USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Harrisburg > Centennial memorial, English Presbyterian congregation, Harrisburg, Pa. > Part 24
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During the war he was a member of the Christian Commission,
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directing its work in Central Pennsylvania, and serving in its behalf for two or three months in Virginia and Tennessee.
In 1868 he was given the honorary title of Doctor of Divinity by Hamilton College, New York.
He was a member of the Assemblies (N. S.) of 1858 and 1866, and of the reunited Assemblies of 1873, 1882 and 1892. And was a dele- gate to the Alliance of the Reformed Churches holding the Presby- terian system that met in London in 1875 and in 1889.
On May 10th, 1856, he married Mary Wolf Buehler, daughter of Henry Buehler and Anna Margaretta Wolf. Their children are Henry Buchler, who died in infancy ; Anna Margaretta, who died December 23, 1881, in her twenty-third year ; William Andrew, Pro- fessor of the Greek Language in Lehigh University ; Eliza McCor- mick, wife of George R. Fleming, Esq .; Edward Orth, Thomas Hastings, Jr., and Mary Buchler, the last three being still members of their father's household in Allegheny.
During his pastorate he became greatly endeared to his congrega- tion, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the whole community. The action taken by the Church a short time prior to his resignation is illustrative of the strong hold he had upon the affection and confi- dence of this people throughout his long and useful ministry here. When it became known that he was considering a call from the Western Theological Seminary to a professorship in that institution, a meeting of the congregation was held on Wednesday evening, November 28th, 1883, to consider the matter.
Mr. Charles L. Bailey was elected chairman, and Mr. Alex. Roberts secretary. On motion of Mr. Samueld. M MeCarrell, a committee of five, consisting of Messrs. M. W. MeAlarney, Henry Gilbert, Adam K. Fahnestock, James Fletcher and John C. Harvey, were appointed to prepare a letter expressive of the feelings of the congregation, which committee reported the following :
HARRISBURG, November 28, 1883.
TO REV. THOMAS H. ROBINSON, D. D.
VERY DEAR SIR: The congregation of the Market Square Pres- byterian church, having heard with unfeigned regret of your call to a professorship in the Western Theological Seminary, hereby expresses its gratitude to you for your long, faithful, efficient and sympathetic pastoral service, as also its avanimons and earnest desire that you shall not accept the new position tendered you, nor ask a dissolution of the pastoral relation with us. While we are not insensible to the honor which your call to this professorship bears with it, we feel that we must protest against its acceptance for many reasons, among which are the following :
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1. Your long and efficient pastorate, your unswerving fidelity and boldness as an ambassador of Christ, have given you a commanding influence in your city, your Presbytery, your State, which influence the cause of Presbyterianism demands, shall not be removed from its pulpit and active pastoral work.
2. Your church is united and prosperous under your pastorate and your labors here have been followed by a continual stream of blessed influence and result, and have been frequently and but recently crowned with marked tokens of Divine approval.
3. Your whole ministerial life has been spent with us ; you have broken to us the bread of life for more than a quarter of a century ; you have been at our homes in seasons of joy and sorrow; you have solemnized our marriages ; you have wept with us at the graves of our loved ones ; and we most earnestly ask that the tender ties thus binding us together shall not be severed.
4. No other man can fill your place among us as acceptably as your- self and we do not wish to take the hazard of divisions, bickerings and strife in seeking another to occupy your pulpit and assume your work in this church, so dear to you and ourselves. In the light of these and many other reasons which we might urge, we earnestly re- quest that you remain with us.
And in testimony of our gratitude and unwavering affection for you as our pastor, we cause this letter to be subscribed by the chair- man and secretary of this congregational meeting, and by the com- mittee appointed to present a paper expressive of our views upon the subject for the consideration of which this meeting was called.
The letter was unanimously adopted. the meeting adjourned. and the congregation proceeded in a body to the house of their much loved pastor, where the letter was read to him. Dr. Robinson, in re- plying, said that this call had been a source of much grief to him ; that his whole life had been spent in this city, and that here he had hoped to end his days ; that he loved the people, and that the friend- ships formed here could never be broken this side of the grave. But he proceeded to say that, as yet, he had not determined which path duty required him to follow-to go or to stay, and that he had until the first of the year to decide, and in the meantime he could only hope and pray that the Lord would enable him to decide as his heart now prompted.
