USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania > Part 22
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Thus this congregation has had in one hundred and fifty-four years the following pastors : Mr. Bertram, four years; Mr. Elder, fifty years; Mr. Snowden, two years; Mr. Williams, four years; Mr. Sharon, thirty-seven years; Mr. Boggs, five years; Mr. Mitchell, twenty-five years; vacancies, seventeen years.
Under the charter of March 28, 1787, an organization took place, with Rev. John Elder as president; Robert McCallen, treas- urer; Thomas Laird, Jr., secretary; John Rodgers, William Laird, and Robert Clark, trustees. There is no earlier record than this, except a note "that William Laird, James Wilson, Jr., and Thomas McCallen were appointed to settle ac- counts of former trustees, John Rodgers, Robert Clark, and James Wilson, Sr.," who appears to have been the security for the treas- urer of the previous organization. 1
In 1842 the graveyard was carefully and substantially inclosed, memorials of sorrow or affection to departed friends "set up and cleaned," iron gates provided, and every mark of respect paid to the remains of the fathers and mothers of a noted race. The wall and yard are to-day in excellent order. The cost to the congregation was six hundred and seventy-eight dollars, a very liberal expenditure for a congregation whose income was not five hundred dollars a year.
August 1, 1845, it was agreed that a chapel "for the members beyond the Swatara Creek" should be erected on "land of Dr. Will- iam Simonton, on the line of Dr. Simonton and John Berst, facing the road from Swatara to Corbett's Mill," to be weatherboarded and plastered. "Capt. John B. Moorhead and Dr. William Simon- ton are to superintend, and Mr. Boggs is to give one-sixth of his time" after the building is ready. The chapel was soon finished, and cost four hundred and twenty-five dollars and twenty-nine cents. It was sold about 1860 for three hundred and ten dollars. As has
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
been stated, this "daugh- ter of Derry" was the cause of many disputes before the necessity of the mother church re- quired it to be disposed of. It was not until about 1800 that the exact di- mensions of the Penn gift of 1741 were determined. Since that time the glebe has dwindled to less than a dozen of acres.
In September, 1884, the trustees of the Derry Presbyterian church com- Old Derry Church. menced the erection of a memorial church to cost $5,000. As has been observed, the first church on this spot was erected in 1724, rebuilt in 1760, removed in 1883, and in 1884 the Memorial Church was erected. The corner-stone was laid with imposing cere- monies, Thursday, October 2, 1884, at 10:30 o'clock A. M. The ceremonies were conducted under a call by A. Boyd Hamilton. Many persons were present from distant points. Judge Simonton made an appropriate address, after which a splendid historical dis- course was delivered by Dr. William Egle, a direct descendant of Rev. John Elder. Mrs. Charles L. Baily and Mrs. Dr. Guilford, of Lebanon, were delegated the honor of putting the stone in posi- tion. This neat church is still used, and it befittingly. perpetuates the sacred memories of the "Old Derry Church," the birthplace of Presbyterianism in this section of Pennsylvania.
THE OLD PAXTON CHURCH.
Three miles east of Harrisburg, on the ridge which forms the northern boundary of Paxtang valley, stands the Paxton Presby- terian church, one of the oldest landmarks in Dauphin county. While it is true that nothing in the New World can be called old, it is also true that the origin of this place as a place of worship is lost in antiquity. In 1732, when the Presbytery of Donegal was organ- ized, there was standing on the spot a log house of worship with some of the marks of age upon it, and near by were the green graves of the pioneers, most of which were never marked, and their exist-
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
ence to-day is only discovered by the grave-digger when he strikes his spade into the soil to add one more to the already populous city of the dead. Sixty years ago there was at the head of one of these graves a rough limestone, upon which was chiseled in rude letters an inscription which stated that the inhabitant below had departed this life in 1716. This establishes the fact of the existence of the bury- ing ground at that date, and we are naturally led to the conclusion that the log church was also then in existence. Rev. James Ander- son and others preached here as supplies, under the care of the Pres- bytery of New Castle, prior to 1732. On the IIth of October of that year the Presbytery of Donegal was constituted out of a portion of the Presbytery of New Castle. The meeting was held at the Done- gal church; ministers present, Messrs. Anderson, Thomson, Boyd, Orr, and Bertram. Mr. Thomson was elected moderator, and Mr. Bertram clerk. The first item of business brought before the new Presbytery of Donegal was in relation to Paxton and Derry. These churches having united in a call to the Rev. William Bertram, which had been placed in his hands at the last meeting of the old New Castle Presbytery, George Renick and others of Paxton and Derry appeared and required an answer thereto. Mr. Bertram accepted, and was installed November 15, 1732, at Swatara, which Webster says was the original name of Derry church. Thomas Forster, George Renick, William Cunningham, and Thomas Mayes were ap- pointed for the Paxton side, and Rowland Chambers, Hugh Black, Robert Campbell, John Wilson, William Wilson, James Quigley, William McCord, and John Sloan for the Derry side of the creek, to assist Mr. Bertram in congregational affairs until the erection of a formal session.
