USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Centennial biography : Men of mark of Cumberland Valley, Pa., 1776-1876 > Part 10
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Mr. Craighead, like nearly every other Presbyterian minister in the Cumberland valley, and indeed in this country, was an earnest patriot in the war for Independence. He could scarcely have been different, descended as he was from a Scotch-Irish ancestry, who in Scotland, Ireland, and in this country, were ever foremost in their resistance to all forms of oppression, and in their maintenance of civil and religious liberty. His uncle, Rev. Alexander Craighead, at as carly a period as 1742, while residing in Lancaster county, published such advanced sentiments on the subject of political freedom that he incurred the displeasure of the Governor of the Province, and also of his fellow ministers; so that he finally removed to North Carolina, where his opinions and teaching were said to have been more influential than those of any other individual in the final production of the celebrated Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence.
The zeal and devotion of the subject of this sketch in his country's cause was similarly noteworthy. It is said of him that "he fought and preached alternately;" referring to his acting as captain of his company, when on the march and in the battle, and in camp, dis- charging the duties of chaplain to his soldiers.
Referring to a large oak tree which stood at the entrance to the mansion of one of his parishioners, Mr. Sharp, a writer# says: " Here also, in the early days of the Revolution, the brave and gifted Craig- head gathered the men of this remote part of his congregation, and standing under its majestic branches, addressed them in favour of American Independence. In thrilling tones he exhorted his members to stand up boldly and let their slogan cry, "God and Liberty," forever ring from mountain to mountain. Roused by his fervid eloquence and patriotic example, they enlisted in defence of liberty, and their names may be found amongst those slaughtered at the "Paoli" and the " Billet;" who suffered at Valley Forge, and who fought at Brandywine, Monmouth, and other battles."
Still another writer states that he preached " in glowing terms, Jests Christ, the only hope of salvation, and after the delivery of his sacred message, in eloquent and patriotic strains exhorted the youth of his congregation to rise up and join the noble band, then engaged under the immortal Washington, in struggling to free our beloved country from British oppression." On one of these occasions the patriot
* C. J. McClay, M. D.
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preacher declaimed in such fervid and powerful terms respecting the evils his country was enduring, and presented such a description of each man's duty that " the whole congregation rose from their seats and declared their willingness to march to the conflict."
Besides inspiring others with courage and resolution, as is further evinced by a sermon still preserved in the Presbyterian Historical Society entitled, " Courage in a Good Cause," preached before Col. Montgomery's Battalion, August 31, 1775, Mr. Craighead, at the commencement of the war, "raised a company from the members of his own congregation, put himself at their head, and joined Washing- ton's army in New Jersey." In many hard fought battles this clerical captain and his men "gave undoubted evidence that their courage was of no mean order."
The bold and faithful pastor subsequently returned to his congrega- tion, and watched over it until increasing infirmities, and finally death severed the endearing relation.
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REV. JOHN STEEL.
