USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > Uniontown > Exercises commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Great Bethel Baptist Church, Uniontown, Pa., November 9th and 10th, 1895 > Part 2
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In 1830 a Home Mission Society was organized by Rev. E. Kincaid, and on December 11 of the same year a Baptist Tract Society was organ- ized; but in the following April the Tract Society was declared to be without Scriptural authority and members were not bound to support it. On July 8, 1836, a Bible Society was formed, to be auxiliary to the American and Foreign Bible Society, In Feb., 1839, a Missionary Soci-
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THE 125th ANNIVERSARY
ety was organized "auxiliary to the Monongahela Baptist Association."
The first mention of a Sunday School is on April 23rd, 1831. On December 8, 1838, we haye the statement that "the Sunday School be allowed the use of the house," but this was for some special purpose, as present members of the church attended Sunday School in the building previous to this date. We also find that in June, 1827, Betsy Abraham received permission to teach school in the building, and in 1840 W. R. Walker was granted the use of the house to teach a reading school in for ten days or two weeks. The Sunday School first organized was a union school, and was not formed into a regular Baptist school until 1858.
On Sept. 10th, 1831, Squire Ayers offered a resolution that members abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors on all occasions. This reso- lution was at the time tabled. (But let me say here by way of parenthe- sis, that Squire Ayers's resolution has long since got off the table.) Nor must we omit here the statement that in 1836, the church separated from the Redstone Association because that Association opposed Foreign Missions, Sunday schools, etc. It at that date united with the Mononga- hela Association.
About the year 1842, a church was organized at Morris Cross Roads, called Bethesda, and several members were dismissed from Mount Mo- riah to join this organization, but in 1849 the Bethesda church disband- ed, and the principal part of the members united with Mount Moriah.
Mount Moriah has been served by many pastors during her 111 years of existence, the greater part of them doing noble service in the Master's vineyard, although on two or three occasions wolves in sheep's clothing made their appearance. There are occasional breaks in the record because of mislaid books, but we give the following list of pastors with the year in which they were called, although it is impossible to give the exact length of each pastorate. There were times, too, when" two ministers were serving the church during the same period, one preaching for, perhaps one-half the time, the other for one-fourth time.
The first pastor was Rev. James Sutton, who served from Dec. 1784 to March, 1786. Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, from March, 1786, to June, 1787, with Rev. John Corbly as assistant. Rev. Geo. Guthrie June, 1787. He was suspended from preaching in March, 1788, "until restored to the church he is a member of and recommended by them." This sus- pension was for doctrinal views held by him, and not for immoral con- duct. Rev. David Loofborrow from June, 1789, to December, 1792. (Here the first mention of salary is made, viz. 23 pounds per year, to be paid in trade.) Rev. Benj. Stone from April, 1795, to 1800. There is no record of a pastor from 1800 till 1809, at which time it is stated that Jon- athan Smith agrees to supply the pulpit the second Sunday in every month; but in the same year Rev. John Patton, familiarly known as "Father" Patton, was called, he serving from 1809 until 1832, a period of between twenty-three and twenty-four years. During five years of this
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time he was relieved of all work except preaching. Rev. Benoni Allen, 1832. Rev. John Thomas worked in connection with Mr. Allen, preaching once a month ; Rev. David Thomas, 1835, to preach on the third Sunday of each month ; Rev. James Estep, 1836, to preach one- fourth of the time. Joseph Grover, a black sheep, was called in 1838, but soon left in disgrace-his real name was Wm. F. Messeldine. Rev. J. W. B. Tisdale, 1838. There is here a record of the calling of Rev. M. Mattox, but no evidence that he ever acted as pastor. Dr. Wm. Penny, 1844 ; Rev. Caleb Rossell, 1846 ; Rev. J. W. Teasdale, 1849, for one-fourth time; Rev. J. M. Purinton, 1851; Rev. I. D. King, 1854 ; Rev. D. B. Purinton, 1856 ; Rev. A. J. Collins, 1857 ; Rev. J. M. Purinton, 1861 ; Rev. John Perry Hall, 1867; Rev. Jonathan Smith, 1870; Rev. A. J. Collins, 1872 ; John Moffett, 1878, a black sheep, but only as a supply for a time ; Rev. W. S. Wood, 1879 ; Rev. Ross Ward, 1883 ; Rev. W. Cat- tell, 1889; Rev. J. W. Hays, the present pastor, was called in November, 1893, and was ordained to the full work of the ministry in February, 1894.