When, a few months later Dr. Robinson requested Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relation, the congregation made a strenuous protest against granting the request. Though he has been absent from the Church and city for ten years, yet he is still cherished with the sincerest affection in the hearts of the people, and is always greeted upon any of his frequent visits with true cordiality.
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His wise leadership, unsparing activity, spotless character, left their impress upon the Church and made it the strong, broad, gen- erous, aggressive church it is to day.
He was always in sympathy with all movements that were evidently in the interest of progress, an avowed friend to the temperance re- form, though not a political prohibitionist, and a courageous leader in every good cause. As "a conservative-radical," so he speaks of himself, he directed the life of the Church into channels of the largest usefulness and most permanent development.
A CENTURY OF ELDERS.
By Rev. THOMAS H. ROBINSON, D. D.
The history of " The English Presbyterian Congregation," of Har- risburg, which celebrated its centenary February 11-16th, 1894. would be incomplete without the following sketches of the Ruling Elders, now deceased, who were connected with it during the hundred years and helped so largely in giving it its character and power. For a portion of the facts contained in these sketches we are indebted to the able and accomplished Dr. William H. Egle, State Librarian, and author of a number of very valuable historical publications.
The first Board of Ruling Elders in the Church was composed of the following persons : Samuel Weir, Moses Gillmor, Adam Boyd.
They were elected to office on February 11, 1794. and on the follow- ing Sabbath, February 16th, they were ordained and installed, each of them holding office until his death.
SAMUEL WEIR. Born September 29, 1744. Died August 15, 1814.
Sammel Weir, the oldest son of James Weir, was born near Bally- mony, County Antrim, Ireland. His ancestry was numbered among the heroic defenders of Derry during the famous seige of 1689-1690. by King James, when almost incredible hardships were endured in the cause of Protestantism and freedom of faith. Heir-looms of that memorable time are still held in the family and are greatly prized. Samuel Weir came to America in 1775, and located in the township of Derry, Lancaster county, now Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. The Revolutionary war had already opened at Lexington, and British ships of war were scouring the seas, searching for, seizing and im- pressing British subjects whenever found. The vessel on which Mr. Weir came was boarded and searched, but by a happy providence he escaped, and was saved from fighting against the country to which he was coming for larger liberties than he had found in the old world. A year had scaredly elapsed before he was in the army of the Revo- lution, defending his adopted country. In 1776 and 1777 he was a First Lieutenant in Col. John Rodgers' battalion (eighth ) of Lancaster
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County Associators, rendering important service. He served under General Washington, at the crossing of the Delaware, at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Germantown. At the close of the war he removed to a farm he had purchased near Harrisburg, but shortly after, in 1787, he became a merchant in the town, and one of the most prominent business men of the borough. He assisted in the organiza- tion of the Presbyterian church in 1794, and was chosen one of its first Ruling Elders. In person he was of stont, heavy build, strong and muscular. In civil life he was a man of probity and honor. In the Church he was very active, greatly devoted to its interests and the recipient of its esteem and love. He was noted for his large and gen- crous hospitality to the ministry of his day, making his house their home as guests. He was twice married. By his first wife he had a son named James, who died young, and by his second wife, Mary Wallace, he had three sons, Samuel, who removed to South Carolina, John Andrew and James Wallace, both of whom succeeded him in the Eldership. He died in the seventieth year of his age, and in the twentieth of his office, as Elder.
MOSES GILLMOR. Born, September 6, 1749. Died, June 10, 1825.
