USA > Maryland > Harford County > History of Harford County, Maryland : from 1608 (the year of Smith's expedition) to the close of the War of 1812 > Part 10
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This chapel was under the title and patronage of St. Joseph, foster father of the World's Redeemer. The central part of the building, running like a long and wide hallway through the house, was alone used for church purposes. The other rooms were the private apartments of the priest. This was conformable to the laws of the province, which prohibited Catholics from having public places of worship, but tolerated these domiciliary oratories or chapels.
Father Neale and his successors for many years after him were of very little, if, indeed, any charge to their flock, but drew their main support from the prod- uce of their farm. Besides the eighteen acres of land purchased in 1750 and the one hundred and fifteen acres given by Mr. Shea in 1764, there was added in 1786 another tract of land containing three hundred and sixty-nine acres. This purchase was made not by the congregation, but by the agent of a corporation of the Catholic clergymen, and the land, although lying on the other side of the creek, was in very close prox- imity to the other two smaller tracts.
The little mission of Deer Creek continued under the
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
care of Reverend Bennet Neale until about 1770, when this devoted pastor was succeeded in his office by Rev. Ignatius Matthews, who was likewise a Jesuit. This reverend father resided at Priestford until the sum- mer of 1779, but he was absent from the mission, apparently, during parts of the years 1775 and 1776, when his place was supplied by Rev. Bernard Did- erick.
About the middle of the year 1779 Rev. Charles Sewall was appointed to replace Father Matthews. It was Father Sewall who, in September, 1779, bought of Mr. Martin Preston a plot of ground containing about two acres of land. The purchase was made at a nominal figure, and the land was practically a gift.
On these grounds was begun the building of a new chapel, which was not, however, completed for several years later. Not, indeed, until some time about Sep- tember, 1792. This building was considerably enlarged in 1848, and is now the venerable structure standing at the junction of the Hickory and Forest Hill roads, and known as St. Ignatius Church.
Father Sewall's stay in Harford county was limited to perhaps a little more than a year and a half. Shortly after leaving St. Joseph's, Deer Creek, he took charge of the Catholics in Baltimore Town, and became their first resident pastor.
His successor here was Rev. Sylvester Boarman, during whose pastorate St. Ignatius was built. Tradi- tion says it was five years building, and the time may have been considerably longer by reason of a lack of funds, for times were at their worst financially. Tradi- tion also will have it, at least in some quarters, that most of the expense of construction was borne by one
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
particular family; but this is now known to be an exaggeration, if not, indeed, an undoubted error.
St. Ignatius was at first nothing more than a mission chapel. Father Boarman and his quasi-assistant, Rev. Charles Leander Lusson, continued to make their home at Priestford, and so likewise did their successors for many years. The precise time of Father Boarman's departure from this mission is not known, but it was presumbly in or close to the year 1799.
Rev. William Pasquet, who succeeded him, was in charge four years, and thereafter resided at Bohemia, in Cecil county, where he appears to have paid only occasional visits to his old parishioners in his official capacity.
Reverend Doctor Cornelius Mahoney, the next in- cumbent, died within a short time after his appoint- ment, and Father Pasquet's services were again required for the adjoining county.
About the beginning of the year 1807 Rev. Joseph Eden came and took up his residence at Priestford, where he was in charge until his death, which occurred in December, 1813. The following year the piece of property donated by Mr. Thomas Shea, and on which the old chapel-house stood, was sold, and St. Ignatius became the sole place of worship.
In 1815 Rev. Roger Smith was appointed to St. Ignatius. There was at that time no parochial resi- dence for the pastor, the former one having been sold the previous year, as just stated. This was a serious inconvenience for Father Smith, as he was obliged to reside at St. Mary's Seminary, in Baltimore, whence for nearly two years he attended his distant charge. In the spring, however, of 1817, he came to live near
ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH, HICKORY
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
St. Ignatius, and made his home with his brother, Mr. Samuel Smith, a resident of the county, and who dwelt on his farm, located but a short distance from the chapel. Here Father Smith resided for the remainder of his term, which lasted until 1820, at which time he was called to Baltimore, and some years after was appointed rector of the Cathedral.
Rev. Timothy O'Brien, Father Smith's successor, was pastor of St. Ignatius for twelve years. He built in 1822 the small pastoral residence which adjoins the church, and was thus the first priest to reside on the present premises.
The following is a list of the priests of St. Ignatius since Father O'Brien :
Rev. Francis T. Todrig, until 1832.
Rev. Dr. Henry B. Coskery, until 1834.
Rev. James Reid, until 1845.