During her existence Mount Moriah has proved herself a blessing by sending out a number of young men to carry the message of salvation, by licensing them to preach the gospel of Christ. Following is a list of those who have been granted license to preach, a number of whom are still living and working, while others have passed away and others still are only awaiting the call to come up higher. The names and date of li- cense are as follows, viz : Wm. Stone, 1798 ; James Estep, 1804; James Paton, 1809; Wm. French and Jeremiah Burchinal, 1823 ; Levi Griffith, David Williams and Wm. Wood, Sr., 1830; Abraham Bowman and John P. Rockefeller, 1833 ; Garrett Patton, 1840; Samuel Kendall, 1842 ; W. W. Hickman, 1843 ; Lewis Sammons, 1851 ; B. F. Brown, P. G. Stur- gis, and G. W. Hertzog, 1854; Isaac Franks, 1858 ; O. P. Moser, 1879 ; Jas. E. Darby, 1881 ; Ross Burchinal, 1891 ; Lee Brownfield, 1892.
Names were constantly being added while others were being re- moved for various causes, and it is difficult to get a positive statement as to the largest number of members in communion at any one period, but there were upwards of 400 frequently reported. The present mem- bership is 325.
Revival meetings were held by many of the pastors who have served the church, but there were two of an unusual character. The first of these was held in the year 1830, and lasted from March until September of that year, under the pastorate of Rev. John Patton. There was no continuous preaching during this season, but there appears to have been a continuous outpouring of the Spirit and ingathering of souls. At almost every business meeting during these months, from three or four to twenty odd persons were received into the membership of the church. During the time sermons were preached by Revs. Thomas, Brownfield, Kincaid, Dr. Shadrach, Downey and others. As a result there were 167 additions to the membership. In 1851, under the pastorate of Rev. J. M.
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Purinton, a meeting was begun on the 4th of October which lasted until November 2nd, and resulted in 85 additions to the church. Among those received into fellowship at that time were some who became active in church work, but their ranks have been sadly thinned, and there are now but about half a dozen of them left who are regular attendants at Mount Moriah. During the past two years quite a number of the aged ones have been called away, among them Brethren Samuel Franks, aged 88; Joseph Goodwin, 84; Hugh Miller, 80; Wm. Sturgis, 79; Mrs. Christina Hess ; Mrs. Elizabeth Dils and others, all of whom, we trust, have gone to join the people of God and to enjoy the rewards of the righteous; and in leaving they have left in the care of others interests that were most dear to them, and we fondly trust and believe that out of the Old Mount Moriah a New Mount Moriah is rising, and that the new duties and responsibilities coming upon us with these stirring 19th cen- tury times may be so met and discharged that the future generations may have cause to bless our work, even as we bless the existence and the work of our spiritual mother-Great Bethel.
"A DEAD MAN SPEAKING."
OUTLINE OF SERMON BY REV. J. A. MAXWELL, PASTOR OF THE CON- NELLSVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH.
And by it he being dead yet speaketh .- Hebrew 11:4.
There is more than one way of speaking. A man's voice is hushed by death but his deeds of life are immortal and they speak on. That life is the greatest success that speaks for something definite and good after it is ended. The grave ends physical life but not influence. Abel died over 4,000 years ago but we are assured that he still speaks. His life stands for definite and particular things. He declares to us :
I. The Sinfulness of Human Nature.
Two brothers bring an offering to God, Abel's a lamb, Cain's the first fruit of the field. One point of difference and preference in Abel's was that there was an acknowledgement of sin. Cain's was only a thank offering, an acknowledgement of dependence and inferiority. It was an acknowledgement of position, Abel's an acknowledgement of condition. If human nature was felt then to be depraved or sinful, much more * should it be felt to be so now. A man is never in so hopeless a condition as when he is blind and insensible to the depravity of his own nature. God is pleased with an acknowledgement of our sin. Abel declares to us also :
II. His Faith in an Atonement.
These two offerings may have been intrinsically of the same value to men, but they were not so to God. The superior excellence of Abel's was that there was blood in it, and by faith in the blood he approached God. The way to God and heaven is the way of blood. "Without the
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shedding of blood there is no remission." We have outlived many things of the past. Many things of Abel's day are buried in oblivion, but the way of salvation is the same. We are still saved by blood, "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometime were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." It is faith in blood-the blood of Christ shed on Calvary- that saves us. Abel declares to us also :
III. The Inviolability of God's Will.
We must reason from the premise suppressed that these two broth- ers were apprised of the kind of offering He desired. Abel did not in- tuitively offer a lamb. Cain thought that if he obeyed with some kind of an offering, it would be real obedience. His heart was radically wrong. So is the heart of any man who thinks that it makes no difference how he obeys so that he does something. A disregard for the sacred- ness of God's will led Cain to a disregard of human life. No man can re- lax his regard for the sacredness of God's commandments and retain his regard for other things divinely sacred.
