On Saturday I did something I never did before. I was the main narrator on a bus tour sponsored by the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. The tour was based on my newest book, Loyalty Test. The bus was filled by the middle of June, more than three months in advance. I did not know who had signed up so it was interesting to see who came.
We left the historical society at 8 a.m. Our first stop was the Groffdale Mennonite cemetery where Christian Burkholder and some of his family members are buried. Lloyd Weiler was the speaker there. He gave us some Groffdale history and showed us the gravesites of Christian and his wife's grandfather, immigrant Hans Groff, who was the first to settle there in 1717.
After that, we drove by the first farm Christian Burkholder owned on the south side of the Fairmount hill. The land stretches north to Farmersville Road at the foot of the hill. This stone house was built in 1770, the year Christian paid his father-in-law for the place.
In the 1780s. Christian bought three farms on the north side of the hill for himself and two of his sons. These farms stretched from the Conestoga creek and up over the Fairmount hill and down to Farmersville road on the south side of the hill. He owned the whole Fairmount hill and the land on three sides of it. What would he say if he could see it today?
This is the view from the hill of the land Christian and his sons farmed. Christian's farm is the set of buildings in the center left. His son Abraham's farm is on the left edge and Christian Jr.'s farm is just right of center, marked by the red roof building.
Before going down to the farms, we went into the Muddy Creek Library on the Fairmount hill to see Christian's Martyrs Mirror and Froschauer Bible as well as other artifacts on display.
We got off the bus at Christian's farm. The current owner is the tenth generation of Christian's descendants to own the farm. In the attic is a date stone that once said the house was built in 1775 but a jolt during a severe thunderstorm shook off the plaster on which it was written.
Our next stop was at the Ephrata Cloister where Ken Sensenig told us the story of John and Anna Bear's voluntary service there during the Revolutionary War. While nursing the ill and wounded soldiers, they caught the typhoid of their patients and also died.
Christian's sister Elizabeth married Jacob Sensenig. We drove to his farm south of Hinkletown and showed the people how to find the Sensenig cemetery on their farm where they are buried. Unfortunately, the bus could not drive the long bumpy field lane to reach it and it was too far to walk. All we could do was tell them how to find it and give them a photo of it. They will have to go back sometime on their own to see it.
Lunch was served at the Village Chapel in Voganville. Then we headed for Bowmansville where Christian's oldest brother lived and preached. We pointed out a few highlights along the way such as the mill and the place where the first Mennonite church was built in 1794. It stood on a spot that is now in town. We pulled off at the Pine Grove cemetery where we believe Ulrich is buried but he has no legible gravestone. It is probably one of the old field stones that no longer has any markings.
Then we went to Ulrich Burkholder's farm. He first lived in a log house and then constructed a stone addition. The current owners have done a wonderful job of restoring the house. The log end is on the left. They have added a new log addition on the back. The owners invited us to tour the inside of the house and served cider on the porch. For some, this was the highlight of the tour.
Our last stop was a bathroom break at the Bowmansville Mennonite Church. Then we headed back to Lancaster and arrived a half hour ahead of schedule at 4:30 p.m. It was a long but interesting day. From the feedback I got, our guests enjoyed the tour and felt they got their money's worth. I enjoyed it too but am glad it's behind me. Now I'm done with all my speaking engagements for this year. Well, except for teaching Sunday school, but that doesn't count.
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