We visited this church on July 17, 2011 and the cemetery. It would appear that both the UCC and the Lutheran St. Benjamin's take care of the very large cemetery.

St. Benjamin's is the second oldest Lutheran church in Carroll County (Immanuel in Manchester is the oldest), although historians tell us that this group of persons may have been meeting as early as 1757 in the homes or schoolhouses. St. Benjamin's was founded in

1761. Its history dates back to the early day when Lutheran congregations were organized along the well-known trail travelled by the German immigrants as they pushed their way from the port at Philadelphia, through Pennsylvania to points as far south as Virginia.St. Benjamin's at first was known as "The Church at Pfeiff Krick". Although Pfeiff Krick clearly refers to Pipe Creek, that creek is located a considerable distance away; we can only assume the name refers some other, forgotten waterway.

The only reference to the date of organization is found in Rev. P.H. Miller's "History of Grace Lutheran Church, Westminster". In his brief sketch of our church, Dr. Miller states that St. Benjamin's was organized August 12, 1761. This date, no doubt, is authentic as he had access to sources which are no longer available to us. It is more than likely that Rev. John Bager, minister of St. Matthew's, Hanover, PA at the time, helped to organize the church. Rev. Bager was noted for his zeal in organizing new congregations - among them St. Mary's of Silver Run in 1762.

The milieu in 1761

The Palatine region of what is now Germany was a fertile, productive valley both sides of the lower Rhine. Tilled for centuries by the tireless husbandry of its farmers, it had become a cauldron of misery by the close of the 17th century. Between 1545 and 1685, alternating Lutheran and Reformed rulers imposed their creed on the populace. When the last of these died without an heir, the government passed to Philip William, a Catholic. Louis XIV of France attempted to exploit this situation, was rebuffed, and in response ordered his armies to devastate the Palatinate with a despotic vengeance. At least part of that fury was punishment for the asylum which the previous Palatinate rulers granted French and Swiss Huguenots during the previous 150 years.

From 1688 to 1720, savage wars (both military and economic) brutalized the farmers of Palatine, killing them outright or through slow starvation. By the end of that period, the religious and political climate in the Catholic Palatinate was intolerable for pious Lutheran and Reformed farmers. The conditions here and elsewhere among Reformed and Lutheran members spurred a migration to America. The three "waves" of immigration generally agreed upon are:

1683-1710, during which William Penn actively courted emigrees in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany. Germantown, PA, was created during this time.

1710-1727, during which German immigration dramatically increased, and where most settlement was in southeast and south-central PA. Swiss Mennonites constituted a large percentage of immigrants.

1727-1776, a period where immigration reached a sustained peak and which saw significant numbers of them seeking a homestead in Maryland and Virginia. A preponderance of these were Palatines, and geneological research shows that most of the settlers in the Westminster area arrived during this period.

In the early 18th century, some monied gentlemen were obtaining land grants from the British crown and immediately selling or mortgaging subdivisions (some things never change). By 1754, this rather benign practice had begun to have ill consequences, as (sometimes violent) boundary disputes arose near the border separating Pennsylvania and Maryland. This was due to (1) poor accuracy achievable with the colonial surveying instruments, (2) sloppy surveying by careless land speculators, and (3) the potential for being doubly taxed if property was found to be straddling the line. Only in 1763 would Mason and Dixon begin their authoritative boundary line. Clearly, the wise settler would move travel well south of the line before stopping, and some of these wise settlers would eventually found the church at Pfeiff Krick.

Also, by 1761, the Seven Years' War, or French and Indian War, was raging in the wilderness west of what is now Frederick county. Most of the immigrants knew to avoid land too far west of the Monocacy river; there was no sense in getting oneself killed by settling on someone else's battlefield. This was another good reason to settle around Westminster.

These tough German farmers were certainly up to the task of building a farm out of the wilderness they started with, but that left little time for house-building, much less church-building. While the Lutheran and the Reformed settlers clung fast to their respective doctrines, they recognized their common purpose under the difficult circumstances. Thus it was commonplace for these to religions to form "union" churches which permitted one building to be shared by both congregations. Krider's was one such Union church, being constructed of logs in the same manner as the members' first houses.