Duchess Mennonite Church History

The Duchess Mennonite Church was started by Sam Brubaker Ramer of Camp Hill, Cumberland County, PA , a pioneer of the Duchess district. He and Jacob Burkhart made an investigative trip in the summer of 1914 and Sam Ramer bought a quarter section of land east of the village. In the spring of 1915, Sam and his wife Hettie along with his father Jacob Snyder Ramer, an ordained minister, and his niece Esther Shelly moved to Duchess. They were the first Mennonite settlers in the area.

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