USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Harrisburg > Centennial memorial, English Presbyterian congregation, Harrisburg, Pa. > Part 25
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Dr. Agnew was a ruling elder in the Church at Harrisburg for fifteen years. Few laymen have been better fitted by natural talents, by education, by personal character, and by public position, than Dr. Agnew for a wide and permanent influence of the best and highest kind over their fellowmen. He was a man of notable qualities. In the eyes of the world he was one of the marked men of society. Both in social and professional life, as well as in the church he was promptly accorded the place of a leader. Possessed of a sound, clear and vigorous mind, well disciplined and polished by a thorough course of collegiate and professional studies, a man of great activity, of fine bearing and of a refined courtesy that made his presence always wel- come, it was but natural that he should stand at the head of his pro- fession and exert in every sphere where he moved a controlling influ-
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ence. He was a frequent contributor to the medical journals of his day, and was often called to make literary, scientific and religious addresses. Both as writer and speaker he displayed marked ability. Generous and kind hearted, charitable in his judgment, affable in his manners, uniformly cheerful and hopeful, he gained universal respect and friendship. As husband, father, and friend; as neighbor, profes- sional man, and citizen, he had the esteem and respect of all.
But it was in the Church and as a Christian man he stood highest. He lived a life of steady, uniform and consistent, godliness, making the service of God the great business of his life, seldom allowing any professional duties to interfere with his attendance on the public rites of religion or on his duties as an officer of the church. He was a man of public spirit, of broad charity and of a familiar acquaintance with the great religious enterprises of his day. The Sunday-school and tract societies, and temperance organizations of the time ; and all benevolent operations within and without the Church received his active and earnest support. The canse of Foreign Missions was especially dear to his heart. He was elected a corporate member of the great missionary organization, the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions and attended its annual meeting's as long as age would permit. His religious life was peculiarly marked. The testimony is very strong to his unquestionable piety and devotion to the Saviour of men. In all his life shone forth the evidences of an abiding and unquenchable personal love of Jesus Christ as his Friend and Savionr. In the midst of great trials, involved through others in pecuniary difficulties, redneed to extreme poverty, compelled in old age to struggle for earthly maintenance, he still was strong in faith, giving glory to God. His fervor, his child-like confidence, his warm evangelical spirit, his holy importunity and his seripturalness in public prayers made his presence most welcome in the meetings of believers. And when at length eternity dawned upon him the serene and calm repose of his heart on God was not at all disturbed. His departure from earth was as cahn and hopeful and beautiful as the clear setting of the sun when the day is done. Seldom has the mem- ory of a man been more precious to his fellowmen than that of Dr. Samuel Agnew.
JOSEPHI A. MOJIMSEY. Born December 16, 1780. Died September 20, 1821.
Mr. MeJimsey was born in Chester county, l'a. But few records or traditions of him can be found. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, was educated at an academy in Philadelphia, learned surveying, and for
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several years filled a clerical position in that city. He was a popular citizen and a man of public affairs and had an established reputation as upright aud honest, a man of integrity and wisdom. He was elected clerk of the State Senate in Lancaster in 1809, and when the State Capital was removed to Harrisburg, he continued to serve in that body until his death. Within a year and a half after his election to the eldership in this church he departed this life in the forty-first year of his age. He is said to have been a man of excellent Christian character, a good, exemplary man. The late Mr. John A. Weir who knew him in his own youth spoke very highly of him.
At an election held in the church, August 17, 1825, the following persons were chosen Ruling Elders : John Neilson, Richard T. Leech, John C. Capp.
They were ordained and inducted into office September 11, 1825.
JOHN NEILSON, Born June 16, 1780, Died March 10, 1856.
John Neilson, son of Robert Neilson, of Scotch descent, was born in New Castle county, Delaware. His parents died in his early life, and in his youth he resided with relatives at Wilmington, Delaware. After his marriage, he settled in Middletown, Pa., and filled for some years the office of cashier of the Swatara bank. Upon the removal of the bank to Harrisburg in 1815, Mr. Neilson came with it, and held his office until the bank was closed. Subsequently he was appointed Cashier of the State Treasury and hold the position for twenty-one years. He was a faithful officer, rendering most faithful service with complete fidelity to the State and great honor to himself. He was a man of gentlemanly manners, of pleasant, fair countenance and of quiet and an unobtrusive life. He continued to serve the church until the latter part of the year 1838. The closing years of his life were spent in Baltimore, where he died March 10, 1856, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
RICHARD TREAT LEECH. Born October 3, 1775. Died August 26, 1850.