Moses Gillmor was born in the township of Burt, parish of Temple- more, county of Donegal, six miles from the city of Londonderry, province of Ulster, Ireland. Until his seventeenth year he remained in Ireland, when he came with an unele to America, and settled in Hanover township, Lancaster county, now Dauphin. Having re- turned to Ireland on business connected with his father's estate, the war of the Revolution broke out during his absence and delayed his return until after the declaration of peace in 1783. The next year, November 1784, according to Parson Elder's marriage record, he married Isabel Wallace, third daughter of Robert and Mary Wallace, of Hanover. When, in 1785, Harrisburg was made the county seat of the new county, Dauphin, Mr. Gillmor removed hither, purchased a lot on Market Square, and established himself in the business of a merchant, which he carried on successfully for a number of years. He was prominent in local politics and an influential member of society. He was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church, and is said to have been an elder in the Mother Church of Paxtang. Mr. Gillmor died in Harrisburg in 1825, after serving the church for thirty-one years, having reached the age of seventy-six. His body, and that of his wife, who died three years later, were buried in
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Paxtang Church grave-yard. The older members of the church gave descriptions of him to the writer, as he was before age had bent his form or impeded the elasticity of his step. He was a man of fine personal appearance, tall and well-proportioned, grave and dignified, and wore, as was customary with gentlemen of his standing in society,. the cue, cocked hat, short breeches and silver-buckled shoes of that earlier generation. He was a man of stately bearing and courtly manners, and his tall, manly form clothed in the dress peculiar to " gentlemen of the old school," would command involuntary respect. He was a most worthy citizen and a man of sterling integrity, sin- cere. incorruptible and straight-forward in all his dealings. In Christian character he was decidedly old style, and would be regarded in this easier age as severe and cold and Puritanie ; but in his rever- ent and high-toned piety there was a substantial solidity that might bless these modern times were it more frequent. He died revered by all.
ADAM BOYD. Born, , 1746.
Died, May 14, 1814.
Mr. Boyd was the son of Jolm Boyd and Elizabeth Young, and was a native of Northampton county, Pennsylvania. He was of Scotch descent, his grandfather, John Boyd, having been born in or near Edinburgh in 1690. He was one of the earliest settlers in the so-called "Irish Settlement." By occupation, he was a carpenter. He was in the prime of carly manhood when the war of the Revolution opened, and entered into the service with patriotic ardor. He was an early associator, and received a commission in the Pennsylvania Navy, and was in the conflict between that fleet and . the British ships in May. 1776. He was subsequently transferred from the navy to the army, served through four campaigns and participated in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and Princeton as an officer. At the close of his military career he held the place of chief of transporta- tion. He removed to Harrisburg in 1783, and made it his permanent home. Mr. Boyd bore a high reputation among his fellow-citizens, and was often chosen by them to positions of public trust and honor, serving as the presiding officer of the first town council, as County Treasurer for many years, as County Commissioner, and a Director of the Poor. He was honored with office by the people as long as he would accept it. He was a man of fine abilities and literary taste, decided in his opinions, industrious in habits, and of strietest in- tegrity. In person he was stoutly built, of blue eyes, sandy hair and fair complexion, genial in countenance and courteous in bearing. As
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an officer of the Church he was greatly esteemed and beloved, enjoy- ing the confidence of all. His death occurred in the sixty-eighth year of his age and the twenty-first of his Eldership. He left at death one daughter, Mrs. Rosanna Boyd Hamilton, wife of. Hugh Hamilton. A grandson, Mr. A. Boyd Hamilton, still survives in honored and useful age.
At some unknown period between the years 1808-1812 probably, the following persons were added to the church Session : John Stoner, William Graydon. No record remains to fix the date of their election and induction into office.
JOHN STONER. Born, March 24, 1748. Died March 24, 1825.
John Stoner was the son of Jacob Stoner and Juliana Baker, and was born in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania. His father was a native of the city of Berne, Switzerland. His mother was a native of Hol- land. Fleeing from persecutions abroad they came to this country and settled in Lancaster county in the early part of the last century. John was the youngest child of the family, and was educated in Phila- delphia. Returning home, he remained there until the death of his father, which occurred a short time before the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, when he removed to a farm he had purchased on the Susquehanna. about three miles above Harrisburg. Shortly after the opening of the war he sold his farm and raised a company for service, of which he was elected and commissioned first lieutenant. Most of the expenses of equipping the company and of its term of service was borne out of his own purse. The company belonged to the second battalion of the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment, commanded by Colonel Miles. Mr. Stoner's first commission was dated March 15, 1776. He was promoted captain December 4. 1776, and transferred to the Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment of the line. He resigned, on ac- count of ill health, on November 22, 1777. He was a hearty and thorough patriot, ready for any sacrifices.