Concerning this old religious land-mark, Dr. William Henry Egle says :
"At the meeting of Presbytery at Upper Octoraro, September 6, 1733, 'Mr. Bertram presented a list of men nominated by the congregations of Paxton and Derry to be set apart for ruling elders. Presbytery ordered that they be again published, and intimation giv- en that if any objection be made against any of them, said objection be given in due time.'
"The amount of the subscriptions to Mr. Bertram's salary does not appear, but the congregation, in addition thereto, made over to him and his heirs their "right and title to the plantation commonly called 'The Indian Town,' purchased from the Indians." Hitherto, and until 1736, Paxton and Derry were considered simply as two branches of the same congregation; this arrangement was unwieldy, and gave rise to various disputes and misunderstandings about finan-
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
cial matters. They had fallen into arrears with Mr. Anderson, and were ordered no less than five times at as many different meetings of Presbytery to pay up; difficulty was experienced in getting all parts of the congregation to contribute their just dues towards the repairs of Mr. Bertram's house, and to defray the expenses of a lawsuit about certain boards. These and other troubles of a like nature were a source of annoyance to both societies as well as to Mr. Ber- tram, so much so that at Nottingham, October 9, 1735, Mr. Ber- tram and his elder united in asking Presbytery to appoint a commit- tee "to go into and reason with the people of said congregation and inquire into their circumstances, as to their ability to be separated in- to two distinct congregations and support themselves, in order that Mr. Bertram, being eased of part of his burden, may be able to go on with more comfort in the discharge of his duty to whichever part of said people he shall be determined to continue with.
"A committee was appointed and reported to Presbytery No- vember 20, 1735. Accompanying their report they presented a sup- plication from the session asking for a separation, and that their bounds might be fixed. At the same time Lazarus Stewart prose- cuted a supplication from Manada creek (Hanover) for a new erec- tion. The subject of separation between Paxton and Derry was postponed from one session to another and finally, September 21, 1736, was agreed upon.
"Mr. Bertram was popular with both parties, who were anxious to retain his services as pastor. Paxton agreed to pay him yearly support of sixty pounds, "one-half money and one-half in hay, flax and linen cloth at market price." Derry promised him fifty-five pounds, in like manner of payments. He became perplexed, but fin- ally engaged with the Derry side and Paxtang was "supplied," until December 22, 1738, by Messrs. Sankey, Alexander, Craven and Elder.
"On December 22, 1738, John Elder, a graduate of the Univer- sity of Edinburgh, Scotland, was ordained and duly installed pastor of "Paxtang" at a salary of "sixty pounds in money." He was an able man in both Church and State matters. He was also a civil magistrate and captain of the famous body known as the "Paxton Rangers," and held a commission under the Proprietary govern- ment. Soon after his coming the old log church was found too small and steps were taken to build a better, larger one. It stands twenty feet back from the old one and was begun about 1740, but owing to poverty and not believing in going in debt, it was several years in course of construction and used many years without floor or pews ; seats made of logs hewed on one side were used by all the people, except the family of the pastor, who occupied a settee, which after the good man's death fell to his son Thomas."
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Old Paxton Church.
This old church is an unpretending stone structure, thirty-six by sixty-six feet, without an ornament of any character, and has stood without change in outward appearance for more than one hundred and sixty-five years. The stone used in its walls are rough limestone, and so irregular in size and shape that a modern stone- mason would not think of using them, and yet no firmer or better walls can be found anywhere. Their strength seems to be in the quality of mortar employed, and the storms of more than a century and a half have had so little effect that the trowel marks are almost as plain as when made by the mason in those long ago decades. Con- tinuing, Dr. Egle says :
"Ground had scarcely been broken for the new house when the dissensions between Old and New Sideism arose in the church, which resulted in the division of the congregation. Mr. Elder and a por- tion of the people adopting Old Side views, remained in possession of the property. The New Side people secured two acres of land about two miles farther east, and immediately erected thereon a rival church, and in 1745, Rev. John Roan became their pastor, and con- tinued his labors among them until his death in 1775. Mr. Roan was at the same time pastor of the New Side Churches of Derry and Mount Joy.
