Pastor’s ancestors closely linked to church history

(Adapted from an online sermon presentation based on Acts 1:6-14 by The Rev. Janice Marie E. Lowden, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Stephens City on May 24, 2020)

Good afternoon to you all on this lovely day in Newtown/Stephensburg – Oh, I am sorry.  It is now Stephens City, isn’t it?  I was invited to share my story as a witness of the wonderful history and heritage that we Lutherans have here in this small town and area of Virginia.

My name is Anne Elizabeth Shryock Marks.  The Shryock family is descended from German immigrants who came to America in the 1700’s.  Although we came through the port in Philadelphia, PA, many of us Germans sought new homes in the Shenandoah Valley because it reminded us of our beautiful home country.

As Protestant Christians, we followed the teachings of Martin Luther on the scriptures, sacraments, and worship.  Our purpose was and is to be and to build Christ’s church on this earth so that until he returns all may rest in his grace and hope.  Our days cannot be spent standing around, looking up to heaven.  There is much work for us to do to prepare for Jesus and to be examples of the kingdom he has promised.

My ancestors found this community to be filling with other Christians – Lutherans, Reformed, Methodist, Baptists – who desired to establish a legacy, a heritage of faith that would live on for the decades and centuries to come.  We gathered at first in homes and then gradually built church buildings to house God’s people in this place.  Our first building was on Mulberry St. at the corner of Green St. and beside the first cemetery in the community.  It was a log building that the Lutheran congregation shared for a time with the members of the German Reformed community.  In the early years, the building was also used as the town schoolhouse.

By the time I was born on May 29, 1831, the old church was gone and a beautiful brick building had been erected a couple of blocks north of the original site.  During my early life, I could walk to church, with my parents and siblings, from our stone house on Main Street.  You can see my old home today by taking a short walk down Main Street from the old tavern (now Newtown History Center).  Most people today know it as “Stone House,” (circa 1760s).

I grew up with Jacob Marks, the man I married, because my family – the Shryocks, the Marks family, and Jacob’s grandparents, the Mytingers all lived in the same area of town.  Although his family attended the Methodist Church, Jacob often attended the Lutheran church with my family.  After our marriage, all our children grew up going to church there, also.

Jacob was the son of a blacksmith, Mr. Alexander K. Marks. Mr. Marks was a well-known businessman who worked on the Newtown wagons made in the area.  His smithy was probably located near the corner of Green and Main.  As Newtown/Stephensburg grew and needed better organization as a town, Mr.  Marks served as the first Treasurer and Secretary of the newly-formed town government in 1830.

The most difficult time of our lives came when the war between the states broke out.  There was fighting all around us in the valley.  Jacob was mustered out to serve in the Confederate Army.  Later in the war, he ended up in a Northern prison after he was captured during a raid at Harpers Ferry.  I was left at home alone to care for our ten children.  The times were terrifying.  We did not know what would happen from one week to the next.  Some days, we feared going out of our houses because we could hear the gunfire of battles just a few miles away.  At one point, we were certain that our town would be burnt to the ground by Union soldiers, but thank God, we were spared.  There was a food shortage that affected rich and poor alike.  The children could not go to school for fear that they would be put in harm’s way, so the schoolmaster brought lessons for the children to complete at home.  I sent a couple of our children to live farther South in the Valley with friends and family to keep them safe.

During it all, my church, Trinity Lutheran, and our pastors kept us strong and hopeful.  We continued to worship and pray together.  We cared for our neighbors who struggled to make ends meet.  There was a time that we had to open our church building as a hospital to care for the soldiers wounded in area battles.  The women of the town did their best to nurse the injured along with any others sent to help.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC), first established in 1765, is located at 810 Fairfax Street, Stephens City, VA. The current church building was dedicated on August 25, 1907. Courtesy TELC.

After the war, our church building needed major renovations due to the damage caused by its use during the war.  We managed to get this accomplished by some money provided by the government and the hard work and dedicated monetary donations of its members.  By that time, most of my children had grown up, married, and moved away.  They were spread out in Roanoke, Berryville, and Richmond.  Our eldest, Charles, completed college and seminary in Roanoke and was ordained to be a Lutheran pastor.   Jacob and I moved to Roanoke to be near our son, Edward, and his wife.  Jacob died there in 1892.  I was still living in Roanoke when I died in 1911.

Throughout the years, our connection with Trinity Lutheran Church continued. In 1906, it came time to tear down the old church building and construct a new one on property just across the street.   Charles and his siblings donated the new pulpit and lectern for the sanctuary in my honor.  As a result, Trinity’s current pastor, my great granddaughter and Charles’ granddaughter, Janice Marie Ely Lowden, preaches from that very pulpit each Sunday.  There are descendants of the Shryock family still active in the congregation today.  The church has been part of our family history for nearly 200 years!

Rev. Janice Marie E. Lowden makes historical presentation on the Newtown History Center front porch at 5408 Main Street in Stephens City. Courtesy Rick Kriebel.

Trinity Lutheran Church has a long and important history in Stephens City.  From 1765 on, she has been a community that values love, worship, fellowship, hospitality, and community and has provided outreach into and care for the community around us.  What a wonderful legacy!

Note: Pastor Janice Marie Ely (JMe) Lowden, is Anne Elizabeth Shryock Marks’ great granddaughter.  She was called as Pastor of Trinity Lutheran in December 2019.  Anne Shryock Marks and her family occupied the stone side of Stone House from 1842-1872.