Skippack Mennonite Congregation

The Kolbs helped in the founding of the Skippack Mennonite Congregation. Their descendants have been numerous in its membership ever since. Of the seven Trustees to whom Mattias Van Bebber conveyed the site of the Skippack Church in 1717, three were Kolb, namely Martin, Henry, and Jacob. This congregation was the second of the Mennonite faith in America, the first being in Germantown.

There was little immigration from Germany into Pennsylvania until the beginning of the eighteenth century. Most of the Germans went to Germantown first. Those who were inclined to farming soon went farther inland. Finding the waters of the Skippack, and believing it a stream of inland importance, the first German settlements outside of Germantown were made along the Skippack Creek.

Matthias Van Bebber, an early settler in Germantown, had acquired a great tract of land in the Skippack region in 1702. It was called Bebber’s Township and comprised over 6,000 acres. In 1717, Van Bebber granted 100 acres of this large tract to seven trustees of the Mennonite faith. The deed stipulated:

It shall be lawful for all and every inhabitant of the Above Bebber’s Township to build a school house and fence in a sufficient burying ground upon the herein granted 100 acres of land, there to have their respective families to be taught and instructed and to bury their dead.

An annual rental of one shilling, four pence, was to be paid to Van Bebber or his heirs. In consideration of “true love and affection” did Van Bebber and his wife convey this tract of land to the following Mennonite Trustees: Henry Sellen, Claus Jansen, Henry Kolb, Jacob Kolb, Michael Zeigler, and Hermanus Kuster. The deed was written by Pastorious.

Nothing is mentioned in the deed about a Church as was often done in similar grants which large land owners made. Nevertheless, it seems to have been understood that the site was also intended for a place of worship. In 1725 the seven trustees name in the deed of 1717, executed a Declaration of Trust, setting forth that the 100 acres were to be used not only for a school and burying ground, but also as a site for a meeting house and for the benefit of the poor. A stipulation was also added that only members of the Mennonite faith in good standing were eligible to serve as trustees.

The Skippack Mennonites built a church on this tract about the time the Declaration of Trust was made in 1725.

Members of the Kolb and Kulp Families were also identified with other early Mennonite congregations, especially those of Lower Salford and Franconia Townships.

Martin, Henry and Jacob Kolb, three of the trustees of 1717, had previously lived in Germantown. Martin was ordained to the Ministry there in 1708.  He continued active in the ministry until his death. He stood high in the favor of all denominations. As evidence of this is the fact that when John Philip Boehm, Pioneer Reformed Minister, died in 1749, an no Reformed Minister was available to conduct the funeral service, Martin Kolb was called to officiate. He did so, preaching the sermon and conducting the burial rites at Blue Bell, Pa.

The Kolbs were early and conspicuous in the Ministry of the Mennonite Church. They were devout followers of the teachings of Menno Simons who was born in the village of Witmarsum in Friesland in the year 1492 and died on the 13^th day of January 1559.

Peter Kolb remained in the Mennonite Ministry at Griesheim in the Palatine until his death.

Taken from the KKC Family Record Book, pages 22-23.