John Kline

Church of the Brethren historian Donald F. Durnbaugh has described John Kline as "arguably the most beloved personality in Brethren History." Kline was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania on 17 June 1797, the son of John Kline (1763–1844) and Mary Hershey Kline (1770–1850). While he was still a boy, the family moved to Rockingham County, Virginia. On 18 March 1818, before he was twenty-one, he married Anna Wampler (1796–1885), the daughter of John Wampler and Magdalene Garber Wampler. He bought a farm on Linville Creek in what is now the town of Broadway, about five miles north of Harrisonburg, Virginia. He and his wife had only one child, a baby daughter, born on 15 March 1819, who did not live and was unnamed. At some point Kline joined the German Baptist Brethren church. In 1827, he was chosen to serve as deacon by the Linville Creek congregation of the church. He was "called" to the preaching ministry in 1830 and like other Brethren ministers of his day, he served without remuneration throughout his life. At first the Brethren met in members' home or barns or even in open fields, and Kline gave both land and money to build the Linville Creek German Baptist Brethren Church. He frequently traveled to southwest Virginia and to what is now West Virginia, preaching and baptizing and visiting Brethren families. Sometimes he was able to establish new congregations. The Brethren Encyclopedia says that "according to [Kline's] records, he may have covered as much as during his lifetime, mostly on horseback."