HE first notice we find respecting Mr. Steel is in the minutes of the Presbytery of Donegal for May 25th, 1736, when "the principal members" of the congregation of Nottingham "agree to carry into execution a method for supporting John Paton and John Steel." In 1742 he is called by the commission of the Synod of Philadelphia, "a probationer from Ireland, who offered himself to our care as a candidate for the sacred work of the ministry, but was under some difficulty with relation to a marriage promise claimed by a young woman in Ireland, as his testimonials set forth, and by reason of some steps taken by him in his marriage in this country. The commission finding in all things that his conduct at home and in this country has been fair and unblamable, those things excepted, do advise the Presbytery of New Castle to defer taking him on trials till December next, and in the meantime desire that both the young man and the Presbytery write to the Presbytery of Londonderry, in Ireland, to see if any further light may be obtained in said affair." In the year 1743. " the people of Great Conewago (Hunterstown, near Gettysburg,) supplicate for Mr. Steel, a probationcr of New Castle," and the Presbytery of Donegal accordingly send to him their call, which after some months' consideration he declined. Next year (1744) the Presbytery of New Castle reported to the Synod that they had ordained him to the work of the ministry. He appears at once to have secured the confidence of his brethren in a high degree for his learning and practical judgment, for that same year he was selected by them as one of the trustees of the school under Alison and MeDowall, for the education of young men for the ministry, and which afterwards was transferred to Newark, Del., where many able ministers received their education; and the next year (1745) he was appointed by Synod on an important committee to report a plan of union with the Synod of New York. While he was a licentiate (1743) he was sent to Virginia and to Conestoga, and after his ordination he was probably settled for about seven years at New London, Chester county, near the borders of Maryland and Delaware. In the year 1752, possibly earlier, he removed to West Conococheague, in what is now Franklin county, where he had charge of two congregations which, however, were yet in their infancy and differed from each other on the religious questions
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of the time. They were also in the midst of the perils of Indian depredations, which were then so terrible that not unfrequently the inhabitants of that part of Cumberland valley were obliged to quit their habitations and crowd into the more settled parts of the province. The people never ventured to assemble for worship without being fully equipped and watched by sentries against surprise. One of the meeting houses in which Mr. Steel preached was fortified as a fort, and after a while was burned to the ground. A number of whole families under his charge were barbarously murdered. Such was his coolness, courage and skill, that he was chosen to be the captain of the company formed among the settlers, and several expeditions are mentioned, under his command, into coves and over the mountains against the enemy. The government finally (1755) commissioned him as a captain of the provincial troops, and he was for many years active in the service. Under such circumstances it was impossible for him to to hold his congregations to regularity in worship, but ample oppor- tunities were offered for his private ministrations among the afflicted. In the end his churches were broken up and he was obliged to seek a residence elsewhere.
Jn 1754, we find Mr. Steel preaching at Nottingham and then at York: and Shrewsbury. As the congregations of Upper and Lower Pennsborough were then vacant he was sent to supply them, and in 1759 they united in calling him to become their pastor. In accepting this call he engaged to give a large portion of his time to Carlisle. This was resisted by Mr. Duffield, whose call was of an earlier date, and stipulated that two-thirds of his time should be given to that town, and by the terms of the recent reunion in the Presbyterian church, all care was to be taken to heal those divisions which had taken place in towns which were unable to sustain more than one minister. The efforts of Presbytery, however, were ineffectual and two houses of wor- ship were erected in Carlisle, which had now become the centre of business for the region. It had become evident that the old meeting- house on the Conodoguinnett would soon be forsaken, and the congre- gation, which had for so many years assembled there, now gravitated toward the new town. From a letter of Colonel Armstrong, dated June 30, 1757, we learn that the people were to begin the next day to " haul stones for the buikling of a meeting-house on the north side of the square," and by a comparison of dates we must see that this was before either Mr. Steel or Mr. Duffield had begun to reside in Cum- berland county, and was before the actual re-union of the general church. The New York Synod had, about that time, sent some
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ministers of their body to preach and to organize churches in this region, and it is very probable that a division had taken place in the church of Upper Pennsborough. On the organization of Donegal Presbytery, under the re-united church, Mr. Duffield was attached to it and soon afterwards a call was laid before it that Mr. Steel might become the pastor of the two churches of Pennsborough. This call was immediately accepted by him, and his installation took place carly in April, 1759. It was a long time in the difficult circumstances of that period before the stone church on the square, in Carlisle, could have been tenantable, and we know that Mr. Steel's congregation must have had some other place of meeting in town. Tradition tells us of a "two- story dwelling," two doors north of the public square on Hanover street, in which Mr. S. resided, and some intimations are given that it was used also for public worship.
An unhappy state of feeling existed for a long time between these two ministers, and their congregations. Their complaints of cach other were not unfrequently before Presbytery and Synod, generally referring, however, to matters of minor importance. And yet their congregations appear to have prospered and to have enjoyed evident tokens of Divine favour. There are no indications in the history of Mr. Steel's congregations that his ministry was attended with such power- ful revivals as we read of in other churches, but his instructive style of preaching and his faithfulness in catechising and training the young were perhaps equally successful in keeping up the number of his com- municants. Many of his sermons were in the possession of his great grandson, Robert Given, Esq., of Holly Springs, but were unfortu- nately consumed in a burning of the house which contained them. They were not only remarkable for a neat chirography and careful composition, but for calm carnestness, soundness in doctrine and a high tone of morality.
