Samuel Suther
Cabarrus County, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Samuel Suther. Early minister of German Reformed Church in N.C., 1768-1782. Preached at Coldwater Union Church which stood 500 yards N.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Samuel Suther was among the earliest ministers of the German Reformed Church in North Carolina, serving from 1768 to 1782 during the turbulent years of the American Revolution. He preached at the Coldwater Union Church, a gathering place for German settlers in the Cabarrus County backcountry. His ministry helped sustain a community of immigrants far from the established centers of colonial religion.
Why it matters
Suther represents the frontier clergy who kept faith and community alive among German settlers, whose churches became cornerstones of Piedmont Carolina life.
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Related people
- · Samuel Suther
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
St. John's Lutheran Church
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St. John's Church traces its origins to about 1745, when German-speaking settlers of the Carolina backcountry gathered as the Dutch Buffalo Creek Church—"Dutch" being a corruption of "Deutsch." In 1773 Adolph Nussman became its first regular pastor, one of the earliest ordained Lutheran ministers in the colony. The present building rose in 1845, carrying a congregation nearly a century old into a new era.
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Rocky River Presbyterian Church
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Bethel United Church of Christ
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