USA > Pennsylvania > A pioneer outline history of northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 27
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" Mr. Jamieson was a man of decided abilities, and of some theological attainments; so that his presbytery placed their theological students under his care, and Alexander Porter, Alexander McCoy, and David Proudfit were at this time pursuing their studies with him."-Big Spring Church History.
" Nothing daunted, the Rev. John Jamieson wrote a book defending his views and the old-time customs of his Church. Also he continued to preach as an independent till near the day of his death. The country being new, he preached from settlement to settlement. For roads he had forest paths ; bridges there were none, and in devotion to duty he braved alike the beasts of the forest, the summer's heat, and the winter's cold. Truly his was the ' voice of one crying in the wilderness;' in the wilderness, crying almost daily somewhere for thirty-six years, either in the open air, in the cabin, in the woods, in the log barn, or in the log church.
" From 1783 to at least 1816 he went about his Master's business. Money he did not need, for every cabin door was opened wide to him, while his wife and family were busy at his own cabin raising food, scutching, spinning, weaving, knitting, and making the family home-spun clothing.
" Of the twenty-six religious bodies in Pennsylvania that Rev. John Jamieson organized through his personality, twenty-four of them are to-day strong. wealthy United Presbyterian churches, and are under the jurisdiction
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of one of the following presbyteries,-viz., Big Spring, Westmoreland, Cone- maugh, or Monongahela. Of the two remaining organizations, one is a Cove- nanter church at Alexandria, Westmoreland County, and the other is the Covenanter church at Clarksburg, Indiana County.
"Rev. John Jamieson was six feet three inches high, and dignified in bearing. Mentally he was able, thoroughly educated, and possessed won- derful vigor, energy, and endurance. His voice was strong, clear, and far reaching ; his oratory magnetic, holding the attention of his hearers as well through a long service as a short one. He was courteous, imperious, self- willed, quick-tempered, ultra-conservative, and hyper-Calvinistic.
" Although by inheritance possessing considerable wealth, he gave him- self incessantly to ministerial duties. By his commanding presence, by his ingenuous and fearless honesty, and by his ability, he became the leader gen- erally of all clear-headed and honest people in the fields of labor; and was dreaded by all dishonest and time-serving persons whether in business, church, or state. He was characterized by his abhorrence of all shams and carnal policy, and by morality and kindness to the poor. He was frugal and tem- perate. He labored for the good of the community. He was a prominent leader in the formation of Indiana County. To aid in the civil interests of Indiana County, he contracted for the erection of the first county jail.
" He served as county commissioner for Indiana County for the years 1809, 1810, and 1811. He was actively engaged in educational matters, and was one of the pioneer trustees for the Indiana Academy, incorporated March 28, 1814. I find in his diary that he was actively and regularly preaching in and around Kittanning from 1813 to January 8, 1815; in Freeport region, in 1813-14; and what is now West Union, and in Conemaugh, Plumville, and Crete, up to 1816. His services in these years were held in cabins and barns and log churches. His pioneer home farm in Conemaugh Township, Indiana County, was first assessed to him in Indiana County, in 1805, along with two horses and three cows, valued at seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars. This homestead of two hundred and seventy-six acres continued to be occupied by and assessed to him until 1818, when he removed to within a mile of Crete, where he lived until he died, March 12, 1821, at the age of seventy-four years, and was buried at Crete church, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. His Cone- maugh property, after 1818, became the Archibald Coleman homestead, and is now owned by William Irwin and occupied by a tenant."
THE CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
This church originated in a religious camp-meeting held in Kentucky and Tennessee in 1801-03. In 1810 these religious enthusiasts organized themselves into a distinct and separate body. In 1860 they had seventeen synods, forty-eight presbyteries, one thousand churches, three hundred min- isters, and one hundred thousand members.
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THE PRESBYTERIAN WAS THE PIONEER CHURCH IN THIS WILDERNESS
The pioneer Presbyterian preaching in America was in Philadelphia, in 1698. In 1704 they erected a frame church on Market Street, and called it Buttonwood. The pioneer presbytery was in Philadelphia about the year 1705. In 1716 the pioneer synod was held, with the representation of twenty- five churches. In 1729 the Westminster Confession and Catechisms were formally adopted. In 1741 a schism on educational questions took place, but was healed in 1758. The first General Assembly met in 1789, and the con- fession and catechisms were again adopted, with some slight changes.
