USA > Ohio > Erie County > History of the Presbytery of Erie : embracing in its ancient boundaries the whole of northwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio : with biographical sketches of all its ministers and historical sketches of its churches > Part 1
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Gc 974.8 Ea7h 1822063
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01200 0441
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
£
£
https://archive.org/details/historyofpresbyt00eato_0
HISTORY
OF THE
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE;
EMBRACING IN ITS ANCIENT BOUNDARIES THE WHOLE OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHEASTERN OHIO :
WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ALL ITS MINISTERS, AND
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF ITS CHURCHES.
BY
S. J. M. EATON,
PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FRANKLIN, PA.
NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON, 459 BROOME STREET. 1868.
974.8 La 7%,
-
. 1822063
HISTORY
OF THE
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE.
*
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by S. J. M. EATON,
"in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Penn- sylvania.
PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
1
TO THE MEMORY
OF THE
FATHERS AND BRETHREN OF THE PRESBYTERY OF ERIE, WILO REST FROM THEIR LABORS: AND TO THOSE WHO YET LABOR IN THE GREAT FIELD, DOING THE MASTER'S WORK, This Volume
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR FELLOW SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
1
PREFACE.
THE Presbytery of Erie, although small in its pres- ent membership and territory, has a most interesting history. It is substantially the history of Presbyterian- ism in the early settlement of Northwestern Penn- sylvania and Eastern Ohio. Being the third Pres- bytery organized west of the Mountains, its history is connected with the recital of enterprise and self-de- nial and energetic endeavor, such as have character- ized the histories of few Presbyteries, east or west.
But the early records are brief, and in many respects unsatisfactory. There is no record of the organization of churches for the first thirty years of its history, and it is often impossible to distinguish between regularly . organized churches and mere preaching points. At the first, the names of places seem to have been re- corded just as they petitioned for supplies, and were permitted to change to the more important relation of organized churches without any record being made.
The authorities chiefly relied on in this work, are the Minutes of the Presbytery, of the Synod of Pitts- burgh, and of the General Assembly. Aid has also
vii
PREFACE.
been received from the "Western Missionary Maga- zine," " Evangelical Intelligencer," Gillett's " History of the Presbyterian Church," Wilson's " Presbyterian ITis- torical Almanac," " Old Redstone," Elliott's " Macurdy,', " History of Western Pennsylvania," Dr. Smith's " Sketches," and an extended correspondence with brethren, to whom thanks are here tendered. Added to this, familiarity from childhood with the relation of the stirring scenes and incidents connected with the early history of the Presbytery, by those who mingled in its affairs, has greatly assisted in filling up what had else. been but dim outline.
In the biographical department, sketches have been given of all the ministers who have been at any time connected with the Presbytery, together with brief his- torical notices of all the living ministers whose names have been upon its roll. The numbers prefixed to the names denote the order in which they became men- bers of Presbytery; and these numbers affixed in the history proper, refer to the biographical sketches, in' Part II. The sketches of churches are designed to embrace* all connected with the history of the Presby- tery. They necessarily embrace churches now under the care of the Presbyteries of Beaver, Alleghany, Alleghany City, and St. Clairsville ; also, the Presby- teries of Erie, Meadville, Buffalo, and Trumbull, of the other branch. These sketches are brief and mea- gre, even where much matter was at hand, as extended notices would have swelled the volume to an undue size.
-
PREFACE. ix
The work was undertaken at the request of the Presby- tery of Erie. The task of collecting and arranging the materials has been the labor of years; and the com- pleted work is now offered to the Church as an humble memorial of the past, and to perpetuate that which else had soon been forgotten forever upon earth.
FRANKLIN, PA., February, 1868.
-
CONTENTS.
PART I. . CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY.
