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GENEALOGI
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02223 8320
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/eastlibertypresb00negl_0
THE REV. FRANK WOOLFORD SNEED, D.D. Present Pastor
East Liberty Presbyterian Church
With Historical Setting and a Narrative of the
Centennial Celebration
April 12-20, 1919
-
COMPILED BY GEORGINA G. NEGLEY, A.B. FOR THE EAST LIBERTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
"God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. but have everlasting life."-John iii: 16
PITTSBURGH MURDOCH, KERR & CO. PRESS 1919
CONTENTS
1424877
FOREWORD
Page
1
CENTENNIAL HYMN
2
The Rev. Frank W. Sneed, D.D.
I HISTORY
Prelude and Threads of History
3
Georgina G. Negley
SERMONS AND ADDRESSES
Forty-fifth Anniversary
37
The Rev. John Gillespie, D.D.
Fiftieth Anniversary
59
The Rev. John Gillespie, D.D.
Sixtieth Anniversary and
Dedication of Present Church
79
William G. Johnston
Tenth Anniversary of Pastorate
105
The Rev. J. P. E. Kumler, D.D.
Centennial Sermon
.119
The Rev. Frank W. Sneed, D.D.
WOMEN'S WORK
143
Mrs. Wm. M. McKelvy
FINANCE-A CENTURY OF FINANCE
153
Mrs. J. H. Runnette
ORGANIZATIONS
159
II CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Reproduction of Centennial Program
171
Centennial Celebration
183
Pageant
185
H. Fred. Mercer
.
P.O. 4698
Schlager Boks. $ 7.50 11-30-67
CONTENTS-Continued
Page
ANNIVERSARY SABBATH
Sabbath School
191
Address
192
Mr. Samuel E. Gill
Morning Service-Unveiling of Memorial Tablet. ... 194 Centennial Sermon 119
The Rev. Frank W. Sneed, D.D.
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor.
..
.197
The Rev. H. A. Gearhart
Evening Service-Unveiling and Dedication of
Church Flag
198
MEN'S DAY
.201
J. Roy Dickie
Synopsis of Address
.202
The Rev. J. Timothy Stone, D.D.
WOMEN'S DAY
.204
Mrs. Wm. M. McKelvy
Historical Interpretation of Tableaux
.205
Mrs. Valeria M. J. Pears
OLD FOLKS' CONCERT
.212
HOME-COMING DAY
Reception
214
The Relics
217
Marguerite M. Elder
Greetings .218
CONTENTS-Continued
Page
CENTENNIAL COMMUNION SERVICE
219
Synopsis of Address
221
The Rev. G. A. Frantz
SOLDIERS' DAY
Unveiling of Memorial Service Tablet
223
Address of Presentation
225
The Rev. Frank W. Sneed, D.D.
Address of Acceptance
229
Captain Roy F. Miller
Tree Planting
Address
230
Samuel E. Gill
In Memoriam
.233
EASTER
Centennial Closing Exercises
236
Morning Sermon-"Foreign Missions"
238
The Rev. A. W. Halsey, D.D.
Evening Sermon-"Promise and Possession"
.248
The Rev. George M. Ryall
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON MEMORIALS
254
Report of Committee on Centennial Endowment
Fund
.254
A FORWARD VISION .256
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Rev. Frank W, Sneed, D.D. Mrs. Barbara Anna Negley The "Negley Mansion" Facsimile of Original Grant Reverse of Original Grant The First Church, 1819 The Rev. John Gillespie, D.D. The Second Church, 1848 The Third Church, 1864 William G. Johnston John Roup George G. Negley
The Rev. Wm. B. McIlvaine, D.D.
The Rev. J. P. E. Kumler, D.D., LL.D. The Rev. Benjamin L. Agnew, D.D., LL.D. The Kumler Memorial Chapel
The Fourth Church, 1888-1919 James I. Buchanan Robert Bailey, Sr. John Grounds, Jr. Facsimile of Centennial Invitation Samuel E. Gill
Memorial Tablet Richard B. Mellon
The War Work of Today A Group of "Old Folks" The Buds of Promise Memorial Service Tablet Lieutenant James Dana Paull Lieutenant Alvan M. Clements Citation Lieutenant Clarence C Kahle Lieutenant Clarence C. Kahle William M. Robinson Charles H. West
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FOREWORD
In God's dealings with His chosen people, He Himself set apart certain seasons in which they should celebrate His loving kindness and honor him with special recognition of His bounty and blessing.
