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 18
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Mr. Pittinger was twice married. His first marriage took place before he entered the ministry. By this marriage he had two or three children. His second wife was from the Rocky Spring congregation. Her name was Mrs. Applegate, maiden name Taylor. She survived him until January, 1840.
Mr. Pittinger is reported as having been remarkably plain. His manner was blunt and uncompromising, exhibiting more of the spirit of John the Baptist than of John the beloved disciple.
(16.) JOHN McPHERRIN. 1789-1822.
JOHN MCPHERRIN was born in Adams County, Pa., on the 17th day of November, 1757. His father's far- ily afterwards removed to Westmoreland County, Pa. His studies, preparatory to entering College, were pur- sued with Rev. Robert Smith, D. D., of Pequea. He graduated at Dickinson College in 1788. His theolog- ical education was pursued under the direction of Rev. John Clark, pastor of Bethel congregation, Alleghany County, Pa. He was licensed to preach the gospel by
1 Gillett's History.
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the Presbytery of Redstone, on the 20th of August, 1789. On the 22d of September, in the year follow- ing, he was ordained by the same Presbytery, and in- stalled as pastor of the congregations of Salem and Unity, in Westmoreland County, Pa. ITis labors were prosperous and successful in this field for a number of years. On the 28th of June, 1800, he was released from the charge of Unity, and on the 20th of April, 1803, from that of Salem.
On the 9th of April, 1805, he became a member of the Presbytery of Erie, having removed to Butler County, Pa., and accepted calls from the congregations of Concord and Muddy Creek. The records are not clear in regard to this period of his pastoral labor. In 1806, he is reported as pastor of Concord, Muddy Creek, and Harmony ; in 1809, as pastor of Concord and Harmony. On the 7th of April, 1813, he was in- stalled as pastor of the church of Butler, by the Pres- bytery of Erie. This was in connection with the church of Concord. Of this united charge he remained pastor until his death, a period of about nine years. His death took place at Butler, Pa., on the 10th day of February, 1822, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and the thirty- third of his ministry.
The writer of his obituary notice in the " Pittsburgh Recorder,"1 says : " He was a warm, zealous, and evan- gelical preacher. For some years before his death, he appeared to be remarkably weaned from the world ; he indeed lived above the world. His whole heart and soul were absorbed in the love of God, and his whole aim was to promote the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom."
Mr. MePherrin appears to have been of a nervous,
! Quoted by Dr. Elliott, from whom many facts were received.
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sensitive temperament, illy fitted for the rough contact with life. Says Dr. Loyal Young, his successor in the pastoral office at Butler : " For a few years he labored, at times, under great mental depression. A sense of his unworthiness sometimes led him to the conclusion that it was wrong for him to engage in ministerial work. Sometimes on Sabbath morning he would tell his wife that he could not preach that day, and would seem in- clined not to fulfill his appointment. She would pur- suade him to go and conduct prayer-meeting, if he could not preach. On such occasions, he would generally preach sermons of unusual power.
" Mr. McPherrin was very faithful as a pastor. After catechising the family, he would take each of the younger members aside, and personally urge upon them the necessity of a new heart, and an interest in Christ. These private interviews were often blessed to their conversion."
The following tribute to his memory is from the pen of Hon. Walter Lowrie,1 Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, who was his son-in-law : -
" Mr. McPherrin did not write his sermons. Ile used very brief but comprehensive notes, which he placed in a small pocket-Bible.
" It is no easy matter to draw a faithful likeness of Mr. McPherrin's character and appearance. He was tall in person, his hair, when I first saw him, quite gray, and his whole appearance the most venerable of any man I have ever seen. Decision and energy were the leading traits of his character. He knew not the fear of man, thoughi sometimes his firmness degenerated into obstinacy. llis natural temper was warm; hypocrisy formed no part of his character, and his heart was the
1 Furnished to Dr. Young.
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seat of friendship and good-will to man. Ile possessed a strong mind and strong natural abilities. At Dickin- son College, under the celebrated Dr. Nesbit, he had received a thorough education, and by his studious hab- its, his mind was in a constant state of improvement. As a minister of the gospel, his zeal in his Master's cause never flagged, and a sincere desire to do good was his ruling passion through life. His eloquence was classically chaste, yet strong and nervous. His hearers were, in general, rather awed than charmed, more in- structed than delighted, yet often did the tears of his audience flow before they were themselves aware of it. All his sermons were, in the highest degree, evangel- ical. Christ Jesus and him crucified was the burden of his message ; and yet in every discourse he urged in the strongest manner the necessity of good works and a holy and Christian walk, not as a means or ground of acceptance with God, but as an evidence of being in the right way."