After leaving the army he took up his residence in Harrisburg, where he married the widow of Thomas Murray. Her maiden name was Mary Berryhill. The two families of Murray and Berryhill were prominent in the carly history of the church. He was an active citi- zen in the new town, taking a prominent part in civil affairs. He was chosen an Elder at an advanced age, probably not less than sixty years, and held the office between fifteen and twenty years, dying at the age of seventy seven.
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Captain Stoner sustained the reputation of being an honest, sincere and hearty Christian : a man of very kind and affectionate disposi- tion, and of much and earnest prayer. He served Christ in humility and faithfulness, died a peaceful and happy death, departing to the "Rest" of the children of God. Mr. Stoner was the third of the earliest Elders of the church who were officers. in the Army of the Revolution.
WILLIAM GRAYDON. Born, Sept. 4, 1759. Died, Oct. 13, 1840.
William Graydon, the son of Alexander Graydon and Rachel Marks, was born near Bristol, Bucks county. Pennsylvania. He spent his early life in Philadelphia, where he acquired a classical education, and studied law under Edward Biddle, Esq. He came to Harrisburg upon the organization of the county of Dauphin, and entered upon the practice of his profession, being admitted at the May term, 1786. IIc was the first notary public of the county, was a justice of the peace and a member of the town council for several years, the president of . the council and one of the burgesses of the borough. He was the author of ". Forms of Conveyancing " in two volumes, and edited "An Abridginent of the Laws of the United States in 1802." Mr. Graydon was well educated and a man of cultivated literary tastes, and in the many trusts committed to him by his fellow citizens, he sustained a character of unblemished integrity. He was highly esteemed as a gentleman of the old school in his manners, courteous and refined, of high and honorable principles and in the church and the walks of Christian life a man of true piety and deep devotion. He filled the office of ruling elder between twenty-five and thirty years. Mr. G. W. Harris in his " Reminiseences of the Bar, " says : " He was a man of medium height, of very gentlemanly manners, neat, if not precise, in dress, of dark, lively eyes and of an intelligent countenance. His portrait, painted by Francis, is in existence, and is an excellent re- presentation. He wore a cue tied with a ribbon and had his hair powdered." He was humane and benevolent, and an acknowledged . leader in charitable enterprises. Of his children, one, Alexander Graydon, became an elder of this church some years prior to his father's death, and another, H. Murray Graydon, Esq., has been an elder in the Pine Street Presbyterian Church since its organization in 1858. A third, William Graydon, M. D .. was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Dauphin, and now holds the same office in the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, and a
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daughter, Rachel Graydon, was the wife of Hon. Mordecai Mckinney, for many years an elder in this church.
On Monday evening, February 7, 1820, the following persons were elected Ruling Elders of this church : Robert Sloan, Samuel Agnew, M. D .. Joseph A. MeJimsey.
And on the 9th of April succeeding they were ordained, and in- stalled in office.
ROBERT SLOAN. Born 1769. Died Dee., 1833.
Robert Sloan was born in Hanover township, Dauphin county (form- erly Lancaster), Penna. He was of Scotch-Trish descent, his ances- tors coming to America prior to 1736. His father, Robert Sloan, Sr., was an Elder in the Old Hanover Presbyterian church, one of the land marks of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Pennsylvania. His grandfather had also beon a Ruling Elder, and as his son Alexander succeeded him, there is the record of four generations in direct line of Ruling Elders in the Presbyterian Church. The early years of Mr. Sloan's life were spent on the farm with his father, but manifesting a genius for mechanical pursuits, he left home, and without any ap- prenticeship, entered upon his life work, that of a cabinet-maker. On the 30th of March, 1799, he married Sarah MeCormick, of Han- over, and soon after removed to the city of New York. and joined the Presbyterian Church, under the pastorate of Rev. De. Milledollar. In the year 1812 he returned to Harrisburg, where he passed the re- mainder of his life. He was regarded as a very superior workman, a man of peculiar mechanical skill, and was most faithful and diligent in business. Mr. Sloan was eminently a good man, a Christian full of faith and prayer and good works, a man of singular modesty and up- rightness. He possessed the confidence of the community where he resided to an unbounded degree, and they who knew him intimately, had for him a regard that deepened into affection. He was a most faithful office-bearer, always at his post in the sanctuary and the meetings for social prayer. In the matter of prayer he was peculiarly gifted, being evidently taught of God and blessed with an auction from the Holy Ghost.
