USA > Pennsylvania > Greene County > History of Greene County, Pa. : containing an outline of the state from 1682, until the formation of Washington County in 1781. History during 15 years of union. The Virginia and new state controversy--running of Mason's and Dixon's line--whiskey insurrection--history of churches, families, judges, senators, assembly-men, etc., etc. > Part 14
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and did draw the lines of distinction between these men, al- most always deciding in favor of the uneducated man, thus doing great injustice to the educational institutions of our land, which are held responsible because they did not educate brains into the empty skulls of those placed under their care Methodism of various grades and shades has been at times very successful in different parts of this county. A great di- versity of talent and also education can be found among them. Their itinerating system seemed well adapted to the condition of the people of this region, fifty or eighty years ago; for al- though the masses were poor, yet there were men of wealth and liberality in the bounds of almost every circuit, who were not only able but willing to sustain the ministers and carry for- ward the work of the church. Thus Methodists became a power for good, especially on the frontier, where the tempta- tions incident to poverty existed, for although the converts did often fall away, they were not treated as though they had committed the unpardonable sin, for a "door of hope" was left constantly open for their return, which was often entered and re-entered until either the man became possessed of sufficient stability to fall no more, or was treated as an incorrigible offen- der. The year 1807 was somewhat remarkable in a religious point of view, on account of the rapid growth of the church in numbers. The great revival of 1800 had about done its work in Western Pennsylvania, and a glorious work it was among the churches that were considered orthodox, building them up in "their most holy faith," and leaving such indelible impressions that they were never eradicated during the lives of those who had been the subjects of this great work. But as degeneracy and heresy crept into the primitive church soon after the days of the Apostles, so in this year and the years immediately succeeding ; some of the strangest notions wero found to exist in the upper end of Greene County, and in the
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adjacent townships of Washington county. Permanent among these delusions was what was called Halconiteism. One of the principle leaders of this deluded sect was a man by the name of Sergeant. He claimed to have had a direct revelation from Heaven that it was all a mistake with reference to the ex- istence of such a place as hell, and that there was neither such a locality nor such a state of existence. This doctrine was so palitable that many deluded followers gathered around him. His fame was so great that he was invited to preach in the town of Wheeling, where, among his numerous auditors, was a lawyer who, regarding the harangue as heretical, contradicted him. This enraged the false prophet to such a degree that he brought suit against the lawyer for disturbing a worshiping assembly. In due time the suit came off, when the defendant took the ground that this was not a religious assembly, and in order to make out his case, he proved many of the assertions that were made prominent; among them the oft repeated declaration-there was no hell. The lawyer was acquitted and the Courts decided the Halconites were not a religious society. This man seemed determined that his conduct should not be better than his creed, and in order to derive some profit from his convenient doctrine, he committed a forgery, and was im- prisoned in Cumberland, Maryland. This put an end to his ca- reer as a preacher. But as his deluded followers looked around for a leader among those that had adhered to him, they found one in the person of Rhoda Fordyce. This woman was no: content to adopt the creed of her predecessor-"e.c animo" --- without making additions thereto, one of which was that if a person would abstain from all ammal food, live on parched corn and sassafras buds for a given length of time, his body would become so etherial that he would be translated to Heaven without passing through the iron gate of death. It is affirmed that a man by the name of Parker tried the experiment. suo
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instead of ascending to Ileaven, he starved to death. This in- fatuated old woman would not permit the body to be buried until after the third day, insisting that at the expiration of that time it would ascend to Heaven. When the time had elapsed the neighbors took it by force and buried it. This failure to ascend seems to have disabused the minds of the people to that extent that both Rhoda and the Rhodianites-as her followers were called-sank into merited oblivion. Soon after the ex- tinetion of this last imposter, a sect arose in the upper end of Greene and Washington counties call "New Lights." They made converts by scores from the ranks of both the Holy Conites and the Rhodianites. They laid great stress on immer- sion as the only mode of baptism. They also denied the Divin- ity of Christ, maintaining that he was not from everlasting and was not equal with God, the Father. They also introduced the custom of feet washing into their assemblies, where men and women did literally "wash one another's feet." This sect became quite numerous in Marshall county, West Virginia : also in some of the adjoining parts of Ohio. But their day was almost as brief as some of the isms that had preceded them. I saw one of their preachers who came over to Fay. ette county about 1831. His name was Peter F. Lashlie, but he made only a few converts on the east side of the river. These people were, in their turn, destined to be absorbed by still another sect, generally known as Campbellites. This is, however, a name that they repudiate as a misnomer, and I sce no right that any one has to insist on a people keeping a name that they dislike. As Alexander Campbell and his father. however, were undoubtedly the founders of this sect, a brief sketch of his history, and that of his father, will not, I hope, be deemed out of place here :