Rev. Thomas O'Neil, until 1851, who enlarged St. Ignatius and built St. Patrick's, Havre de Grace.
Rev. Joseph McNally, until 1854.
Rev. Jacob A. Walter, until 1858. During his pas-
torate St. Mary's, Deer Creek, was built.
Rev. John Gloyd, until 1858.
Rev. James McDevitt, until 1863.
Rev. Henry Hoffman, until 1865.
Rev. D. DeWulf, until 1865.
Rev. Patrick Francis O'Connor, until 1873, under whose direction the present belfry and parsonage were built. He also built St. Francis Church, Abingdon.
Rev. Jos. A. Gallen, until 1878.
Rev. Francis M. Fowler, until 1898.
Rev. J. Alphonse Frederick.
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
BETHEL.
Rev. Andrew B. Cross, for many years pastor at Bethel, in his history of the church, refers to it in the early days as in the wilderness of Upper Node Forest, Baltimore county. This district has been called by him "the Cradle of Presbyterianism" in the United States. In the seventeenth century great numbers of Presbyterians began to settle in Pennsylvania, Dela- ware and Maryland, New Castle, Del., being a favorite landing place. Rev. Francis Makennie, who has been called the pioneer and father of Presbyterianism in this country, was here in 1684. Among the other early preachers of this faith in the new land of the West were McNish and Hampton, in 1703; Davis and Wil- son, in 1692; Jedediah Andrews and Hugh Conn, in 1698. In the year 1729 the tribe of Indians called the Susquehannocks occupied the country from the long crooked river bearing their name, out through Harford and York counties and along Deer Creek. It is said they had a fort on the river at Bald Friar, or Maiden's Mount, near Bald Friar Ferry. A tribe called the Mingoes also occupied the northern section of what is now Harford, and prior to 1763 this tribe had three settlements on Deer Creek. One of these settlements was on the west side of the stream about half a mile above the Rocks; another was a village almost exactly on the spot where Anderson's or Stansbury's mill now stands. The name of this village was Mingo Push, called after a chief of the tribe who lived there. On December 14, 1763, at Conestoga, Pennsylvania, oc-
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
curred the dreadful massacre of the Mingoes, which caused the remainder of that tribe to leave this section of the country.
The Mason and Dixon line was commenced in 1764, and in its construction the surveyors were stopped December 26, 1767, by the order of the Six Nations, 244 miles west from Delaware, and within thirty-six miles of the western terminus.
In 1729, John and James Hendrics made the first authorized settlement in York county, in the neigh- borhood of New Freedom and Shrewsbury. "Bethel Church attendants then were over the line, out of whom was gathered the nucleus of Centre Church. Penn induced many to settle in Delaware, which was then included in his claim, who afterwards moved onward from Delaware, where they landed, into Kent and Cecil counties, coming down by Bohemia river, around by the head of the bay, by Charleston, over the Lower Ferry, now Havre de Grace. Others from Kent came across the bay to Swan Creek, which was then a very prominent landing, where tobacco was brought down the rolling road, past Hall's Cross Roads, now Aberdeen."
Tradition says that the line of travel was from Kent to Swan Creek, then up the country. Some took the road west, from where old Spesutia Church stood, which road led past Michaelsville, thence to Baltimore, on the east side of Bush river, to the ferry called Ferry Bar. From that point, when the settler continued his journey, his route was across the ferry, thence to Joppa and up and along what was called Long Cam, or Ridgely's Ford. Near that road is Franklinville Pres- byterian Church. The Baltimore county records for
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
the year 1740 state that three sons of Obadiah Pritch- ard divided their land, of which part was on the roll- ing road, from Swan Creek through Hall's Plains, near which is the Grove Presbyterian Church at Aberdeen. Richard Pritchard's name is found subscribed to the call at Bethel in 1769. William, son of Obadiah, was one of the elders at Churchville. There was a large Presbyterian settlement at Swan Creek connected with the Deer Creek Church (Churchville). Rev. William Finney, in his historical sermon on the Deer Creek Church, says of Michael Gilbert and wife: "They lived to be more than four score, one dying in 1823, the other in 1827. Among the many incidents was one about one hundred and ten years ago, when he and four or five young men purchased a boat and locked it to a tree opposite to what is now Port Deposit. On Sab- bath morning they would walk four to five miles, from Swan Creek neighborhood, unfasten the boat, go over the river and walk five miles to West Notting- ham Church, and return home in the evening." Church- ville and Bethel are closely connected in their history, and we find the same pastor frequently attending to the spiritual needs of both congregations.