He was a layman of wide and accurate theological knowledge. After the severe toils of the day he was wont. when not engaged in outdoor work for the Church, to spend his evenings in reading the standard Christian literature of the times, especially the sermons and other works of the old Puritan divines. The doctrines of the Pres-
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byterian Church, as taught in her standards, he heartily embraced as the system of theology contained in the sacred Scriptures, and adhered to them through life with unwavering fidelity. It may be said to his honor, that no man possessed more completely than Robert Sloan the confidence of the Church as a man of God, noble and blameless in his uprightness. He was of a thoroughly Christian and Presbyterian stock, for beside those of his line already mentioned as Ruling Elders, a brother served as an Elder in old Hanover church, and another brother in the First Presbyterian church, of Williams- port, Pa. Mr. Sloan died at the age of sixty-four and in the thir- teenth year of his Eldership.
SAMUEL AGNEW. M. D. Born 1777. Died Nov. 25, 1849.
Samuel Agnew was the son of James Agnew and Mary Ramsey, and was born near Millerstown, Adams county, Pennsylvania. His parents were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, being members of the Associate Reformed church. His father and three brothers, uncles of Samuel Agnew, were all elders at the same time, and tradition says in the same congregation. The father was also a soldier in the Revolutionary army and was wounded in one of the battles in New Jersey. The family was noted for intellectual culture, strength of mind and decided piety.
Mr. Agnew was set apart by his mother for the ministry. Trained under the best of religious influences he became very carly the sub- jeet of divine grace. In the later years of his life, he stated, in answer to the question. " When were you converted ?" "I cannot tell. I cannot recall a period from my earliest childhood when I was not a child of God, with the experiences of a true Christian."
He received a classical education, graduating from Diekinson Col- lege in 1798. On leaving college, greatly to the disappointment of his mother, he chose the profession of medicine, studied with Dr. Me- Clellan, of Greencastle, and graduated from the University of Penn- sylvania in 1801. In college he was the classmate of two men who became distinguished in western Pennsylvania, Rev. Francis Herron, D. D., of Pittsburgh, and Rev. Matthew Brown, D. D., President of Jefferson College.
Dr. Agnew first settled in the practice of his profession in Gettys- burg, remaining there for several years, and winning a large patron- age and the confidence of the people. While there he married Jane Grier, daughter of Major David Grier, of the Revolution. but in
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1804 he removed to Harrisburg, where he remained until 1835. While in Harrisburg he became distinguished in his profession by his " Treatise on the efficacy of kine poek inocolation as a preventive of the coutagion of the small pox." He originated a plan for the gen- cral distribution of kine pock by the establishment of a lottery which proved to be successful. In the war of 1812, he was one of the first, perhaps the first officer, who offered his services, and that of a com- pany comprising the very best men of Harrisbarg, one hundred and twelve strong, to Governor Snyder. As there was no call for men the company disbanded in 1813. In March, 1835, Dr. Agnew left Har- burg and after a sojourn of a year at Lewistown, Pa., removed to Missouri, and while there became an elder in a Presbyterian Church. Meeting some reverses of fortune he remained but a few months, re- turned east, first to Pittsburgh, and thence to Philadelphia, where he remained but a year. In 1839, he went to Butler, Pa., where for eight years he resided with his daughter. the wife of Rev. John R. Agnew. Here he continued the practice of his profession, and by his skill, joined to his labors for the spiritual interests of the people, won the highest favor. He became, while there, an elder in the First Presbyterian Church and the Superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Church. The Pastor of the Church in that place thus speaks of him, " His memory is precious in Butler. Thanksgiving Day was ahnost turned into a day of mourning for us, as the news of his death had ouly reached us the day before."
On the removal of his daughter to Greencastle. Pa .. in the spring of 1847. Dr. Agnew accompanied the family and made his home there for two years. In 1849, while on his way to Temperanceville, a suburb of Pittsburgh. he was violently thrown from a packet boat into the canal and received injuries from which he did not recover, dying on Sabbath evening, November 25, 1849.
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