USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Centennial biography : Men of mark of Cumberland Valley, Pa., 1776-1876 > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44
17
262
MEN OF MARK.
charge of the Lewistown and McVeytown churches. In the spring of 1823 he moved to Lewistown, and continued the pastor of the church there until the time of his death, a space of nearly forty years.
James S. Woods was married before he came to Mifflin county, to Marianne Witherspoon, a daughter of John Witherspoon, D. D., one of the presidents of Princeton College, and the only clergyman who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was a lineal descendant from the eminent Scottish Reformer, John Knox, and one of the most illustrious patrons of religion, liberty and learning in America. This lady, a native of Princeton, N. J., was possessed of fine mental powers, and great moral worth, and exercised, it is believed, an important influence in the formation of her husband's ministerial character. The fruit of this marriage was nine children, six sons and three daughters. In the religious training of these, Mrs. Woods was assiduous till the time of her death, which occurred in 1846, in the "sure and steadfast hope, which, as an anchor, entereth into that within the vail." Two of the sons have died: one, John W. Woods, while preparing for the pro- fession of law, the other, Lieutenant James S. Woods, of the United States Army, while gallantly leading his company in the storming of Monterey, Mexico. The father of this family lived to see his children become, through the grace of God, his hope and his joy, and closed his life in the prospect of meeting his loved and loving ones in heaven.
" His household circle," says the Rev. David D. Clarke, D. D., in a sermon preached to Dr. Woods' bereaved church, by request of the elders and trustees; " his household circle was a rare example of un- marred communion. He was always its attractive centre. The appre- ciating visitor could not fail to see how each heart clung, as the tendril, to that true and trusted husband and parent, and fondly entwined each other. Even his grand-children were made merry and frisky as lambs under the charm of his smiles; and to take tea at grandpa's was counted a special honour.
" But it is not meet that I should enter further within the precincts of this stricken home! The bereavement by this death is first and greatly, but not solely yours. We tell it in two sweet words, .Our father!' You knew him as none other did; you loved him as none other could. God gave him and took him. Bless his name that he was spared to you so long, to be the guide of your youth and the glory of your ripened years. His life, so consistent and beneficent, was a grand success. Much of its fruit has already been gathered and ' garnered in heaven, and more awaits the hand of the great husband- man. To sustain your relation to such a man and such a ministry is a
263
JAMES S. WOODS, D. D.
heritage more precious than silver or gold. He did not live to become a burden to himself, or to you. God, whom he served, took him in his own time and way-always the best. He spoke not in death, but you know his life, and ' being dead he yet speaketh.' What more can you do-what more does God require than to bow down in trusting, hope- ful submission, and say, 'Not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done!'
" We come now to survey a little further the public and professional life of our departed brother, as it was embraced in his pastorate here of forty years. Appearance, temper and manner, it is well known, are often elements of personal attraction and influence. Brother Woods possessed a commanding presence. His temper was warm, social and genial. There was a dignity, seriousness and kindness in his mien, which commanded attention and respect. His piety was stable and practical, his convictions earnest, and his purposes decided. For the authority of Scripture his regard was profound; to whatever he thought right his adherence was unwavering. Principle, duty, honour, he never sacrificed ; yet he was not dogmatic or obstinate, but modest and humble. He did not seek his own praise in the disparagement of others. He was willing to be enlightened, and even led by others, in whose judgment and honesty he confided. He was punctual in all engagements-in pulpit and pastoral service, with his friends, and in his attendance on all the judicatories of the church. His desire was not fame, but to perform his duty and do good. Wherever you met him, his character was transparent, whether under his own roof, which was truly a minister's home, or that of others, in the sanctuary of God, or in the church courts, he was the same-the true friend, the agreeable companion, the Christian gentleman, and the conscientious servant of God. A conscience void of offence toward God and man made him fearless, and no one could despise him. He had a pleasant look and a kind word for all he met. It is easy to see that such a man would make friends, secure confidence, and have influence. No man in the county had a stronger hold on the veneration of the people. By his brethren of the Presbytery he was held in the highest esteem, and the Christian people of our churches were always glad to make him their guest. I deem it a great privilege to have enjoyed his acquaintance and regard.