It was a custom of the Indians in the autumn to set fire to and burn the barrens of York and Baltimore counties, and tradition says this smoke was the origin of the name of Indian summer for that season. Besides this burning, the red men were in the habit of commit- ting depredations of various kinds, and in the early days the settlers had to be on the constant watch. Tra- dition charges the Indians with the murder of a ten- year-old boy in the nighborhood of Bethel. The paths of the Indians in their travels were well defined, and
169
HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
these in time developed into the roads used by the set- tlers. First footpaths, then bridle-paths, and in time developing into rolling roads and the public highway. As early as 1706 the settlers brought tobacco from the upper sections of this county in hogsheads with false heads, shafts attached, rolling them from sections as far away as My Lady's Manor. From all that country they were in the habit of coming for fish to the Lower Ferry, Bush and Joppa, the two last named places being ports of entry.
The early religious meetings were held in private houses, and some hardy and adventurous spirit in his zeal for the cause of the Master, penetrating this wild country, would preach to the pioneers the Gospel of "peace on earth, good will towards men." The records of the early times are wanting. No one knows who was the first Presbyterian that came into the Upper Node Forest. The name Bethel means the House of God, and in the hundred and fifty years of this church it has been performing the service to which it was dedicated by its founders, and has without intermis- sion been a house in which were taught the beauties of the Christian faith. Generations have come and gone; grandchildren of the first builders sleep in the beautiful cemetery there, and great-grandchildren lie beside them, while the bell in the lofty steeple on each Sunday morning calls their grandchildren's great-grandchil- dren to the service of their Maker. The church build- ing has been changed from a plain square house into a structure of architectural beauty ; but the church has remained from its first foundation ever faithful to its name as the House of God.
At its altar have been joined in marriage the pro-
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
genitors of the present congregation; to the font their children during all that time have been brought to be baptized; and from the church door, after the last sad rites had been performed, the dead have been carried to "their narrow cell" to be forever laid.
Could the congregation of the early days come back, what a change they would see! The woods have given way to beautiful cultivated fields; comfortable homes are seen on every hand, where at first only a log house stood in the clearing ; and at the Sunday morning serv- ice in the place of the hardy resident of the forest, who came, perhaps, with his rifle as a protection against the Indians, walking with his wife and daughters through the wet clearing, come now his prosperous and well-to-do descendants at the seventh or eighth genera- tion, conveyed to the church door in comfortable car- riages, their wives and daughters in tasteful attire, but there, as were their fathers of old, to join in the church service and say: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His people."
When the first house was built no one can tell, but we know that the present building is the third church, and that the second was built in 1802, and was a log building standing in the centre of the graveyard, the door to which faced the tombstone of Mr. Thomas Hope, and the pulpit, where is now the tomb of Rev. George Lucky. This settlement was among remnants of the Indians, against whom the pioneers had erected a fort for defense and protection.
"That this must have been a large and most im- portant settlement, will appear by a reference to the list of ninety-one subscribers to the call of Mr. Clark and a subscription of eighty-five pounds in 1769, when
BETHEL CHURCH, NEAR JARRETTSVILLE
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
a united call of Slateridge and Chanceford, in 1781, twelve years later, was only sixty pounds in grain.
"In the center of the graveyard is a stone bearing the inscription : 'John Henry, died January, 1810, aged thirty-three years.' No one knows anything of him but this : he was a lonely stranger who died on the York turnpike, where he was engaged helping in its construction. His dying request was that 'he might be taken over and buried in a Presbyterian graveyard; that his bones might lie with the people of his faith, in hope to rise with them at the Resurrection.'" Thomas Hope, William Glenn, Sr., John Sterrett and George West were early elders. There are now four Presby- terian churches almost on the banks of Deer Creek. They are Centre, near Norrisville; Bethel, Churchville and Harmony.
In the year 1769, Rev. John Clark was called as pas- tor to Bethel. The language of the call shows that they were not in the habit of having a regular or set- tled pastor.
CALL FOR REV. JOHN CLARK.
Bethel Congregation, in Upper Node Forest, Balti- timore County,
December, 27, 1769.
For supporting the Gospel, by a settled minister, who shall be a member, in full communion with the Synod of Philadelphia and New York :
We, the subscribers, do promise unto the Rev. John Clark, by annual payments, the particular sums set to our names, provided that the said Mr. Clark shall be our settled minister in congregation aforesaid, and
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
that said payment shall continue to be annually paid by us, our heirs, executors, administrators, so long as we shall profess ourselves members of said congrega- tion; and in case that it should happen that we shall be disappointed in obtaining the aforesaid Mr. Clark, as our settled minister in said congregation, we do hereby unanimously consent and agree that this sub- scription shall be for the benefit of the first minister of the Gospel who shall be settled among us, provided he be a minister of the synod aforesaid ; and also provided he shall be settled among us, by the unanimous consent of two-thirds of our congregation. In witness we have hereunto set our hands :
£
S.
