Rev. Jonas B. Shontz and Mary Ann Grove

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Husband Rev. Jonas B. Shontz ¹

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           Born: 13 May 1837 - Huntingdon Co, PA 2
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           Died: 
         Buried: 

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         Father: Christian Shontz (1807-1883) 1
         Mother: Mary Buckwalter (1800-1891) 1

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       Marriage: 21 Dec 1865 2

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Wife Mary Ann Grove ¹

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 29 Jun 1904 3
         Buried: 

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         Father: John Grove (      -      ) 1
         Mother: Catharine Schantz (      -      ) 1

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Rev. Jonas B. Shontz

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He was educated in the public schools and one select school, and remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-two years old. He entered Franklin and Marshall Academy in 1859, but his studies were interrupted by poverty and the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted in Company G, 5th Pennsylvania Reserves, June 21, 1861, and served his full term of three years, participating in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Charles City Crossroads, Malvern Hill, second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. In all these battles the loss of the regiment was very heavy, but Private Shontz escaped unhurt. After his discharge June 21, 1864, he assisted in raising a company and was commissioned first lieutenant of Company D., 205th P. V. I., Sept. 2, 1864. He commanded his company in the battle of Fort Steadman, March 25, 1865, and in the charge on Fort Mahone, April 3, 1865. He was with his regiment in the advance after the evacuation of Petersburg, and was with the army when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
After the close of the war Mr. Shontz engaged in merchandising in Marklesburg, Pennsylvania, from July 30, 1865, to March 15, 1866.
On Sept. 1, 1868, he entered the Reformed Theological Seminary at Mercersburg and was graduated in 1871. His first charge was in Iowa, 1871-76. Coming East to visit the Centennial Exposition he preached at Wilkes-Barre from November, 1876, to May, 1877, when he was chosen chaplain of the Maryland penitentiary, a position that he held until April 1, 1882. He was pastor of the Reformed Church at Shippensburg, 1882-87, and at Akron, Ohio, 1887-88. In both charges he was very successful. He found the Shippensburg congregation a feeble one, but during his pastorate of less than five years, 260 persons were added to the Church and a substantial brick parsonage was built. At Akron the increase in membership in seventeen months was 160. On May 1, 1888, he received a call from St. John's Reformed Church, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, which was then a very small mission, having a membership of only 67. In a few months the little church building was found to be too small for the audiences that assembled, and before the close of the year the congregation determined to build a new church. The last service in the old church (built in 1849 by a membership that was entirely German), was held April 2, 1889. While the new church was building the Congregation worshipped in the Court House, and in the Falling Spring Presbyterian Church. The new church cost $7,500, and was dedicated Oct. 20, 1889, free of debt. The membership at this time was 145. In 1892, a parsonage was completed at a cost of $3,600, for the ground and building. In 1893 a Sunday-School room was erected at a cost of $1,700. The congregation increased steadily in membership, and the tenth anniversary of Mr. Shontz' pastorate found it numbering over 300, and nearly free from debt. St. John's began the twentieth century with 329 members, and was continually growing.
In 1884, Mr. Shontz organized the Cumberland Valley Sabbath School Assembly, at Williams' Grove, and he was its president for two years. He was president of the Pennsylvania State Sabbath School Association in 1891-92, and one of the vice-presidents for many years. He was especially fond of Sunday school work, and had the faculty of interesting children in Church work. He was associated with the great evangelist, Moody, in his work in Baltimore, Maryland, for seven months at one time. He was a frequent contributor to the church papers.
Rev. Shontz resigned the pastorate of St. John's Reformed Church at Chambersburg on May 1, 1904, to enter the field of Evangelistic work in the Reformed Church at large.

1 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 229.

2 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 230.

3 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 232.