From an instrument, the original of which is in the possession of the Rev. Dr. Wing, it appears that the congregations of Upper and Lower Pennsborough, (Silvers' Spring,) agreed to pay him each seventy-five pounds on condition that each should receive an equal share of his labours. This was dated April, 1764, and we know that it continued at least three years and perhaps much longer. The disorders incident to the period of the Revolutionary War, broke up again his more peace- ful occupations. His well known intrepidity and public spirit were more than once called into public service in repressing some popular commotions. In February, 1768, he was commissioned by Governor John Penn to visit with some others about 150 families who had
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settled, contrary to law, on the Redstone and the Youghiogeny rivers, and to induce them peaceably to remove. The mission was not altogether successful, but was performed on his part to the satisfaction of the civil authorities. The same year he co-operated with the justices of the county in endeavouring to restrain certain rioters from over the mountain who were rescuing two murderers of Indians from the jail in Carlisle. With a party of men he pursued after them, but was not strong enough to recover the prisoners.
During the pendency of measures for asserting the rights of the colonies against the mother country, he sympathized ardently with the patriots. A large meeting was held July 12, 1774, in his church, and was presided over by one of his elders, John Montgomery, in which the boldest sentiments were avowed, and active measures were taken to defend their rights. Three thousand men were organized, armed and furnished, and the Hon. George Chambers informs us that "the company which was in the lead was under the command of the Rev. Captain John Steel." He was however too far advanced in years for protracted service as a soldier, and we have no evidence that he was much in the field. His congregation, however, was almost completely disorganized in consequence of the number who went from it into the service. The common title of " Reverend Captain," which was given him by the popular voice, was never a reproach, for he was never known to act unworthily of either part of the designation.
Mr. Steel was never satisfied with the arrangement of ministers and churches in Donegal Presbytery after the re-union. He and others of what were called the Old Side, on finding themselves in a minority in that body, seceded, and when they found no relief in Synod, they con- tinued for three years in a state of separation. Finally they were united with others of a similar affinity within the bounds of Synod, and formed into the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia. His punctuality in every duty would never allow him to be absent, and for twelve years, he was in the habit of journeying, in his own conveyance, at least annually, to the city of Philadelphia, to attend upon ecclesiastical meetings. He died in August, 1779, leaving a reputation for stern integrity, zeal for what he deemed truth and righteousness, and a high sense of honour. His remains lie interred in the Old Cemetery of Carlisle.
GENERAL JOHN ARMSTRONG.
ROBABLY no one among the carly settlers of Cumberland county had more influence in directing its institutions and desti- nies than John Armstrong. He and a brother, William, (of whom we have no further information,) and a sister, Margaret, came from the north of Ireland some time before 1748, when a family record proves that he had become permanently settled in Carlisle. He first appears as a surveyor under the Proprietary Government, and we are informed that a large portion of the lands in middle Pennsylvania were first surveyed by him. The town of Carlisle which had been laid out at an earlier period, (1750,) was, with its adjacent lands, resurveyed and mapped out in its present form by him in 1762. In 1755, he was a Colonel, and had a controlling part in directing the defense of the settlers against the Indians. A commission now in the possession of his descendants, subscribed by Thomas Penn, and bearing the seal of the British Government in the reign of George the Third, gave him the powers of a Justice of the Peace. These powers were much more extensive then than those which belong to the office of that name now and for some time the county of Cumberland, over which his jurisdic- tion extended, included nearly all of Pennsylvania west of the Susque- hanna. In the performance of these combined military and civil functions, when Indian ravages and border outrages were almost perpetual, he found sufficient occupation for most of his time, and for his utmost bodily and mental powers.
