USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > Warwick in Bucks County > History of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warwick, Hartsville, Bucks County, Pa., 1726-1876 > Part 11
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Fitch never realized much pecuniary benefit from the invention which he toiled so long and with so much
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ardor to bring to perfection. Though the company, which he succeeded in forming, built a boat, which ran regularly up and down the Delaware, north and south from Philadelphia, from June to September, 1790, yet it required occasional repairs ; the machinery was not per- fect, the working of it was expensive, and the next year it was determined, if the necessary funds could be ob- tained, to build another. This was undertaken, but after some instalments assessed upon the members had been paid, a part were unwilling to pay further toward an enterprise which continually required expenditure, as it seemed to them, and brought them no return. The new boat, the " Perseverance," as it was significantly called, was finally abandoned for want of means to finish it, though every effort possible had been made by Fitch to secure what he needed. He was disheartened and in despair, though he never gave up the conviction, that the results of his work would at a future day be of vast utility to mankind.
After visiting France with a view of obtaining aid in the execution of his plan there, and meeting with but indifferent success, he returned to America, remained for a time in Connecticut, and then went to Kentucky. Here he was taken sick ; he was poor, and almost friendless. Disappointment seemed to follow him like his shadow ; and he determined to take his own life. By omitting to take the anodynes which were prescribed for him by a physician, he saved a number of opium pills, which he swallowed all at once, and which threw him into a sleep that ended in death. This occurred at Bardstown, Ken- tucky, about the 1st of July, 1798. His troubles led him into intemperance towards the last part of his life, which
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made him still more wretched, and hastened his steps to the grave of the suicide. He was buried in the public burying ground at Bardstown, and his grave is marked by a large rough stone without an inscription, placed over it within a few years past to identify the spot.
CHAPTER XIV.
REV. N. IRWIN'S PASTORATE.
The change in the size and appearance of the church building, which was made in 1775, and which has already been alluded to, was so great, that it might not improper- ly be called a new edifice, and this epithet is often applied to it in the records of the Corporation. It was not en- tirely finished for several years. In 1784 John Kerr was directed by the Trustees to "paint the pillars of the gallery, that have not been painted, and bring in his bill." In 1787, at a meeting of the congregation, it was resolved " to take some steps toward finishing the church ;" and to carry out this resolution they very appropriately de- termined, that some " stone steps " should be procured for the doors of the church, and that the pews, which were destitute of doors, should be supplied with them. No doubt some of the dressed stone steps, which were then obtained, are in front of the meeting-house at the present time.
V's VAN INGEN-SNYDER
NESHAMINY CHURCH.
←
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NESHAMINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
In the erection of the house of worship, William Kerr and John Crawford were the contractors or master-me- chanics acting for the congregation. Ten years passed before their bills for labor and expenses were all finally adjusted. In 1784 William Kerr requested the Trustees " to settle his accounts respecting the building of this church, and intimated his willingness to submit every- thing to the judgment of impartial men indifferently chosen." The Board voted to submit the matter accord- ingly to arbitrators, if the congregation upon being con- sulted should prove willing. For a time the people were indisposed to adopt this arrangement. But in 1785 Ben- jamin Snodgrass, John Kerr, and Joseph Hart, deeming it very important, that a matter so long in dispute should be amicably concluded, at the suggestion of the Trustees, assumed the responsibility of acting for the congregation in the choice of arbitrators, and the reference of it to them. Daniel Longstreth, Robert Loller, and William Hart, all citizens of eminence in the region, were selected as umpires, but when the case was brought before them, Mr. Longstreth was absent. Mr. Loller and Mr. Hart met, April 26, 1785, heard all the parties in attendance, examined all the papers brought forward, and thoroughly investigated the particulars which had caused misunder- standing. After which they made up their report, which was subsequently presented to the Board, and adopted, and is as follows: [The preamble is omitted]
That in our opinion the sum of six hundred and eighty-one pounds, seventeen shillings, and six pence, said to have been re- ceived by said superintendents, was a sum fully sufficient, if not more than sufficient, to defray all reasonable expences which said
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superintendents were charged with on account of said building ; but who received too little of said sum, or who too much, accord- ing to their respective disbursements, we for want of proper vouchers do not nor cannot undertake to determine; but would beg leave to recommend to the parties, as brethren and members of ye same society to think and judge charitably of each other, and for ye future to endeavor to cultivate Harmony and Unity, without which no society can subsist with any degree of comfort or happi- ness, and in testimony of our wishes for the peace and prosperity of said congregation we have hereunto set our hands this 26th of April, A. D., 1785.
ROBERT LOLLER, WILLIAM HART.
£. s. d.
Amount of the Subscription paper,
731 19 0
Said to be outstanding, -
50 1 6
The sum said to have been received, 681 17 6
Estimate of known expences laid out, 526 15 1
Balance in hands of Contractors, -
155 2 5
From which it appears, that the cost of rebuilding the church at this time was about 680 pounds, or $1808.80.