In the year 1807 Rev. Thomas Campbell emigrated to the United States from : otland. He was a . mber of the "Geu-
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eral Associate Synod." He was received by the Presbytery of Chartiers ; his omnipresent theme was "the all-sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures, so that he was frequently led to denounce all creeds and confessions as were human inventions, tending to divide the church and mar the beauty of the body of Christ. Although he was raised with the catechisms of the Westminster divines in his hand and had their teachings care- 'ully stored in his head, yet he could not be quiet for a single day with reference to the perniciousness of such teachings. As might be expected, such departures as this met with decided opposition by some of those grave old fathers among whom his lot had been so recently cast. The first public discussion seems to have been August 17, 1809 at a meeting held on the head waters of Buffalo creek in Washington county. An address and declaration was here presented by Mr. Campbell from what he is pleased to style "The Christian Association of Washington," for the sole purpose of promoting simple evan- gelical Christianity, free from all mixture of human opinions. and inventions of men. At a meeting of the Synod of the Presbyterian Church, held on the 4th of October, 1810, Rev. Thomas Campbell, formerly a member of the Associate Synod but representing himself as a member of the Christian Associ- ation of Washington, applied to be taken into ministerial standing. The record shows that Mr. Campbell was heard at length. The Synod resolved unanimously that they could not admit Mr. Campbell with his present views and feelings, deem- ing his plan as much more likely to promote dissension and divisions than unity. Their refusal to admit him was not on account of any alleged defect in educational ability, or any defect in moral character, but on account of his peculiar views being inconsistent with the standards of the Presbyte- rian Church. Finding no home among kindred spirits, either in the Associate, nor yet in the Presbyterian Church, he re-
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solved to take the responsibility of originating a new denomi- nation, and consequently on the 4th day of May, 1811, he constituted a few persons as a church with no other creed than the Bible. At this same meeting Rev. Thomas Campbell was appointed Elder ; his son Alexander, who was a member of the first class in Canonsburg Academy in 1791, was licensed to preach the Gospel, and John Dawson, George Sharp, William Gilchrist and James Foster were chosen Deacons. The views of both father and son seem to have undergone a sudden change with reference to the mode as well as the efficacy of water bap- tism. Previous to this time they have, to all appearance, been the strictest kind of Pedo-Baptist. But now they insist that immersion is not only a mode but the mode of Christian Bap- tism. Two churches of this new denomination soon spring into existence; one at Cross Roads, six miles north west of Wash- ington, and the other on Brush run, eight miles south-west of the same place. These churches were organized by Elder Thos. Campbell, who gradually retires from public notice in order to give place to superior genius and more brilliant talents of his son Alexander Campbell, who became one of the most eloquent and persuasive public speakers that ever preached in Westerr. Pennsylvania. As a forensic debator, he had but few equal -. perhaps no superior. The printed debates of "Campbell and Owen" and "Campbell and Rice" will remain monuments of the abilities and skill of those who engaged in them. This man was just in the prime of manhood and in the very zenith of his elo- quence, at the time so large a part of Greene county might so justly be called "the burned district," as ism after ism had con- sumed it until there was eminent danger of infidelity and cven barbarism spreading their sable palls over the minds of many. At this critical moment Elder Alexander Campbell came preach- ing among them. The preaching of John the Baptist in the wilderness of Judea was not much more powerful in its effects
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than the preaching of Mr. Campbell. The flimsy hay, wood and stubble structures erected by the Halconites, Rhodianites and New Lights fell before his eloquence like grass before the scythe of the mower. In some instances, I am told, entire con- gregations of New Lights abandoned their Arianism and adopt- ed the views of Mr. Campbell, which was certainly a long step in the right direction. Although many of the professed follow- ers of Mr. Campbell are but little better than Unitarians, hav- vag loose views of the Divinity of Christ and doctrine of the Trinity, yet many of them are much more orthodox than any of the preceeding sects could possibly be. As proof of this, many of the disciples of Mr. Campbell, as they have become more enlightened, have united with orthodox Baptist denominations.