Such occasions were permeated with fragrant memories of their God-given leaders, the heritage of whose faith and service impelled them to richer endeavor.
The historic record of these eras of worshipful rejoicing was handed down as a legacy and incentive to future genera- tions. It was on such an occasion that Nehemiah records the inspiring truth-"The joy of the Lord is your strength."
In a similar spirit, and in response to an obvious desire on the part of the Congregation; the Session, Deacons and Trustees of East Liberty Presbyterian Church, in joint council, decided that an appropriate observance of the Centenary of the found- ing of the Congregation should be held, and also that a Cen- tennial volume should be prepared.
It is a splendid commentary on the character of our people that though living in the day of haste and high explosives, aeroplanes and wireless telegraphy, they still revere and appre- ciate the achievements of those sturdy ancestors who laid the foundations on which we are now building. Earnest effort has been made to gather into the pages of this book, in condensed form, the main facts relating to the founding and to the de- velopment of the life of this mother of Churches and of the Community of East Liberty in so far as they have acted and reacted upon each other. It is obviously appropriate that the various historical Sermons and Addresses delivered on previous occasions should also be incorporated, together with an account of the Centennial Celebration, in order that all might be pre- served in permanent and convenient form.
A just recognition of our debt to the past is one of the finest marks of a regnant race.
Each generation is the heir of all the Ages, and its repre- sentatives can never explain what they are nor what they have done without due acknowledgment of what they have inherited.
In the consciousness of these facts, this volume is offered.
FRANK WOOLFORD SNEED.
Centennial Trymn
THE REV. FRANK WOOLFORD SNEED, D.D.
O Church of Christ, in service Think of Thy risen Head, Who died for thee on Calvary, And for thy sins He bled.
O Church of Christ, in suffering Be faithful to thy Lord, Who promised to sustain thee In His own precious word.
O Church of Christ, now waiting, The promised time draws near When He who said, I'll come again, In glory shall appear.
O Church of Christ triumphant, Thy toil, thy warfare o'er, Glory and honor with thy Lord, Is thine forevermore.
History
MRS. BARBARA ANNA NEGLEY
PRELUDE AND THREADS OF HISTORY GEORGINA G. NEGLEY
E, as Americans, have reached a sufficient altitude in the erection of our body politic to feel a keen interest in the circumstances relative to the laying of its foundations.
As Presbyterians, we may entertain a just, yet humble, pride in the part which the Presbyterian Church, collectively and individually, has been permitted to take in assisting our great Democracy to lay its foundations wisely and well.
During the Revolutionary War, Presbyterians stood staunch- ly for a free Church in a free country, and when the Conti- nental Congress in Philadelphia was hesitating over adopting Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, the ringing speech of John Witherspoon, D. D., the able Presbyterian divine and patriot, and a lineal descendant of John Knox, helped greatly to bring the body to its decision.
A striking similarity, also, exists between the form of govern- ment of the Presbyterian Church and the form adopted by our judicious forefathers for this great Republic, and it is said that suggestion and inspiration were received by the latter from the former.
In recounting the early history of East Liberty, meagre as are our authentic sources of information, there is yet ample evi- dence to assure us that, even as the patriarchs of old were divinely led, and as they considered the building of an altar to Jehovah as essential as the pitching of the family tent, even so did the early pioneers of this section begin with God.
We are reminded of Jehovah's promise to Isaac: "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee and will bless thee." "And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord."
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CENTENNIAL EAST LIBERTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Even so, it was not an accident but part of the Divine plan that the foundations of this community were laid by Christian hands.
At the momentous era of the founding of our Republic, the exigencies of war and the aggressive spirit of the founders had afforded an opportunity to men who had originally settled in the East to see the superior advantages of the West, and to determine to endure the trials and hardships of pioneer life in order to open up a new country.
In the year 1778 there came from Eastern Pennsylvania Alexander Negley, whom family records of the early days name as the first permanent white settler in the East Liberty valley, locating on the present site of Highland Park. He had a godly ancestry, being a descendant of John Nägeli, the Swiss reformer, a co-worker with Zwingli in the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century.
Educated in eastern Pennsylvania, where educational facili- ties were good even at that early date, it is not surprising that he and his family contributed their services not alone to the building up of the commercial, financial and industrial life of Pittsburgh, but that they made definite efforts to minister to the spiritual and educational needs of the growing community.
