USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > Faggs Manor > History of the Presbyterian Church of Fagg's Manor, Chester Co., Pa. 1730-1876 : a discourse delivered July 2, 1876 > Part 1
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HISTORY
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OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
OF
FAGG'S MANOR,
CHESTER CO., PA.
1730 --- 1876.
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A DISCOURSE DELIVERED JULY 2, 1876,
THE PASTOR,
Rev. W. B. NOBLE.
PARKESBURG, PA .: A. H. POTTS & CO., BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, . 1876.
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An Historical Discourse.
T HE historian is fortunate who has a worthy subject ; and in the preaching of a historical discourse, which our General Assembly has recommended to all its ministers, I deem myself highly favored in having for my theme the ancient and honored church of Fagg's Manor. Certainly, as members of this congregation, we have reason to be proud of our antecedents, and to cherish an ardent attachment toward our church. Though her home has always been amid the retirement of the country, Fagg's Manor has not been unknown to fame. Nor has she been without a benefi- cent and wide-reaching influence, for from her quiet shades have gone forth many men of God to spread abroad the knowledge of His truth, and build up in this and other lands the institutions of His kingdom. But it is not to foster our pride that I attempt to recount her story to-day, but to deepen our gratitude to God for what He hath wrought, to increase our love for the church in which our happy lot is cast, and to stimulate us to the godly lives and zealous labors of those who have gone before us. History is especially useful for its examples. It tells us what men have done, and shows what men can do again. It fires our minds with the enthusiasm of its heroes, and incites us to emulate their achievements. It calls upon us to be worthy successors of those who have gone before us, to rear a beautiful superstructure on the solid foundation they have laid, and to carry forward to its widest and highest consum- mation the work they have so gloriously begun.
Many circumstances combine to give interest to the history of this church. Its early origin, long and vigorous life, and continued prosperity ; the hallowed associations connected with the names of Blair, Tennent, Whitefield, Davies, White,
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Hamilton and other men of God who have trodden its ground and preached within its sacred precincts ; its con- nection with that wondrous revival of religion which one hundred and forty years ago pervaded the land, in which Fagg's Manor received its first baptism of the Holy Ghost, and its characteristic, not yet lost, of a REVIVAL church ; these are enough to make its history interesting to all Chris- tians, still more to Presbyterians, and most of all to those whose family names are engraved upon the tombstones of its cemetery, and whose privilege it is to inherit the rich legacy laid up by their ancestors' labors and prayers.
ORGANIZATION.
The carly settlers of this region, the founders of this church, were natives of the north of Ireland, or, as they are commonly called, the Scotch-Irish. Of the settlement of Scotch Presbyterians in Ireland, and the ensuing oppression of landlords and intolerance of the established church which drove multitudes of them from that country to this, it is not our province to speak. Suffice it to say that during the second quarter of the last century they were flocking to America in large companies, seeking here that civil and religious liberty, for the love of which they have always been distinguished. In 1728, 3,100 Presbyterians emigrated from Ireland; in 1729, the year before our church was organized, the number of such emigrants was 6,000, and before the middle of the century the rate was 12,000 per annum for three years. These emigrants landed at various ports, and spread over the country from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the Carolinas and Georgia. Those who settled this im- mediate region seem to have landed at Newcastle and other points in Delaware, and to have spread gradually north- ward along the beautiful streams which water the country.
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Wherever they went they carried with them their religion, and as soon as the cabins of pioneers began to multiply in any region, the house of God was reared in their midst, and congregations began to assemble themselves together. The church of Elk River, now called the Rock church, was founded in 1720, Upper Octorara in the same year, New London in 1726, and at last when the country was thickly enough settled to justify an organization between Octorara and New London, which were fourteen miles apart, Fagg's Manor was founded in 1730. It is said" New London opposed the organization of this church, fearing that the country could not support two churches which were only six miles apart. The prosperity of both churches for a century and a half has proved the fear to be groundless.