" Dr. Woods was a patriot. While a student at college he joined a company, chiefly of students, to march to Baltimore when attacked by the British troops. He was not a perfect man ; we don't present him as such, for such he did not claim to be: but he was a rare man, a
.
264
MEN OF MARK.
good man, a faithful man, a useful man, loved and honoured by God and man.
" If descent from an exalted ancestry, if a marriage alliance to one of the most renowned of American names, if personal worth and a long life of well-doing, entitle one to the grateful remembrance of posterity. Dr. Woods has a claim, and this record of his long, faithful and fruitful ministry fills one of the brightest pages of the church's history.
"Let us hear the testimony of those who knew him best: 'Dr. Woods,' says Rev. G. Elliott, 'was remarkable for his candor, his modesty and his magnanimity. His heart was the seat of kindness, and his home the scene of untiring hospitality. Those who had recently conversed with him familiarly could realize that he felt how precarious was his condition, and that he was growing in meetness for Heaven.'
" Dr. Engles, in The Presbyterian, says: 'An esteemed and venerable minister of our church, and a beloved member of the Synod of Phila- delphia, has departed this life. After such a life, death is but a transi- tion from labour to reward.'
"'We knew him well from carly manhood,' Dr. Mckinney, in The Presbyterian Banner, says. 'We were twenty-two years co-presbyters. Often did we labour together in religious services of great interest. He was a good man, a devoted minister, and an exalted though lowly Christian. He has turned many to righteousness, and will shine as the stars forever and ever.'
"But let us see how this high praise is supported by the long ministry which has just closed on earth. Much of the harmony of social life, and much of the success in every vocation, depend on the observance of the great law of adaptation, of properly fitting things. Ignoring this law commonly entails difficulty, disappointment and failure. He, whom we all mourn, was in the harmony of his relations, and in the success of his labours, a delightful example. Who was better suited to this field, in all its aspects, than he ? Who could have endured so long and so well? Who could have so won the respect of all around, and the confidence and love of those especially committed to his spiritual over- siglit, binding them in the stability and repose of an intelligent and harmonious communion, and anchoring himself more deeply, with every revolving year, in the confidence and veneration of the community ? In your just and appreciating tributes, brethren, in this appropriate and beautiful edifice, confessedly to a great extent the fruit of his judicious and patient efforts, in what he has done for the numerical and spiritual
265
JAMES S. WOODS, D. D.
increase of this church, and through it for other churches, and for the general cause of God-in these is found the answer.
"To the work of preaching the Gospel he devoted his life. Whatever of talent or culture, whatever of gifts natural or gracious he possessed, were gratefully, and without reserve, laid at the feet of Christ. In the cross, as the symbol of the truth and power of God, he recognized the chief and sure agency for the reformation and redemption of our ruined humanity, the sovereign antidote to mortal woe. Baptized in the spirit of Him who triumphed as he expired on Calvary, at once the Saviour and Sovereign of the world, his was a faith that would give Christ the throne of the universe, his a charity that would make the world its beneficiary. Textual, evangelical, methodical and earnest, his preaching everywhere commanded attention and secured edification. In the carly part of his ministry, he wrote out and committed to memory his sermons, dispensing with the manuscript in the delivery. His style was simple and unadorned, but clear and forcible. His good taste, his apprehension of spiritual and eternal things, and his desire to win souls, made him intensely anxious that all should understand what he spoke. But few men felt more fully than he did that the pulpit is the 'preacher's throne.' Out of it, he evinced the meekness of the lamb; in it, the boldness of the lion. He felt that he could teach his hearers. However striking their superiority over him in many things, he felt that in the most important of all things he had, as he ought to have, superiority over them. He could make the wisest of them more wise. He could reprove the most learned of them for their ignorance of 'the one thing needful.' 'Physicians, jurists, statesmen, must,' says an elegant writer, 'bow themselves before the pulpit, and must yield their dignified obeisance to him who is distinguished by the appellation, "the mouth of God"'
"Dr. Woods loved his people, and while his strength supported him was much amongst them. His school house preaching, his regular catechetical instruction, his Bible-class exercises, and his wise, untiring and affectionate pastoral visitation constituted a most arduous and useful part of his long and fruitful labours. The Sabbath school, one of the best ordered and most efficient in the Presbytery, he considered a model Sabbath school. He loved the young. In the season of trial, in the chamber of the sick and the dying, his ready perception of pro- priety, his tenderness, his familiarity with the Bible, his rich fund of Christian experience, endeared him to all who, in those times, were . privileged to enjoy the counsels and consolations of his benignant ministry. To exhibit Christ, to bring men to Christ, to confirm and
266
MEN OF MARK.
comfort those who were in Christ, and to glorify Christ, was the Alpha and Omega of his labours.