As other pioneers of similar religious fervor settled in the neighborhood, there began to crystallize a Christian com- munity, the influence of which served to mold its life in the early and plastic period.
As usual, the forces of evil also appeared, as early records bear witness; but, as in every battle for the supremacy of the right, with Divine help, which is never withheld, righteous- ness must win, so the hands of the Lord's servants were but strengthened by the conflict.
A few of these early names remain with us in their de- scendants, but more, doubtless, have passed on, their names forgotten here, but their work recorded on high.
We owe a tribute of gratitude to these early pioneers, known and unknown, who gave the impress of their sterling integrity, as well as their arduous labors, to laying the foundations of the superstructure of social, industrial, educa- tional and religious life, the benefits of which we now enjoy.
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PRELUDE AND THREADS OF HISTORY
Not a tribute of fulsome praise would we offer, so out of harmony with their modest lives, but rather let us offer the tribute of our own lives, quickened to renewed effort in the building of the yet incomplete superstructure, laying the beams of righteousness, truth and stability in the same heroic spirit which characterized their efforts, ever holding aloft, as they did, the torch of Christian faith which illumined their pathway. Thus shall we best hallow their memory.
The first knowledge we have of religious services being held in this valley is in the year 1790, though they were probably held at even an earlier date.
When we consider that Pennsylvania, the second State in the Union to ratify the Constitution, did so on December 12, 1787; that the first American Presbyterian General Assembly convened in Philadelphia in May, 1789; and that in 1794 Pittsburgh was incorporated as a town, with a population of about one thousand, we realize that we are recounting early history for this locality.
The valley was long known by the name of Negleytown, the name having been given by travelers who passed to and fro between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; for, as we shall see later, through this valley lay a route by which travelers journeyed in very early days.
When Jacob Negley, who with his wife owned large tracts of land, laid out a town at the junction of what is now Penn and Frankstown avenues, he named it East Liberty.
Alexander Negley with forty-one others had in 1782 founded the first church organization in Pittsburgh, then known as Pitt Township, and on September 29, 1787, the First Presbyterian Church was incorporated, and Beulah Church, in the other direction, was founded in 1784; but, on account of the bad roads in winter, and the wild state of the country, with Indians roaming about, it was often difficult for the families of the little settlement at Negleytown to attend church nearly five miles distant. History records that at this era the Indian massacres of white people at times became alarming, and many had to flee from their homes to seek protection in the nearest fort.
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CENTENNIAL EAST LIBERTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In consequence of these conditions, Alexander Negley had services conducted in his home about once a month, the minister usually being the pastor of the town church with which he was connected.
At one of these services held in his home in 1790, his son, Jacob Negley ,who as a youth had rendered valuable assistance to his father in building the town church, met and loved Barbara Anna Winebiddle, the daughter of another early pioneer, whose father, John Conrad Winebiddle, had also been one of Mr. Negley's associates in the founding of the Lutheran organization, which still worships at the corner of Smithfield street and Sixth avenue.
She was then but twelve years of age, he being twelve years her senior, and five years later, June 19, 1795, they were married, and located on a farm at the present corner of North Negley and Stanton avenues; they, in turn, becoming the initial founders of this, the first church organization in the East Liberty valley. The large family Bible with which they began housekeeping is still preserved.
Civic memoirs record that in 1796 Pittsburgh had but one hundred two houses.
About a decade previous to 1819, the exact date not being recorded, Jacob Negley built a comfortable frame school house of reasonable dimensions on the present site of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church, to provide educational facilities for his own and his neighbors' children. He also built a raised cinder path from his home to the school house.
In this school house religious services were sometimes held; at other times, they were held in the homes of neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Negley had in their home, built in 1808, and familiarly known as the "Negley Mansion," a portable pulpit kept in reserve for use on such occasions. This house was built of brick made on the grounds, and was said to be one of the three finest residences west of the Allegheny Mountains at that time. It is also related that when first built the house was provided with mural loopholes for rifles for pro- tection from the Indians.
For some time previous to the occasion, the centenary of which we now celebrate, earnest efforts were being made to
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THE "NEGLEY MANSION," BUILT 1808 Where Early Religious Services Were Held
PRELUDE AND THREADS OF HISTORY
interest the community in the erection of a church building with a pastor and regular church services, and to bring to their realization a vision of the future of the valley and its growing needs.