Presbyterianism, David's Psalms, and the Catechism was the pioneer service and creed in all this wilderness. The usual salary of a minister in pioneer days was four hundred dollars a year for full time. This was gen- erally divided among two or more churches.
PIONEER BAPTIST CHURCH IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 1780-1850
" In most of the colonies the Baptists were persecuted. In Rhode Island they were especially numerous. They had much to do with that agitation for religious liberty which culminated in the passage of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In 1762 there were fifty-six Bap- tist churches in the region now occupied by the United States ; in 1792, 1000; in 1812, 2433 ; in 1832, 5322; in 1852, 9500."
The pioneer Baptist preaching in Pennsylvania was at Cold Spring, Bucks County, in 1684, by Rev. Thomas Dungan. This church died in 1702.
The pioneer Baptist preacher to have services in what is now Cameron, Elk, Forest, and Jefferson Counties was the Rev. Jonathan Nichols, who settled on the Turley farm, above Weedville, in 1817, then Clearfield County. In 1821 he moved to Brandycamp, now Elk County. As a clergyman his ministrations were generally well accepted, and his meetings were as well attended as could be in a country so sparsely settled ; people frequently went six or eight miles to meeting. In the winter their carriages were sleds drawn by oxen; in the summer men, women, and children could walk nine or ten miles and home again the same day. Rev. Jonathan Nichols was a regu- larly ordained Baptist minister, and an educated physician. He migrated to what is now Elk County from Connecticut. He died in 1846, aged seventy- one years. His wife Hannah died in 1859, aged eighty-two years. His home was the late P. B. Little farm on Brandycamp. As a physician his labors were extended, and his ministry was well received by the scattered people of all beliefs. For a while he clung to the close communion, but, owing to the different beliefs adhered to by his hearers, he, after a few years, invited all Christian people who attended his services to the "Lord's table." His daughter told me his heart would not let him do otherwise. One who knew him well wrote of him: " He was a generous, kind-hearted gentleman, genial and urbane in his manners, with a helping hand ready to assist the needy.
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and had kind words to comfort the sorrowing." Winter's snow never de- terred him from pastoral work or visits to the sick.
PIONEER ORGANIZATION OF THE CLARION BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, HELD AT BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, JUNE I AND 2, 1838
On Friday, June 1, 1838, pursuant to adjournment, the Association con- vened in Brookville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Rev. Thomas Wilson preached the introductory sermon, from Job thirty-third chapter and twenty- fourth verse. The moderator and clerk of the preparatory meeting of 1837 took their seats, and, after prayer by Rev. Samuel D. Morris, of Brookville, the letters from churches were read, and the names of the ministers and messengers present were enrolled. Each church was entitled to four mes- sengers.
The following churches were represented: Zion church, Armstrong County (constituted June 21, 1821), by Rev. Thomas E. Thomas and Rev. S. Messenger, ordained ministers ; messengers, or lay delegates, Amos Wil- liams, William Corbet, and William Frampton; post-office, Strattonville, Pennsylvania. Red Bank church, Armstrong County (constituted May, 1837), by Rev. Thomas Wilson, ordained minister ; messengers, I. Moor- head, T. Buzard, J. Putney; post-office, Red Bank, Pennsylvania. Ma- honing church, Indiana County (constituted April, 1830), by Rev. Thomas Wilson, ordained minister; messengers, Jacob Keel, Thompson Hays; post-office, Smicksburg, Pennsylvania. Brookville church, Jefferson County (constituted May, 1837), by Rev. Samuel D. Morris, licensed minister ; messengers, Michael Troy, James M. Craig, William Humphrey ; post-office, Brookville, Pennsylvania. Gethsemane church, now Allens Mills, Jefferson County (constituted June, 1834), by Rev. Samuel Miles, ordained minister ; messenger, G. Wilson; post-office, Brookville, Pennsylvania. Curwensville church, Clearfield County (constituted August, 1836), by no minister ; mes- senger, N. Lawhead; post-office, Curwensville, Pennsylvania.
