In 1770, Rev. Jacob Weymer became pastor of the Zion Church in Elizabethtown (Hagerstown, MD.) and filled with missionary zeal and the great need of the German Reformed people, preached over a wide area of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
In about the year 1785, with the assistance of Rev. Jacob Weymer, the Evangelical Reformed Church of Irishtown was organized. The area around the church was known as Irishtown in colonial times.
On the 9th of July, 1786, Elders Frederick Nicodemus & Henry Miller; and Deacons, Christopher Adam & Conrad Nicodemus, and all members of the church called Rev. Cyracus Spangenberg Von Reidemeister, formally pastor of Evangelical Ref. Church of Shamokin, to beacome a regular pastor of the Evangelical Ref. congregation in Washington Township, Franklin County, PA.
The first confirmation service occurred on Good Friday, April 6, 1887.
The Lords Supper was observed for the first time by the congregation on Easter Sunday, April 8, 1887 in a little log school house, and the total number of communicants was (37) thirty seven.
The first church building was erected 1887-88, made from pine logs. The logs were cut on Lesher's Hill, near Waynesboro and hauled to the place where the present church now stands.
Records show that an acre of land was purchased by the congregation from Henry Miller for the price of five shillings.
The Salem Church was the first German Reformed Church in this area of Pennsylvania. The log building was replaced with the present stone church between 1942-45. The cemetery at Salem Church too has historical significance. Jacob J. Miller gave the church $100 to be invested and the interest there-of used to keep up the graves of his great-grandfather & great-grandmother, Henry Miller and his wife, who are buried in the Salem Graveyard.
This was dated October 1, 1928.
On June 1, 1927, Franklin Miller, at the request of his deceased wife, Araminta Nicodemus Miller, deposited the sum of $500 in the 1st National Bank & Trust Company of Waynesboro, and the interest thereof, to be paid to the Salem Ref. Church for the support of the Church and the up keep of the cemetery.
In 1929-30, the graveyard was cleaned and new shrubbery was planted. The church then held a re-dedication service of the cemetery on June 21, 1931, and the sum of $400 was collected and added to the cemetery fund for general upkeep of the cemetery.
This cemetery is located about one mile southwest of New Franklin, just south of New Franklin Road, on the north side of Helman Road in Guilford Township, Franklin County, PA.
(NOTE: This was copied from a handwritten paper, and cannot promise total accuracy. Much care was taken in it's translation, however, interpretations can vary.)