Mr. Leech was born at Cheltenham, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- vania. He was of English deseent, his paternal ancestors having emigrated from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, in 1682. Purchasing a tract of land in the Province of Pennsylvania from
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William Penn, they settled upon it and gave it the name of their old English home. Four generations possessed the land, and the bodies of these ancestors of Mr. Leech lie buried in the old church yard at Abingdon, Pa. Richard Treat Leech was so named in honor of his step grandfather, Richard Treat, one of the early professors of Princeton College, New Jersey. His opportunities for education were only such as were furnished by the schools of his neighborhood. though he subsequently became known as a man of extensive general knowledge and a writer and speaker of more than ordinary power. In the year 1809-1810 he was elected to the Legislature of the State, then sitting at Lancaster. Here he married Miss Eva Henrietta Steinman, of Lancaster.
Returning to his home he remained there nntil called to Harris- burg by Gov. Simon Snyder, in 1813, to fill the office of Surveyor Gen- eral of the State. He was re-appointed to the same office by Gov. Snyder in 1815. During the war of 1812-1814 Mr. Leech, with every clerk in his office except one, joined the army. The regiment to which they were attached lay at York, Pa., for some weeks, but was not called into action, further than a march to Baltimore. He was a member of Captain Richard M. Crain's company, of Colonel Ken- nedy's regiment. In this company served five of the subsequent Trustees of this church : Capt. R. M. Crain, First Sergeant Alex. M. Piper, Third Sargeant James R. Boyd and Privates R. T. Leech and Alex. Graydon, Jr. Messrs. Leech and Graydon were also subse- quently Elders in the Church. In the ranks with these men served other members of the congregation : Francis R. Shunk. William S. Findlay, Dr. Luther Reily and others. After the expiration of his term of office as Surveyor General, in ISIS. he went to Pittsburgh. and engaged in mercantile pursuits, but returned to the State capital in 1821. In 1825 he was chosen a Ruling Elder in this church and continued to serve it faithfully till 1837, when he again removed to Pittsburgh, where he died August 26, 1850, in the seventy-filth year of his age, having filled the office for twelve years.
In personal appearance, Mr. Leech was tall and slender, fair in complexion, with bright blue eyes, benign in their expression. His manners were courteous and attractive. He was a man of fine abili- ities and of very firm and decided character. For the many years in which he occupied public position at the capital of the State, he bore an unstained reputation. In all his official relations he was greatly esteemed. He was an ardent lover of his country, and in a letter written by him when he was in the army he expresses his readiness to die in defence of his native land and her liberties. The course of publie events was watched by him with the deep and jealous interest
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of a thorough christian patriot, and every violation of true principle in the conduet of civil and national affairs gave him pain as a blow struck at the life of a dear friend.
In social life he was an example of urbane manners, of warm and generous friendship and of generous hospitality. In the Church he stood high as a counsellor, and a faithful member and officer. He is said to have been uncommonly gifted both in the spirit of prayer and in the fluency and elegance of his language. He loved the kingdom of Christ, and gave to its welfare, his toils and prayers and cares. He was generous in the support of its ministry and of its various beney- olent agencies. Lowly in spirit, sympathizing and faithful, he left behind him in the Church, after a service of twelve years as an elder. the fragrant memory of a noble character and a good and useful life.
JOHN CHARLES CAPP, Born 1800, Died March 3, 1876.
