Ann & George Brickner wrote: > > What Lutheran church/churches were located in Milford Twp 1795 - 1820? The only one I found in the History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania... > Edited by F. Ellis and A. N. Hungerford. > Published in Philadelphia by Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886 > > is Licking Creek Lutheran. Were there others? Do any church records still exist from that time period? (Thanks for having this history available online!) ///////////////////////////////////////////// Hello Ann and other Juniata Co. Listers, The Licking Creek Lutheran congregation was located on the upper Licking Creek, six miles north of the confluence of Licking Creek and Tuscarora Creek in Milford Twp., Mifflin Co. (now Juniata Co.). It was built on land donated by the Augheys, and its formal name is St. Stephen's Lutheran. Its old cemetery is well maintained and a pleasure to visit. I regret I do not have the precise date of its beginning. However, to answer your question, I have carefully researched another German Lutheran congregation in Milford Twp. during the years of your interest. Probably as early as 1795 a group of German Lutherans began meeting for "public worship" in a log building erected on the highest hill of the Zechariah Rice farm. This house of worship, erected on what came to be known as Old Church Hill, was located 1-1/2 miles southwest of the confluence of the Licking Creek and Tuscarora Creek. It lay in Milford Twp. until Turbett Twp. was taken off of Milford Twp. in 1815. Many German Lutherans living north of the Tuscarora chose to ford the Tuscarora and worship at the church on the Rice farm, which for them was miles closer than the Licking Creek place of worship. During 1802 the German Lutherans at Old Church Hill took steps to formally organize. On 12 May 1802 they had 1-1/2 acres of land surveyed on the Rice farm surrounding the existing log building they had been using for worship. On 1 January 1803 the formally organized "German Lutheran Congregation of Tuscarora Valley" took title to the acreage they had purchased from Zechariah Rice for the sum of $16. The local history entitled THAT PART OF SUSQUEHANNA AND JUNIATA VALLEYS ETC., p. 804 , footnotes that "The Rices, the two Kepners, Groninger, Weishaupt, Weimer, Suloff, Saylor and other families were the active members in the erection and sustaining the church on the hill." Burials for members in the graveyard surrounding the church commenced in 1803. This church's cemetery was restored for the nation's bi-centennial celebration in 1976 and is well maintained today. Worship at Old Church Hill, before the congregation's formal organization in 1802, was generally conducted by laymen, with perhaps an occasional visit from a circuit-riding minister. The congregation's first regularly called pastor was Rev. William Scriba, who travelled from Carlisle across the Tuscarora Mountain on horseback to serve them, probably from 1803 to 1809. The next pastor at Old Church Hill was Rev. George Heim (1809-1814), followed by his brother Rev. John Heim (1814-1831). Thereafter, regularly called pastors served this congregation as follows: Charles Weyl beginning in 1831; Simon R. Boyer 1835-1846; Jacob Martin 1846-1848; L. G. Williams 1848-1853; and Peter Lane 1853-1856. Under Pastor Lane's leadership a new church was built in Port Royal, and in 1856 the log building at Old Church Hill was sold and torn down. By that date my ancestral families of three generations had worshipped at Old Church Hill. Details are included in my 480-page book entitled THE SULOUFF AND SULOFF FAMILY, published in January 2000. A copy has been donated to the Juniata Co. Historical Association Library in Mifflintown. I will be happy to contribute to further discussion of this question on the ListServ, or to respond to personal questions privately. Sincerely, Rev. Nelson R. Sulouff