Following in the Footsteps of our Shank Ancestors
This post was originally published on an earlier blog of mine in October of 2009
Rev. John Wesley Shenk
Just this past week many of us Shenks were in Vermont for Ted and Katie’s wedding in Waitsfield – a beautiful wedding on a beautiful autumn day.
The next day, Mom, Dad, Tracey, Owen, Taylor and I piled into our non-descript rental cars and drove to Shelburne, Vermont. We were there to visit the famous Shelburne Museum, but we were also very interested in seeing the old town where John Wesley Shank*, my great-great grandfather was a minister, and where my great-grandfather, John Wesley Shenk Jr., was born in 1875.
There’s not much to Shelburne. Just a small park alongside the main thoroughfare and some older buildings nearby. Our first stop was at an older building that we thought could be the parsonage where John Wesley lived. Sure enough we later found out that this nice, white, columned building, which is now a toy store, was indeed John Wesley’s home in Shelburne.
Now where was the Methodist Church where John Wesley preached? Well after some helter-skelter driving we came across a magnificent stone Methodist church. After boldly marching into the empty lobby we found the current pastor of the church. It was like the Invasion of the Shenks – quel horreur! “Where did they all come from??” We quickly learned that we were indeed in the right place. This large stone church was built in the early 1870s, just before John Wesley Shank’s arrival.
Pastor Greg Smith was kind in showing us around the church and in describing its history and many features. What a beautiful place.
Mom and I had long looked at an old stereographic photo of John Shank at the pulpit. After looking carefully at the current sanctuary we could see that this was indeed the same place. The flanking doorways and the pointed arch are still there (minus the religious inscription). The pulpit is far more austere in 1875, but the pews and still there in the same place. How’s that for stepping in the footsteps of our family ancestors?
John Wesley Shank would be the minister of Shelburne United Methodist Church for only two short years. Shank would soon depart for the burgeoning frontier – Omaha, Nebraska.
John Wesley Shank in the Shelburne Pulpit
Shelburne Methodist Today
Shelburne Methodist Church - 1870s
Shelburne Methodist Church - Today
* John Wesley Shank would be the last in our line to spell his name S-H-A-N-K, a phonetic misspelling of our original German last name – spelled S-C-H-E-N-K or S-C-H-E-N-C-K.