The Times. - Peace with the Indians. - Spirit of Enterprise. - Spirit of Revival. - Great Prosperity. - The Territory extend- ed; uncultivated. - Eager calls for Laborers. - Boundaries. - The Ministers: Hardy; inured to Labor ; Enterprising; Edu- cated in the West; adapted to the Field; Advantages; Charac- ter; their Labors ; Missionary Toilers. - Churches to be or- ganized. - Difficulties to be settled. - Anecdote. - Hardships. Modo of Travelling. - Stockton, - Eaton. - Successes. - An- ecdote of Rice. - Presbyterianism. - Revivals. - Young Men. - The People: Seotch ; Irish. - Frolics. - Primitive Houses. - MeGarraugh's House; Eaton's. - Church Buildings. - Middle- brook. - Seeking Supplies. - Edward Johnston. - Domestic Manufacture. - Supplies. - Manners. - Church Service. - Lin- ing Out. - Tedious Service. - Communion Service. - Tokens. - Fencing the Tables. - Catechism . 3
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE ERECTION OF THE PRESBYTERY TO THE FIRST DIVISION.
1801-1808.
Redstone and Ohio. - Act of Synod. - Boundaries. - First Meet- ing. - Members - Officers. - Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wick. - Mr. Tait's First Church. - Mr. Stockton's Youth. - Satterfield, Wylie, Phimer, Dodd. - First Supplies. - Prayer. - Educa- tion. -- Academy. - Statistical Report. - First Preaching. -
. xii
CONTENTS.
Dickson's Journal. - Wood. - Jolin and Abraham Boyd or- dained. - Cook and Patterson. - Books sought. - Elements of Boards. - Badger. - Supplies. - Patterson's Journal. - First Licensure. - First Pastoral Relation Dissolved. - Missions to Indians. - History of Presbytery. - Plan of Union. - Division of Presbytery. - Protest. - Stated Clerk's Bill. - Academy. - Licensures. - Division of Presbytery. - Minute of Synod. - New Presbytery of Hartford
27
CHAPTER III.
FROM THE FIRST TO THE SECOND DIVISION OF PRESBYTERY.
1808-1820.
New Roll. - Settlements. - Territory. - Houses of Worship. - Barns. - Forest Worship. - Tradition. - Dismissions. - Mat- thews. - Riggs. - Fire in Churches. - Missionary Ground. - Matrimony. - Synod's Action. - Hilands'. - Early Experience. -- Butler. - Salem. - Serious Question. - Chaplains. - Tem- perance. - Redick and Chase. - Offense. - Troubles. - Psalni- ody. - Music. - Alden and Missions. - Theological Seminaries. --- Candidates. - Camp. -- Complaint. - Division of Presbytery. - Results. - Revivals. - Presbytery of Alleghany . . 66
CHAPTER IV.
FROM THE SECOND DIVISION OF PRESBYTERY TO THE GREAT DIVISION. .
1820-1837.
Contracted Limits. - Small Number of Ministers. - Churches. - Discouragements. - Energy. - First Meeting. - Van Liew. - Narrative. - Sunday-schools. - Meadville. - Missionary Cir- cular. - Springfield Controversy. - New Members. - Erie. - Mercer. - Franklin. - Increase. - Revival. - Incidents. - Tem- perance. - Four Days' Meetings. - Sacraments. -- Evangelists. -- Revival. - Baptism. - Fast Difficulties. - New Members. - Act and Testimony. - West. - Slavery. - Elders' Convention. - Franklin. - Troubles in the Distance . 100
1
1
CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER V.
THE GREAT DIVISION. 1837-1838.
The Storm. - Action of General Assembly disapproved of. - Vote. - Complaint and Appeal. - Action of Synod. - Last Meeting. - Members Present. - McCready's Resolutions. - Re- port of Commissioners. - Motion to postpone and refer to Sy- nod. - Vote. - Withdrawal of Minority. - Rule of General As- sembly. - Officers. - Records. - Synod. - Decision. - Presby- tery of the other Branch . 135
CHAPTER VI.
FROM THE GREAT DIVISION TO THE PRESENT.
