Howerters Church & Cemetery

The oldest church in the eastern part of the Mahantongo Valley, built in 1897 was Howerters. It was a log church with a balcony. It is said that it was very ornate, with beautiful wood carvings at the alter. When it came to naming the church it ws decided the family donating the most money to the new building would receive the honor of having the church named after them. The Howerter familly it turned out gave the most, and so it was named Howerters. Somewhere along the line the folks of the church wanted a modern church, so they tore it down and built the church you see in this picture. It was built as a joint Lutheran and Reformed Church. In 1943 the church was destroyed by fire. The Lutherans went to Pitman and built St. James. The Reformed Congregation went to Leck Kill and built Christ Church. Both churches are beautiful. One of the organizers of the first church was Jacob Wagner.

My Wagner ancestors buried here include: Jacob Wagner, his wife Louisa Huber; their daughter Regina Wagner and husband Daniel Maurer. Regina & Daniel are the parents of Maria Catherina Maurer wife of Johannes Hepler. Peter Hepler and his wife Anna Maria Wagner are also buried here but many of the gravestones are in bad shape and in German and I haven't located their graves yet. If anyone knows which graves are theirs, I would appreciate your help in finding them.  Anna Maria is also a daughter of Jacob & Louisa. Click on any of the gravestones below to see a closeup of the gravestone.

Howerter's church records
Howerter Church

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