" The cause of Temperance found in him an early and enduring friend. The evil of intemperance he regarded as one of the greatest which afflicts society. On this subject no one was better able than he to form a correct judgment. He lived before the commencement of the Temperance Reformation. He saw the evil in its fearful and unre- sisted progress. He carefully watched the working of the several plans of reformation. He considered the law defective, and as it is, badly enforced. His conviction was clear, that the true policy was pre- vention, starting with the young, and that but little dependence could be placed on any individual reformation, which was not supported by Christian principle. Views so sound will not be questioned, having the support of Scripture and facts.
"Two things are characteristic of this church under Dr. Woods, order and growth. It has enjoyed throughout his pastorate unwonted harmony. Its peace has been almost unbroken. But few cases for discipline have occurred, and rarely has it been found necessary to refer one for settlement to a higher court than the church Session. And while Dr. Woods had great confidence in a true revival of religion. refreshing Christians, and bringing many sinners to Christ, and while he never ceased to pray and wait for the special reviving grace of the Holy Spirit in his own congregation, and throughout the church, and was allowed of God to rejoice in many a special and glorious visitation of the Prince of Peace to this church, he relied mainly on the regular and usual increase, And seldom, in his long pastorate, was there a communion season without one or more additions to the membership.
"The honorary title of D. D. was conferred on him eight or ten years ago, by the Trustees of the College of New Jersey. Although he gave but little time to literary studies, after his entrance upon the work of the ministry, he was a good classical scholar. He taught a school while he resided above McVeytown ; and for some time after his set- tlement here had charge of the Academy, a classical school he was instrumental in building. Among his pupils were Rev. M. B. Hope, D. D., Rev. Mr. Reed, Missionary to Siam, Rev. David McCay, Hon. R. C. Hale, Judge Benjamin Patton, and others of whom I have no record. Messrs. McCay, Milliken, and Woods entered the ministry from this church. One (McCay) has lately entered upon his reward; the others are still faithfully proclaiming that salvation which they were brought to know through the ministry of this sainted pastor. When Dr. Woods assumed the oversight of this church, William
1
267
JAMES S. WOODS, D. D.
Mckay, Daniel Robb, Jacob Walters, and Anthony Young, were the Ruling Elders ; these all are dead. Of the trustees not one lives. The members still living here are Mrs. Eleanor Doty, Mrs. Mary Jacob, Mrs. Waldron, and Ephraim Banks, Esq., venerable and beloved Christians ! To you it has been given to receive your late pastor, and after waiting forty years upon his ministry, amid many changes and trials, to see him laid, full of years and of honours, in the grave! May the good Shepherd be near and keep you, 'make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside the still waters; even in the paths of righteousness, for his name sake. And when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, may you have no fear of evil, his rod and his staff comforting you, and your dwelling be in the house of the Lord for ever !'
"Here Dr. Woods began his pastorate; here it was closed. He found you weak ; he left you strong. To your steadfast confidence, your cordial co-operation, and your generous forbearance, he felt his obligation. What a treasure is such a life to the world! How unvalued ! What a glorious place will it fill in the grand reckoning of the judgment ! The influence of every sermon and prayer, every exhortation and word of warning and comfort spoken in the closet, every visit to the bedside of the sick and the dying, or the silent and solemn utterance of a holy walk before the family, and in the circles of social life and of business, upon the young and the old, the educated and the influential, for individual and social good, for temporal and eternal happiness-the influence I say of all these, running through forty years' service, the full revelation of the last day will alone dis- close ! And in the impartial and final adjustment of all human char- acter and deeds, the ministry of this dear pastor will receive the reward of grace, in the accordant salutation of those whom he brought to Christ, and in the transporting plaudit of the Master, 'Well done, good and faithful servant !' "
HON. JOHN REED, LL. D.