1838-1867.
Numbers. - Division. - Feeling. - New Members. - Education. - Missionary. - Sabbath. - Slavery. - Proposition of Reun- ion. - 1815 to 1855. - Revival. - Death of Mr. Eaton. - Death of Glenn and MeCullough. - 1859 to 1861. - State of the Coun- try. -- 1865. - Exchange of Delegates with New School. - State of the Country. - President. - 1867. - Revivals . 143
CHAPTER VII.
SUPPLEMENTAL.
Changes. - Short Settlements. - Causes. - Roll. - Longevity. - Oldest Ministers. - Nativity. - Places of Study. - Chaplains. - Christian Commission. - Stated Clerks. - Influence. - Ex- ample. - Lessons . 169 .
1
xiv
CONTENTS.
PART II. BIOGRAPHICAL.
BIOGRAPHIES OF DECEASED MINISTERS.
Thomas Edgar Hughes 177
John Redick . 288
William Wick 183
Timothy Alden . 290
Samuel Tait .
185 John Munson . 296
Joseph Stockton 191 Phineas Camp 299
Robert Lee 195 Bradford Marcy 302
James Satterfield 199 Giles Doolittle 303
William Wylie .
203
Nathan Harned . 308
John Boyd Abraham Boyd
211
Wells Bushnell 311
William Wood
216
Pierce Chamberlain 319
Joseph Badger Alexander Cook
218
Edson Hart 323
Robert Glenn 324
Robert Patterson Robert Johnston
240
Nathaniel West . 331
Nicholas Pittinger John MePherrin Benjamin Boyd .
255
Alexander Boyd 339
Cyrus Riggs .
256
John Kinkead Cornyn Lewis W. Williams Lemuel P. Bates
349
James Boyd
269
Charles V. Struve 351
John Matthews 271
Nathaniel M. Crane
352
Robert McGarraugh 275
William McCullough 356
Ira Condit . 277
Robert Taylor
361
Amos Chase
282
NOTICES OF LIVING MINISTERS.
John Van Liew . 369 James G. Wilson 377
David MeKinney
370 Robinson S. Lockwood 378
Absalom McCready 371
Reuben Lewis 378
Peter Hassinger 372
William Fuller 379
James Alexander 373
David Waggoner 380
«George A. Lyon 374 Daniel Washburn 380
George W. Hampson 374 John V. Reynolds . 381
William A. Adair 375 Edmund Mckinney 381
Simeon Peck . 376 Cyrus Dickson 381
249
Charles Danforth 334
251
John Limber .
336
Reid Bracken 261
343
Johnston Eaton 265
230
233
John McNair . 328
213
Thomas Anderson
315
341
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CONTENTS. XV
Edward S. Blake 382
John R. Findley 393
Hiram Eddy . 382
John R. Hamilton 394
Joseph T. Smith
383
John D. Howey .
394
James Coulter 383 Ira M. Condit 395
Henry Webber
384
Anthony C. Junkin 395
James W. Diekey
384
Iluey Newell 396
Alexander Cunningham 385
396
John M. Smith 385
George Scott . James H. Spelman .
396
Miles T. Merwin 386
Jolm G. Condit . 397
Lemuel G. Olmstead 386
387
Newell S. Lowrie 398
Samuel J. M. Eaton 387
Michael A. Parkinson
388
William T. Hamilton . 398
John Sailor 388
Robert S. Morton
389
George F. Cain . 399
John W. MeCune
390
Luther M. Belden 400
John Riee . 400
George W. Zahniser 390 Henry B. Lambe 401
Robert F. Sample 391 James J. Marks . 401
James I. Smith
391 Robert S. Van Cleve 401
James M. Shields
392 Jolin J. Gridley . 402
William J. Alexander
392
James J. Smyth 402
Charles A. Behrends . 393
David Patton 403
William M. Blackburn 393
PART III.
HISTORICAL NOTICES OF CHURCHIES.