"Ours not to reason why, Ours not to make reply, Ours but to do and die."
SUNDAY, NOV. 10.
MORNING SESSION.
After devotional services conducted by the general moderator of the meetings, Pastor H. F. King, and an anthem by the choir, the historical sketch was presented in the following paper :
HISTORY OF GREAT BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH.
BY O. J. STURGIS.
Thirteen years before Fayette county was erected out of Westmore- land, this Great Bethel Baptist church was constituted. This was only one year after Henry Beeson, the Virginia Quaker, laid out the village of Beesontown, and 26 years before Uniontown was incorporated as a bor- ough. It was the period of the beginning of settlements in this region following the close of the French and Indian war, when for the first time there was a feeling of comparative security from Savage invasion. Our Pedo-Baptist friends make claims of the early antiquity of their ap- pearance in Western Pennsylvania, but the followers of Calvin and Knox have left no monuments here that are not ante-dated several years by the plantings of those who with Roger Williams proclaimed the doc- trins of soul liberty and held Believer's Baptism to be a prerequisite of a regenerated church membership. In his book, "Old Redstone,"
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Rev. Dr. Joseph Smith refers to Dunlap's Creek as the oldest Presbyter- ian church west of the mountains. But it was not oragnized until 1774, by Rev. James Power, who came from Chester county, and its first in- stalled pastor was Rev. James Dunlap, installed in 1782. Dr. Smith also prints a picture of Rev. James Hughes as the "first man licensed to preach the gospel in the west." This is not correct. He was licensed, says Dr. Smith, by Redstone Presbytery April 15, 1788, Redstone pres- bytery having been organized at Pigeon Creek in Washington county, Sept. 19, 1781. Isaac Sutton was licensed by this Great Bethel Baptist church nearly eleven years before the Redstone presbytery had an exis- tence, and 18 years before that body conferred its first license. Here is the record :
"The Church of Jesus Christ at Great Bethel, Constituted as is supposed in Province of Pennsylvania, holding Believ- er's Baptism, &c., &c., sindeth greeting.
"To all Christian People to whom these may concern, know ye that Isaac Sutton is in full Communion with us, and is of a Regular and of a Christian Conversation, and for aught we know is approved of by us in general as a gifted Brother, and we do unitedly agree that he should Improve his Gifts as a Candidate for the ministery where Ever God in his Providence shall Call him. Signed by us this Eighth day of November, in the year of our lord Christ-1770. "N. B. "Witness our hands, JACOB VANMETER.
That this Church was Constituted by me Nov. 7, 1770, and that the Bearer was licensed to Preach before me, or in my Presence, as witness my hand this 8th day of Nov., 1770. "HENRY CROSBYE."
RICHARD HALL.
ZEPHENIAH BLACKFORD.
"Because we are few in number
Our Sisters are allowed to sign. RACHEL SUTTON,
LETTICE VANMETER.
SARAH HALL."
The covenant as written by Dr. Gill was adopted, and a printed copy attached to the record.