Mr. MePherrin was in early life united in marriage to Miss Mary Stevenson, daughter of John Stevenson, of Cross Creek congregation, in Washington County, Pa. Several of his descendants are, or have been, serving the church in the ministry of reconciliation. Rev. J. C. Lowrie, D. D., formerly a missionary to In- dia, and the late Rev. Walter M. Lowrie, and Rev. Reu- ben P. Lowrie, missionaries to China, and Rey. Josiah Mc Pherrin, of the Presbytery of Alleghany, are his grandsons.
The memory of Mr. McPherrin is greatly revered in the Butler congregation. Many of the older men- bers remember, and relate with tearful interest, the rec- ord of his ministry, and his self-denying labors, and his faithful preaching of Christ, and his humble and godly walk and conversation.
.
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(17.) BENJAMIN BOYD.
1804-1859.
This was the youngest of the four Boyd brothers, ordained by the Presbytery of Erie, although he en- tered the ministry nearly three years before his older brother James.
Benjamin Boyd, son of John and Mary (Fulton) Boyd, was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., on the 25th day of December, 1776. He probably worked on the farm with his father and brothers until near his majority, studying for a time with his good pastor, John Me Pherrin (16), until he went to Cannonsburg. Here he pursued his studies at the academy, and graduated after the academy had become a college. It is some- what uncertain whether he studied theology with his pastor, or with Dr. MeMillan. He was taken under the care of the Presbytery of Erie, as a candidate for the ministry, on the 22d day of June, 1803. " An Christus qua Mediator adorandus sit," was assigned him as the theme of a Latin exegesis.
HIe was licensed to preach the gospel by this Presby- tery, on the 24th day of October, 1801. It is not on record how or where he spent his time during the next two years. But in the fall of 1806 he accepted calls from the congregations of Trumbull, Beula, and Pyma- tuning, on the Western Reserve, or eastern part of Ohio, and Mercer County, Pa. Rom. x. 4, was assigned him as a subject for a trial sermon. The ordination took place at Trumbull, Ohio, on the 12th day of November, 1806, Joseph Stockton (4) preached on the occasion, and Samuel Tait (3) delivered the charges. "This pas- toral relation continued until 1809. In 1811, he re-
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moved to Western Virginia, and in the war of 1812 served as a chaplain in the army in Virginia, under General Leftridge.1
In the autumn of 1814, he removed to Mason County, Ky. In 1827, he was a member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. Ile preached for a time at Round Bottom, Cheviot, and Harrison, Ohio. He also preached for a time at West Liberty, Indiana, and at Dunlopsville and vicinity. At this time, he was also engaged in teaching, yet preaching as opportunity offered. In 1829, he re- moved to Newport, Ky., where he was engaged for a time in teaching.
In 1834 and 1835, he was a member of the Presby- tery of Madison, and preached at Pleasant church, Ind. In the year 1836, he returned to Newport, Ky., where he spent the remainder of his days. Ile died on the 1st day of October, 1859, in the eighty-third year of his age and the fifty-sixth of his ministry. His death was the result of old age, hastened, perhaps, by a severe fall. His remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Newport, Ky.
He was married early in life to Miss Anna Findley. They had five sons and one daughter.
Mr. Boyd's mind was probably not as well balanced as that of his other brothers, yet in many respects, he was an earnest and good man. His was a life of grievous burdens and great conflicts, and the peace and the rest of the good Land would be most grateful to his spirit.
(18.) CYRUS RIGGS.
1805-1849.
MR. RiGas belonged to a New Jersey family. Ilis ancestors had long resided in that State. He was the 1 Wilson's Pres. Ilist. Almanac.
