St. Peter’s Church to Celebrate the Return of the Marquis de Lafayette
Lafayette Hill, PA, Apr. 9, 2025 -- St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3025 Church Rd., Lafayette Hill, PA, will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the third visit of Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, to the Philadelphia area on Saturday, July 19, 2025. The “Celebration of the Return of the Marquis de Lafayette” will start at 2 p.m. in the church sanctuary.
St. Peter’s, in conjunction with the American Friends of Lafayette, will celebrate Lafayette’s 1825 return to “Chestnut Hill” with an historical presentation on Lafayette and Philadelphia, along with self-guided tours of the church cemetery, where 14 veterans of the Continental Army, plus the six Oneida scouts who fell during the battle, are buried. Also featured in the day’s activities will be two “revolutionary” performances by the Philly Fife and Drums Corps under the direction of Lois Herbine.
Best known as the youngest general in the Continental Army, Lafayette also made a triumphant return to the United States during 1824 and 1825 as an elder statesman of the French Republic, and the only surviving Revolutionary War general. Following his 1824 visit to Philadelphia, he toured all 24 states before returning on July 20, 1825 to the Philadelphia area in recognition of his most famous action in the war, the Battle of Barren Hill, in May 1778.
The exact route of Lafayette’s July 1825 visit is uncertain. Two primary sources state he toured the battlefield, that is, the St. Peter’s cemetery and the original church building, while two others state that he just came “within sight” of the battlefield from Chestnut Hill.
Lafayette had led a contingent of 2200 Continental Army soldiers, 600 Pennsylvania Militiamen and 50 Oneida warriors from Valley Forge to the then Barren Hill in May 1778 to spy on the British army contingent then headquartered in Philadelphia. The ensuing battle, wherein Lafayette’s detachment was surrounded by the British, saw a narrow escape by the majority of the colonial forces back to Matson’s Ford. At the same time, a small group, including the Oneida, fought a delaying action centered around St. Peter’s original building and the still-existing church cemetery.
The public is invited to attend, free of charge, although a free will offering will be accepted.
If you would like any more information regarding this event please contact John Shiffert or the Church Office.
St. Peter’s March History Column
St. Peter’s has been around since 1752, or less than 250 years after Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation. We won’t go back that far today, but a look at a few of the highlights from the 1965 St. Peter’s Yearbook on its 60th Anniversary is of interest.
(Thanks to Linda Gallagher, who turned up an entire collection of these fascinating publications, dating all the way back to the late 1940s)
Most notably, the real old-timers in the congregation will recall Pastor Harold F. Doebler, his Assistant Pastor Robert “Pastor Bob” Joachim and Assistant to the Pastor M. Luther Hocker. You also may recall that they were preaching from the pulpit on the opposite side of the altar from where Pastor Suloff now does not preach (although the lectors do read from the other side now.) When were they preaching? There were two Sunday services, at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Also recall that, immediately pre-COVID, the two services were at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., indicating that everyone slept later on Sundays in the 60s. And, playing the organ at both services was the future founder/originator of the Boar’s Head, Robert “Bob” Rosenberger.
Now, to put out a yearbook like this, or at least to afford the printing of a yearbook like this, you must have advertising. Someone clearly put a lot of effort into selling ads for the 1965 yearbook, and said ads are quite enlightening, particularly to anyone who isn’t a “Boomer.” For example, the telephone numbers all had letters in them. The church’s phone number, and pretty much all of the Lafayette Hill phone numbers, started with TA and a single digit number. That stood for “Taylor,” BTW. Conversely, none of the addresses had a ZIP code. For the Philadelphia addresses, there was just a two-digit number after the city, and Pennsylvania was often abbreviated “Penna.” (It is assumed that abbreviation went out of style to avoid confusion with penne pasta.) As for who was advertising… the late, lamented General Lafayette Inn (which predated the church by 20 years) was an important one. But, let’s not forget some of the smaller ads from stores in the Lafayette Hill Shopping Center down by Joshua Road (none of which are there anymore, either)…Lafayette Hardware, Lafayette Hill Shoes (in a later iteration, this location was a running store), and, of course, “The Roxy,” which lasted longer than the rest and always had baseball cards in stock before anywhere else.
We won’t go through the membership list, except to note there have always been Rotenburys and to give a shout-out to Bob Graham, who still occupies the last pew on the right side of the front section seating.
The St. Peter’s Cemetery and the Continental
Army soldiers and Oneida Scouts buried here
(Numbers refer to the Placement Report numbers)
Bernhardt Barnaby Beaver (2)
Born September 9, 1751 in Oley Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. He was married to Susanna Seltzer and they had nine children. His last name was also occasionally spelled “Bieber.” During the Revolutionary War, he served as a Private in the 1st Battalion, 4th Company of the Philadelphia County Militia under Capt. Stephen Bloom who was at Valley Forge with Washington, and fought in the battles at Brandywine and Germantown. Bernhardt Beaver died on April 1, 1801 in Gwynedd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
George Christman (3)
1746-1794
Listed in Berks County Revolutionary War Soldiers as part of the 2nd Battalion in 1777 and 1778. Served in Capt. Kemp’s Company
Leonard Culp (4)
1742-1800
John and Ludwig Dager (5&6?)