Sketches of Churches, either now or at any former time under the care of. Presbytery . 407
A
David Grier 390
James H. Gray . 398
William P. Moore . 399
William Wilson .
389
William M. Robinson . 399
John H. Sargent 397
James H. Callen
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PART I.
HISTORY.
1
IHISTORY
OF THE
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY.
THE Presbytery of Erie was erected under most auspicious circumstances. The dark clouds that had lowered so heavily over the church and over the country for a quarter of a century were rapidly rolling away, and everything betokened prosperity and peace. Gen- eral Wayne's treaty with the Indians had opened the way for the occupation of territory that had hitherto been locked up. A tide of emigration had set in from Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, that bade fair to occupy the country that had hitherto been but the hunting ground of the Indian ; or at least neu- tral ground in the great conflict between civilization and barbarism. There was a spirit of enterprise, now greatly stimulated by the love of adventure, that was spreading over the older settlements, and that promised to bring into the new territory just opening up, the better class of the population of the East. Hitherto the region north and west of the Ohio, and extending to the great Northern Lakes, had been comparatively an unknown land. It had been partially explored for half a century, but up to this time had been all unsettled
1
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE.
and unsafe. About the year 1750-52, the French had set up their claim to its possession, and were in some degree in alliance with the Indians, rendering the work of exploring even unsafe and unprofitable. After the departure of the French, there was a bitterness and a jealousy in the minds of the Indians, who claimed the territory, that effectually closed up the country against actual settlement. At the beginning of the present century, all these difficulties were surmounted and the gates opened that invited the westward march of civil- ization, bearing in its train the blessings of evangeliza- tion.
The religious influence at this time was most blessed and happy. The terrible scourge of skepticism and infidelity that seemed as though it would sweep over the entire country, after the war of the Revolution, was rapidly abating. The stamp of French influence that at one time seemed fixing itself upon the religious in- stitutions of the country was vanishing, and a pure Christianity fast assuming its place. Added to this, the spirit of revival was making itself felt with wondrous power and efficacy. The Spirit of God had been poured out most copiously upon the older Presbyteries of the West, and the infant churches recently planted in the new territory had been largely blessed. These revivals had commenced in 1778, in Vance's Fort,1 into which the settlement had been driven by the incursions of savages. " From 1781 to 1787, a most extensive work of grace was experienced in the churches of Cross Creek, Upper Buffalo, Chartiers, Pigeon Creek, Bethel, Lebanon, Ten Mile, Cross Roads, and Millcreek, dur- ing which more than a thousand persons were brought into the kingdom of Christ."
" From 1795 to 1799, another series of gracious visit-
1 Rev. Joseph Stevenson.
5
HISTORY.
ations were enjoyed by the churches generally through- out Western Pennsylvania, extending to the new settle- ments north of Pittsburgh."
These gracious visitations continued into the begin- ning of the new century, filling the minds of many with the conviction that the very dawn of the Millenium had come. Even in the midst of the labors and watch- ing peculiar to the founding of new settlements, and sometimes without the labors of the stated ministry, this spirit of revival was present, stimulating the hearts of the settlers with hope and courage, and inviting others who were looking for some new place of settlement to cast in their lot with them. Says a venerable father,1 lately fallen asleep: " My mother was pious, and hear- ing of the revival of religion in Western Pennsylvania, felt a great anxiety that her family might enjoy the benefits of such a season. Accordingly we removed to Beaver County in 1806." Others were influenced, no doubt, in the same way, and thus the spiritual attractions of the new territory added to its temporal prosperity.
In the mean time all fear of hostility on the part of the Indians being removed, settlers pushed their way northward to Lake Erie, and westward into Ohio, formning settlements, and laying the foundation of the dense population that now occupies what was the original territory of the Presbytery of Erie.