It soon became evident that a more aggressive policy was necessary in dealing with these Indians. In those merciless incursions in which the peaceable inhabitants were despoiled, captured and massacred, it was casy for their wily foe to elude opposition and punishment by retiring into the depths of the wilderness, there they had constructed a town called Kittanning, about twenty miles above Fort Duquesne, (Pittsburgh,) and about two hundred miles westward from Carlisle. This was known to be a rendezvous for their warriors, a depot for the stores with which the French liberally supplied them, and the fortress where their prisoners and plunder could be kept. It was there that Shingis and Captain Jacobs, two relentless and faithful leaders had their residences, from which they sallied forth at their will to desolate the frontier. About two hundred and eighty provincials were
r
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mustered under the command of Col. Armstrong, and sent (1755,) to surprise and destroy this stronghold. They succeeded in their scheme, for they came upon the Indians engaged in their revels at night, and in the early dawn set fire to their buildings and put to death the chiefs and most of the warriors. It was a terrible vengeance but indispensa- ble even in the interest of humanity. This brilliant success gained for the commander distinguished honours, and the corporation of Philadel- phia showed their appreciation of his skill and bravery by presenting him with a piece of plate and a silver medal, with a medal for each of the officers under him and a sum of money for the widows and children of such as had been killed. The Colonel had himself been severely wounded in the action by a musket ball, in consequence of which his shoulder was for a while disabled. Three years afterwards, however, (1758,) he marched with the advanced division of 3000 Pennsylvanians under Col. Bouquet, belonging to the expedition under Brig. General Forbes against Fort Duquesne. It was during this campaign that he formed that acquaintance with Col. Washington, which subsequently ripened into intimacy and warm personal friendship.
The previous year (June 30, 1757,) we find him engaged with his fellow-citizens in the erection of a " meeting house on the north side of the square," and the civil authorities are appealed to for help in this work on what he calls "political as well as religious grounds."
He had himself, perhaps, become a member of a congregation recently founded by what was called the New Side, in Carlisle, but he appears to have entered into the labour of "hauling stones" "out of Col. Stanwix's entrenchments," with the utmost public spirit, and we have reason to believe that his intelligence and wealth were freely contributed to give the structure its admirable strength and proportion. On the 12th day of July, 1774, he attended a meeting of citizens in that building to protest against the Act of Parliament " by which the port of Boston was shut up; to contribute for the relief of their brethren who were suffering from the oppressions of the mother country; to recommend the immediate assembling of a Congress of deputies from all the colonies; and to unite in abstaining from all trade or use of articles imported from Great Britain while these oppressions con- tinued ;" and he was appointed on the committee to correspond with similar committees from other provinces to co-operate in measures conducing to the general welfare. We have reason to believe that it was from a public meeting under his influence, that resolutions were sent up to the Provincial Assembly, calling upon that body to instruct those who represented the state in the General Congress to vote for
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an immediate declaration of independence of the mother country, and that here was the earliest voice raised in favour of such decisive action ; and one which had no small influence in bringing about the final result. His commission as a Brigadier General in the Continental Army bears date March 1, 1776, and is signed by John Hancock. In 1777, he appears as a Major General in command of the Pennsylvania troops during the battle of Brandywine and in the military operations of that year in the eastern part of the State. In consequence, however, of some grievance which he believed himself to be under, he left (April 4, 1777,) the regular army, and at the battle of Germantown he commanded the Pennsylvania militia. He was a member of Congress in 1778-So, and also in 1787-88, having been recommended for that position without solicitation by General Washington.
