The Dunkards of the High-lying, Wide-stretching Alleghenies:

Jeff Bach at Ephrata Cloister

Pennsylvania Hermits in Preston County WV in the 1750s

Note:  Three of the Eckerlin Brothers, namely Samuel, Israel and Gabriel, crossed the Allegheny Mountains about 1750 and first settled at the mouth of Dunkard Creek (named for them).  French and Indian conflicts drove them up the Cheat River to Dunkard Bottom (now Camp Dawson), for a limited stay until Quebec Indians raided and captured two of them.  DGN

A guest lecture by Dr. Jeff Bach:

Thursday, April 18th: 125 Brooks Hall, Downtown Campus, West Virginia University @ 7:00pm

Friday, April 19th: The McGrew House, 111 E Main Street, Kingwood, WV @ 7:00pm

About the lecturer: Dr. Jeff Bach is Director of the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster PA. He is the leading expert on Ephrata Cloister and its impact on Protestant Christianity in the mid-Atlantic region in the colonial period. Dr. Bach holds a Ph.D. from Duke University and is the author of several books and numerous articles.

The speaker will discuss newly discovered letters from the Eckerlin brothers, three religious solitaries who moved to today’s Preston County, West Virginia, and maintained active ties to the Ephrata community in colonial Pennsylvania. The Eckerlins left Ephrata during conflict in the 1740s, but stayed in communication until two of the brothers were captured by a raiding party in 1757.

Free and open to the public!