VER a quarter of a century has passed since the death of Judge Reed, and yet the remembrance of him is distinct with the bar of Carlisle and the State, and with the people of this county ; far more so than that of others, equally eminent in their day, who died years later.
He was born on Marsh creek, then York, now Adams county, in 1786. His father was General William Reed, who held a Major's com- mission in the later years of our Revolutionary war. Having a taste and genius for military life, he gradually rose to the rank of Major General of Militia. He was one of the representatives of the District of York and Adams in the convention which framed the Constitution of Pennsylvania, in 1790. He also represented the same district in the State Senate, from 1804 to 1808. Upon the declaration of war between the United States and Great Britain, in IS12, he was appointed by Governor Snyder, Adjutant General of the State. He immediately entered upon duty, and organized two divisions of the army ; one at Meadville, Crawford county, which marched under General Tannahill for the Niagara frontier ; the other, under General Crooks, was ordered to Fort Meigs. Owing to the exposure and fatigue incident to this arduous service, he sickened and died in Westmoreland county, 1813.
His son, John Reed, was prepared for college by the Rev. Mr. Dobbin, of Gettysburg. After completing his collegiate course at Dickinson College, he read law under the direction of William Maxwell, of Gettysburg. In 1809 he was admitted to the bar; and commenced the practice of the law in Westmoreland county. In a short time his practice extended through the counties of Somerset, Indiana, Arm- strong and Westmoreland. During the last two years of his profes- sional career in these counties, he performed the duties of Deputy Attorney General.
In 1815, Mr. Reed was elected to the State Senate, and at the expiration of his term declined re-election. In December, 1,819, he was married to the daughter of Dr. John McDowell, a distinguished surgeon of the army of the Revolution ; and on the 10th of July, 1820, was commissioned by Governor Findlay, President Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, then composed of the counties of Cumberland, Franklin, Adams and Perry. Judge Reed continued in that position
269
HON. JOIIN REED. LL. D.
until 1839, when, by change of the Constitution, his commission expired. He then resumed his position at the bar, and continued in active practice until the time of his death, which occurred in Carlisle, on the 19th day of January, 1850, when he was in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
In 1834, he was made Professor of Law in Dickinson College. The degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by the officers of Washington College, Pennsylvania, in the year 1839, and in 1849 or 1850, he was made an honorary member of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia.
It is a source of just pride to the friends of the dead to know that they are pleasurable remembered ; and when this happens to be the case, the inquiry why it is so is most natural. In the case of Judge Reed there are a number of causes which unite in making his fame lasting. He was the President Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, and presided with dignity, ability and integrity, by virtue of a commis- sion meant to be for life, conferred by a Governor able to discriminate as to character, and to know the importance of the grant he made. He presided for nineteen years, in a district where the bar was not inferior to any in the commonwealth or country; having among its number Thomas G. Mccullough, George Chambers, James Dunlop, T. Hartley Crawford, John F. Denny, George Metzgar, Thaddeus Stevens, Andrew Carothers, John D. Mahon, Charles B. . Penrose, Frederick Watts, W. M. Biddle, and others, all inen of distinction, with whom he was not only officially connected, but with many of them intimately associated, and his fame and theirs will always. commingle. He also, while on the bench, and afterwards, conducted a Law School. in Carlisle, with marked success. Among his students were such men as George P. Hamilton, Esq., H. N. McAllister, Esq., Hon. A. G. Curtin, Rev. Alfred Nevin, D. D., LL. D., who subsequently entered the ministry, Hon. F. W. Hughes, J. Ellis Bonham, Esq., Hon. Samuel Linn, Hon. James H. Campbell, Hon. John C. Kunkel and W. H. Miller, Esq., of Pennsylvania ; J. L. Carey and Hon. Carroll Spence, of Maryland; Hon. W. N. Smithers, of Delaware; Hon. Alexander Ramsey, of Minnesota ; and Hon. James Kelly, of Oregon ; by all of whom his name has ever been held in reverence. His official position, and that of instructor of young men, gave him a marked position in society, and he filled it to the letter. His manners were refined and agreeable ; his wit was quick and sparkling, and his home the abode of refinement; and there is no one that has ever come within the sphere of his influence that is not better for having done so.