"This movement seriously crippled the congregation, and was the main cause for the delay in finishing and furnishing the building. Mr. Elder's salary was also greatly reduced, but was supplemented by the Old Side people of Derry, who at this time united with Pax- ton under his ministrations. The minutes of Donegal Presbytery from September 28, 1745, to June, 1747, and from October 9, 1750, to June 5, 1759, having been lost, Mr. Elder's private papers, many of them, being also lost or inaccessible, it is somewhat difficult
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
to trace the history of Paxton during this period, probably the most trying one in its existence. The French war was in progress and the Indians very troublesome. 'Many a family mourned for some of their number shot by the secret foe or carried away captive. Their rifles were carried with them to their work in the field and to the sanctuary. Elder placed his trusty piece beside him in the pulpit. Death often overtook his flock as they returned to their scattered plantations. In 1756 the meeting-house was surrounded while he was preaching, but their spies having counted the rifles, the Indians retired from their ambuscade without making an attack.' On an- other occasion in the same year, they came for the purpose of at- tacking the worshipers in church, but by mistake they arrived on Monday instead of Sunday, and after waiting several days, finding they were discovered, left the settlement by way of Indiantown Gap, murdering a number of persons on the Swatara and carrying off several prisoners.
"Notwithstanding all these difficulties, Mr. Elder and his con- gregation prospered. They finished their church and furnished it, not very neatly, but very substantially. The building had three doors of entrance, and the pulpit was built against the north wall, high above the heads of the congregation and directly opposite the south- ern entrance. An aisle ran through from east to west, and another north and south from the southern door to the pulpit.
"The congregation seems to have acquired no legal title to their property until 1754, as we find that on the 8th of June, 1754, Henry Forster and Ann, his wife, gave their deed for twenty acres strict measure, consideration ten pounds."
On June 22, 1764, at the Presbytery held at the church at Derry, Mr. Elder and four other ministers declared their intention to cease from active membership in the judicatory. This was not acted upon until May 19, 1768, when they were joined to the Sec- ond Presbytery of Philadelphia, so that for a period of four years Paxton had no representation in the church courts. The trouble arose out of the old party feeling of what was termed the Old and New Sides which, notwithstanding the union, was still rampant in the Presbyteries. Upon the formation of a "Carlisle Presbytery" in 1786, Paxton was joined to that. After the death of Rev. Roan in October, 1775, Paxton and Derry were again united, under the charge of Rev. Elder. The Harrisburg congregation was formed April 12, 1787, and added to Mr. Elder's charge; also the "New Side" branch at Paxtang. Rev. Elder faithfully served more than fifty eventful years, closing his pastorate on April 13, 1791, when Rev. Nathaniel R. Snowden, of Philadelphia, was called, at a salary of fifty pounds per annum. A partial list of those who pledged him
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
their support is as follows -- the instrument being in the handwriting of James Caldwell, but the names and figures by each subscriber, in the same kind of ink, dated March, A. D. 1793 :
£. s. d.
£. s. d.
James Caldwell
I
2
6 William McRoberts
0 15 0
John Means
0 15 O Richard Fulton
I 5 0
John Wilson
I
5 O Thomas Brown
O 18 9
William Calhoun O 15 O William Wanless
O IO 0
Richard Carson
O 15 O Daniel Brunson
O 17
6
Joshua Elder 2
O
0
Alex. Wilson
I 5
O
Jacob Awl
2
5 O Mary Peacock
O
7
6
William Smith I 15 O John Wilson, Jr
I IO O
James Cowden I IO O
Andrew Stephen
0 17
6
Josiah Epsy I IO O
James Johnston
O
16
8
Thomas McArthur
I
2
O
William Boyd
0
8
4
Barbara Walker
O
7
6 Adam Barbe
O IO
O
John Gilchrist
I
O
O Alex. Mahargue
O 15 O
Alex. McCay
O 8
William Kerr
I 15
0
Thomas Forster
I 17
4 6
Rev. Joshua Williams next accepted a call, (Rev. Snowden having failed of health) and was ordained and installed October 2, 1799, Derry to receive two-thirds of his time and pay one hundred and twenty pounds, and Paxton one-third and pay sixty pounds. This pastorate only lasted one year and eight months, ending on the 30th of June, 1801. Mr. Williams seems to have had trouble col- lecting his salary, for we find him complaining to Presbytery in 1803 about his salary arrears. The moderator was directed to write to these churches and say "that if these arrearages are not dis- charged before the next meeting of Presbytery, that body would be under the disagreeable necessity of withholding from that attention and regard which they pay to churches under their care." This did not have much effect, for we find them still unpaid in September, 1805.