At what place the first preaching service was held by this congregation, or at what time the first house of worship was erected are matters of some uncertainty. There is a tradi- tion+ that the first sermon was preached at Cochranville, or where that village has since grown up. But the first house of worship was undoubtedly erected upon the present church property, although the land upon which it stood was not purchased until 1742 when the congregation was about to rebuild, and a deed was not secured until 1759. The tract of land from the north-west corner of which the church property was cut off, comprised five thousand acres and allowance, and was granted by William Penn to his daughter Letitia, afterwards Mrs. Aubrey. In honor of Sir John Fagg, a relative of the Penn family, it was called Fagg's Manor, or Sir John Fagg's Manor. Hence the name of the church. It was at first called New Londonderry, from the township in which it is located, but this name soon gave place to Fagg's Manor, by which it has been known ever since. The large tract of land just mentioned descended from Mrs. Aubrey to her nephew William Penn, from him
*Webster.
tMr. David Hayes received it from his father.
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to his daughter Christiana Gulielma Penn, who conveyed to the trustees of this church 9 acres and 28 perches of land for a consideration of seven pounds sterling.
Organized in 1730, the church was without a pastor for nearly ten years. Ministers of the gospel were few and scarce. In the rapid growth of the country, and the open- ing up of new fields of labor, the supply could not keep pace with the demand, especially when the main source of supply was far away beyond the sea. In 1734 the congre- gation earnestly petitioned the Associate Presbytery of Edinburgh, Scotland, to send them a minister or a candidate for settlement. But the Presbytery replied that they were unable to grant the request .* At last, nine years after the founding of the church, God sent to His people a man after His own heart; and it is to this day the pride of Fagg's Manor church, that her first pastor was one of the greatest and best men of the land, one who had few equals and no superiors even in that galaxy of illustrious names which illuminated the wondrous era of revival in which he lived- the gifted and godly Samuel Blair.
Rev. SAMUEL BLAIR.
FIRST PASTOR.
. He was born in Ireland, June 14, 1712, and came to America in early youth. He received his classical and theological education in the school of Rev. Wm. Tennent, Sr., at Neshaminy, Bucks county, Pa., a school which became widely celebrated as the "Log College," and which was the Alma Mater of some of the most illustrious ministers of that day. Having finished his studies at this school, Mr. Blair was licensed at Abingdon, Pa., November 9, 1733, by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. In 1734, when he was only
*McKerrow's History of Scottish church, via Webster.
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twenty-two years of age, he became pastor of the churches of Middletown and Shrewsbury, N. J. He does not seem to have met with much success in that field of labor, "the people of both his congregations being very irreligious."
In the year 1739 a very earnest call was extended to him by the church of Fagg's Manor, and the Presbytery of New Brunswick, of which he was a member, and to which he referred the matter for decision, "after mature deliberation advised him to accept the call, as they were of opinion it would introduce him into a wider field of usefulness." Ac- cordingly he was dismissed to the Presbytery of Newcastle, commenced his labors here in the beginning of November, and was installed the following April, (1740).
It was not to be expected that a congregation which had been for ten years without a pastor, and dependent for reli- gious instruction upon occasional supplies, would evince a high degree either of knowledge or piety. Mr. Blair describes the state of religion at his coming as low. He says, "religion lay as it were a-dying." But he found a people awaiting him who were hungering for the bread of life, ready to give serious and thoughtful attention to his words. And soon his labors were crowned with glorious success. He had preached here but four months, and was not yet formally installed, when a powerful revival of religion began to be experienced, one of the waves of that tide of revival which swept the country from Massachusetts to Georgia, and which has made the names of Whitefield, Tennent and Blair famous in the history of American Pres- byterianism.
Historians love to describe the great and decisive battles of their country, to linger upon every detail which adds lustre to their heroes, to fire their readers with an enthu- siasm which shall induce imitation of heroic deeds. And since in this great victory and wide-reaching conquest of the Redeemer's kingdom, Fagg's Manor was one of the earliest and most glorious battle-grounds, we shall do well
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to linger for a little time upon the story of what God wrought for his people here.