With all our splendid equipment of the present day, we can scarcely appreciate the difficulties which attended the service of the Master by those who had the love of God at heart a century ago. There was, oftentimes, the difficulty of securing religious services for the burial of the dead, and ministry to the sick and dying. Ministers, as well as physicians, were scarce. These conditions were matters of great concern to those interested, and they often, with great effort secured the former, and rendered the latter services themselves, both men and women conducting religious meet- ings when ministers were not available.
On March 8, 1816, a civic charter was granted to Pitts- burgh, and in the same year the Pittsburgh and Greensburg turnpike was constructed through East Liberty, being the dividing line between the old Nineteenth and Twentieth wards of the city, the name Penn avenue being given to it at that time in honor of William Penn. The fact of its being constructed one hundred feet wide through what is now the business portion of East Liberty is due to the sagacity and foresight of Jacob Negley, who made a strenuous plea to the other property holders that this width should continue all the way into the city, but they failed to share his wider vision. However, he laid out the portion which passed through his own and his wife's domain the desired one hundred feet, which gives this church property its fine Penn avenue frontage. As Mr. Negley superintended the moving back of his fences, his neighbors and passing travelers jocularly criti- cised his waste of land, but he calmly replied that the day was coming when the valley would need a wide thoroughfare.
The original survey of five miles of this road from Lawrenceville eastward is still preserved among family rec- ords, as that portion was built by Mr. Negley and his son, Jacob Negley, Jr. (father of the late General James S. Negley), both being civil engineers.
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CENTENNIAL EAST LIBERTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In this connection, a brief reference to some of the salient features of this famous thoroughfare by which we approach our beloved Zion, may be of interest, since for almost a cen- tury it had the distinction of being the most important high- way in the United States, and around this portion of it the development of East Liberty has largely centered.
Mr. J. Ralph Park, a member of this church, made a study of the subject, and from the result of his careful investi- gation, published in 1909, we are permitted to quote:
"According to tradition, this road is said to have been laid out originally along the line of the old Indian path, which was used prior to the building of Fort Pitt as the trail from the forks of the Ohio, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to the east, and is sometimes called the Old Glade Road.
"In 1753, when George Washington was sent out by the Ohio Company, he rode from Turtle Creek to Shannopins- town on horseback along the Indian Trail which led through what is now the East Liberty valley.
"Investigation in regard to the exact location of the old military road made by Washington under the command of General Forbes at the time of the taking of Fort Duquesne in 1758, proves that this road was along the present line of Penn avenue through East Liberty. It was the direct route from the east to Shannopinstown, an Indian village on the Allegheny River, located at what is now Thirty-fourth street. The renowned Christopher Gist records in his Journal that he reached Shannopinstown November 19, 1750, by way of the old Indian path, and spent four days there, where were about twenty families of Indians, ruled by an old Iroquois woman known as Queen Alliquippa.
"In Revolutionary days it was known as the Forbes Road, and over it the Revolutionary armies passed, as well as travelers in general. As many as sixty thousand immigrants from the old world are said to have passed over it in a single year in the early part of the last century on their way to the Ohio Country and the 'Boundless West.' It was also known as the State Road, which was first completed as far as Bedford ; a few years later, in 1791, it was completed and opened up
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PRELUDE AND THREADS OF HISTORY
for travel between Bedford and Pittsburgh. It was a clay road, and at certain seasons was almost impassable for heavy conveyances, so that packhorses were largely used for trans- portation. A common mode of travel was by foot. The average pedestrian by walking thirty miles per day could cover the distance between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in about ten days."
July, 1788, history records that James Bryson engaged to carry the mail directly from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, and established a regular route. He carried the mail sometimes on horseback, and later in a gig or sulky. A mail left Pitts- burgh for the East every Friday morning and one arrived from Philadelphia every Friday.
"In 1805-'06 a regular stage line ran over the State road from Pittsburgh to Chambersburg, where it connected with a similar one which had been operated for some years for passengers to Philadelphia. In 1806 the stage carried the mail from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
"The turnpike period in Western Pennsylvania began with the charter of what was known as the Pittsburgh and Phila- delphia turnpike. The Philadelphia and Harrisburg section was, in fact, the first great road built in the United States.
"The western section of the road was known as the Pitts- burgh and Greensburg turnpike, and, as we have seen, was completed through East Liberty in 1816. It was, of course, a toll road, and the toll from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and back for a narrow wheeled wagon was $29.30."
