Christ Lutheran "Stone Church", White Deer Valley, Montgomery Pa
The first church in the White Deer Valley, this church began as a Presbyterian Church, meeting in a log cabin constructed in the late 1700s.
In 1847, the Lutherans had taken over the building and named it the Christ Lutheran Church. The Lutheran Congregation dismantled the wooden structure, and reused most of it when building their new building, which was comprised mostly of native sandstone. It then became known as the stone church.
Reverend Henry Alonzo Deitterich (1838-1899) was the pastor of the Stone Church from 1881 to 1887. Late in life, he wrote a memoir titled A Wonder Of Grace - 33 years in the Ministry. You can read it online here:
In that memoir, Deitterich states that the parsonage was built just 3 years before he moved in in 1881. "White Deer was a very convenient and pleasant charge. It consisted of two churches three miles apart good roads and located in the beautiful White Deer valley ten miles from the City of Williamsport and convenient to the railroads. The people are generally well to do farmers intelligent social and kind. Indeed the most social people I have ever met."
In 1906 the church was again dismantled, the existing stone was crushed and formed into blocks. The new building is what we see standing today
The new cornerstone was laid July 29th 1906, in a ceremony "attended by a vast concourse of people from the entire valley and neighboring towns."
From The Watsontown Record and Star Anniversary Edition
The Central Concrete Construction Company, of Watsontown, supplied the material for the old Stone Church.
The Bell in front of the church is inscribed:
Christ Lutheran Church
J.A. Richter, Pastor
Brady Township
Lycoming Co, Pa
John Absalom Richter was pastor of the church in 1910. [One article states that he was Pastor for 4 years, but the exact years are not given. ] Conrad Richter, the author, was the son of Rev. Richter.
The Stone Church, 1938
The Rev. David Staessner took over as Pastor on April 6th 1941. He came from Luthersburg. Rev. Straesser lived in the parsonage across the road from the church for just over a year, until the church was closed in April of 1942 when the government took over the area for the ordinance.
The Stone church was the first of the six White Deer Valley churches to close when the ordinance was constructed. (The Norman Waltman farm was the first property to be taken over)
The Last Easter Service At The Old Stone Church, 1942
On March 7 1942, residents gathered at the Christ Lutheran Church, where they were told that the government needed their land for the war effort, but that they would be able to repurchase it after the war ended. The land was too polluted by the TNT plant to ever be farmed again. Read more here: https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-alvira-bunkers.html
In May of 1942, the cemetery was opened for memorial day, but only to the relatives of those persons buried in the cemetery, and all had to enter at the same time. Families met at the Maple Hill entrance at 2pm and the program began at 2:30.
Upon the disorganization of the church, due to the property being taken over by the government, the congregation voted that the incumbent council retain administration of the church property for a 10 year period, then if reorganization could not be effected, the funds were to be transferred to specific charities. By May of 1923, the cousin had turned over $143 from the hymnal fund to the American Red Cross.
In 1945, the annual gathering of the congregation and Sunday School of the Christ Lutheran Stone Church of White Deer Valley was held at Montgomery Park
From the Christmas Candle Light Service, 2018
In May of 2023, at the Memorial Day Services held outdoors in the cemetery, the Montgomery Historical Society announced that they had received a letter from the prison saying the church is a "hard hat area" only. Although not condemned, the stone work in the tower entrance is crumbling, and gatherings can no longer be held inside. As of this time, there is no plan to to anything. The prison will not tear down the church, but they also do not have the funding to repair it - it will just be left to stand until it falls down on its own, unless a group can organize and raise the money for repairs.
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Dedications In The Stained Glass Windows:
- In Loving Memory of father and mother by their son Charles Henry Berger
- Decker - To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of the departed.
- In Memory of Solomon Jarrett and wife
- Presented by Mrs. C Shaffer & Mrs. D. Simpler in memory of departed
- Ladies Aid Society, Mrs. W. Hoffman, Pres. to Rev A.E. Cooper and family
- C. E. Bastian, Pres.
- Jacob A. Hively, wife and family
- To Charles Harman and wife by their son George P. Harman
- In memory of D(avid?) c. Bastian and wife
- Wm. Pysher and wife
- Presented by the workmen of the Church
- Infant class - Mrs. Emerson Hagenbuch, teacher
- Mrs. John Pysher, Teacher No. 9
- Dedicated to Emerson Hagenbuch, Supt. by the Sunday School
- S. S. C. No. 7 - Mrs. Melvin Webb, teacher
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The Stone Church Cemetery holds the bodies of the Delaney family who was murdered by William Hummel.
On November 25 1899 the bodies of Sarah, John, and Olive were buried in the Stone Church Cemetery in Allenwood, where Oliver Delaney was already interred. The victims were buried at the tax payers expense, and as such, the overseers of Clinton township seized Hummels house and five acres of land, selling it at auction to recoup the expense. By March of 1901 the residents of Clinton Township had collected enough money to erect a grave marker for the Delaney family. The marble monument was dedicated on Memorial Day
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READ MORE
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On January 26th 1909 The Honorable Emerson Collins of Williamsport gave a lecture on Abraham Lincoln, at the Stone Church.
1906
April 1942
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