We are so fortunate as to have a narrative of this great revival at Fagg's Manor, from Mr. Blair's own pen. It was written about four years after the revival for publication in the "Christian History," a religious magazine printed at Boston. It would be most satisfactory to quote this narra- tive entire, but time will permit extracts only. After speak- ing of the previous low state of religion, Mr. Blair says: "It was in the spring Anno Domini 1740, when the God of Salvation was pleased to visit us with the blessed effusions of his Holy Spirit in an eminent manner. The first very open and public appearance of this gracious visitation in these parts, was in the congregation which God has com- mitted to my charge. The congregation has not been erected above fourteen or fifteen years from this time ;* the place is a new settlement, generally settled with people from Ireland, (all our congregations in Pennsylvania except two or three, chiefly are made up of people from that kingdom). I am the first minister they have ever had settled in the place. Having been regularly liberated from my former charge in East Jersey, above one hundred miles north-east- ward from hence, (the Rev. Presbytery of New Brunswick, of which I had the comfort of being a member, judging it to be my duty for sundry reasons to remove from thence), at the earnest invitation of the people here I came to them in the beginning of November, 1739, accepted a call from them that winter, and was formally installed and settled . amongst them as their minister the April following. There were some hopefully pious people here at my first coming, which was a great encouragement and comfort to me. I had some view and sense of the deplorable condition of the land in general; and accordingly the scope of my preaching. through that first winter after I came here, was mainly calculated for persons in a natural, unregenerate estate. I
*The narrative is dated August 6, 1744.
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endeavored, as the Lord enabled me, to open up and prove from His word the truths which I judged most necessary for such as were in that state to know and believe, in order to their conviction and conversion. I endeavored to deal searchingly and solemnly with them; and through the concurring blessing of God, I had knowledge of four or five brought under deep convictions that winter. In the begin- ning of March, I took a journey into East Jersey and was abroad for two or three Sabbaths. A neighboring minister who seemed to be earnest for the awakening and conversion of secure sinners, and whom I had obtained to preach a Sabbath to my people in my absence, preached to them, I think, on the first Sabbath after I left home *. His subject was the dangerous and awful case of such as continue unre- generate and unfruitful under the means of grace. The text was Luke xiii: 7. 'Then said he to the dresser of his vinyard, behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none; cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?' Under that sermon there was a visible appearance of much soul-concern among the hearers, so that some burst out with an audible noise into bitter crying (a thing not known in those parts before).
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The news of this very public appearance of deep soul-concern among my people, met me one hun- dred miles from home. I was very joyful to hear of it, in hopes that God was about to carry on an extensive work of converting grace among them. And the first sermon I preached after my return to them was from Matt. vi: 33. 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.' After opening up and explaining the parts of the text, when in the improvement I came to press the injunction in the text upon the unconverted and ungodly, and offered this as one reason among others why they should now henceforth
*This minister is supposed to have been either Mr. Craighead, afterwards famous in North Carolina; or Mr. Gillespie. - Foote.
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first of all seek the kingdom and righteousness of God, viz: that they had neglected too, too long to do so already; this consideration seemed to come and cut like a sword upon several in the congregation, so that while I was speaking upon it they could no longer contain, but burst out in the most bitter mourning. I desired them, as much as possible, to restrain themselves from making a noise that would hinder themselves or others from hearing what was spoken. And often afterwards I had occasion to repeat the same counsel. I still advised people to endeavor to moderate and bound their passions, but not so as to resist or stifle their convic- tions. The number of the awakened increased very fast ; frequently under sermons there were some newly convicted and brought into deep distress of soul about their perishing estate. Our Sabbath assemblies soon became vastly large, many people from almost all parts around inclining very much to come where there was such appearance of the divine power and presence. I think there was scarcely a sermon or lecture preached here through that whole summer but there were manifest evidences of impressions on the hearers, and many times the impressions were very great and general; several would be overcome and fainting; others deeply sobbing, hardly able to contain; others crying in the most dolorous manner; many others more silently weeping, and a solemn concern appearing in the counte- nance of many others. And sometimes the soul-exercises of some (though comparatively but very few) would so far affect their bodies as to occasion some strange, unusual bodily motions. I had opportunities of speaking particu- larly with a great many of those who afforded such outward tokens of inward soul-concern in the time of public worship and hearing of the word; indeed many came to me of themselves in their distress for private instruction and counsel; and I found, so far as I can remember, that with by far the greater part their apparent concern in public was
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not just a transient qualm of conscience, or merely a floating commotion of the affections, but a rational, fixed conviction of their dangerous, perishing estate."
