The "Baron Henrich Wilhelm Stiegel: His Stories - Part IV" Story

It was an ordinary day.  A day in which I hope to tell the good side of Mr. Henry William Stiegel.  Although he was a lavish spender and considered one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Pennsylvania, he had a very humane and caring side to him.  He was a man that saw a need for education and as his fortune grew had schools built and hired schoolmasters to educate the children of his workers and town.  He also was an accomplished musician and supported a band in his town of Manheim as well directing the choir of Trinity Lutheran Church in nearby Lancaster.  His love and appreciation of music led him to purchase musical instruments for those he employed that couldn't afford the instruments.  His wealth allowed him to build a chapel on the second floor of his mansion in the center of Manheim and he held Lutheran services on Sunday in the chapel.  

Zion Lutheran Church in Manheim which
was built on land granted to the churuch
by Henry William Stiegel in 1772. It is
known as the Red Rose Church, since one
red rose is still given yearly for rent on the property.
The church is located at the corner of Hazel
and High Streets, directly behind where Steigel
lived in his Mansion located on Main street.

He was not only an important community leader, but a lay delegate to the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania.  Deeply concerned about the affairs of the church, in 1772 he gave his fellow Lutherans in his town of Manheim a plot of ground on which to build a church.  Henry was at the top of his career so he and his wife decided to donate the lot where the church would be built.  The only stipulation to the donation was that the church pay five shillings to make the deed lawful, and the annual rental fee of "one red rose" which would be due in the month of June, yearly and forever.  It is said that the payment of the red rose was all but forgotten for over 100 years, but in 1892 a local physician thought it would be great to have an all-day festival and pay the red rose to a descendent of Henry Stiegel.  So in 1892 John C. Stiegel of Harrisonburg, VA came to Manheim to receive one red rose from the Zion Lutheran Church.  This past year, on Sunday, June 11, Ms. Teresa Trible from Waukee, Iowa, a ninth-generation descendent of Mr. Stiegel and his second wife, Elizabeth Holtz Stiegel, came to Manheim to receive her payment of a red rose.  

The churchyard of Zion Lutheran with tombstones dating back
to the late 1700s.  A memorial plaque for Steigel is also there.  

How excited she must have been.  And, to top that off, an ice cream social was held after the service.  Don't know why I didn't see that in the newspaper, since I would have loved to have photographed the event for this story and had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with nuts, chocolate syrup and whipped cream on top for dessert.  So, as you can see, Baron Henrich Wilhelm Stiegel was not only the founder of the town of Manheim where he helped employ many of its residents, but was a wonderful person as well.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A rather unique tombstone which appears to be in German is in the graveyard next to the church.

This is the plaque which reads:  

Memorial to Henry William Stiegel

Glassmaker and ironmaster who was born at Cologne in 1709 and died at Charming Forge in 1785.  Picturesque figure of Colonial America, his memory is perpetuated by his artistic glassware, by traditions of the Baronial pomp of his career and by this churchyard which he gave to the Manheim Lutherans in 1770 for one red rose  His glassworks were at the northwest corner of Charlotte & Stiegel Streets.  Erected by the Lancaster County Historical Society-1934

The corner of Main and High Streets.  Click to read the historical marker.