Andrew Zeller was the fifth Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ

Church of the United Brethren in Christ

The Church of the United Brethren in Christ is an evangelical Christian denomination based in Huntington, Indiana. It is a Protestant denomination of episcopal structure, Arminian theology, with roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed communities of 18th century Pennsylvania, as well as close...

. He was elected to this high office in 1817. He was an important figure in the early history of his denomination and a pioneer

Settler

A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...

 in the history of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and the U.S.A.

Birth and Early Years

Andrew was born in Pennsylvania in 1755. We know very little of his early life. He resided in Berks County, in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was raised on a farm, and would have been familiar with the duties and trials of a farmer's life, which in that day were not few. His education would have been very limited, comprising a knowledge of but the simplest branches.

Bishop Zeller was known to often repeat the following story from his early boyhood:

There were six boys in his father's family. They lived in a new country, which had to be prepared for the plow before it could yield an abundant harvest. It is altogether probable that, with so large a family to look after, the members of it had only the plainest of food. They resided near the banks of a little stream called the Swatara

Little Swatara Creek

Little Swatara Creek is a tributary of Swatara Creek in southeast Pennsylvania in the United States.Little Swatara Creek rises on Blue Mountain in Berks County north of Strausstown and flows west-southwest, joining Swatara Creek in the borough of Jonestown in Lebanon County.-References:*Gertler,...

, which the boys called the Sweet Arrow. These boys would at times gather around a large dish of soup, which was the only article of diet for that meal, and with no other utensils for eating but iron spoons. With these each did his best to satisfy the demands of a strong appetite. They had already learned the art of comparing their dish with the stream near them, and, as they were rapidly emptying their dish, they would occasionally measure its depth with their spoons, and say, "The Sweet Arrow is so deep," conscious of the fact that, as the depth diminished, their pleasure was lessened.