1617 THL

SCOPE AND CONTENT: This collection includes histories, clippings, ledgers, rolls, and photo prints documenting the history of St. John's Lutheran Church and its early connection to the Gravel Springs pastorate.
(1 box) Last updated 09/15.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: The congregation was established in 1796, though some evidence indicates that a Lutheran congregation met on the present church site long before that date. Christian Streit (1749-1812) was an early pastor. The church was formerly known as the Old Furnace Church, Furnace Church, Taylor Furnace Church, and Valley Taylor Furnace Church. In 1851, the congregation joined with Bethel, Gravel Springs, and St. James congregations to form the Gravel Springs Lutheran Parish.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carr, Clay B. and Mildred L., Historical Sketches of Places of Worship, Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia, Winchester, VA: Farmers and Merchants National Bank, 1988, pg. 31

CITE AS: St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1617 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1

News Articles – unnumbered, printed (photocopy)

Brochures/Leaflets – 2 items, printed

Church Directories – 4 items, printed

1984

1987

1996

2007

Church Book or Ecclesiastical Recorder for the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of the Valley Old Furnace, 1825, 110 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)

Correspondence – Isaac Ira White to his sister, April 9, 1864, 1 leaf, manuscript (photocopy); transcript, 3 leaves, typescript
DO NOT PUBLISH IN ITS ENTIRETY WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH

Gravel Springs Pastorate – history by Rev. C. E. Seastrunk, 1935, 20 leaves, manuscript; 2 leaves, printed (photocopy); 6 pages, manuscript

Gravel Springs Pastorate – news clippings

Gravel Springs Church Roll Book, 1 item, manuscript:
Friendly Grove Grange # 621, 1877, membership, 3 pages
Gravel Springs Church, membership, 1930-1950, 3 pages

Ledger – Jacob C. Cooper, 1 item, manuscript:
Financial records, July 1879, 3 pages
History of Old Taylor Furnace Church, 8 pages

The Lutheran (magazine), October 28, 1920, 1 item, printed             Did Not Digitize

"St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, built in the year of Our Lord 1873," no author, no date, 12 pages, manuscript

St. John's Lutheran Church – history by R. M. Cooper, 1897:
15 leaves, manuscript
15 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)
10 leaves, typescript
Folder containing article, typescript, and transcript

St. John's Lutheran Church – membership notes, 1937-1951, 15 items, typescript/manuscript

Publications                                                                                   Did Not Digitize

Lutheran Church publications and assorted church bulletins:
-Minutes of the Sixty-Eighth Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Virginia, held in Grace Church, Winchester, VA, August 17-22, 1897
-Minutes of the Fifty-Eighth Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Virginia, held in Muhlenberg Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, VA, October 25-29, 1887
-Approved Constitution for Congregations of the Lutheran Church in America, recommended in 1962 for adoption by congregations of the Lutheran Church in America, with amendments as ratified by the 1964 convention of the church
-The One Hundredth Anniversary 1856 – 1956, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Sunday, October 7, 1956, 2 copies
-Unto You a Savior: The Gospel according to St. Matthew, New York: American Bible Society, 1928.
-Department of Church Architecture: The Purposes and Services of the Department, New York: The United Lutheran Church in America, no date.
-Wrapper for Roanoke College Bulletin, Salem, Virginia, addressed to Thomas S. Cooper, Mt. Williams, Virginia
-Program of the First Annual Sunday School Convention in Back Creek District to be held at Mt. Olive U.B. Church, near Hayfield, VA on Thursday, June 18, 1914
-Form for Local Sunday School Report, Virginia Sunday School Association, accompanied by an envelope dated  8 July 1925 (Wadesville, VA) from the Frederick County Sunday-School Association addressed to Master Thomas S. Cooper, Bloom, VA, and a note dated 15 July, 1925 in Hayfield, VA to Mr. Supt. from W. R. Larrick
-120^th Anniversary Celebration Service, Sunday, November 30, 1969, Gravel Springs Lutheran Church, Star Tannery, VA, Rev. Charles T. Bockhouse, Pastor
-St. John’s Lutheran Church, Mt. Williams, VA, Rev. Harold Fuller, Jr., 19 March 1961

-Program for the 175^th Anniversary Celebration (youth rally, lunch and worship), 4 pages, typescript, October 10, 1971

-Bulletin for 175^th Anniversary of St. John’s Lutheran Church, 4 pages, typescript, October 10, 1971

-Musical Program for “What’s It All About Anyhow?” 4 pages, typescript, October 9, 1971

Valley or Furnace Church – description by T. S. Cooper, no date, 2 leaves, typescript

See Also:
Related materials may be found in 836 WFCHS, Diary of Christian Streit, July 19, 1785 to Nov. 28, 1788.

MMF–Cemetery-St. John’s Lutheran Church Cemetery list