The "Narrative" goes on to describe at considerable length the general results of this awakening, the seriousness and thoughtfulness of the people, their attention to the study of the Bible and other good books, strict observance of the Sabbath, religious conversation, an eagerness for preaching, which induced extra services on week days, etc. It then gives a statement of the general scope of Mr. Blair's preaching during this interesting period, which deserves quoting, both as an evidence of the soundness and clearness of his own views, and as an example worthy of imitation by all ministers of the word. It is as follows: "The main scope of my preaching through that summer was, laying open the deplorable state of man by nature since the fall, our ruined, exposed case by the breach of the first covenant, and the awful condition of such as were not in Christ, giving the marks and characters of such as were in that condition ; and moreover, laying open the way of recovery in the new covenant, through a Mediator, with the nature and necessity of faith in Christ the Mediator, etc. I labored much on the last mentioned heads, that people might have right appre- hensions of the gospel method of life and salvation. I treated much on the way of a sinner's closing with Christ by faith, and obtaining a right peace to an awakened, wounded conscience; showing that persons were not to take peace to themselves on account of their repentings, sorrows, prayers and reformations, nor to make these things the grounds of their adventuring themselves upon Christ and His righteousness, and of their expectations of life by Him ; and, that neither were they to obtain or seek peace in extra- ordinary ways, by visions, dreams or immediate inspirations; but by an understanding view and believing persuasion of the way of life, as revealed in the gospel, through the surety- ship, obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ, with a view
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of the suitableness and sufficiency of that mediatory right- eousness of Christ for the justification and life of law-con- demned sinners; and thereupon freely accepting Him for their Savior, heartily consenting to and being well pleased with that way of salvation, and venturing their all upon His mediation, from the warrant and encouragement afforded of God thereunto in His word, by His free offer, authoritative command, and sure promise to those that so believe. I en- deavored to show the fruits and evidences of a true faith, etc."
An account is also given of some special cases among the converts, among others that of a gentleman named Hanse Kirkpatrick, who had subsequently been made an elder in the church, and who died triumphantly in May, 1744, shortly before this narrative was written. And-showing the interest of this faithful shepherd in the lambs of the flock, in an age when the conversion of children was regarded with more suspicion than at present-the experience of two little girls is recited, aged respectively nine and seven years, with whom the pastor conversed frequently, and in whose piety he had entire confidence. He adds, "there are likewise other young ones in the place of whom I know nothing to the contrary, but what they continue hopeful and religious to this day."
The narrative is attested by the elders of the church, an attestation valuable to us as giving the names of the session at that time. The names are James Cochran, John Ramsay, John Love, John Smith, John Simson and William Boyd. Appended is the following postscript: "One of our elders not having had an opportunity of seeing this letter before it was sent away, his name is not here subscribed." We are curious to know what the missing name was, that we may complete the roll of session, but are in doubt. It was probably John Hayes. All these names are held in honor among us, and with the exception of Simson are still familiar patronymics in the congregation. The families who bear them have been devoted and efficient friends of
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the church in all its history, and have furnished many men of intelligence and piety to sit in the session, or conduct the temporal concerns of the church.