I. Cornelius McDonald 2 5
2. John Dale. . I 10
3. William Nelson 2
IO
4. Robert Kirkwood I
5. Alexander Fron I
IO
6. William Beatty I
7. Samuel Patterson I
8. William Johnson
9. James Finley. I IO
IO. Samuel Jackson I IO
I I0
II. William Plunkett I
12. Adam McClung. 15
13. John Querns. . IO
14. Andrew Makemson I
15. Adam McGaw I IO
16. James Madden 15
17. Thos. Hope. I
18. Robert Black. I
19. Hugh Alison 2
HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY. 173
£
s.
d.
20. John Vance.
I
21. Hugh Niven 15
22. Richard Pritchard I
23. Philip Madden.
IO
24. Alex. Alison I
25. James Orr. 15
26. David Johnson I
27. John Wilson
15
28. Robert Gillies
15
29. Henry Woods.
15
30. Charles Richardson 15
31. Thomas McCune
I
10
32. Arthur McCoard
15
33. James Skiventon. 7
34. Archibald McDermot IO
35. John Black. IO
;
36. Hugh Reed. I IO
37. James Curry
15
38. Daniel Henderson 10 I
39. James Donel.
15
40. Richard Green
15
41. George Black. 15
I
5
43. James Bankhead
12
6
44. John Shaw. IO
45. Thos. Kennedy. 7
6
46. Richard Hope. 15
47. John Thecker 7
6
48. James Crichton 7
6
49. John Campbell I
50. David Bell I IO
51. David Brown I IO
42. Hugh Bankhead.
174
HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
£
s. d.
52. James Vogan. I 12
53. John Anderson. IO
54. James Adere 15
55. Wm. Sturgeon IO
56. Robert Bell.
IO
57. Margaret Akin 10
58. John Graham IO
59. John Logogn. 10
60. Alexander Ramsey
IO
61. John McCaskey
7
6
62. James Reed.
15
63. John Walker. IO
64. Solomon Brown I
65. John McClure I
66. James Hope
2
2
67. John Tate. 5
68. Isaac Bush. 5
69. Robert Glenn
I
70. Francis Miller. 2
16
71. Isabel McGonigal 2
6
72. James Guthridge
18
6
73. Henry Neil. 15
74. James McBoise I5
75. James Wilson 10
76. Andrew Tate
IO
77. James Clendenin I IO
78. Robert Smith.
IO
79. Margaret Brierly
5
80. Joseph Finley I IO
81. Thomas Turner I IO
82. David Armstrong IO
83. James White I IO
175
HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
£
s.
84. William Campbell I IO
85. John Smith.
17
86. Hugh Bay
87. John Bell.
88. James Carlin
89. William Coulson
90. John Given.
91. Thomas McGetegen
PASTORS AT BETHEL.
Before Rev. John Clark, who in 1769 became Pastor, there is no record of the names of supplies, there being only such as were sent out by the New Castle and Donegal Presbyteries among settlements, but they sel- dom mention the name of the supply.
George Luckey 1784, 1825
Supplies
1825 George Morrison, Sr 1825, 1837
Andrew B. Cross. 1837, 1845
Dr. Stephen Yerkes 1845, October 12, 1852
Supplies
Dr. John P. Carter
Nov. 10, 1853, Dec. 31, 1856
Thos. S. C. Smith
Oct. 22, 1857, Oct. 4, 1864
Benjamin F. Myers
Dec., 1865, April 12, 1871
Supplies
George Morrison, Jr June 3, 1873, 1876 Supplies.
Joseph Nelson
June 3, 1877, July 27, 1884
W. C. Stull 1886*
*Rev. Andrew B. Cross.
CHAPTER XV. OLD CHURCHES-CONTINUED.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT CHURCHVILLE-COKESBURY METHODIST COLLEGE AND CHURCH-HARFORD BAPTIST CHURCH-THE FRIENDS IN HARFORD.
CHURCHVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Rev. William Finney, for many years pastor at Churchville, preached an historical sermon in 1854, in which he reviewed the history of this church. The knowledge of the time of its beginning is largely de- pendent upon tradition, and Mr. Finney gives as the authority for the date of its origin as fixed by him, Michael Gilbert, one of the oldest members of the con- gregation.