Mr. Capp was the son of Jolin Capp and Catharine Chamberlain, and was born in Philadelphia. He was of German descent. His father was for many years a justice of the peace and was a man of great integrity of character The son was educated in Philadelphia and brought up in mercantile pursuits, but came to Harrisburg while yet a youth. He was a member of the Sunday-school of this church in its earliest history and a teacher in it as early as 1817, when but a boy of seventeen. He united with the church in 1820 and was looked upon as a model young man of large promise, Such was his activity and zeal in the religious life and so great was the confidenee of the church in his piety and good judgment that he was chosen an Elder in the twenty-fifth year of his age. His subsequent history fully con- firmed the act of the church as a wise one, Mr. Capp proved to be a most worthy man and valuable church officer. He was ready for all labors, active in duties, earnest in prayer, self-sacrificing and con- sistent in all his life, winning for himself the esteem of the church, and especially gaining the confidenee of the youth of the congrega- tion over whom he exerted the most happy influence. Very few of the Elders of the Church have been more beloved, more regretted in their departure, or have left a more enviable memory than John C. Capp. After a brief eldership of six years he vemoved to Philadel- phia. From 1837 to his death in 1876, thirty-nine years, he served as an Elder in the Central Presbyterian Church. In 1829 he married Sarah Singer of Philadelphia. One of his sons, Rov. Edward Payson
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Capp, went as a missionary to China, and died at Yokohama, Oct. 20, 1873. Two of his sons reside in San Francisco. A fourth. the young- est, Dr. William M. Capp, is a physician of prominence in Phila- delphia.
On October 6, 1834, the following persons, James Wallace Weir, Alexander Graydon, Alexander Sloan, were chosen Ruling Elders, and on Sabbath morning October 19, 1834, they were ordained and installed.
ALEXANDER GRAYDON, Born September 18, 1791, Died December 12, 1868.
Alexander Graydon, eldest son of William Graydon, an Elder of this Church, and Rachel Marks was born in Harrisburg. He was educated at the Harrisburg Academy, entered the hardware trade, and for many years condneted a successful business. He was chosen an Elder in 1834, and served the Church faithfully until his removal to Indianapolis, in 1844. At Indianapolis he became an honored Elder in the Fourth Presbyterian church of that city, holding the office until his death in 1868.
Mr. Graydon bore an enviable character as an earnest Christian worker, a man fearless in the discharge of whatever he deemed to be a duty, even at the cost of reproaches and pecuniary sacrifice. He was early known, as was his brother Elder and life-long friend. James Weir, as a warm friend of the oppressed, at a time when the anti- slavery movement was in popular and obnoxious in the State, and a heresy in the Church. To be an Abolitionist and a friend of the down-trodden black man was a crime in the eyes of the great major- ity, and exposed a man to many social trials and insults, often inter- fering with his business and church relations, and sundering the ties of friendship. Mr. Graydon was unflinching and fearless in main- taining the equal rights of all men of every color and nation. He was honorable and fair in business, faithful to his vows as an office- bearer in the Church, studious of the highest interests of the cause of Christ, and was trusted by all as a true man. a servant of God, and a lover of human kind. The men of this generation can scarcely imagine the amount of opprobrium that was heaped in those earlier days upon the reformer of the political and social evils that had become entrenched and strong and invested with legal rights and moral respectability. In his new home and long residence at Indian- apolis Mr. Graydon continued to be revered and honored by good men for his sterling Christian principles and his firm and conscien-
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tious conviction of duty towards God and man. In the good provi- dence of God his useful life was spared until after the close of the war, when he had the joy of seeing that he was on the winning side in the great conflict of righteousness with wrong.
JAMES WALLACE WEIR. Born August 9, 1805. Died March 14, 1878.
James Wallace Weir, the youngest son of Samuel Weir and Mary Wallace was born at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The father was one of the triumvirate that formed the first Board of Ruling Elders in "the English Presbyterian Church " of Harrisburg, and was of the sturdy Scotch-Irish people. Mary Wallace was of the same origin, and grandsires on both sides, Weir and Wallace, fought side by side in the gallant defense of Derry against King Jantes. 1689-1690. From such an ancestry Mr. Weir inherited a mind, strong in natural faculties, keen in its search for truth, and a will strong and positive. He and his older brothers were brought up on the Bible and on the catechisms and the confession that were brought hither from the mother county. The home of his childhood and youth was one where serious religious earnestness was commingled with household love and care. Mr. Weir showed while a mere youth the effects of home training in his mental powers, in the rapid mastery of his studies and in his taste for the most solid and substantial literature of the day. Before the age of seventeen he was a fluent writer for the press, was well road in the natural sciences, indulged in the calculation of velipses and made astronomical drawings of a high order. His love of study and reading drew him toward the printing office. He became journeyman printer in the office of John S. Wiestling and a con- tributor to the paper published by him. After his apprenticeship he spent some time in the printing office of Messrs. Johnson, Philadel- phia. While there his righteous soul was greatly stirred by an event that he witnessed and that aroused great feeling-the mobbing of some anti-slavery men and the burning of the hall where they had met. The scene confirmed hin in his hatred of human slavery.
