1744 Saint James Graveyard

 

At the corner of what is now Pine Lane and West Center Street lies the remains of what has become the burial site for some of Lititz’s earliest converts to the teachings of Count Zinzendorf. The old St. James Church, a small, log structure also built on this plot of ground, was built in 1744 as a “union” church by the Lutheran, Reformed, and Mennonite settlers of Warwick Township. This church was the first public meeting place built after Zinzendorf’s first visit in 1742 and 12 years before the town of Lititz was established in 1756.

In 1905 Abraham R. Beck, noted Lititz educator and founder of The Beck Family School for Boys (now “Kadima Rehabilitation and Nursing at Lititz,” located at 125 S. Broad Street), wrote: “The Moravian Graveyards at Lititz, Pa. 1744- 1905.” His reference to plural “graveyards” included both the St. James and Lititz Moravian cemeteries.

Along Old Petersburg Road

 

What we now know as Woodcrest Avenue was still called the old Petersburg Road at the turn of the 20^th century. Like the avenue, the road began at Second Avenue and Spruce Street. The intersection was marked by three greenhouses and a brick dwelling that Calvin S. Loeffler⁽¹⁾ built on the northwest corner.

Loeffler apparently was a man of many talents. That he was a florist is apparent from his interest in greenhouses, but at different times he was also a teacher; a barber; a ladies’ tailor; and a producer of operas.⁽²⁾ In this last capacity he gave the town two productions, "The Fall of Jerusalem" and "Belshazzar." For these presentations, each requiring more than eighty participants, he used local talent. A stage was constructed over the pool at the head of the stream in the Lititz Park, and here the operas were given to large and appreciative audiences.

De Merlier Murals Restored in Former Theatre Lobby

     The Purple Robin Reserve at 47 East Main Street occupies what was formerly the lobby of the Lititz Community Theatre. The remarkable feature of the place is not its reuse of an older structure but the fact that it retains the principal decorations of the earlier enterprise.

    These decorations are a series of nine murals painted by Belgian artist Franz de Merlier when the theatre was being built in 1935. Depicting noted scenes and landmarks from Lititz, the paintings graced the theatre lobby until the showplace was closed and converted into shops and commercial space. They remained on the walls of one of the stores, but in over half a century had become badly soiled and faded.

The owners of the Piano and Organ Center, Dave and Hetty Andrews (early occupants), and the owners of the building, Lititz Improvement, investigated having the historic art works refurbished. The Lititz Historical Foundation agreed to foot half the cost. Engaged to do the work was the Twistback Conservation Center of Oxford, Pa. The price was set at $1,200. [Editor’s note: They have since been restored again by Brandywine Museum.]

Sunday School, by George

 

Editor’s note: George L. Hepp, long-time and beloved Sunday School Superintendent, passed away on Saturday, 10 July 1926, at the age of 61.  Memorial services were held at the church the next day during the Sunday School hour and at his home on the following Tuesday.  The typescript of this eulogy by Henry T. Muth was found in the Archives files.  Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are reproduced as they appear in the original. Handwritten surnames inserted into the text are indicated by italics and brackets.

"Attendance last Sunday 328." That is what it says on the bulletin board tucked away next to the Sunday School honor rolls hanging in the north east room on the third floor of the Brother's House. It must have been too hot or too cold for the lukewarm members to venture out on this day for surely with a total enrollment of 641 including the "Home Department" and the "Cradle Roll" the ordinary attendance figure would be much higher.

George L. Hepp was thirty two years of age in 1896 when he became Superintendent of the Lititz Moravian Sunday School which he would nourish for thirty prosperous years. "Mr. Hepp" as he was addressed by everyone was not overpowering but he was gifted with blessed assurance, a vital trait in a leader.

In the business world Mr. Hepp was a vender of "Diamonds, Watches and Fine Jewelry" at 21 East Main Street, the store with the largest glass show window in town. Because of its unique dressing this show window arrested the attention of even the most casual passerby and on days when you should attend Sunday School, a funeral, or celebrate a worthy holiday, the window's blinds were respectfully drawn signifying the occasion.

Tobias “Toby” Hirte

     Johann Tobias Hirte was born in 1707 in Euba, Upper Lusatia. Growing to a young man, he served in the Saxon Army, and eventually was converted to Christianity by the Moravian Brethren there. He was married to Maria Kloss at the “Great Wedding” held at Herrnhaag on May 27, 1743: Count Zinzendorf officiating. They were one of 24 couples at this famous mass wedding ceremony.

Johann Tobias, else unknown to fame, became a master carpenter while with the Moravians and so was called to Nazareth when the need for his trade became evident. He was to build “Nazareth Hall” for the pending residence of Count Zinzendorf, who was expected to become an inhabitant of the Providence. Working harmoniously with men of seven nationalities, Hirte finished the noble structure in the record time of five months in 1755. It is architecturally faultless.

The important issue from the marriage of Johann and Maria Hirte was a son named Tobias, called Toby by his friends. Toby was nurtured in the traditional Moravian atmosphere of the time, and therefore, was provided with an excellent education including musical instruction. He was proficient with violin, spinet, and vocal talents, along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, and could repair musical instruments. He was known to be a bookworm even later in life. Toby’s personal motto was “Liberty and Independence.” He enjoyed social activities with friends and strangers and had an outgoing, congenial personality. His attributes did not go unnoticed, for in 1771, he was assigned as assistant schoolmaster at Lititz, at the corner of Main and Water Streets, under the supervision of Moravian Brother Roessler. He resided in the Brothers’ House: a sworn bachelor.