Brother Amos Williams was then chosen moderator, and Samuel D. Morris, of Brookville, clerk. Brothers Miles, Wilson, Williams, and Morris were appointed a committee to arrange the business and preaching for this session.
The Association was called Clarion, I suppose because " Clarion" means " a trumpet of a clear, shrill tone." Clarion County was not formed until March 11, 1839.
A constitution for the Association was adopted, Articles of Faith an- nounced and promulgated, and Rules of Decorum for the Association adopted, " and to be read at the opening of every session and left on the table for the perusal of the members." It was further agreed, that " the next meeting of the Association be held with Zion church, Armstrong (now Clarion) County, on Friday preceding the first Lord's day in October, 1839." Rev. Samuel
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Miles to preach the introductory sermon at that time, and Rev. Thomas Wilson to write the circular letter.
The following sums were received for printing minutes,-viz., Zion church, two dollars and fifty cents; Red Bank church, one dollar and fifty cents ; Mahoning church, one dollar and seventy-five cents; Brookville church, one dollar; Gethsemane, one dollar and fifty cents; and Curwens- ville, one dollar. William Frampton was appointed treasurer; William King, Jr., to be stated clerk for the Association, post-office, Greenville, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania (now Limestone, Clarion County, Pennsylvania). Brother James M. Craig was authorized to have three hundred copies of the minutes printed, and to distribute them. Several resolutions in regard to missionary work, religious periodicals, etc., were read and adopted.
PIONEER LUTHERAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYL-
VANIA, 1780-1850
The pioneer Lutheran preaching in North America was in what is now New York (then New Amsterdam), in 1624. This service had to be held in a private house, and, as there was no religious liberty in that colony then, some of these early Lutherans who attended this service were imprisoned, and the pastor sent back to Holland. In 1638 a colony of Swedes settled at what is now Wilmington, Delaware. They erected a fort, called it Christina, and in the chapel of that fort celebrated their religious services in 1639, the Rev. Reorus Torkillus being the pastor. It was not, however, until 1742 that the church was really organized in America. On September 25, 1742, the Rev .. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a missionary, and commenced his work. He is considered the patriarch of the church in North America. The pioneer synod was held in Philadelphia in 1748.
PIONEER METHODISM
" This denomination first assumed its present name at the conference held in 1784. Previous to that time the scattered followers of this belief had met in societies, like those established in Great Britain by Rev. John Wesley. At the same conference the church was organized for missionary and pioneer work under charge of bishops sent to this country by Mr. Wesley, who was recognized as the spiritual father of the denomination. Its success during the next few years was remarkable. The zeal and energy of its preachers and the work of the lay members brought about within sixteen years an increase of membership and preachers almost fourfold. This church was the first officially to acknowledge the United States Constitution, and was very active in every antislavery movement. The first session of its Gen- eral Conference was held in 1792, at which time the membership was about one hundred and ninety-five thousand. In 1843 the abolitionist party in the
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church withdrew in dissatisfaction and founded the Wesleyan Methodist con- nection. Two years later the Southern Methodists, dissatisfied in their turn, separated and formed the Methodist Episcopal Church South."-Dictionary United States History.
On March 7, 1736, John Wesley preached the pioneer Methodist sermon in America, in Savannah, Georgia. Another early Methodist service in the United States was conducted in New York city by a Mr. Embury, aided and assisted by Barbara Heck. Barbara Heck emigrated from Ireland to New York in 1765. From her zeal, activity, and pious work as a Christian she is called the mother of American Methodism. Methodism was intro- duced into Pennsylvania in 1767 by Captain Thomas Webb, a soldier in the British army. Web was a preacher, and is called the apostle of American Methodism. In 1767 he visited Philadelphia, preached, and formed a class of seven persons. The first Annual Conferences of the Methodist Church held in America were in Philadelphia,-viz., in the years 1773, 1774, and 1775. After this year all Conferences were held in Baltimore, Maryland, until the organization of the Church in the New World.
The pioneer Methodist preaching in Pennsylvania was in Philadelphia, in a sail-loft near Second and Dock Streets. St. John's Church was established in 1769. Methodism was to be found in Philadelphia in 1772, York in 1781, Wilkesbarre in 1778, Williamsport in 1791, and in Pittsburg in 1801.