On the 26th of November, 1833, having been chosen teller in the Harrisburg Bank he accepted the position and held it until October 30, 1844, when he was chosen its cashier. When the institution became a National bank in 1874 he was unanimously elected its cashier and held the office until his death, having been an officer in the bank for over forty-four years. As a bank officer and financier he gained an enviable distinction for his uniform courtesy, for his
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unimpeachable integrity and for ability of the highest order. Few bankers in the Commonwealth or the country have left a record equal to his in years of service, in successful administration of affairs in periods of financial disaster, and for such rigid honesty. Through nearly half a century he handled millions of money and by no single act of his ever stirred the faiutest suspicion against the purity of his dealings.
But not alone as a banker was he distinguished. As a man among brother-men he won universal confidence. Men felt that they knew him he was so transparently unselfish, reliable and sympathetic.
He was gifted with rare social qualities, and a graceful wit, with a rare knowledge of men and books, and the events of his time, with refinement of manners, which gave a charm to his home and his presence, not often met in men of business. This kindly, social nature, moulded by divine grace made him foremost in the reform- atory, benevolent and religious movements of his time. The poor and the lowly, the tempted, the fallen, the enslaved, found him ready with love and pity for their woes, and with a hand to help them out of their sins into manliness and Christliness.
His literary taste and ability were of a high order. He wrote for the secular and the religious press, was a contributor to the Theolog- ical Review of his own denomination, was a compiler and a graceful and facile writer of hymns, the writer of several religious tracts and Sunday-school papers of value, and the author of two volumes of prayers, that have passed through several editions. For over forty- three years he was a Ruling Elder in active and devoted service in this Church, and a superintendent of its Sunday-school for forty-three years. He was a life director of the American Board of Commission- ers for Foreign Missions for nearly twenty years, and his wise and prudent counsel was sought there, and in the higher courts of his own Church and in numerous public conventions. His conversion to God was a remarkable one, and his subsequent Christian life was characterized from its beginning to his death by the elevating power of Christian principle and religious faith. He was above all things else a Christian. It moulded all his life. He felt the awe of God upon his soul, the loving awe of an earthly child to a Father infinite- ly holy and unmeasureably good. His Christian life was steady and even and strong as the stars in their courses. He was a close and loving student of God's word and his wonderful prayers at his home altar and in the church were models in their rich quotations of Bible language.
For more than thirty years he was a constant sufferer, often from very severe pains, but under them all was one of the brightest and
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most cheerful of men, helping others by his buoyant spirit. He was a man of uncommon beneficence, giving for years half his income, and often much more to charitable and religious purposes. He was a large believer in the things divine and eternal. He walked by them. He lived among them. They were to him the sublimely real things. He had a firm grasp on things that other men were groping after. And so his life was a steady, triumphant victory.
This church was peculiarly dear to him. Upon it he bestowed his affections, his solicitude, his labors, his gifts. To its welfare he con- sverated all the years of his rich Christian life and powers. More than any other man he moulded its character and inspired its work.
Mr. Weir was most happily married to one who for twenty-seven years joined him in church labors and presided over his home with engaging manners and a beautiful piety. Hannah A. (Fahnestock) Mahany, a sister of Mrs. John A. Weir. Her death preceded his, and with his departure the household became extinet.
ALEXANDER SLOAN. Born October 9. 1802. Died August 2, 1890.