They may have been part of the German Battalion composed of officers and men selected from among the German settlers (i.e.: Pennsylvania Dutch) of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Or, this may be only one person…
Related by marriage to Philip Lare (Lehr)
Johann Ludwig Dager
Birthdate: November 25, 1736
Birthplace: Germany
Death: June 10, 1799
Father of Johannes Dager (AKA John Dager, who was the son-in-law of Philip Lehr)
Peter Duseaux (7)
A French sailor. Died in 1825
Hans Jacob Hagey (8)
Born - 1749 - Neustadt, Bergstrasse, Hessen, Germany
May have been part of the German Battalion composed of officers and men selected from among the German settlers (i.e.: Pennsylvania Dutch) of Pennsylvania and Maryland. In 1766 he threatened to sue St. Peter’s for the return of a 100 pound loan he made to the congregation. Died 1820 in Franconia, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Philip Halb (9)
May have been part of the German Battalion composed of officers and men selected from among the German settlers (i.e.: Pennsylvania Dutch) of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
William Johnson (10)
May have served in the colonial navy
1732-1800
George Keiger/Keigher/Kiger? (11)
1752 - 1800
Philip Lare (12)
May have been spelled Lehr, related by marriage to the Dager family. One of the original elders of the St. Peter’s congregation.
BIRTH 1745
DEATH 17 Feb 1837 (aged 91–92)
Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
Revolutionary Soldier: Private 3rd Class, Captain William Johnson's 6th Company, 6th Battalion, Philadelphia County Militia.
Daughter - Susanna Barbara Lare Dager
1775-1848
Susanna was the wife of John Dager.
Philip Sidner (13)
1729 - 1811
Andrew Socks (14)
Leonard Streeper (15)
He was a blacksmith by trade.
BIRTH
3 Jan 1719
Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA
DEATH
5 Apr 1796 (aged 77), Whitemarsh, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA
The St. Peter’s cemetery was once known as the Streeper Burying Ground because so many Streepers were buried here.
Leonard Streeper...owned an extensive tract of land in Whitemarsh township during colonial times, from which he donated the ground upon which the church and cemetery at Lafayette Hill [formerly Barren Hill] are located. Deed dated March 14, 1758.
The burial plots for these last three have not been located
Andrew Bower -- his last name may have been Bauer
1728 - 1795 -- Northern Liberties 7th Company: Capt. John Bergman, Capt. Andrew Bower
Peter Legeaux (or Legaux)
1748-1827 -- No record exists of his having served in the Continental Army outside of the record from the Sons of the American Revolution. Burial plot unknown.
Richard Schlatter
1753-1787
Geraldus (Gerhard) Richard Schlatter entered the Army of the colonists during the War of the Revolution. In 1777, he was a Captain in the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Philadelphia County Militia, Germantown Township (Upper District). He was Adjutant in what was called the "Flying Camp," and fought in the Battles of Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown.
Gerhard's father, the Reverend Michael Schlatter served the High German Reformed Christian Congregations of Falkner Schwamp, Schip Bach (Skippack) and Weit Marsch (Whitemarsh), which were organized before the present Lutheran Church. Rev. Schlatter, a friend of Dr. Muhlenberg, often preached in Barren Hill when the congregation met at the home of William Dewees to worship before the church (St. Peter's) was built.
The Oneida Scouts (1)
There were between 50 and 100 (accounts vary) attached to Lafayette’s force. Six fell during the battle and were re-buried together in the plot surrounded by an iron railing. They originally were buried separately, with their unsubscribed tombstones being shaped like arrowheads. It appears as if they are the only participants of the Battle of Barren Hill buried in the St. Peter’s cemetery.
According to the diary of Joseph Plumb Martin, one of the Continental Army soldiers who fought in the Battle of Barren Hill…
“A company of about 100 Indians, from some northern tribe, joined us here. There were three or four young Frenchmen with them. The Indians were stout looking fellows.”
The Frenchmen referred to could have included Peter Duseaux or Peter Legeaux… or even Lafayette himself.
The “Pyramid”
The pyramid shaped marble marker in front of the church was originally erected along RIdge Pike in a public ceremony in the 1890s to mark where Lafayette made camp on the night of May 18, 1778. This was about where the Masonic home now stands on Ridge Pike. Contrary to his orders from George Washington, Lafayette and his troops stayed there the next night as well, prior to the battle. The marker was moved in the 1980s when the Masonic home was built, and was kept in storage by the Montgomery County Historical Society for many years before being moved to the front of the church along Church Road, where it now also marks the key location of the Battle of Barren Hill.
