The Rev. Reese Poffenbarger, a forefather of many in Lovettsville and nearby Maryland, will be honored at the morning worship service at New Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Lovettsville on All Saints Sunday, November 2, 2025. Preaching at this special service will be Pastor Virginia Cover, a great granddaughter of Rev. Poffenbarger, who now lives and serves in the Carlisle, Pennsylvania area.
Among local families who trace their lineage to Rev. Poffenbarger are the George, Albaugh, and Grams families. Fred Lee George, President of the Lovettsville Historical Society, is a great-grandson of Reese and Nannie Poffenbarger.
Poffenbarger served as the Pastor at New Jerusalem a century ago, from 1922 to 1925. He moved into the old New Jerusalem parsonage (the white building behind the old cemetery) on May 10, 1922. The next year, he oversaw the cleaning-up of the old cemetery, according to Pastor Mike Kretsinger’s history of New Jerusalem. He was reported to be a gifted orator. And Pastor Kretsinger noted that Poffenbarger was well thought of, long after he had left Lovettsville. Proof of this was that 20 years later, the New Jerusalem Church Council tried to get him back, issuing another call to him on December 2, 1945.
While here, Poffenbarger also served as Assistant Principal of the Lovettsville High School.
Reese St. Clair Poffenbarger was born in 1880 in Washington County, Maryland. His parents were William and Marian Barnes Poffenbarger.
He was a graduate of Gettysburg College and Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. He was ordained a Lutheran minister in 1905, following completion of his seminary studies, and began his preaching career at that time. One of his early pastorates was the Woodsboro Lutheran charge in Frederick County; another was Braddock Lutheran Church, just west of Frederick.
Reese Poffenbarger was twice married. His first wife was Nannie McCoy Poffenbarger (1875-1915). Their children were:
- Hypatia (1907-1990), who married Fred Lee George Sr.; they owned a family farm in Lovettsville and lived here the rest of their lives.
- Hannah (1908-1998) married Mark Rodeffer, and later moved to the Vienna area.
- Wilhelmina (1913-1994) married Brad Hartman, and they lived their lives in PA.
- Nancy (1915-2001) married Calvin Grams of Brunswick, and spent the rest of their lives in this area.
Reese’s second wife was Maude Elizabeth Dutrow Albaugh Poffenbarger, a widow with three children: Ridgely and Paul Albaugh, and Helen Albaugh Long. Reese and Maude were married around 1916, and they had a son and daughter together:
- Reese S. Poffenbarger, Jr. (1917-1979), a well-known educator, who married Helen Neal, and lived near Woodsboro, in Frederick County.
- Jeanette, who married William Wittman and settled in PA.
Reese’s step-son Ridgely Albaugh married Edna George, a sister of Fred Lee George Sr.
As you can see, many descendants of this family have remained in the Lovettsville area to this day, while others are spread out across the country.
–By Fred Lee George and Edward Spannaus
Plaque on restored pulpit in memory of Nannie Poffenbarger
(photos taken October 2023 by Ed Spannaus)