SAMUEL AGNEW, M. D.
OCTOR SAMUEL AGNEW was born at Millerstown, near Gettysburg, in Adams county, August 10th, in the year 1777. and was the son of James Agnew and Mary Ramsey.
He was of Scotch descent, or from that people who, encouraged by James I, migrated from Scotland and England to the confiscated estates in the province of Ulster. They were a rare people. Under their industry, intelligence and enterprise the desolated lands were reclaimed, towns grew up, and manufactures were extensively estab- lished. They were Presbyterians, and neither the tyranny of Charles Il or James II, the dragoons of Claverhouse, nor the intimidations of the Papacy, could compel them to surrender their independence, or dishonour their manhood. These were the people who have made sacred the glens and moors of Scotland and Ireland, and who rather than yield their convictions of faith and duty, suffered the sharpest per. secutions, and came to this side of the Atlantic to find a home more congenial to their tastes. Men of strong intellects, independent thinkers, intolerant of oppression, gentle in peace, terrible in war. they have left their impress upon all the institutions of the country of their adoption. The father of Dr. Samuel Agnew was quite as ready to resist oppression as his ancestors had been, and when hostilities commenced in the Colonies, he espoused their cause against the encroachments of Great Britain, took up arms as a soldier and was wounded in one of the battles of New Jersey.
The academical studies of Dr. Agnew were commenced under Rev. Matthew Dobbin, of Gettysburg ; and after his graduation at Dickinson College, Carlisle, in 1798, he turned his attention to the study of medi- cine, under Dr. John McClellan, a prominent surgeon in Greencastle, Pennsylvania. In ISoo, he took his degree of Doctor of Medicine in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. During the war of 1812 he served as a surgeon, and after its termination com- menced the practice of medicine in Gettysburg, but afterwards, in 1807, located in Harrisburg, as in consequence of its selection as the seat of government the place promised to become one of importance. In this field he rapidly rose to deserved eminence, establishing a large and lucrative practice. His counsel and aid were sought after, not only by
.
Same Aguem
1. "
271
SAMUEL AGNEW, M. D.
his professional brethren in Harrisburg, but throughout the different counties of middle and western Pennsylvania.
In 1803, Dr. Agnew married Miss Jane Grier. Her mother was a Holmes-a prominent family of Carlisle. The issue of this marriage
was six children, three sons and three daughters. Two of these children, a son and daughter, died in childhood. The oldest son, Rev. John Holmes Agnew, D. D., a sketch of whom will appear in this volume, became distinguished for his scholarly attainments and literary position. The next child, Mary Ann, died in early life, in Uniontown, Pa., where her brother was Pastor of the Presbyterian Church. She was regarded as a young lady of great loveliness of character, as well as devoted piety. A second son, the Hon. Judge James C. Agnew, died at Edina, Missouri, March Ist, 1870, greatly lamented by the citi- zens of Knox county, to whom he was well known, and among whom he had for many years occupied several responsible civil positions, and discharged the duties of Eldership in the Presbyterian Church. During the war of the Rebellion he entered the Union Army as Commissary of one of its regiments, his two sons entering with him, the one as Lieutenant, the other as a private.
His surviving daughter became the wife of Rev. John R. Agnew, at present of Greencastle, a man of fine culture as a scholar, and a noble Christian gentleman.
As a physician, Dr. Agnew possessed a rare combination of qualities. Thoroughly conversant in the literature, and familiar with the resources of his profession, his opinions were always received with respect by his medical friends. Though pressed with the arduous duties of an exten- sive and laborious practice, he occasionally contributed to the periodical medical literature of the day, and was often called upon to deliver literary, scientific, and religious addresses. His paper on the " Inter- mittents of the Susquehanna Region," is one of great merit, and attracted the notice of men eminent in the profession. The late Pro- fessor Samuel Jackson, of the University of Pennsylvania, spoke in the most complimentary terms of both his learning and skill, and on one occasion remarked to Rev. Dr. Dewitt, that " if he had an only son dangerously ill, there was no physician between Philadelphia and New Orleans whose services he would rather have, than those of Dr. Agnew."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.