Alexander Sloan was the son of Robert Sloan and Sarah NicCor- mick, and was born at Harrisburg. His father was one of the carly Elders of the Church. The son was educated in the select and private schools of Harrisburg, especially under Mr. James. Maginness, who was well known as an eminent mathematician. He learned the trade of cabinet maker with his father, and after his death conducted the business alone up to) 1861, and from that date for several years with Messrs Boyd. He was chosen an Elder of the Church in 1834, and for a period of fifty-six years continued to serve in that capacity. Mr. Sloan, though a quiet and modest man, was very well known in the city where he had spent eighty-eight years, and wherever known there was unvarying testimony to his virtues. He faithfully and most acceptably for more than half a century, discharged the duties of a Ruling Elder, giving a loving and efficient service. He loved the " gates of Zion " and was seldom absent from the Sabbath or week- day services. Mr. Sloan was characterized by his kindness of judg- ment and of speech concerning all his fellow-men. He was genial and warm-hearted, ready to forgive and slow to wound by word or deed. He lived and walked among men with a warm and brotherly heart, esteemed by all, and leaving behind him the record of a con- sistent and unblemished life. No word of reproach assailed his long
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and useful life. At peace with all men, at peace with God, and in comfortable hope of a blessed immorality he passed his declining years in quiet happiness. He was the last in the line of a band of remarkable man who were spiritual officers in the Church. entering into its service in the first half century of its existence. He served in the Session with twenty-two of the Elders of this Church and was beloved by them all. for his genial brotherly traits of character, his wise counsel and upright life. Mr. Sloan married, September 19, 1883, Mary Todd. daughter of James and Sarah Todd, of Han- over. Two of her brothers were worthy and acceptable ministers of the Gospel. Of his children but one remains, Sarah, the wife of H. Murray Graydon, Esq., of this city.
On November 5. 1840, the following persons were elected Ruling Elders in this church : Samuel Wallace Hays, Alfred Armstrong. They were ordained and installed on the first Sabbath of December, 1840.
SAMUEL WALLACE HAYS. Born October 30, 1799. Died May 18, 1855.
Mr. Hays, as with nearly all the Elders of this church, was of Scotch- Irish ancestry. Some of the family received honorable notice for bravery in the patriotic wars of the mother land. His grand-parents came hither in 1789. In the year 1819 Mr. Hays connected himself with the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle. In 1821 he removed to Harrisburg, where he. resided until 1825. when he went to Phila- delphia and spent three years, returning to Harrisburg in 1828 and taking up a residence here. His permanent connection with this church dates from that time. He began business here and carried it on successfully through the rest of his active life. Mr. Hays from the date of his confession of Christ was an active and earnest disciple of his Master. When in Philadelphia, and still a young man, he taught a class of young men in a mission Sunday-school connected with Rev. Dr. Janeway's church. It was called " The Galilean Society." Before going to Philadelphia he and John C. Capp, a young man like himself. had charge of the first Sunday-school estab- lished among the colored people of this city. Upon his return to Harrisburg in 1828, he organized in October of that year, in connec- tion with this church the first infant Sunday school of Harrisburg. and continued to superintend it with great acceptance for nearly twenty-seven years. A few months before his death, failing health obliged him to give up his charge. He died in the fifty-sixth year of
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his age and the fifteenth of his eldership. For thirty-six years his life was full of Christian labors. He was a quiet and modest man, dnving his last years a patient sufferer. He was a very warm friend aud lover of the young, kind and happy in his intercourse and an amiable teacher.
ALFRED ARMSTRONG. Born February 14, 1801. Died October 21, 1884.
Alfred Armstrong, son of James Armstrong and Mary Stevenson, was born in Carlisle, Penna. He was a descendant of one of the oldest and most distinguished Scotch-Irish families of Cumberland Valley. His grandfather, Gen. John Armstrong, resided at Carlisle and was an able and brilliant leader of the colonial troops during the Indian wars of the last century, and the hero of the famous victory over the Indians at Kittanning in 1756. The county of Armstrong was so named in his honor.
Mr. Armstrong was educated at Dickinson College, graduating from it in 1823. That institution was then a Presbyterian college. under the presidency of the celebrated Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, and was at the height of its usefulness and power. During the last year of his college life Mr. Armstrong and many others of his classmates and fellow-students were subjects of an extensive revival of religion- and made their confession of Christ, uniting with the. First Presby- terian church, of Carlisle. Quite a large number of these young men subsequently entered the ministry and attained high positions of honor and usefulness in the Presbyterian Church. Among them may be mentioned : Rev. Drs. Geo. W. Bethune. Erskine Mason, J. Hohes Agnew, George A. Lyon, Daniel MeKinley, J. Chamberlain, John M. Diekey and others.
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