The coming of Cumberland Presbyterians fifty years ago seemed to be a necessity, from the fact that coldness and luke- warmness so generally prevailed. This young church had its origin in the great revival of 1800-10, when its first Presbytery was formed. Its ministers, although often destitute of classica- education, were evidently called of God to preach. This was especially true with the ministers who arrived in Greene county in 1831 and 1832. This assertion is abundantly proven by the success that attended their labors at Hewitt's Grove, Jefferson. Waynesburg, Milliken's Camp Ground, &c. Whether this de- nomination will be perpetuated, is a question I will not pretend to decide. At first view it seems to possess advantages superi- or to almost any other denomination, as it occupies an interme- diate position between Calvanism and Armenianism. It would seem capable of drawing recruits from both these extremes, which, no doubt, is true, and yet its disadvantages from its in- termediate position are quite as numerous as its advantages ; for the man who will make an acceptable Cmnberland Presbyterian will, with a few modifications, make a good Methodist ur Pics byterian. About twenty years ago this denomination s.emed
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in great danger from certain belligerent parties then existing among them. But having grown wise by their own defects, they have, in many quarters, settled down into the conviction that ambassadors of the Prince of Peace ought to be peaccable, consequently I have heard of no prosecutions of any of their ministers by their brethren for many years, indicating a more peaceful and happy state of existence, which, if persisted in, will no doubt perpetuate their organization for many long years to come.
One of the most conclusive arguments in favor of the per- petuity of this denomination is the attention they have given to the subject of classical education. Scarcely were the great meetings at upper Tenmile, Concord, Milliken's, Jefferson, Hewitt's Grove, Hopewell and Nixon's camp meeting, near Uniontown, over, when John Morgan, who was undoubtedly the leading spirit among these missionaries, began to agitate the question, "Where shall we have an institution of learn- ing ?" I have been credibly informed that Rev. Morgan pressed this matter early upon the attention of the men of wealth in the neighborhood of Concord and Bethel, in Washington county, yet the indifference of the masses was such that the missionaries turned away disappointed but not disheartened. They are soon found pressing the same subject on the citi- zens of Fayette county, where, through the energy and liber- ality of a number of prominent men, they secured control of Madison College, at Uniontown. This institution had been under Presbyterian influences at the outset of its existence. The afterwards distinguished Rev. Robert Baird began his collegiate course in this institution. At a later period the Methodist Episcopal Church obtained a preponderating influ- ence which they used so poorly as to induce the Board of Trustees to seek new affinities, which they found among the Cumberland Presbyterians, led on by Rev. Jno. Morgan, who
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was then pastor of the church at Uniontown. Rev. J. P. Weethee, a graduate of the University at Athens, O., was elected President of Madison College, about 1838. A female department was added in 1839, which was presided over by Miss Eliza J. Hanmer, a graduate of Ipswich Seminary, Mass- achusetts. In the same year Rev. Jno. Morgan was made Professor of Moral and Mental Science.
In 1842 there was a serious rupture between President Weethee and some of the trustees, in which Jno. Dawson, Esq., took a very decided stand against Mr. Weethee. This rupture resulted disastrously to Cumberland Presbyterianism in Madison College. Who were the most culpable parties, it is, perhaps, unnecessary to inquire at this late date. I was ac- quainted with John Dawson, and knew him to be one of the leading lawyers at the Uniontown bar, who made up his mind slowly and deliberately; but when his mind was made up "he would do what he thought was right though the heavens should fall." Mr. Weethee was a man with whom I had but little acquaintance. He no doubt had his exalted ex- cellencies, but his greatest infirmity was that he was so ex- ceedingly sensitive as to his preogatives, so exceedingly fear- ful that some one would interfere with his supremacy. Be these things as they may, the prestige of this denomination was at an end in that institution. Defeated, but not destroyed. this denomination began to cast about them for other fields in which to cultivate their educational interests. Some hopes of carrying out their cherished educational policy was presented by casting in their lots with Beverly College, in the State of Ohio. Yet the different elements were so heterogeneous that the labors of these zealous pioneers of this young denomina- tion were under the necessity of turning elsewhere. And where did they turn ? To Greene county, Pa., in many re- spects the most hopeless of all the fields they had hitherto sur-
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reyed. But the lapse of time, that great interpreter of human events, has proven that sometimes the most unpromising soil finally yields the largest increase. Such has pre-eminently been the case with the educational interests of this denomination as far as Greene county is concerned.
