The History
Rather than Cloister, it’s perhaps more appropriate to refer to Snow Hill as a Commune since members of the Society, brothers and sisters, all worked in a familial manner on what was a working and productive farm, as well as in the mill and other testaments to the community’s industry.
The group prospered, and its diverse economic activities included the production and sale of grain, textiles, barrels, brooms, furniture, and pottery. The Ephrata tradition of choral singing was carried on at Snow Hill, as was the art of illuminating manuscripts in Fraktur style. (To learn more about Fraktur, please visit http://home.att.net/~fraktur/)
The extreme asceticism of Ephrata does not seem to have been imitated at Snow Hill. Instead, long, comfortable lives of moderation were the norm. The members lived and ate together in a brick common house that was originally built in 1814. After three large additions were made to the building between 1835 and 1843, the double-winged structure reached a total length of 150 feet.
At most times, the Snow Hill Society and community were unobtrusive in their religious and spiritual practices. Many of those unaware of the true nature of the Cloister mistook it for a Catholic nunnery.
Snow Hill did have one area of conflict with the mundane world. Sunday labor was still illegal in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth century, and for some time the commune paid fines for violating state law. In 1846, the congregation appealed unsuccessfully to the state legislature for relief. Nor did they get much in the way of cooperation for the judicial system. When Jacob Specht of Snow Hill refused to pay his fine in 1846, he was defended by the renowned Thaddeus Stevens but lost his case before the state supreme court. In 1848, some in the congregation lost property and others were thrown in jail over the issue. After that, however, public opinion seems to have influenced authorities to overlook further violations of the Sunday labor law.
During the Civil War, battles raged not far from Snow Hill. The commune was only about thirty miles from Gettysburg and the Confederate Army occupied and then later retreated through Franklin County. There seems to be little record, however, of what effect the conflict had on this community located so near the Mason-Dixon line.
(Much of the support for this document is detailed in the bibliography for the following website. We encourage you to visit it to learn more of the history of Snow Hill, Ephrata, and the Seventh Day Baptists)
http://www.biblestudy.org/godsrest/ephrata.html#ref6
Emma Celeste Monn was born on October. Oct 1, 1861 and died Jan 25, 1941. The daughter of Andrew and Isabelle Cook Monn, Emma is buried in the Nunnery cemetary (a transcription of the graves at Snow Hill is available in our Congregation section). We are greatly indebted to Emma for a historical paper she presented in 1927. For a history of the Snow Hill commune from the viewpoint of one pf its "daughters", please read the transcript of Emma's paper:
A wonderful resource on the Brethren Community, its history and lists of other congregations can be found at:
http://www.cob-net.org/docs/groups.htm