From numerous letters of his which are published in the Colonial Records and Archives, it is evident that he was well educated, was endowed with much practical wisdom, and was much consulted and trusted by the Proprietary Government, and subsequently by the authorities of the state and nation. Among those which remain in manuscript in the possession of his descendants and others, are many from General Washington, not only upon official and public affairs, but upon subjects of private friendship. His own letters are all written in a beautiful hand, and indicate an accurate scholarship according to the literature of the tin:c. The Hon. George Chambers, who was familiar with his general reputation, says of him; " He was a man of intelligence, of integrity, and of high religious and moral character. He was resolute and brave, and though living habitually in the fear of the Lord, he feared not the face of man." The style of his piety partook much of the peculiar characteristics of the people and period in which he lived, and hence might have seemed somewhat stern when judged by men of other associations, but we discover beneath this occasional indications of an admirably humane and tender sensibility. As a specimen of the religious opinions and spirit of the man and of the time, we may here give a letter which he wrote to his son James, on the occasion of the death of a favourite son of the latter :
"CARLISLE, 12th April, 1794.
"DEAR JAMES :- I have seen your last to Polly, and see nothing wrong in it, only that it manifests an excess of grief, that for many important reasons ought to be moderated and suppressed ; the various duties yet incumbent upon you and especially your own eternal concerns should take the place of that natural and paternal grief, which, in a certain degree, is rather laudable than sinful, but may readily become so by an undue indulgence and want of proper consideration ; we must go to him (that is to the state of
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the dead,) but he will not return to us ; therefore preparation for that solemn event is our principal business.
" From the nature and circumstances of this remarkable affliction, you may but too plainly and justly suspect, as I see you do, that God has a controversy with the parents of that child, and perhaps with his grandparents too, for so I desire to take it to myself. Now the immediate business which I most earnestly recommend to you is, with a faithful scrutiny, giving conscience its free course, that you may find out and be convinced of the grounds of this controversy, for examination and reflection (the divine word being still the standard, ) are the first steps toward reformation in any man. And to assist you in this duty, take a retrospective view of your practical life from the first of your remembrance, more especially in the following particulars : In infancy you were presented to God in the ordinance of baptism-solemn engagements were therein entered into for your instruction, &c., in the faith and practice of Christianity ; these vows and promises were to devolve on yourself at the years of discretion-ask yourself whether you have endeavoured to study the nature of that initiating ordinance, voluntarily taking these solemn obligations upon yourself and beseeching the free mercy of God through Christ, the Mediator, to enable you to perform these vows by giving you the spiritual blessing signified in and by that ordinance. Again, take a general survey of your life, how you have improven or misimproven your time and talents, together with the innumerable privileges, opportunities and admonitions received therein; but especially examine what has been the general and prevailing inclination or disposition of your mind and will, for this indeed is the touchstone of the state of the heart, either towards God or against him. And here, there is great reason to fear, you may find but too much cause for the controversy in question, for if a general shyness, a cold indifference or negligence toward God, the state of the soul, the Mediator, his ordinances and institutions, hath been prevalent and habitual, this fully marks an unrenewed state of the soul, involving in it infidelity, aversion and contempt of the gospel and the revealed will of God, (hence are men in a state of nature called haters of God.) Nor is this spiritual and moral disease to be healed by a better education, a few externals and transient thoughts. It requires the hand of the great Physician, the Lord Jesus by his Holy Spirit, and belief of the truth renewing the state of the mind and disposition of the heart as well, thereby leading the soul from a sense or fear of the wrath of God, the penalty of his broken law, and helpless in itself to flee to the merits of Jesus, that only refuge or foundation that God hath laid in his church, and who was made sin for us, (that is, a sin offering,) that all " believers might be made the righteousness of God by him." And this great salvation, though to be given freely, must be sought by adult persons, and earnestly too, only on the principles of pure mercy, because by nature we have neither title nor merit to procure it ; at the pool of ordinances must we lie, if we expect to be saved, to which means, looking for a blessing . upon them, I earnestly recommend your most serious attention. I conclude this letter by putting you in mind that although you have always had the call of God in his word, and perhaps often in his providence too, (though unobserved and therefore neglected, ) God hath again condescended to add another providential call, much more sensible and alarming to us all, in removing a dear and promising child, but with double force to you, therefore, see that you endeavour to bear and improve it in the true sense in which it is designed, that is comparatively at least, that you weep not for him but for yourself and the rest of your family.
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