The Rader Church in Timberville, Virginia

The original Rader Church is located in Timberville, VA. The following is the history of the Raders migration to America. They came across the seas from Mutterstadt, Germany in the 17oo's.
My ancestral file looks like this:

Kim Rader Whiting
d o Robert Rader
s o Walter Rader
s o Floyd Rader
s o Richard Rader
s o John Rader
s o Henry Rader
s o Conrad Reader
s o Adam Roeder
s o Hans Adam Tauber Roder (See tombstone below)
s o Johann Adam Roder

I have all of the dates and info to back me up. Thought I'd share the background on the building of this church.





The following excerpt is taken from a book in my possession about the Rader lineage:


(from page E of "Record Book of the Rader Lutheran Church"
by D. William A. Rader (1990))

"Rader Church congregation is one of the oldest in the county of Rockingham,
having been organized prior to 1766, probably as early as 1750. The meeting
house was first constructed of logs. This was replaced in 1806. The present
structure is a fine white frame building built in l878. It is located on Fort
Run Creek about a mile northwest of Timberville, a public road passing between
the old cemetery and the church. The new part of the cemetery is on the same
side of the road as the church. It was Jointly owned by the Lutheran and
Reformed Congregations until about 1880 when the latter built a new meeting
house in the town of Timberville. As a center this old church antedates the town
of Timberville.'

"Located on the church lot as early as 1813 was a school house which proves that
these pioneers were interested in education. Why was the stream on which the
church property is located called Fort Run? It is more than likely that the name
was derived from an early fort that was located thereon and that fort was at or
near the church. In fact during the early days of the settlement it is highly
probable that the fort was also used as a meeting house. This was the custom at
other places.'

"An early deed recites that the church is located in the "forest". A large
section of Rockingham County north of Timberville was known as the "forest" in
early times and in fact I have heard the name used in my time. So far as I know
no store, church crossroads corner, or other definite place has that name. It is
an indefinite name and applies to a large and indefinite section, in pioneer
days probably heavily timbered. This evidently suggested the name of the town o
Timberville, a thriving village on the south side of the southern railroad and
on the bank of the Shenandoah River, where I was born.,

"The Rader family was a prominent one in the early days. Anthony Rader was the
first Justice for a long time and in 1777 he was Captain of militia and Adam,
Jr. was vice Captain. Adam Sr., who deeded the land for the earlier church by
that name, died in 1773, teste, leaving surviving him five sons and three
daughters The name of the sons were George, Samuel, Mathias, Anthony and Adam.
On May 20, 1765 Adam Reider [Rader] and Anna, his wife, Alexander Painter
[Peinter, Bender] and Margaret, his wife, conveyed three acres of land to Peter
Scholl on behalf of the Presbyterian Congregation and to Michael Neice on behalf
of the Lutheran Congregation. At this time a meeting house was standing on or
near the lot conveyed by this deed which contains this expression "Back of said
meeting house where it now stands.'

"On May 7th, 1812, Adam Rader and Nicholas Cern (Karn) convey to Henry Stolp on
behalf of the Presbyterian Congregation, and John Roller on behalf of the
Lutheran Congregation. The deed recites that the description in the deed of 176
was not satisfactory which is the reason for the execution of this deed; that
Adam Rader, the Elder, and Alexander Painter had long since died and the above
Adam Rader and Nicholas Carn were their legal heirs, respectively "


Notes on the Rader Church, Timberville, Virginia:
The first thing Miss Annie Bowman remembers about her 210-year old church
congregation is watching neighbors planing logs by hand to build the fourth
Rader Lutheran Church to be located on its historic site outside Timberville,
Va.
Annie Bowman, an alert 100 year old resident of Harrisonburg, Va remembers early
days of traveling to and from Rader Church by walking or riding the three miles
on a surrey with her 14 brothers and sisters. When she was born in Timberville
in 1875, the Rev. John S. Bennick was the seventh minister of this long lived
church - a line of ministers that began with the Rev. Paul Henkel in 1792.
She remembers the old church. "It had a gallery on two sides with a pulpit that
had three to four steps. We had church about once a month and communion twice a
year. There were two wood stoves in the church."
It is believed that the Rev. Henkel started this post-Revolutionary congregation
before the construction of the first known building when the German settlers in
the congregation met in log huts or schools to worship together while guarding
against Indians and wild animals.
"The Meeting House", the first building constructed by the congregation, was
built in 1765 on land donated by Adam Rader and Alexander Painter. Inscribed on
the deed for the two acres of land given to the church were word donating this
site "forever, as long as the sun shines and the waters flow".
Adam Rader's generosity provided the congregation with a name for the church
which has been preserved for generations, although the spelling has changed, as
new churches have been built to replace the old.
The present church structure is built of brick. The location of the pews have
also changed from an earlier interior design which was arranged to allow for
quick exit by men rushing from the church to repel an Indian attack.


Until 1838, the language used in the church was German, spoken by earlier
Lutheran settlers who trekked to the Shenandoah Valley after the forefathers
arrived from Europe.