The territory that was occupied by the old Presby- tery of Erie was widely extended. It embraced all the churches and settlements north and northwest of the Ohio and Alleghany rivers. It extended from Beaver, Pa., on the Ohio River on the south, to Lake Erie on the north, and from the Alleghany River on the east to Canfield, Ohio, on the west, embracing the whole of
1 Rev. John Munson.
6
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE.
what is now the Synod of Alleghany with portions of the Synods of Wheeling, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. The field was almost wholly uncultivated by ministerial la- bor. The population was mainly Presbyterian. They had brought with them a few books from the East. The Bible, the Westminster Confession, the Hymn Book, and some works on practical religion - these were their spiritual pabulum during the intervals of their labor and toil. They often met together on the Sab- bath and held what they called "Society Meetings." The exercises consisted of singing, prayer, and reading a sermon from Burder or some other standard work. But the parents felt that, much as they delighted in those social meetings, they needed the minister of Christ. Their children had many of them been baptized in their infancy but were now growing up, and they felt the deepest interest in their spiritual welfare. Says the same father already quoted : 1 " They saw the importance of having the standard of the gospel planted at the com- mencement of their new settlement. In all their meet- ings for prayer they earnestly sought the Lord that he would send them a godly man, to break to them the bread of life, and be the instrument of laying the foun- dation of a rising church in the wilderness. Their prayers were heard, and thus God in a short time se- lected out of these and other families materials for the organization of a church."
This remark has reference to the settlement in Bea- ver County, Pa., which afterwards constituted the con- gregation of Mount Pleasant; but was also character- istic of other portions of the territory constituting the Presbytery of Erie. There was therefore an eager call for laborers that went up with an earnestness almost
1 Munson to Plumer, Pres. Mag. vii. 463.
:
7
HISTORY.
Macedonian, and was responded to by many of the ministers in the older settlements with a zeal and self- denial well-nigh apostolical. The people had no great inducements to offer ; certainly very few of a temporal kind. There was labor and self-denial, with little in the way of salary or worldly fame. But there were oppor- tunities for doing good, seldom exceeded. There was the way opening for planting the church in the wilder- ness, and of gathering immortal souls into its safe and peaceful inclosure.
And so the early fathers of the Presbytery of Erie girded themselves for the work and the warfare, and went forth with manly hearts to labor as best they might in the Lord's cause.
These fathers were a hardy set of men, modeled after a type peculiar to their day, and eminently adapted to the performance of the great work to which they were called. They had been educated mainly in the West. Of the first twenty-eight on the roll, embracing a period of twenty years of its history, twenty-three were educated at Cannonsburg, and at the Academies that sprung up and were fostered under the influence of the Presbytery. And of the same twenty-eight, twenty-two pursued their theological studies in the west, and no less than eighteen at Dr. McMillan's log-cabin. These men had been inured to labor. Almost every one of them had been accustomed to the work of sub- duing the forest, and of cultivating the soil from child- hood. Even during his studies at Cannonsburg, Robert Lee was engaged in clearing land from forest trees, and in order not to trench upon the hours of study and reeitation had labored at rolling logs and kindling fires at night. As a general thing then, they came to the duties of the ministry with physical constitutions
8
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE.
matured and indurated by labor and exercise. They were enabled at once to endure the hardships and privations that were peculiar to frontier life. Not only did they make long and fatiguing journeys in the work of organizing and supplying churches in remote places, but were obliged also to labor with their hands in se- curing a support. This may also account for the lon- gevity that characterized these early fathers. They were enterprising men, too. They saw the field spread- ing before them, with its labors and its promises ; they had girded themselves for the work, and neither labor nor peril appalled them. Whether they set out for the shore of Lake Erie, or plunged into the wilderness seeking the red man of the forest in his wild haunts, it mattered not. It was the Lord's work. It was for this they had entered the service; and they took the labors and the privations as matters of course.
If they lacked the polish and accomplished education that pertain to more modern times, they possessed that furniture that better fitted them for the then rude con- tact with Nature, and with the hardy race of pioneers that were felling the mighty forests and opening up the pathway for the progress of Empire in its mighty West- ern march.