May 29, 1807, Mr. James R. Sharon was installed, both con- gregations agreeing to pay the same salary as that promised to Mr. Williams.
In 1808 the "meeting-house" and "retiring-house" was put in repair.
The "retiring-house" was a small log building near the church, used for meetings of session, and as a study by the pastor during the interval between the morning and afternoon service, and on week-days as a school house.
The "repairs" at this time consisted partly in the running up of
John Rutherford I 15 O James Cochran
I O O
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
two board partitions, thereby creating a vestibule at each end, with the audience-room in the centre. The partitions were of yellow pine, as was also the ceiling, which was placed in position at this time. The pews were left standing in the western vestibule, and were still in position within the memory of many of the present congregation. There was little uniformity in the Paxton pews of that day, as each had been built by the family occupying it, and by their own architect. Two huge ten-plate stoves were placed in the long aisle, the smoke from which ascended through pipes to the loft, and made its escape as best it could through a small hole in the comb of the roof.
Mr. Sharon was a man of eminent piety, and was greatly be- loved by his people. His pastorate covered a period of almost thirty- six years, and ended only with his life, April 18, 1843. During these years the gospel of peace reigned, and little is left for the historian but to record the fact.
October 1, 1844, the Presbytery of Carlisle met at Paxtang. A call was placed in the hands of Rev. John M. Boggs, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Donegal. Mr. Boggs accepted, but asked that his ordination be postponed until the spring meeting, in order that he might attend the Theological Seminary at Princeton during the winter. His request was granted, and he was ordained April 9, 1845, and installed soon after as pastor of Paxton and Derry.
His pastorate was uneventful, and was dissolved October 6, 1847. The field was now vacant for a period of two years or more, during which time new pews of modern style were built in uniform manner.
September 28, 1849, Rev. Andrew D. Mitchell was secured "at $300 per year." He began his labors April, 1850, and continued until February 12, 1874. The following November Rev. William W. Downey accepted a call and became pastor in April, 1875. The pastorate was dissolved in 1878, after which time it was on the "supply" list about a decade.
June 16, 1887, having previously accepted a call, the Rev. Albert B. Williamson, a graduate of Princeton Theological Semi- nary, was ordained pastor.
Immediately connected with the Paxton church was the school, which flourished from early times down to the establishment of free schools in Dauphin county. It was never under the control of the church as an ecclesiastical body, but the same men who composed the congregation were the patrons of the school, and the building was the property of the congregation. It may therefore be con- sidered as an appendage of the church, and the old school-masters
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
stood next in rank and dignity to the clergymen. Here flourished such men as Francis Kerr, Joseph Allen, Benjamin White, James Couples, Francis D. Cummings and others celebrated in their day and generation as educators and from whose instructions went forth many young men afterwards distinguished in every walk of life.
Originally the Paxton congregation owned a tract of twenty acres in the shape of a parallelogram, whose length was three times its width. About fifty years ago a portion of this land was disposed of, leaving a square of between six and eight acres, covered largely with forest trees, among which are several giant oaks that were doubtless trees when Columbus landed on American shores. Near the center of this tract stands the church, and the parsonage occupies the south-east corner. Between the former and the latter is the old burying-ground, which in 1791-92 was enclosed by a stone wall, most of which remains to-day. In 1819 a new roof was placed on this wall by Mathias Humes, contractor. In 1852 the burying- grounds, which had become literally filled to the very borders with graves, was extended ninety feet and the whole covered with wood. It so remained until the summer of 1882, when the wall was again repaired and a new roof placed over the same.