The pioneer Sunday-school in the world was opened at Glencastle, in England, in 1781, by Robert Raikes. The idea was suggested to him by a young woman, who afterwards became Sophia Bradburn. This lady assisted him in the opening of the first school. The pioneer Sunday-schools were started in the New World in 1790 by an official ordinance of the Methodist Conference establishing Sunday-schools to instruct poor children, white and black : " Let persons be appointed by the bishops, elders, deacons, or preachers to teach (gratis) all that will attend and have a capacity to learn, from six o'clock in the morning till ten, and from two o'clock in the afternoon until six, when it does not interfere with public worship."
The Methodist Church was really the first temperance organization in America. The general rules of the society prohibited the use of liquor as a beverage. Other modern temperance organizations are supposed to have their beginning about 1811. But little was done after this period outside of the churches for about twenty-five years.
Rev. William Watters was the pioneer American, itinerant, Methodist preacher. He was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, October 16, 1751.
Until 1824 Western Pennsylvania, or " all west of the Susquehanna River, except the extreme northern part, was in the Baltimore Conference." In 1824 the Pittsburg Conference was organized, and our wilderness came under its jurisdiction. In 1833 the first Methodist paper under the authority of the church was started. It was in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and the paper
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is now called the Pittsburg Christian Advocate. In 1836 the Erie Con- ference was formed.
Methodism in Northwestern Pennsylvania has been, first, in the Balti- more Conference; second, in the Pittsburg Conference; and is now in the Erie Conference.
The Methodists were slow in making an inroad in the northwest. The ground had been occupied by other denominations, and a hostile and bitter prejudice existed against the new " sect."
The pay of the pioneer Methodist ministers and preachers, and for their wives and children, was as follows :
" 1800 .- ' I. The annual salary of the travelling preachers shall be eighty dollars and their travelling expenses.
"'2. The annual allowance of the wives of travelling preachers shall be eighty dollars.
"' 3. Each child of a travelling preacher shall be allowed sixteen dollars annually to the age of seven years, and twenty-four dollars annually from the age of seven to fourteen years; nevertheless, this rule shall not apply to the children of preachers whose families are provided for by other means in their circuits respectively.
"'4. The salary of the superannuated, worn-out, and supernumerary preachers shall be eighty dollars annually.
"'5. The annual allowance of the wives of superannuated, worn-out, and supernumerary preachers shall be eighty dollars.
"'6. The annual allowance of the widows of travelling, superannuated, worn-out, and supernumerary preachers shall be eighty dollars.
"'7. The orphans of travelling, superannuated, worn-out, and super- numerary preachers shall be allowed by the Annual Conference, if possible, by such means as they can devise, sixteen dollars annually.'
" 1804 .- The following inserted in clause 3, before 'nevertheless': 'and those preachers whose wives are dead shall be allowed for each child annually a sum sufficient to pay the board of such child or children during the above term of years.'
" The following added at the close of the section :
"'8. Local preachers shall be allowed a salary in certain cases as men- tioned.'
" 1816 .- ' The allowance of all preachers and their wives raised to one hundred dollars.'
" 1824 .- Under clause 2 (allowance to wives) it is added, 'But this provision shall not apply to the wives of those preachers who were single when they were received for trial, and marry under four years, until the expiration of said four years.'
" 1828 .- The seventh clause (relating to orphans) was altered so as to read as follows :
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"'7. The orphans of travelling, supernumerary, superannuated, and worn-out preachers shall be allowed by the Annual Conferences the same sums respectively which are allowed to the children of living preachers. And on the death of a preacher, leaving a child or children without so much of worldly goods as should be necessary to his or her or their support, the Annual Conference of which he was a member shall raise, in such manner as may be deemed best, a yearly sum for the subsistence and education of such orphan child or children, until he, she, or they shall have arrived at fourteen years of age, the amount of which yearly sum shall be fixed by the committee of the Conference at each session in advance.'
" 1832 .- The following new clause was inserted :
"'8. The more effectually to raise the amount necessary to meet the above-mentioned allowance, let there be made weekly class collections in all our societies where it is practicable; and also for the support of missions and missionary schools under our care.'
