Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
Connection between the Rev. John Casper Stoever and Elder John Koontz
Article of October 1, 1998
The first spiritual inspiration among the early congregations of Lutherans in Page Valley probably came from the Rev. John Casper Stoever, Sr. Born Jan. 13, 1684 or 1685 in Frankenburg, Hesse, Germany, Stoever was the son of Deitrich and Magdalena Eberwein Stoever.
The grandson of the Rev. Andrew Reveberwien, it seemed inevitable that John Casper would play a role in the Lutheran Church. By the time Stoever was nearly 35-years-old in 1720, he moved to Annweiler in the Hardt Mountains in Bavaria.
Accepting a call to be minister at the Germanna Colony of Virginia, Stoever arrived in Philadelphia on Sept. 11, 1728, on the ship James Goodwill. Soon after arriving in Pennsylvania, the Rev. Christian Schultz ordained both John Casper and his son, John Casper Stoever, Jr., on April 8, 1733. The elder Stoever became the first pastor of the Hebron Lutheran Church, founded by the first Germanna colonists in 1717 and the first permanent Lutheran Church in the United States. His son became one of the most prominent Lutheran ministers in Pennsylvania during the 18th century.
The elder Stoever's stay in Virginia was relatively short. In 1739, after returning to Germany to raise funds for his Virginia congregation, Stoever died during his passage back to Virginia and was probably buried at sea in the Atlantic Ocean.
The roots of Elder John Koontz were also deeply entwined in the history of the Germanna Colony and early German-American religion. The first generation born in Virginia, on March 26, 1739, Elder Koontz's father, John Cuntz, had arrived in Philadelphia on Nov. 30, 1730, aboard the Joyce. His mother, Elizabeth Catherine Stoever Cuntz, was the daughter of the Rev. John Casper Stoever, Sr.
Not unlike his grandfather, Elder Koontz also had a greater calling for religion in Virginia. While orignally Lutheran, Koontz was highly influenced by the Baptist revival that spread like wildfire throughout Virginia in the latter half of the 18th century. While living near Front Royal and attending one of these revivals, Koontz was so moved that he traveled to Fauquier County for baptism in December of 1768.
Returning to the Shenandoah Valley, Koontz began teaching the gospel according to the Baptist faith in the area of Mill Creek. Preaching in both German and English, Koontz's sermons were moving and eloquent enough to convert many, including Martin Kauffman and many of his Mennonite flock. Reportedly, his efforts to convert so many subjected Koontz on more than one occasion to beatings by "ruffians" of the Massanutten neighborhood.
Koontz reportedly preached to his Massanutten flock at Mill Creek Church from 1772 until 1824. Elder Koontz died less than a decade later between December 1831 and April 25, 1832. The controversy over the death date stems from the date of probate on his last will and testament. Buried in the Shuler-Koontz cemetery within site of his home near Alma, Koontz's stone was removed in later years to the Seekford cemetery. The old homeplace of Elder Koontz, better known as the Shuler-Koontz homestead, deteriorated significantly in this century and collapsed in the 1960s.
Return to the Page News & Courier sponsored directory for
Heritage & Heraldry articles.