This establishes for the Great Bethel church the claim of being the oldest religious organization in Western Pennsylvania, if not west of the Laurel Hill Mountains, and these old books you see here contain its un- broken records from the first meeting 125 years ago. To save the min. utes from perishing, the original record was copied into this substan- tially bound book, by Samuel King, by act of the church Nov. 2, 1822, and later, when a committee appointed for that purpose reported that they had compared the transcript and found it to be a faithful copy of the original, Mr. King was voted 150 pounds of iron for his pay. On the title page of this book we read : "Isaac Sutton, Great Bethel Church Book, for the use of Inserting Minutes of Business transacted by the
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Church." It is evident therefore that Isaac Sutton took charge of the church after its constitution by Elder Crosbye, and he continued as pas- tor for some years. Who Crosbye was, and whence he came, we have no knowledge, nor is it known whether he left any descendants. His name does not appear in Veech's list of the inhabitants of this section in 1772, nor is his name ever mentioned in the church records except on Nov. 7 and 8, 1770. The Suttons, however, play a prominent part in the early history of Great Bethel. Benedict's History of the Baptists states that this church "was gathered in 1770 under the ministry of Elder John Sut- ton." But the name of John Sutton nowhere appears in the early records of this church, while the names of Isaac, James and Moses occur frequently, and later those of Reuben, Milton, Tobias and others. Cath- cart's Baptist Encyclopedia states there were five Sutton brothers of New Jersey who entered the Baptist ministry, and names John and David as coming to the Redstone country, David settling on Ten Mile in Greene county and John in Fayette, and that Great Bethel owes its origin and much of its subsequent prosperity to the labors of John. Here again reference must be had to Isaac instead of John. If there was a John he did not labor here. From these brothers are descended the numerous Sutton families in Fayette and Greene counties. Their location in Fayette was in what are now South Union and Georges town- ships, Isaac having been one of the early free holders at Hopwood, and Moses having been elected a justice of the peace in 1784, in which year also he was appointed clerk of this church.
At the March meeting, 1773, it is recorded that the members conve- nient to Muddy Creek are dismissed to that church by letter. It was situated not far from the present town of Jefferson, Greene county, and was gathered in 1773, by that co-laborer with the Suttons, Rev. John Corbly, who after suffering persecutions and imprisonment in the Cul- pepper (Va.) jail at the hands of the established church for preaching the doctrine of soul liberty and believer's baptism, came to this section prior to 1770, and was known as the ablest preacher of his time. He served the Mt. Moriah church at Smithfield for a time and on Noy. 5, 1775, con- stituted the church at Forks of Cheat, now Stewartstown church, W. Va., with 12 members, and was its first pastor. That was the first branch church planted by Great Bethel, the minutes of Sept., 1775, con- taining this item : "Resolved, that our brethren at Forks of Cheat be granted their request for a constitution." The first pastor of this oldest child of Great Bethel, Rev. John Corbly, planted also the Goshen church at Garard's Fort, Greene county, in 1776, and it was while he with his family was on his way to preach at this church on Sunday morning, May 10, 1782, that they were attacked by Indians and his wife and several children were massacred. Corbly and his family lie buried in almost unmarked graves in the old cemetery near the scene of this tragedy, and it is hoped that the project of the Monongahela and Ten
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Mile Associations to honor his memory by a suitable monument will be completed at an early day.
The record of the early business meetings of Great Bethel breathes a spirit of devout piety and shows a steady purpose to enforce discipline against wayward members. Cases where some erring brother or sister came before the church and made acknowledgement for a fault, or was excluded for refusing to do so, were much more frequent than can be found among church records of the more modern period. Is it because faults are less frequently committed, or is it due to growing laxity in dis- cipline ? Persistent non-attendance was cause for exclusion then ; it isn't always so now. That the church was tenacious also in holding to the dis- tinctive doctrines of the denomination is seen in various expressions in the minutes, such as this for instance : "The Baptist church of Great Bethel, holding Believer's Baptism," etc.
Elder James Sutton had been acting as assistant pastor to Isaac Sut- ton, but in 1784 he was dismissed by letter to go and serve the newly constituted church at Georges Creek. In June, 1789, it was voted to continue Isaac Sutton as pastor and to call Rev. Wm. Loveberry or Loof- borrow to preach once a month. In this same year a meeting house lot was bought for four pounds, and Thomas Gaddis was appointed to get the deed. This was not the first lot bought by the church. The earliest mention of this subject in the minutes is March 18, 1780, when it is re- corded : "Resolved, that a meeting house be built for the church, and that Brn. James McCoy, Owen Davis and Moses Carr view the ground and pitch upon the place for building, the dimensions of the house to be 30 feet and 25." In July of the same year it was resolved to build two meeting houses and that Owen Davis, Philip Pierce, Joseph Thomas, Joseph Boultenhouse and Philip Jenkins meet August 8, to counsel what is needed to carry on the building and what place." Later, Davis and Jenkins were appointed overseers and Boultenhouse collector of sub- scriptions. June 19, 1784 : "Resolved, that the members shall work at the meeting house every day that is appointed by Richard Reed, Thomas Bowell and Philip Jenkins, under penalty of five shillings for neglect." It is probable that this was the old log house still remember- ed by old residents as situated on the Rogers, now the Fairchance Fur- nace company farm, some six miles south of the present Uniontown. It was on high ground so as to guard against surprises by the Indians. It was near Ichabod Ashcraft's fort, erected early in the same year. It may be asked why this meeting house was erected so far out of town. But it must be remembered there was no town here at that time and that there were more settlers near Georges Creek than there were in the vicinity of the present county seat. The territory that subsequently composed Fayette county was in dispute, being claimed on the one hand by the Penns as part of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and on the other hand by Lord Dunmore as a part of Augusta county, Va. Hence the uncertain phrase locating this church, in the first minutes, which say :
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"Constituted as is supposed in the province of Pennsylvania." It was not until February, 1783, that the boundary dispute was settled by ex- tending Mason & Dixon's line west, and then in Sept. of the same year Fayette was organized out of Westmoreland county, which in turn had been formed in 1773, out of Bedford, Bedford having been taken from Cumberland in 1771.