" 1836 .- The regulation respecting those who marry 'under four years' was struck out, and bishops mentioned by name as standing on the same footing as other travelling preachers. Clauses 1, 2, 4, and 5 thrown into two, as follows :
"'I. The annual allowance of the married travelling supernumerary, and superannuated preachers and the bishops shall be two hundred dollars and their travelling expenses.
"'2. The annual allowance of the unmarried travelling, supernumerary, and superannuated preachers and the bishops shall be one hundred dollars and their travelling expenses.'
" The pioneer members were prohibited from wearing 'needless orna- ments, such as rings, earrings, lace, necklace, and ruffles.'"-Strickland's History of Discipline.
PIONEER AND EARLY CAMP-MEETINGS
The pioneer camp-meeting in this wilderness was held at Meadville, in the fall of 1826.
The pioneer camp-meeting in the United States was held, between 1800 and 1801, at Cane Ridge, in Kentucky. It was under the auspices of several different denominational ministers. The meeting was kept up day and night. It was supposed that there were in attendance during the meetings from twelve to twenty thousand people. Stands were erected through the woods, from which one, two, three, and four preachers would be addressing the thousands at the same time. It was at this place and from this time that our camp-meetings took their rise.
Evans, the Shaker historian, who is strong in the gift of faith, tells us that " the subjects of this work were greatly exercised in dreams, visions, revelations, and the spirit of the prophecy. In these gifts of the Spirit they
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saw and testified that the great day of God was at hand, that Christ was about to set up his kingdom on earth, and that this very work would terminate in the full manifestation of the latter day of glory."
From another authority, endowed perhaps with less fervor but with more of common sense, we get a description of these " exercises," which has a familiar ring that seems to bring it very near home. " The people remained on the ground day and night, listening to the most exciting sermons, and engaging in a mode of worship which consisted in alternate crying, laughing, singing, and shouting, accompanied with gesticulations of a most extraor- dinary character. Often there would be an unusual outcry, some bursting forth into loud ejaculations of thanksgiving, others exhorting their careless friends to ' turn to the Lord,' some struck with terror and hastening to escape, others trembling, weeping, and swooning away, till every appearance of life was gone and the extremities of the body assumed the coldness of a corpse. At one meeting not less than a thousand persons fell to the ground, apparently without sense or motion. It was common to see them shed tears plentifully about an hour before they fell. They were then seized with a general tremor, and sometimes they uttered one or two piercing shrieks in the moment of falling. This latter phenomenon was common to both sexes, to all ages, and to all sorts of characters.
" After a time these crazy performances in the sacred name of religion became so much a matter of course that they were regularly classified in categories as the rolls, the jerks, the barks, etc. The rolling exercise was effected by doubling themselves up, then rolling from one side to the other like a hoop, or in extending the body horizontally and rolling over and over in the filth like so many swine. The jerk consisted in violent spasms and twistings of every part of the body. Sometimes the head was twisted round so that the face was turned to the back, and the countenance so much dis- torted that not one of its features was to be recognized. When attacked by the jerks they sometimes hopped like frogs, and the face and limbs under- went the most hideous contortions. The bark consisted in throwing them- selves on all-fours, growling, showing their teeth, and barking like dogs. Sometimes a number of people crouching down in front of the minister con- tinued to bark as long as he preached. These last were supposed to be more especially endowed with the gifts of prophecy, dreams, rhapsodies, and visions of angels."
Exactly when the pioneer camp-meeting was held in Jefferson County is unknown to me. Darius Carrier advertised one in the Jeffersonian as early as 1836, to be held near Summerville. The first one I remember was near Brookville, on the North Fork, on land now owned by F. Swartzlander. Others were held near Roseville, and in Perry Township and kindred points. The rowdy element attended these services, and there was usually a good deal of disturbance from whiskey and fights, which, of course, greatly annoyed
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the good people. The first "Dutch camp-meeting" was held in what is now Ringgold Township. In fact, these German meetings were only aban- doned a few years ago. I reproduce a "Dutch camp-meeting hymn":
" CAMP-MEETING HYMN " Satan and I we can't agree, Halleo, halleolujah ! For I hate him and he hates me, Halleo, hallelujah !
" I do believe without a doubt, Halleo, hallelujah ! The Christian has a right to shout, Halleo, halleolujah !
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