1
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son of Joseph and Hannah (Cook) Riggs, and was born in Morris County, New Jersey, on the 15th day of October, 1774. In his early years there was nothing remarkable or striking. He was a quiet, unpretending boy, intent on discharging his duty and standing in his lot. From New Jersey, Joseph Riggs removed with his family west of the Alleghany Mountains, and settled in Washington County, Pa., in the bounds of Lower Ten Mile congregation. At that time Cyrus was about twenty years of age. It is not known exactly when he became a professor of religion, but most probably soon after coming to the West, for a short time after we find him at Cannonsburg Academy, in preparation for the gospel ministry.
But circumstances seemed adverse to his plans. His father failed ; his substance was sacrificed, and the son was forced to abandon his studies and give up all hope of the ministry. On the 25th day of July, 1797, Mr. Riggs was united in marriage to Miss Mary, daughter of Edward and Phebe Ross, of Washington County, Pa., who had emigrated from New Jersey about the same time with the Riggs' family. With his young wife, he removed to Mercer County, Pa., and setttled in the same congregation, where he was a few years afterward ordained as pastor. Here he commenced the laborious 'work of hewing himself out a home in the forest, with perhaps no thought but to spend his days in subduing the forest and cultivating the soil.
Soon, however, Dr. MeMillan found him and pur- suaded him to leave his axe and his plough, dispose of his little home, and return to Cannonsburg to study. Ile graduated in 1803 at Jefferson College, a member of the second class that graduated under the charter. After his graduation, he was employed as a tutor in the
17
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college, in the mean time commencing the study of the- ology under the direction of Dr. McMillan. On the 18th day of October, he was taken under the care of the Presbytery of Ohio, as a candidate for the gospel ministry, and on the 7th day of October, 1805, he was, by the same Presbytery, licensed to preach the gospel. From that time until the 23d day of October, 1806, he was engaged in supplying vacant churches within the bounds of Presbytery, when he received calls to labor in the congregations of Fairfield and Mill Creek, with- in the bounds of the Presbytery of Erie. In December of the same year, he declared his acceptance of these calls, and was dismissed to put, himself under the care of the Presbytery of Erie.
On the 21st day of April, 1807, Mr. Riggs was re- ceived under the care of the Presbytery of Erie, and on the 21st day of October, 1807, he was ordained and installed pastor of the churches of Fairfield and Mill Creek. Mr. Riggs' trial sermon was on Psalms Ixxi. 10. In the ordination services, Abraham Boyd (9) preached the sermon from Matthew xxiv. 45, and Alexander Cook (12) delivered the charges.
In this charge Mr. Riggs continued to labor until 1812, when the pastoral relation was dissolved. Having accepted calls from the congregations of Serubgrass and West Unity (now Harrisville), he was installed pastor of this charge, on the 6th day of April, 1814. Ilere he continued to labor until 1884, when the pas- toral relation was dissolved by the Presbytery of Alle- ghany. In the spring of 1821 he was dismissed with others to form the Presbytery of Alleghany, being one of its original members. In this Presbytery he re- mained until the autumn of 1835, when he removed with his family to the State of Illinois, and settled for
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a short time in the neighborhood of Macomb, McDon- ough County. In the summer of 1838, he removed to Washington County, in the same State, where he la- bored as a stated supply, in the churches of Elkhorn and Galum, up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 14th day of February, 1849, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, and forty-fifth of his ministry. His wife had died about four years previously. Their re- mains rest together in the cemetery of the Elkhorn church.
Mr. Riggs was a quiet, even taciturn man. Ile sel- dom made any allusion to his own life and labors. His great aim was to do good and keep his people up to the requirements of the gospel. He loved Zion and her cause dearly. Like all the early ministers of the Pres- bytery, he labored under great inconveniences from the smallness of his salary, and the difficulties that attend new fields of labor. He was a man of peace. Ile embarked in no partisan schemes, yet feeling that in congregational matters his own judgment was right, he generally managed to secure the success of his plans. This he did, not by open opposition, or dogmatic asser- tion of power, but by quietly removing obstacles out of the way, allaying prejudices, and meekly answering objections, until the way was open and the people sat- isfied.
He had the usual prejudices of the times to meet with. One of these was, that relating to the subject of psalmody. During his ministry at Scrubgrass and Unity, he passed through the transition from the psahus of Rouse, to the psalms and hymns of Watts. He was anxious for a wider range of subject than was found in the former, and for the rich, evangelic strains that were found in the latter. But it required all his taet
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of quiet prudence and firm resolution, to bring about the change. And in this he was eminently successful.