In 1826, the Legislature provided for the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal, and the work was pushed through so rapidly that, in 1827, the eastern portion was in operation, and it was not until June, 1829, that the first trip was made on the western division of the canal. This canal was laid out with a high degree of engineering skill.
On February 15, 1854, the Pennsylvania Railroad was formally opened between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and trains ran through all the way by rail. December 10, 1852, there was railroad connection made between the two points, with the exception of twenty-eight miles of portage a short distance east of Pittsburgh.
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CENTENNIAL EAST LIBERTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In 1816 the East Liberty steam mill, the first steam flour mill west of the Allegheny mountains, was erected by Mr. Negley at the present northeast corner of Penn and Collins avenues (the latter being long known as Mill street), which proved a great boon to the community. Previous to this time, milling through the country was done by rudely con- structed mills on small streams, which, in case of drought, became dry, and, consequently, the mill remained idle some- times for long periods, causing great inconvenience and suf- fering. With the advice of Mr. Cadwallader Evans, of Pittsburgh, the inventor of the high pressure steam engine, Mr. Negley established a steam mill, the machinery for which was brought from Philadelphia by wagon. The main part of the building was torn down about 1844 by Mr. George Evans, only a small shed remaining. About 1849, Mr. David Kuhn built a mill on what is now Collins avenue, a short distance to the northwest of the first one, and this later building, which is sometimes confused with the earlier mill, is the one which was converted into a building which, for many years, served as headquarters for the East Liberty Young Women's Christian Association.
The East Liberty of 1819, as depicted by early writers, presents a marked contrast to the East Liberty of today. It was composed largely of farms and grazing lands, with occa- sional fruit orchards and a few of the home surroundings under good cultivation, where formerly was a thick growth of white oak and hickory timber.
The population of Pittsburgh in 1820 is recorded as 7,248. The population of Allegheny County in 1821 is placed at 6,969 taxables.
Pittsburgh had been brought into prominence as a political factor in the affairs of the nation owing to the part played by her manufacturers during the War of 1812. The un- settled condition of the tariff question and other circumstances following the War of 1812, however, brought about the seri- ous financial crisis of 1819-'20, which was one of the con- tributing causes to the delay in the organization of East Liberty Church. This era is memorable as the time when action was
IO
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PRELUDE AND THREADS OF HISTORY
being formulated which resulted in the declaration of the famous Monroe Doctrine.
This brief summary of conditions and influences in the his- tory of East Liberty which contributed to the founding of this congregation, has been deemed essential to an intelligent understanding of the history of this Church, and leads us to the event of November 18, 1818, when there was started what in modern parlance we would call a campaign to raise subscriptions for a church building.
A very clear record of this transaction is on file, with the names of eighty-nine subscribers, the sums ranging from three dollars to one hundred dollars, only two contributions, how- ever, of the latter sum being recorded, with one of sixty dol- lars, and seven of fifty dollars each, the remainder being in smaller amounts, the total amount being $1,561.621/2. The following are the names of the subscribers, a few of whom gave because of their interest in the worthy cause, and their friendship for its promoters, rather than through any per- sonal association with the proposed church :
JACOB NEGLEY
JAMES GARRISON
ALEX THOMPSON, SR.
JAMES FLEMING
ALEX THOMPSON, JR.
GEORGE McCOMBS
CASPER NEGLEY
DAVID BERLIN
DAVID EAKIN
WM. FULLER
JOHN FLUCK
HENRY ATKINSON
SOLOMON BERLIN
DAVID KENNEDY
JOHN KENNEDY
CHRIS CLEM
JAMES ROSS
CHARLES SEELY
DAVID IRWIN
F. WARMCASTLE, SR.
JOHN GIBSON
HENRY KING
JOHN ROUP
JAS. STEVENSON
JAMES JONES WM. HAMILTON
JOHN EWALT
WM. B. FOSTER
FRED FLUCK
F. WARMCASTLE, JR.
JOSHUA ROSS
CHRIS KAUFMAN
WM. PEEBLES
JOHN McDONALD
JAMES CLARK JOHN FRICKMAN FRED STONER
SAMUEL H. SCOTT MORGAN NEVILLE
EPHRAIM JORDAN
JOHN LAFABOR
SAMUEL PEEBLES
JOHN FERREE
SAMUEL McCREA
JAMES BROWN
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