this marriage gave over fifty years each of dedicated service to
the church. George frequently said, ‘The
church left me, I did not leave the church’.
“In
1881, when the division in the Brethren Church took place, George sided with
the branch which eventually became the “Church of the Brethren.” He felt that higher education was important
for those in the church who wanted to go on.”
John Bowser b. 1841 married
Mariah Elizabeth Funderburg, d/o George and Margaret Leffel Funderburg
 |
| John Bowser and wife, Mariah Funderburg Bowser with their children |
Though John and Mariah, along
with their daughter Marietta were active in the church, their 4 sons struggled
to stay the course. Their son, my
great-grandfather George Henry Bowser (pictured above in the back middle of the photo) had a serious drinking problem and it
seems there ended the affiliation my family line had with the Brethren.
Though my parents, myself,
and my children are now of the Mormon faith, I have a special place in my heart
for these great people of my past and of those who are part of my present. (My father’s best friend and neighbor is an
Elder in the Church of the Brethren and our dear neighbors are of the Church as
well. We love you Filbrun and Bowman
families!!)
[1] Lowell
H. Beachler, “The First Years – A Beginning,” Micon Brethren Archives
(michonbrethrenarchives.com : accessed 3
Apr 2014), digital copy online, para. 2
[2] Alvin
K. Funderburg, “Descendants of Jacob & Eve (Boone) Funderburg”: Taylor
Publishing Company, 1978, page 211.
[3]
ibid