The church building is the oldest house of Presbyterian wor- ship in the entire state of Pennsylvania. It has seen the revolution of years, carrying away the generations of men, their habitations and their churches. All the benches and the desk speak of modern origin, yet the doors hang upon solid posts in unison with the stone walls, and while the storms of a century and a half or more have. left their marks, give no sign of speedy decay. Many of the fore- going facts have been quoted from the late Mathias W. McAlarney's "Sesqui-Centennial History of Paxtang Church," written in 1890.
HANOVER CHURCH.
A little less than eleven miles from Harrisburg on Bow creek, old Hanover church was located, and it became one of the almost sacred landmarks in the history of the Scotch-Irish people in Penn- sylvania.
The only Presbytery of the Presbyterian church in America west of Philadelphia in 1735 was the one at Donegal. It held a session in September of that year at Nottingham, Chester county, Pennsylvania. This Presbytery had been created by order of the Synod of Philadelphia in 1732. The original members of it were Rev. Messrs. James Anderson, Adam Boyd, William Bertram, John Thompson and Robert Orr. September 3, 1735, a supplication
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
Hanover Church.
was presented from "A People of the borders of Suetara Congrega- tion, desiring the continuance of Presbytery in building a new meet- ing house in order to have supplies," which being read, the Rev. William Bertram, the pastor of the Swatara congregation, reported that his people desired him to signify to the Presbytery that they desire them to defer granting such supplication until they be heard. The matter was deferred until the next meeting of the Presbytery.
At a session of the Presbytery held at the same place October 7, 1735, the affair of the people of Manada creek was again deferred. "Mr. Richard Sankey, a theological student from Ireland, having produced his certificate at last meeting before the members of Pres- bytery and been taken under its care, the Presbytery ordered that he endeavor to acquaint himself with the brethren before our next meeting, and also endeavor to prepare some preliminary extempore trials against our next meeting."
At a session of the Presbytery held at Middle Octoraro, Lan- caster county, November 20th, Lazarus Stewart appeared to prose- cute a supplication of Manada creek for a new erection. The region along Manada creek to the mountains was settled rapidly, and the people early began to feel the inconvenience of going so far as Derry to church, and moved for a new "erection or congregation." At that early day they were all Scotch-Irish, and were connected with the Presbyterian Church. The boundaries of congregations and the location of meeting-houses were determined by the Presbytery with considerable authority.
On the 10th November, 1736, Presbytery ordered James Gelston and Richard Sankey to supply Pequea and Manada by monthly turns alternately until the next meeting of Presbytery. On
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HISTORY OF DAUPHIN COUNTY
the 6th of April following, in pursuance of a supplication from the people of Manada, Mr. Bertram was ordered to supply that people on the last Sabbath of April, and to convene the people on some day of the following week in order to moderate a call to Mr. Sankey.
On the 22nd June, 1737, a supplication and a call to Mr. Sankey was presented to Presbytery by John Cunningham and Robert Grier, commissioners from the congregation of Hanover ( Manada ) , by which said commissioners are empowered to promise toward Mr. Sankey's support among the people of Hanover as their orderly pastor the annual payment of sixty pounds, i. e., one-half in cloth and the other in particular commodities, as flax, hemp, linen, yarn, and cloth, together with several gratuities mentioned in said supplica- tion. Said call was recommended to Mr. Sankey's consideration till the next meeting of Presbytery. He was appointed to supply Pax- tang and Hanover alternately, and to open the next meeting of Presbytery with a sermon from Rom. vi. 21.
On the 30th August, 1738, the Presbytery of Donegal met for the first time at Hanover. Richard Sankey was ordained and re- ceived as a member of the Presbytery of Donegal, and was installed as the first pastor of the Hanover church.
June 6, 1759, Mr. Sankey having received a call to a congre- gation in Virginia, and desiring to remove there, applied for and received credentials from the Presbytery. His relation to the Han- over church seems to have already been dissolved.
He removed to Virginia, accompanied by many of the Hanover congregation, about 1760. The main reason for going was to es- cape the incursions of the savages. He settled at Buffalo, joined the Hanover Presbytery of Virginia in 1760, and was appointed to preside at the opening of the Synod of Virginia in 1785. He lived to a good old age, respected by his people and his brethren in the ministry. Mr. Sankey served the Hanover church for twenty-one years, and though no further record is known of his ministry, it was evidently an acceptable one to the people, who kept him so long, and many of whom accompanied him when he left the place. After his dismissal, during the year 1759 the church was supplied occasion- ally by Rev. Messrs. John Steel and John Elder.
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