Who was it that said "History is an account of something which never happened, written by someone who wasn't there."? From the "Centennial History of Alamance County 1849-1949 by Whitaker: "In Alamance the Reformed and Lutheran sects settled along Alamance and Stinking Quarters Creek; the Friends or Quakers settled in the south along Cane Creek, and the Presbyterians chose settlements in the present vicinity of Hawfields." "For a number of years there was little contact between these colonies, other than occasional meetings at the Hillsboro courts or on the market roads to Petersburg and Fayetteville. Their churches and schools and their ways of life were peculiar to their individual settlements." "Because they spoke a language foreign to their neighbors, it was a long time before the "Pennsylvania Dutch" assumed any part in the government of their county and state, yet they proved themselves industrious, hard-working, and devout." I believe that a common language is necessary for the binding together of a community. . . lack of communication breeds suspicion and sometimes even anger. Note, parents and teens - citizens and politicians <g>. My Husbands glib quip about the German's and Scotch-Irish may well have some validity. This from a personal view. My father, a German Lutheran was a very reserved man. He was hard working and attended Lutheran services every Sunday, and expected his children to do the same. Mom, on the other hand with her "fey" Scotch-Irish blood, found the "stuffy" Lutheran services, with their onorous Organ Music totally depressing. She enjoyed a bit less "Law" and more "Gospel" <good news> ditto the music. She often told her good little Lutheran children about the "camp meetings" when she was a girl. The preacher would get going on his "hell fire and damnation" sermon and the congergation would sing and get so "caught up in the spirit" that they would roll the soft backed hymn books up and beat them against their hands so hard that the books were torn down the middle. This preaching and praying would go on for several days. I can still hear her singing at our Lutheran services. She never hit a note but would happily trill up and down the scale along with the heavy organ music. As a teenager I was embarressed. She told me that the Bible commands us to 'Make a joyful NOISE!" And she did that, especially when on a special occasion the "church" would relent and play a "gospel song". Old favorites like "In the Garden" (she chose that for her funeral) "The Old rugged Cross" and "Jesus loves me". Then, could my Mama sing! I have attended the Luther church for 50 years and not yet have I seen any of that kind of "spirit". Indeed, just a few years ago PBS had a show about the Main stream churches the gist of it was that "they are so cold, one could ice skate down the center aisle. 'nuff of this old lady's ramblings.. .. Cheers, Carol ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange USGenWeb Orange Co, NC Archives site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nc/orangnc.htm