In 1785 Richard Walker reported to the Trustees, that he had received from Rev. George Duffield of Philadel- phia, four pounds, ($10.66) being the annuity for two years due to the church from the estate of John Gray, deceased. This Mr. Gray may have been a son of El- der John Gray, who died. in 1749. The son perhaps removed to Philadelphia, and attended the church of which Mr. Duffield was Pastor, and having died there he left an annuity to the church at Neshaminy, which passed through Mr. Duffield's hands.
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NESHAMINY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
During the last century the church had for a consider- able period a fund for the support of the poor belonging to it, some or all of which was invested in United States Stock. The following is a copy of one of the Bonds owned by the church either for this purpose or the support of the Pastor.
Loan Office Certificates.
400 DOLLARS.
Numb. 1949.
The United States of America acknowledge the receipt of Four Hundred Dollars from Richard Walker and William Ramsey, which they promise to pay to the said Richard Walker and Wil- liam Ramsey, or Bearer, the Twenty Fourth Day of January, 1781, with interest annually at the rate of six per cent. per annum, agre- able to a resolution of the United States, passed the Twenty Second Day of February, 1777.
Witness my hand this Twenty Fourth Day of January, Anno Domini, 1778.
Countersigned, THOMAS SMITH, C. L. O.
SAMUEL HILLEGAS.
The Corporation held several bonds of this description ; two for two thousand dollars each, one for one thousand, and one for three thousand ; one for five hundred, and three for four hundred each ; in all for nine thousand seven hundred dollars. But it is probable all these bonds were not owned by the church at one time. Several of them are signed by Francis Hopkinson as Treasurer of Loans, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independ- ence.
The Neshaminy Church has always been careful to pro- vide for its poor members who, by misfortune, old age, or sickness, were not able to support themselves, and during
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the pastorate of Mr. Irwin this disposition was mani- fested for a long term of years at much expense.
At a meeting of the congregation, held September 28, 1789, the subject of the Psalmody proper to be used in public worship was discussed, and not being able to come to any conclusion then, they adjourned for ten days, that they might at the end of that time decide whether the " new mode of singing should be introduced in part." What this " new mode of singing " was, we are not in- formed in the Records ; nor whether it was finally adopt- ed ; but there was then no doubt dissatisfaction on the part of many with the old and rude version of the Psalms, and they were anxious to have something in its stead that would express their devotional feelings in a better manner.
In 1791 the grave-yard wall was repaired in part, and nine pounds, ten shillings ($25.33) were allowed by the Corporation to Robert Wallace for the work which he had already done upon it, and the next year the repairs on the north-west side of the grave-yard were completed.
In 1792 the old church, in which Rev. Wm. Tennent preached previously to the division of the congregation into the "Old " and " New Side," and which was occu- pied by Rev. Francis McHenry and the " Old Side " party after the division, was still standing in the present grave-yard. After the death of Mr. McHenry, in 1757, the building was probably used for worship and the pul- pit furnished with supplies by the Old Presbytery of Philadelphia, for but a brief period only. The year after Mr. McHenry's death, 1758, the two Synods, New York (New Side), and Philadelphia (Old Side), were re-united,
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constituting the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. Neshaminy Church, under the pastoral care of Mr. Beatty, was attached to the Presbytery of Philadelphia, the Pres- bytery of Abington being dissolved. Mr. McHenry's church was no doubt soon disbanded and absorbed by Mr. Beatty's flock, and during thirty or thirty-five years after, the old meeting-house was allowed to go to decay. But in 1792, the congregation having been consulted by the Trustees, it was agreed that the building should be torn down and the material used, so far as necessary, in repair- ing the grave-yard wall. A stone, with the date "1727 " and the initials W. M. and W. G., which had been in the old Church, was placed in the grave-yard wall, and when this was taken down in 1851, the stone was placed in the new wall near the gate at the Bristol road, where it still remains. "The Old Church," erected in 1727, was in all probability the first meeting-house built for the congrega- tion, and the stone above referred to is the only known relic of the walls of that building.
Not long after the close of the Revolutionary War, the paper money which was issued by the authority of the Continental Congress, became greatly depreciated through the inability of the Confederation to redeem it in specie, and the finances of Neshaminy Church suffered considerably in consequence. As an illustration of this it is stated in the Records of the Corporation of the Church, that in 1788 William Long received on behalf of the Congregation twenty pounds and eleven shillings in " paper money," which he was willing to take at the rate of twenty-six shillings to the pound, and his proposal was accepted. This was a loss of thirty per cent., nearly one-
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third. No doubt in the payment of pew rents by the seat holders the church treasury was often the loser in those days to a greater extent than this.
In 1792 James McMinn was paid 11s. and 3d., or $1.50, for transcribing the records of the Corporation, which had been previously on loose sheets, or in an unsuitable book, into the book probably in which they are now found, and which is still in an excellent state of preservation.
