Cyriacus Spangenberg, the Murderous Minister

 

Jacob Glessner's grave, Reformed Church Cemetery, Berlin

The historical record shows that 1,043 criminals are known to have been executed in Pennsylvania, beginning with the hanging of Derek Jonson in Bucks County in 1693 and ending with the lethal injection of Philadelphia serial killer Gary Michael Heidnik in 1999. Of these 1,043 persons who paid the ultimate price for their crimes, many were gangsters, ex-convicts and career criminals. Several had unusual occupations; Lorenzo Savage, who was electrocuted in 1924, was a voodoo doctor, while William Rumage, electrocuted in 1948, worked for a circus. Lawrence County banana dealer Frank Jongrass went to the gallows in 1898, while jeweler John Bruelman was hanged in Philadelphia in 1760. But of these 1,043 men and women executed, only one was a clergyman-- Cyriacus Spangenberg.

The story of Cyriacus Spangenberg begins during the time of the American Revolution, when hundreds of Hessian mercenaries arrived in this country to aid the British. Spangenberg came to America as a Hessian soldier, but soon tired of the rigors of military life and settled in western Pennsylvania. A well-educated man from a respectable family, Spangenberg arrived in Philadelphia on May 14, 1783, seeking ordination in the Reformed Church. His uncle, Reverend Samuel Dubendorf, was an esteemed Reformed clergyman, and so one can imagine Spangenberg's disappointment when church leadership refused his ordination request. When the church once again refused to ordain him two years later, this time in Lancaster (amid concerns about his conduct as a soldier), Spangenberg turned to a friend of his uncle, a minister named Philip Jacob Michael. Reverend Michael ordained Spangenberg, and the former soldier immediately embarked upon a career as a preacher.

After preaching to congregations in Sunbury, Selinsgrove, Middle Creek and Mahantango (Snyder County), Spangenberg returned west to the village of Berlin in present-day Somerset County sometime around 1788 and continued to preach there until 1794. However, by this time, revelations concerning his personal life came to light. It seems that while Spangenberg was a pastor of the Mahantango Reformed Church of Salem, he had intended to marry a local girl, but the day before the planned wedding it was discovered that Spangenberg already had a wife back in Germany. He fled Snyder County in disgrace, but word of his conduct eventually reached Berlin.

Cyriacus Spangenberg was the first resident pastor in Berlin, which is situated about seventy-five miles southeast of Pittsburgh, and he also served a number of other nearby towns, including Bedford, Saltsburg and Stoyestown. When gossip about Spangenberg's adulterous behavior reached Berlin, a meeting of the church elders was held. This meeting, which took place on March 19, 1794, infuriated the former soldier, who was present during the entire assembly. Though Spangenberg had his share of supporters within the Reformed Church, he also had made a number of powerful enemies.

One such enemy was a 60-year-old elder named Jacob Glessner, who was regarded as a pillar of the church. Whether or not Spangenberg remained pastor was up to a vote of the congregation, and it appeared that Spangenberg had a good chance of keeping his position-- that is, until Glessner stood up at the end of the proceedings and encouraged members of the congregation to vote in favor of the pastor's removal. Since Elder Glessner was a very influential member, this spelled doom for Spangenberg. In a fit of rage, he drew a knife which had been concealed in his clothing and plunged the blade into  the heart of Jacob Glessner. With blood gushing in torrents from his chest wound, Glessner fell at the foot of the altar and died.

The Trial and Execution 

The congregation was so horrified that they made no attempt to subdue or apprehend Spangenberg, who fled from the church and retrieved his horse from the adjoining pasture (this pasture was known for many years following the murder as the "Pfarrer Schwam", or "Parson's Swamp"). Once the congregation gathered their wits, they went off in search of the murderous minister, and he was soon found and arrested. After being apprehended by David Eshbaugh and Mathias Zimmerman, Spangenberg defiantly proclaimed, "Ich habe nicht geduhn; mein Herr Gott hats geduhn" (I have done nothing; my Lord God has done it).

Spangenberg was taken before the Berlin justice of the peace, Adam Miller, and committed to the Bedford Jail. Justice Miller's notes from the hearing indicate that the murder occurred at approximately two o'clock at took place in Spangenberg's living quarters, which were attached to the log church building. This, according to some, casts some doubt about Glessner falling dead at the foot of the altar, and in some versions of the story Spangenberg called Glessner into his living quarters in order to have a word with him in private, where he was stabbed and died of his wounds two days later. This version, while slightly less dramatic, would seem to be the correct version, as the Grand Inquest indictment from the April 1795 term of court, signed by Attorney General Jared Ingersoll, states that Jacob Glessner languished until March 21.

Regardless of which version of the stabbing is accurate, records show that Spangenberg's murder trial took place on April 27, 1795, in Bedford (Somerset County was still part of Bedford County at the time) and that he was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. His attorney attempted to secure a pardon through the governor, but the effort failed. On September 11, Governor Thomas Mifflin issued his warrant to Sheriff Jacob Bonnett directing the execution of Cyriacus Spangenberg to take place on Saturday, October 10.

On the day of the execution, the doomed preacher, with his coffin on the same wagon, was conveyed to the gallows. A large crowd gathered at the public square in Bedford to watch as the rope was placed around Spangenberg's neck and the killer was hanged until he was dead. Unfortunately, the final resting place of Cyriacus Spangenberg is unknown, though the story of his crime is still a popular tale in Somerset and Bedford counties.

 

Sources:
History of Bedford and Somerset Counties. E. Howard Blackburn, William H. Welfley. The Lewis Publishing Company, New York, 1906.
Meyersdale Republican, June 16, 1927.
Selinsgrove Times-Tribune, Nov. 16, 1944.
Somerset Daily American, March 19, 1954.