Pennsville and Stonerville Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), now extinct, was located near Scottdale, in western Pennsylvania. The early Mennonite settlers of this area located on both sides of Jacob's Creek in Westmoreland and Fayette counties about 1790, with Abraham Stauffer as the first minister. The first meetinghouse, a log house, was erected before 1800 near Pennsville, 2½ miles south of Scottdale, and a little later another at Stonerville, 2½ miles north of Scottdale. Both places erected new brick buildings, Stonerville in 1841 and Pennsville in 1852. Both belonged to a single congregation and had services on alternate dates. The congregation flourished, with over 200 members at one time, until about 1840, when a general decline began. Some moved away and others affiliated with other church bodies, finally reducing the membership to about 20. In 1893 a new church was built in Scottdale, which created new interest and became the center of worship. Stonerville was abandoned in 1898 and Pennsville in 1903. The burying grounds are the lone reminders of a once flourishing rural Mennonite settlement surrounding Scottdale.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 136. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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