Concerning these early ministers, there yet linger amongst us aged fathers and mothers, who tell us won- drous things of their power and eloquence, and many imagine that there are no such preachers and no such preaching at the present day, even amid the most effect- ive preachers of modern times. But we are to remem- ber the times, and the circumstances in which they lived. The men and women who constituted their hearers, were not educated as hearers are educated now. The Bible and Psalm Book, lying on the window-sill,
9
HISTORY.
as a general thing, constituted their library. And although these are prime sources of theology, they were read as books of devotion - as daily, spiritual bread - rather than as furnishing the mind with any regular system of theology.
They were thinking men and women, yet was their range of thought circumscribed within narrow bounds. Ilence the preachers labored in a virgin soil. Grand new truths seemed to be constantly making their im- pression upon the minds of the audience. The preach- er seemed to be dispensing blessings fresh from the treasury of the Lord. His warnings and reproofs and expostulations fell like fiery barbed arrows upon con- sciences not yet seared by constant familiarity with the awful truths of God's word. And the sweet and pre- cious consolations of the gospel - its promises, its hopes, and its encouragements - were healing balm and living waters to the faint and weary soul not familiar with these sacred things from childhood. Added to this, there was that profound reverence, amounting al most to awe, for the gospel minister, that lifted him up above the sphere of the common, and elevated him almost to the height of the angels. All these things conspired to give the old fathers an influence that was most important, and that they used for the carrying for- ward of the great work committed to their care. But it is possible that these circumstances gave their people an exaggerated estimate of their power and ability. They were, many of them, no doubt men of ability, and circumstances were calculated to call out all their strength and energy ; yet there were also adverse cir- cumstances connected with their life and ministry. They entered upon their preparatory studies, as a gen- eral thing, late in life, when their habits of thought and
10
PRESBYTERY OF ERIE.
elasticity of mind had become somewhat fixed. They entered upon the labors of the ministry after the active powers of the intellect had begun to settle down so as not to be readily moved : circumstances certainly not favorable to the full development of the mind and the efficient exercise of the powers of thought. Their edu- cation, too was oftentimes defective. A few years in the academy, and a brief period with some hard-work- ing pastor in the study of theology, was all they could hope to obtain in the way of education. They had access to very few text books, and those perhaps none of the best. The only system of theology that the great majority of them had was Dr. McMillan's " Lec- tures." These they copied carefully and laboriously, and bore with them to their labors for future reference and authority. Many copies of these " Lectures " are still in existence in many parts of the church, all of which were copied in the seclusion and quiet of the old log-cabin that constituted the first Theological Seminary of the West.
Again, these primitive ministers, whatever their thirst for knowledge might have been, had not access to books after entering upon their labors. Books were rare treasures then. They had not found their way into the wilderness of the West. And even if they had, the minister had neither money to purchase nor time to read. Other and more pressing duties would have crowded them out. Nor had they leisure for that close, patient study, that is favorable to the highest develop- ment of mind. Their time was spent either in the sad- dle or in the field. Samuel Tait, the pioneer of Mer- cer County, made his preparation for the pulpit whilst following the plough. Ilis Bible, which he carried with him to the field, was his library ; and as he turned
11
HISTORY.
over the furrows, and scattered the seed, he thought of God's husbandry, and wrought out his sermons as best he might. And in addition to this, there was the almost constant travelling to and fro connected with missionary work, that could afford but little time for systematic study.
But these men did a wondrous work. They stood in their lot, and their memory should be revered and loved to the remotest generations. . They laid the foun- dations of Zion broad and deep, and the results remain unto this present time. The remarks just made are not designed to take a single leaf from the chaplet of their fair fame, but simply to arrive at the truth in estimat- ing their character and influence. The great wonder is, that with their intellectual furniture and widely ex- tended labors, they were able to make so broad and deep an impression upon the times as they did.
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