During this season of precious revival, the evangelist George Whitefield preached at Fagg's Manor upon two occasions. One was on a Thursday in the month of May (1740), the other on Saturday, the 22d of November of the same year. On both occasions there was an immense mul- titude present. At his first visit the crowd was estimated at twelve thousand. The interest was intense. "Look where I would," writes Whitefield in his journal, "most were drowned in tears. The 'word was sharper than a two- edged sword.' . Their bitter cries and tears were enough to pierce the hardest heart. Oh, what different visages were then to be seen! Some were struck as pale as death,- others lying on the ground,-others wringing their hands,- others sinking into the arms of their friends,-and most lifting up their eyes to heaven, and crying out to God for mercy. I could think of nothing when I looked at them so much as the great day. They seemed like persons awakened by the last trump and coming out of their graves to judg- ment."
Of the schism which rent the Presbyterian church in America soon after this great revival, we may not speak at length. It was brought about partly by difference of views as to the qualifications of candidates for the ministry, partly by circumstances connected with the revival *. There was no controversy between the two parties on doctrinal points. The separation occurred in 1741. Many congregations were rent in twain. At Upper Octorara for example, the two meeting houses of the Old Side and New Side frowned at each other across the road. New London, whose pastor, Rev. Francis Alison, was one of the leaders of the Old Side party, went bodily with that branch. And Fagg's Manor, following the lead of its pastor, went with the New Side.
*For an incident at Fagg's Manor see Webster pp. 147.
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Samuel Blair was a leading spirit of the New Side party. Possessing brilliant talents and commanding eloquence, he had, although quite young, attained wonderful popularity and influence. He was moreover a man of sterling piety and sound judgment. In the controversy he pressed to the very fore-front of the battle, and did more than any other of his party, unless perhaps we except Rev. Gilbert Tennent, to bring about the rupture. In this his elders, James Cochran and John Ramsay, who represented the church at two successive meetings of Synod, stood by him as faithful henchmen, the former putting his name to a protest against the exactions of the Old Side party, and the latter marching out of the house with the New Side upon their withdrawal from the Synod.
It is hard for the Presbyterian church to stay divided. That old controversy is remembered only by the student of history. The rent was soon made whole. Greater and wider separations have, since that time, divided the church, but they could not last; those which remain must soon yield to the spirit of union which pervades the whole body. Possessing independence of spirit, depth and earnestness of conviction, and firmness bordering upon obstinacy, Presby -. terians are more ready for war than most denominations of Christians. But when the way opens for reconciliation, no people are more ready for peace, and few as sincere and cordial in the burial of past differences. We value that stern conscientiousness of Presbyterians, which makes them fight, rather than be unfaithful to their convictions of truth or duty: we hold above all price that undying brotherly love, whose mighty influence reaches across every breach, and binds the whole body together in one.
It is to be regretted that Mr. Blair did not live to see the healing of this division. Had he lived, we would no doubt have had from him such expressions of regret and concilia- tion as we have from his coadjutor, Gilbert Tennent. But foreseeing its probability before he died, he did not oppose
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it; and exhorted his people in his last advice to "be not obstinate against the union, nor thereupon separate from the church, or endeavor to make any rent or schism in it."
Our first pastor was great, not only as a preacher, but as a teacher. Following the example of his illustrious pre- ceptor, he established here at Fagg's Manor a school for the training of godly young men for the ministry. This school became very popular, and was the Alma Mater of some of the most illustrious divines of the last century. Here were educated such men as Rev. Samuel Davies, the eloquent preacher and learned president of Princeton College; Rev. John Rodgers, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian church of New York city; Rev. James Finley, Rev. Hugh Henry, Rev. Robert Smith, and others who have exerted a wide and beneficent influence. Of this part of Mr. Blair's work it would be pleasant to speak more at length. It was a mighty instrument of good in his hands. Who can estimate the service rendered to the world in the training of even one godly minister to preach the gospel? But from Fagg's Manor there went forth not one but many, and these men of talent and devotion, who had imbibed the learning, and caught the spirit of their illustrious teacher, whose names have become famous in the church's history, and whose labors were of inestimable service in establishing the Re- deemer's kingdom in this land. "These were giants in those days."
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