War-Torn Loyalties: The Marsh Creek Dunkers and the Battle of Gettysburg

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was a remarkably religious town in the nineteenth century, vibrant with a diverse collection of churches and denominations. Most of the citizens across the town took part in religious practices, looking for refinement and answers to the ensuing civil conflict that swept through their homes in July 1863. For the town, the battle brought change to their lives, but the routine of their religious practices aided in their recovery as congregations rebounded from the traumatic events of the three-day battle. Their search for refinement and the Battle of Gettysburg caused a theological crisis for some members of the town, influencing the Marsh Creek German Baptist Church heavily as loyalties shifted within the congregation as a reaction to a marriage between religion and nationalism.

Known as “Dunkers,” members of the Marsh Creek congregation renounced war and violence, dedicating themselves to lives of pacifism and furthering enterprises that prevented war. Living simplistic lives, Dunkers faced a theological crisis with the American Civil War, renouncing slavery and violence yet caught in a civil conflict for emancipation. The Marsh Creek Congregation, a small group of Dunkers with Adams County, faced this theological crisis head on when the Battle of Gettysburg swept through their homes leaving thousands of dead on their properties. Two prominent leaders of the Marsh Creek Congregation experienced the fighting first-hand as it swept through their homes, returning to their church afterwards to promote pacifism and discuss war damage and change.

Joseph Sherfy and Michael Bushman’s homes have become iconic pieces of the Gettysburg Battlefield, yet were scenes of theological debate and reflection in the aftermath of the war. Following the Battle of Gettysburg, Sherfy’s loyalties to the Dunker Church grew in strength as he went on to become a church elder, the highest position within the congregation. On the other hand, Bushman broke many church laws, alienating himself from the congregation until his dismissal from his position of leadership, ultimately leading to his denial of the church eldership. Many of the Dunkers viewed the Civil War as a threat to their way of life, however both Sherfy and Bushman viewed the conflict as a catalyst for change but partook in the change differently.

During the American Civil War, the Dunker Church began to align closely with national trends as they began to line up behind the Union and began promoting civil engagement, embracing the union between religion and nationalism all the while resisting to conforming to the culture of society. Joseph Sherfy reveled in tradition, accepting modernity within the larger context of the Dunker Church, remaining loyal to the larger German Baptist Church and the routine of the congregation. Michael Bushman however accepted modernity on his own terms, estranging himself from the Church temporarily to recover from the Civil War. These loyalties to refinement and the German Baptist Church led the Dunkers of Gettysburg to face a theological crisis as they sought to embrace nationalism and sweeping changes in the nineteenth century.