There is mention also of services having been held at the house of Thomas Gaddis. This was at the old Gaddis fort on the farm now own- ed by Mr. Isaac A. Brownfield in South Union township, still standing, and in the old family burying ground can be seen the tomb stones which tell of the death of some of the primitive members of this church. Mr. Brownfield has handed me a copy of the oldest legible inscription, which records the death of Sarah Gaddis, born Sept. 16, 1771, and died Sept. 10, 1777. This was a child of Thomas Gaddis, long a prominent mem- ber of this church, whose descendants, the Hopwoods, Freemans and oth- ers, are numerous in Fayette county. Col. Gaddis was of illustrious an- cestry, and was third in command in Col. Crawford's disastrous cam- paign in 1782. The old fort is still standing, though built in 1770.
On Sept. 15, 1787, it was resolved that a meeting house be built on the great road a quarter of a mile from Uniontown, Thomas Gaddis, Moses Carr and James Little to carry it on. This must have been the - second of the two meeting houses decided upon six years before, and was intended for the accommodation of those living near to Beesontown. It was built on a one-acre lot deeded by Henry Beeson and wife and was the old log meeting house on the hill which served as the place of wor- ship until replaced by the brick structure that was built in 1831-3, and which is now the property and worshiping place of the Brethren con- gregation of Uniontown.
About this time some opponents of Isaac Sutton, known as the Loof- borrow party, had formed themselves into what they called the Union- town Baptist church, but it soon became merged again into the mother church, as per the following from the minutes of Nov. 6, 1790: "The church of Christ called Great Bethel met the church of Christ called Uniontown, according to appointment. After prayer, proceeded to busi- ness. 1st. Appointed Deacon Gaddis to receive them. 2nd. The church of Union dissolved their constitution and were received into fellow- ship with us."
Isaac Sutton had resigned in March, 1790, but was recalled and serv- ed one branch and David Loofborrow the other until the two branches united in November of that year. Loofborrow then seems to have con- tinued to preach to the church until October, 1793, when a letter of dis- mission was granted to him, as he was going to New Jersey. We have no further record of Loofborrow. Isaac Sutton continued to preach part of the time also until 1794, when Rev. Benjamin Stone was called. In December, 1794, they got into their new log meeting house on the hill, and there Mr. Stone preached to them until 1812, when he was succeeded
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by that remarkable man, Rev. William Brownfield. From this time on for the next quarter of a century the history of Great Bethel church is largely the history of Rev. William Brownfield. It is safe to say that no other man who ever lived in Fayette county, married so many of its people, buried so many of its dead, or so impressed his personality and his doctrinal views upon the religious life of the community, as did this robust, dogmatic, but pious Old School Baptist preacher during the 60 years of his life as a minister of Christ. The first mention of his name is in this item in the minutes of Dec. 1, 1798 : "William Brownfield offered as candidate [for baptism] and adopted." At the next business
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TODON PIE
REV. WILLIAM BROWNFIELD.
This cut is made from a picture taken in 1859, and now in the possession of Mrs. Sarah Jane Hagan of Uniontown, a niece of Mrs. Brownfield.
meeting, January, 1799, he was licensed to preach. Friday, Dec. 6, 1800, he was ordained and the day was observed by the congregation in fast- ing and prayer. On Feb. 6, 1802, he was called to preach the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, though Mr. Stone was still pastor. From June 9, 1804, little more is recorded of Brownfield until Feb. 12, 1812, when he assumed full charge as pastor.
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