The first success of this denomination, as patrons of educa- tion, was at Greene Academy, located at the village of Car- michaels, twelve miles east of Waynesburg. As the original settlers of this locality were mostly from Virginia and Mary- land, the Episcopalian element largely predominated. Among the instructors we find the names of Messrs. Ely, Wakefield, Whipple, Loughran, Miller, Horner, Ross, Martin, Long, Baker, Crago, Orr, Larkin and Nickeson. During the time that Joshua Loughran was Principal of this academy, the Cumberland Presbyterians were largely in the ascendant. A number of young men, who afterwards became influential ministers, received at least a part of their education there ; among this number were several whom I personally knew, viz: Jas. McFarland, A. B. Brice, E. F. Baird, Luther Axtell, A. J. Baird, A. B. Miller and J. S. Gibson.
Much as Greene Academy had already accomplished, yet. . there was no chartered connection between it and the denom- ination that had furnished a considerable amount of its pat- ronage. Any sudden freak of the trustees might place it be- yond the control of this denomination, and, therefore, the Pennsylvania Presbytery, at its meeting in Greenfield, Wash- ington Co., Pa., in April, 1849, appointed a committee of which Rev. J. H. D. Henderson, General Jesse Lazear and Samuel Moredock, Esq., were members. This committee was charged with the duty of making and receiving proposals from different localities with reference to the amount of aid each would contribute towards the erection of buildings and endow- ing of professorships in a new institution. to be placed under
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the care of the Pennsylvania Synod of the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church. The competing localities were Carmichaels and Waynesburg. Although neither locality contributed as - liberally as was hoped, yet Waynesburg contributed much the larger sum, which at once decided the locality. Application was made to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for a charter, which was granted in March, 1850. The 3d section of this charter reads as follows: "That Jesse Lazear, Jesse Hook, W. T. E. Webb, Bradley Mahanna, John Rogers, Mark Gordon, R. W. Downey, Wm. Braden, A. G. Allison, Wm. W. Sayers, Dr. A. Shaw, John T. Hook and John Phelan are hereby ap- pointed Trustees of said corporation, to hold their positions until their successors in office are elected in the manner herein- after provided." This section provides that three out of the seven Trustees shall be annually elected by the stockholders of the building, and four by the Pennsylvania Presbytery of the Cumberland. Presbyterian Church. By the provisions of this charter the control of Waynesburg College was to be exer- cised exclusively by this denomination, on the condition that three professors should be constantly maintained. In the au- tumn of 1849, Rev. Joshua Loughran left Greene Academy, and located in Waynesburg, where he commenced a school in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The citizens of Waynes- burg subscribed about five thousand dollars towards the erec- tion of suitable buildings, which were commenced in the spring of 1850, and were completed in the autumn of 1851 : 1 when on the first Tuesday of November the new College went into formal operation in the new building. This day might be regarded as an epoch-not only as the first day of teaching in the new building-but also from the fact that on that day Alfred B. Miller entered this institution as a student, and has been continuously connected with it from that time until the present day (August 1882.)