According to Mr. Gilbert, this church reached back to about the year 11 38, and the establishment of the church is due to the labors of the great evangelist, Whitefield. Its first name was Whitefield's Meeting House, and afterwards as the Deer Creek Presbyterian Congregation. Whitefield came from England, and by his eloquence and zeal created a revival in religion along his entire route. The congregation was at first supplied with ministers from the Donegal Presbytery. Among the early supply preachers were Rev. John Craig and Revs. Thompson and Paul. At this early date conditions in this section were very primitive. The forest had not been cleared away, and dwellings, even
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
the rude homes of the hardy pioneers, were few and far between. Where are now the beautiful pasture fields, extending from Churchville through the Dar- lington country to the Susquehanna, in 1738 were for the most part the original wilds, through which roamed the native Indian, but little advanced in civilization by his contact with the whites. Accordingly, religious services were infrequently held, and then for the most part by some young zealot who came here with the same feeling that the modern missionary carries with him to Thibet.
While there was religious toleration in the colony of the Lords Baltimore, yet the most popular faith was Catholic, the chief rival of which was the Church of England. Presbyterianism, therefore, at first had to contest with these two strongly entrenched denomina- tions, and its first churches were not strong. Bethel and Churchville mustered in time large followings, but their beginnings are lost in obscurity. The following is from Whitefield's journal, which shows the great number of people that listened to his preachings :
"Leaving Philadelphia November 29, 1439, visited and preached at Chester that same day to five thousand people. Wilmington next day and Newcastle Decem- ber I to two thousand people, and Christian Bridge at 4 P. M. to about the same number. Whitely Creek, December 2, to ten thousand people, and December 3 to North East. Little notice having been given, there were not above fifteen hundred people, but God was with me and I observed many deeply affected. Sev- eral repeated invitations were sent me to preach at other places. Immediately after the sermon we set forward and passed over Susquehannah ferry, about a
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
mile broad. I was received at a gentleman's house that lay in the way. Though we were eight in company, yet all things were carried on with great freedom and generosity, and I hope we came providentially thither, for the gentleman told us that he had been a little mel- ancholy and had therefore sent for some friends to drive it away. The bottle and the bowl, I found, were the means to be made use of, but blessed be God, the design was in good measure frustrated by our coming in and giving another turn to the conversation. All joined in family prayer. Afterward I went to bed, pitying the miserable condition of those who live a life of luxury and all self-indulgence. They are afraid to look into themselves, and if their consciences at any time awakened they might be lulled asleep again by drinking or evil company. None but a sincere Chris- tian can with sincere pleasure practice the duty of self- examination."
Whitefield preached at Churchville and next at Joppa, where he made a short address in the Episcopal Church.
At the meeting at Churchville he spoke in a tent, and tradition preserves the name of Tent Field on the farm of Mr. W. Beatty Harlan.
We do not know the name of Whitefield's host, with whose plan for the evening's entertainment the great preacher interfered. The population in those days was widely scattered, so the fame of Whitefield must have been great and far reaching to have drawn such crowds -his journal in some places recording ten thousand people as present to hear him preach.
Conditions in those days were very primitive. Trav- eling was done on foot or horseback. It is said of Rev.
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HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY.
William Finney, who became pastor in 1813, that when he purchased his first carriage such a vehicle was so uncommon that the first day he drove to church he tied his horse far away "lest he might be thought proud by his parishioners who had come on foot or on horses, or perhaps in ox carts." The new idea was too conspicu- ous for his native modesty. The railroad was un- known and even the canal had not been born. Towns were few and far between. In 1760 Baltimore Town had only thirty or forty houses. The fireside was the communicating medium of all news. Houses were what we now call "old style," which in this case is gen- erally the synonym of inconvenient arrangement and limited room. Indoors the greased rag was the com- mon luminary auxiliary to the great cordwood fire on the hearth. The whale-oil lamp was the luxury of the rich. Tallow dip candles were esteemed a welcome invention. Doubtless these ancient people complied more readily than we with the sober maxim, "early to bed, early to rise."
The original church was located on the farm belong- ing now to the heirs of the late Wellmore Hopkins, where the old graveyard can still be seen. This church was in the usual style of the times. It was built of logs neither attractive in appearance nor comfortable. It was not heated; and indeed this absence of fire in churches was the custom of the times. Old people now living can remember when it was the habit to take warm bricks to church in winter to keep the feet warm during the sermon of two hours, which was a not uncommon catastrophe in those days. This log church gave way to a brick one, on or near the present
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