Mr. Riggs had eight children, five daughters and three sons. One of his sons, Cyrus Carpenter Riggs, D. D., is a member of the Presbytery of Beaver. His eldest daughter, Hannah Riggs, was long a missionary to the Indians. She was one of the company of mis- sionaries that went to labor amongst the Ottowas, on the Maumee River. Of this company was Samuel Tait (3), pastor of the churches of Cool Spring, Salem, and Mercer, and famous in his day for missionary labor. In this missionary work did this devoted female labor, suffering hardships and privations of various kinds ; now from cold, and now from a scarcity of provisions, and again from repeated attacks of fever and ague, until the mission was broken up, eleven years after its establishment. This mission was inaugurated by the Synod of Pittsburgh, but was afterwards transferred to the American Board of Missions.
It was the privilege of Mr. Riggs to labor up to the close of his pilgrimage. Ilis last disease was paralysis. It came upon him as he sat in his study making prep- aration for preaching on the following Sabbath. The first shock was slight, and hardly perceptible. In the course of half an hour another shock fell upon him that prostrated him, and laid him helpless and speech- less. He lingered but three days, unable to communi- cate his ideas or feelings, when he passed away from his labors on earth to his reward on high.
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(19.) REID BRACKEN.
1805-1849.
MR. BRACKEN was a fair specimen of the early pioneer ministers of the West. His early training had developed a stalwart physical constitution, and a faith and patience and self-denial that eminently adapted him to his great life-work - that of preaching the gos- pel to the destitute settlements.
Reid Bracken was the son of Thomas and Anne (Shannon) Bracken, and was born in York County, Pennsylvania, in the year 1778. When he was an in- fant of six weeks old, his father removed with his family into Washington County, in the same State, and found a home in what was soon to become the congregation of Chartiers. The same year Rev. John MeMillan began to preach statedly to the people of that neighborhood. Thomas Bracken was one of the first elders elected after the organization of the church, and his little sou Reid, the subject of this sketch, the first child baptized in the congregation, and indeed the first male child baptized west of the Alleghany mountains. Mrs. Bracken, the mother of Reid, was a woman of strong good sense and great decision of character, and brought up her family in the fear of God. Mr. Bracken was a farmer, and accustomed to labor, and brought up his son to the same avocation, until he was nearly of age, when finding his mind inclined to study, and with a desire for prep- aration for the ministry, he furnished him with a Latin Grammar, and the work of preparation commenced.
Reid Bracken graduated at Jefferson College in 1802, being a member of the first class that graduated after the College was chartered. His name stands at the
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head of the list, with the names of Johnston Eaton (20), William McMillan, and Israel Pickens, as classmates. Of course he studied theology with Dr. McMillan, and in due time was licensed to preach the gospel by the Pres- bytery of Ohio. This occurred on the 17th day of Oc- . tober, 1805. Ile travelled one year in Ohio and Virginia, preaching to vacant churches. In the year 1806, he went to Butler County, Pa., where he received calls to the pastoral charge of the congregations of Mount Nebo and Plain. On the 20th day of October, 1807, he was received under the care of the Presbytery of Erie, and Isaiah liii. 11, middle clause, assigned him as a subject of trials for ordination. On the 20th day of April, 1808, he was ordained to the whole work of the ministry, and installed pastor of these churches. In these exercises, William Wood (10) preached the sermon, and Nicholas Pittinger (15) delivered the charges. In these congrega- tions he labored faithfully, giving one half of his time to each until October 7, 1819, when he was released from the Plain Church, and on the 28th of September, 1820, installed as pastor of Middlesex. His labors continued in the church of Middlesex until 1832, when he resigned, and became pastor of the church of Portersville. But during all these years he continued to give the half of his time to Mount Nebo, being pastor there for the period of thirty-seven years. About five years before his death he resigned his pastoral charge. He felt the infirmities of age coming upon him, and not being able to go in and out before the people as in his earlier days, give way to more vigorous laborers. Still he con- tinued to preach, as opportunity offered, until the close of his life. His last sermon to his old charge at Mount Nebo, was from the words of the Apostle, I Cor. xii. 27, " Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in par-
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ticular." This discourse will long be remembered by that people. One week before his death, he rode ten miles and preached to one of his old congregations from the words, " They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." It was his last sermon, and so strong was the impression made upon the minds of his friends, that after he was laid in his last sleep, these words were engraved upon his tombstone.
