LANCASTER COUNTY. 215 



church, was Conrad Beissel, a native of Germany. He 

 Was converted in 1715. He had fled from the persecu- 

 tions of that period. He arrived in America in 1720, 

 and in 1721, settled at Mill creek, where he, and one 

 Stuntz, built a house; and they were soon joined by 

 Isaac Von Babern, George Stiefel, and others. It 

 appears from an extract of the Ephrata Chi'onicle, that 

 Conrad Beissel was baptized by Peter Becker, in Pequea 

 creek, in 1724. Soon a new organization arose from 

 the Dunkers.* Beissel, "wholly intent upon seeking 

 out the true obligation of the word of God, and the 

 proper observances of the rites and ceremonies it im- 

 poses, stripped of human authority, he conceived that 

 there was an error among the Dunkers, in the ob- 

 servance of the day for the Sabbath; that the seventh 



*About the same time, another religious sect was formed in 

 Oley, now Berks county. This association was headed by one 

 Mathias Baumann. His followers or disciples were styled 

 "The New-born." 



They professed to be impeccable, or of having attained a 

 state of sinlessness: they were perfectionists. They boasted 

 they were sent of God to confound others. Their disputations 

 were frequently heard in the market places of Philadelphia. — 

 On one occasion, Baumann, to show that his doctrine was 

 from God, proposed to wade across the Delaware river. 



They were, as it is the custom of enthusiasts and fanatics, 

 contentious, wandering through the country, displaying zeal 

 for their doctrines, by controverting with al! who differed from 

 them in matters of faith. Conrad Beissel, the founder of the 

 Sieben Taeger, was occasionally annoyed in his recluse situa- 

 tion, by them. 



Baumann, their leader, was a native of Lamshelm, Palati- 

 nate ; born in 1701 ; came to America between the years, 1719, 

 and 1722; he died, 1727. It is reported, he was an honest and 

 sincere man ; not solicitous to accumulate property ; but, that 

 Kuehlenwein, Jotter, and others of his followers, loved the 

 g»od things of the world inordinately. 



