ZIEGLER Meeting House

Rehrersburg, Berks County, Pennsylvania

One of the Little Swatara Church of the Brethren meeting houses

250th Anniversary was June 16 and 17, 2007

The church meetings started in 1757 most likely in homes and barns as was typical for the time. There was a brick building built on the Ziegler farm sometime between 1830 and 1860 for 300 members. In 1875 brothers Emanuel and Philip Ziegler of the 5th generation ZIEGLER's gave land for a new wood frame church and the Ziegler Cemetery, now a 15 row cemetery of ZEIGLER relatives listed in Floyd Mason's book Ziegler Family Record Revised, 1990, an update of Jesse ZIEGLER's 1906 book of the same title. An 1876 map shows the road going from the Ziegler Meeting House north between the farms of Samuel Gettle and the Ziegler Farms. Pictures were taken in 1918 and are shown below.

My families listed in the members of Little Swatara Congregation of 1770 German Baptist Brethren include Peter HECKMAN, minister and wife, his son John HECKMAN and wife who was Barbara MEYER HECKMAN, Jacob MOYER and wife - Barbara MEYER's parents, Philip ZEIGLER and wife the original ZIEGLER immigrant family and whose farm was passed down through the ZIEGLER family until 1972. Dwayne Wrightsman gave an interesting discussion of the Early Brethren Farms on Little Swatara Creek on the Brethren Mailing List.

The 1875 frame building is now owned by the Old River Brethren according to Dwayne Wrightsman in response to my October 9, 2007 query. The Mastoff Press sells the book History of Little Swatara Church of the Brethren, 1757-2007 which describes the Zeigler Meeting House on pages 161-164.

Elizabethtown College Photograph Collection has these ZIEGLER Meeting House photographs in The High Library Special Collections on the Access Pennsylvania Digital Repository web site seen below. Clicking the photo will take you to their web page.

There is also a photograph of the Merkey Meeting House built in 1846 another Little Swatara Meeting House.

If you have additional photos, information or comments please contact me.

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