IIe was confined to his couch but a few days during his last illness. Three days previous to his decease, he was asked whether he had anything to say to his family previous to his departure. He addressed them as fol- lows, the words being taken down by one of the family at the time : ---
" My children, you are all here. It is a solemn time. From present appearances I am about to leave you, hav- ing served my generation, and am going to render up my account to my Judge. I have a comfortable hope of meeting my Savior in peace, and spending eternity in happiness. It is of the greatest consequence to have a hope that maketh not ashamed. It is my sincere desire that all my children should be prepared.1
Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. . . Rely upon the merits of Christ as the only foundation of hope. Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Salvation is free to all that will accept. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
This address was followed by a short and feeling prayer. And so he went down into the valley, leaning on the rod and staff of the Good Shepherd, and passed over
I Some of his words were inaudible.
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the river to dwell with God. He died on his farm in Butler County, Pa., on the 29th day of July, 1849, in the seventy-second year of his age and the forty-fourth of his ministry.
Mr. Bracken was united in marriage to Miss Mary Graham, of Lexington, Va., on the 1st day of May, 1806. She was the youngest daughter of that distin- guished servant of God, Rev. William Graham, founder of Washington College, Virginia, to whom frequent ref- erence is made in the life of Dr. Archibald Alexander. After a long and useful life, she went to rejoin her hus- band in eternal union, December 30, 1863, in the sev- enty-eighth year of her age. They had eight children.
Mr. Bracken moved to Butler County when it was new and the people poor. Like his people, he com- menced in the woods, and by the labor of his own hands cut down the forest, and opened for himself a farm, which he afterwards cultivated with his own hands, to assist in the support of his family. Ilis sons well re- member the time when his practice was, to labor in the fields five days in the week, and devote the Saturday to the work of preparation for the pulpit. Ile was a stal- wart man, and could excel most able-bodied men in laboring with an axe, or in the harvest-field. His phys- ical health was almost uniformly good; and with all his labor on his farm his mind did not become secular- ized.
He labored faithfully in the Master's field. Many churches were built up through the instrumentality of his labors. He was not a fluent speaker. He knew nothing of the eloquence that holds an audience spell- bound through the beauty of tropes, and the grand flow of fitly chosen words. Yet he could set forth Christ crucified with love and zeal and effect. He stood high
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in the estimation of his brethren, as a sound and earnest preacher of the New Testament.
As a member of ecclesiastical courts, he was punctual and attentive. IIe seldom spoke, yet when he did, it was to the point, and his remarks always had great weight.
He was one of the original members of the Presby- tery of Alleghany, and continued a member until his death.
(20.) JOHNSTON EATON. 1805-1847.
JOHNSTON EATON, son of John Eaton, was born in Rocky Spring Congregation, Franklin County, Pa., on the 7th day of February, 1776. His ancestors had long been dwellers in Pennsylvania. An old patriarch, now deceased, related that he had seen five generations of the Eatons in that congregation. Little is now known of his early years, for he was quiet and reticent in regard to anything that concerned himself. In 1801, he entered the Junior class of the College of New Jersey, where he remained one year, at the close of which, the college building being burned, he repaired to Cannonsburg, and entered the Senior class of Jeffer- son College, at which institution he graduated in the autumn of 1802, a member of the first class that grad- uated under the charter. His classmates were, Rev. Reid Bracken (19), Rev. William McMillan, D. D., President of Jefferson College, Israel Pickens, Gover- nor of Alabama, and Rev. John Rhea.
His theological education was completed under the direction of Dr. John McMillan, when he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Ohio, on the 22d day of August, 1805. Ilis constitution, naturally
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delicate and sensitive, being much broken, and his ener- gies weakened by laborious application, he determined to spend some time in travelling and visiting the desti- tutions of the West. After visiting Erie County, which was to be the scene of his future life-labors, he spent a year in the southern part of Ohio. In 1806 he re- turned to Erie County, and took up his abode there. His first sermon there was preached in a small log tavern at the mouth of Walnut Creek, kept by Captain Swan. The country at this time was literally a wilder- ness. The mighty, grand old forest, was hardly broken by the woodman's axe. There were not more than two or three churches in the county, and at the period of his coming, not a minister of any denomination.
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