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In the autumn of 1850 Miss Margaret K. Bell was employed to take charge of a school of young ladies with the design of founding a female seminary in connection with the College. A separate building was proposed, but never erected. A seal and diploma were engraved, and several classes of young ladies were graduated and received diplomas under the seal of "Waynesburg Female Seminary." The opening of the spring term of 1852 witnessed a large increase of students, the number in all for this first year being one hundred and thirty. The end of the year was marked by the graduation of the first class in the Female Seminary, consisting of Miss Elizabeth Lindsey, now Mrs. David Crawford, Miss Caroline Hook, afterwards Mrs. Edmiston, and Miss Martha Bayard, now Mrs. Howard. of Brownsville. At the close of the second year, 1853, another class of young ladies was graduated, among whom we find the names of Miss Lucy Lazear and Miss Virginia Morgan. At the same time the first class of young men were graduated, consisting of A. B. Miller, the distinguished President of this institution, W. E. Gapen, now a prominent lawyer in Bloom- ington, Ill., Clark Hackney, now of Washington county, Pa .. and James Rinehart, of Waynesburg, Pa. This being the first commencement day, occurring September 28, 1853, was a day of intense interest to all parties concerned. The Presbytery and Synod were present as well as many distinguished visitors from abroad ; among whom are found the names of Hon. An- drew Stewart and Hon. Samuel Gilmore, of Uniontown, Pa. A. B. Miller delivered the graduating oration, being the first deliv- ered in the new building, consequently he is justly entitled to the name of "first born" of the numerous sons of this Alma-Mater. Soon after this date the college was received under the care of the Pennsylvania Synod. At a meeting of the Trustees held October 14, 1853, I find this resolution, viz : "Resolved, That Rev. Alfred Miller be employed as Professor of Mathematics
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at a salary of $150 per session." But my sketch is growing to proportions entirely too large for the space allotted it in the History of Greene County, and I propose to close it by giving some brief biographical sketches of some of its instructors, some of whom I have personal knowledge, but the principal source of my information is obtained by consulting a very in- teresting history written by Rev. A. B. Miller, D. D., as I find it in a volumn entitled, "Theological Medium,"a copy of which the Dr. has sent me :
Rev. Joshua Loughran was educated at Jefferson College. Canonsburg, Pa. A great reader, a great thinker; with almost boundless ability to illustrate, he could hold his classes spell-bound for an hour without weariness. Prof. Thomas C. Lazear was elected to the vacant chair of Languages at the same meeting of Trustees that accepted Rev. Loughran's resig. nation. He served in this capacity for one year, at the close of which he resigned, and is now a leading practitioner at the l'ittsburg bar. Miss Minerva Lindsey, now the wife Rev. Azel Freeman, of Concord, Washington county, Pa., taught as assistant in the female department during part of the time that J. P. Weethee was President of the institution. Rev. Samuel. H. Jeffrey was elected to the chair of Natural Science which he occupied for one year, when he fell a victim to consumption and died in November, 1859. He was born in an old log house on Montour's run, Allegheny county, when no theological semi- nary was in existence; consequently when he completed his collegiate studies he commenced to study theology with old Rev. George M. Scott, of Mill Creek church, near the spot in Beaver county where Hookstown now stands. During the time of his theological studies he contracted an alliance with Miss Jane Scott, daughter of his preceptor, and at the close of his term, they were married. After various removes, they ar- rived in Waynesburg, where he became pastor of the Presby.
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terian congregation, also the Church of Unity at Graysville, fourteen miles distant. His widow still survives him, and re- sides in Waynesburg, revered and respected by all who know her. Rev. A. J. McGlumphy entered on his duties as Profes- sor of Mathematics at the same time Rev. Jeffrey entered on his duties as Professor of Natural Science, resigning at the close of one year, telling the President he "believed the college hopelessly environed with financial difficulty." Prof. M. E. Garrison was a graduate of Allegheny College, Pa., and was a most faithful and zealous worker in Waynesburg College, which he served for ten years, when declining health compelled him to give up his position. So highly was he esteemed by President Miller that he accompanied him to the Hygienic Home at Danville, N. Y., where, on April 7, 1870, he peacefully fell asleep. Prof. W. G. Scott was placed in the chair of Math- ematies in the spring of 1860, being a graduate of the class of 1857. He served the College very acceptably, and was, like many of his eo-workers, compensated with a very "moderate peenniary reward." Prof. J. M. Crow, A. M., a member of the senior class of 1871, was in the autumn of 1872 made Professor of Greek and Latin, and proved one of the most useful men in the faculty. After teaching for one year, he went to Europe where he spent two years at Liepsic, Germany, and at Basel, Switzerland, extending his knowledge of the classics and also the German language, returning to America in the fall of 1875. He resumed his place in the College and became exceedingly popular in his department. To the regret of all concerned he felt compelled at the close of the year, on account of insufficient salary, to resign his position and accept a more lucrative one. In 1881 he returned to Germany, and resumed his studies in the University at Berlin ; September, 1882, he went to Athens, Greece, to attend an institution of learning. After a tour in Pal- estine he will graduate at Berlin, and return to America in 1883.
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