Rev. Henry Snyder Alleman Collection, 1918-1990

Henry Snyder Alleman was born in Roxbury, Pennsylvania on March 27, 1897 to Martin Luther and Annie Elizabeth (Fahnestock). He graduated from Gettysburg Academy in 1918 and then enlisted in the United States army thereafter. Alleman fought in World War I in France and Germany and was a Private in The American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F. or AEF) on hospital trains 52 and 58. Upon his return from WWI, Alleman enrolled and graduated from Cumberland Valley State Normal School (now Shippensburg University) in 1922. He then began a career in public school education as a teacher and then a principal for Woodbury High School in Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

In 1925, Alleman felt a call towards ministry and enrolled at Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary, becoming ordained by the Allegheny Synod in 1928.

• 1928-1937: Trinity Lutheran Church, Stephens City, VA
• 1937-1941: St. Paul Lutheran Church, McConnellsburg, PA
• 1941-1948: Abbottstown-East Berlin, PA
• 1948-1852: Upper Frankford Lutheran Charge, Bloserville/Newville, PA
• 1952-1956: St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Chanceford/Red Lion, PA
• 1956-1962: Christ (Roth’s) Evangelical Lutheran Church, Spring Grove, PA
• 1962-1965: Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Marietta, PA

The last church Rev. Alleman served before retiring was in Marietta. After retirement he remained active among various churches serving as Vice Pastor.

• 1966 and 1972: Trinity Lutheran Church, East Berlin, PA
• Unknown dates: St. Paul Lutheran Church, York, PA
• 1977-1982: Trinity Lutheran Church, East Berlin, PA
• January-May 1983: St. John Lutheran Church Abbottstown, PA
• 1985: Pastor Emeritus: East Berlin, PA

Alleman married his first wife, Pearl Irene Baker on April 5, 1921. Together they had five children: Elwood Snyder, Martin Luther, Geraldine Pearl, Josephine Joan, and Ethel Evangeline. Mrs. Pearl Alleman passed away on July 24, 1968. Rev. Alleman married his second wife, Edythe Gregory Orndorff on August 5, 1969. Mrs. Edythe Alleman passed away on November 4, 1974.

Rev. Alleman was on various committees for the Virginia Synod and the Central Pennsylvania Synod, including the delegate for the 14th Biennial Convention in Minneapolis. He served on the board of Pressler Home for Children from 1956-1963 and was involved in ecumenical organizations in the community. He was also the president of the East Berlin Community Library and involved in every Vacation Bible School.

In 1984 Rev. Alleman was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from Shippensburg University. Since 1966, he had been a freelance writer for numerous periodicals, writing on the topics of church history and religion. Some of Rev. Alleman’s works include History of Trinity Lutheran Congregation in Stephens City, Virginia and A History of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, McConnellsburg, Pa. He also wrote a family history on the Alleman family entitled, A Genealogy of the Allemans in the United States: Who are the offspring of John Christian Alleman and John Frederick Christian Alleman. Rev. Alleman’s early works were published under “Snyder Alleman” and his later works published under “H. Snyder Alleman.”

Up until Rev. Alleman passing on November 12, 1990, he was said to have been very active in the community and in his daily life, taking on painting as a hobby in his later years.