The same year (1792) the Trustees appointed Rev. N. Irwin, John Horner, and Samuel Polk a committee to procure and plant at least twenty-five trees, of the button- wood, willow and other varieties, on the lot surrounding the church. This shows that the Pastor and his people had at that early day a taste for the ornamental and beau- tiful, as well as useful, around the sanctuary. It is doubtful, whether any of the trees then planted are still standing ; the oaks, which throw their far reaching branches over the yard, being of more ancient date, and the ash trees near the church on the south side and west end having been planted under the superintendence of Rev. R. B. Belville. The pine trees along the fence, near the creek, were planted by Rev. James A. Darrah and Rev. D. K. Turner, in 1848, and the soft maples on the north side of the church by Courtland Carr, about the year 1865.
In 1793 the seats, which had been recently repaired, were let at the rate of 8s. 6d., about $1.14 per sitting, and five sittings were allowed for each pew, making the rent of the pew in those days, $5.70, about one-quarter what similar pews are rented for now.
At that time the Lord's Supper was celebrated twice a year, in the Spring and Fall, and this had been the
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custom previously no doubt from the earliest history of the church. Meetings were often held also on Friday and Saturday preceding and on Monday following the Sacra- mental Sabbath, at which services Clergymen from a dis- tance, or neighboring Pastors, were invited to be present and preach, and these special protracted services were generally attended with beneficial spiritual results. For many years previons to 1860 the celebration of the Com- munion took place three times annually, but about that time the Session voted, at the suggestion of the Pastor, to observe it once a quarter, on the 2d Sabbaths of May, August, November, and February ; which arrangement is still maintained.
Some opposition having been made to the use of the church for a singing school, December 12, 1793, the Cor- poration voted after discussion, that it might be so occu- pied ; provided the members of the school employed the sexton to open and shut the house, and see that it was kept clean and free from injury.
In October, 1793, a resolution was adopted by the Cor- poration, "that John Greir and John Carr be a committee to provide for the accommodation of ye Presbytery of Philadelphia, which is to meet here ye 19th of November next ; that Mr. Greir provide a cold collation and some cyder, and Mr. Carr make provision for ye horses of the members during the day time, while Presbytery do sit, and the Committee are to bring in their bill, which will be paid out of monies in the hands of Mr. John Ramsey."
During the last century, and until 1873, it was custom- ary to have public worship in the church with a discourse appropriate to the occasion, on New Year's Day. A day
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for Thanksgiving after harvest was also observed in 1793, and after that date, annually, on the 2d or 3d Thursday of August, according to the time when the crops of hay and grain might be gathered in, with worship and a suitable sermon in the sanctuary, until about 1870, when the Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania and the President of the United States both appointed a day every year to thank God for his mercies and blessings, when the August Thanksgiving season of this particular congregation was given up, or merged in that of the commonwealth and nation.
In 1794 if a person who was not a seat-holder, or did not contribute to the amount of 10 shillings, ($1.33) for the building or repair of the grave-yard wall, wished to have a corpse interred in the grave-yard, he was obliged, by order of the Trustees, to pay 10 shillings for the privilege. The money was to be collected by the Sexton and accounted for as a part of his salary.
It was customary from the earliest times for the Trus- tees to pay the necessary travelling expenses of the Pas- tor and Elder, when they attended the meetings of Pres- bytery and Synod. But, August 12, 1794, the Board re- solved thereafter to allow on behalf of the church "a reasonable sum per day to the Elders for such attendance in lieu of their travelling expenses." How long this ar- rangement continued we are not informed.
During the last century carriages and wheeled vehicles were inuch less common than they are at the present day, and many of the congregation came to church on horse- back; sometimes the father and mother, or one of the parents and one of the children, or two of the children, on the same horse; and there were stone horse-blocks in the
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church-yard for the convenience of those who rode, to mount and dismount. In 1795 the committee of repairs in the Board of Trustees were directed by the Board to repair these horse-blocks, which had become somewhat dilapidated by age.
In October, 1795, the Congregation resolved at a meet- ing regularly called, that the salary of Mr. Irwin should be $500 per annum from the first day of May preceding, "provided that a rule of reducing the same, in case money," that is, the Continental money, " should consid- ably appreciate, be adopted and agreed upon between Mr. Irwin and the Corporation." In November of the same year this subject was discussed by the Trustees, and it was finally determined, that the salary should be 170 pounds, ($453) and if the income of the church permitted, enough should be added to make it equal to $500; which action of the Board was subsequently ratified by the congrega- tion.
During many years before 1795 Rev. Mr. Irwin served as Treasurer and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, and held all the bonds, records, and papers of the congregation. In that year the Board passed a resolution, that " while it seems both safe and convenient, that he should in gen- eral continue so to do, nevertheless to prevent any accident that might arise from his death or otherwise, it is judged expedient to appoint a person to hold the receipt book be- longing to the Corporation, and such acknowledgments in writing of their bonds and other valuable writings, as may seem proper. Accordingly, Captain William Long was chosen for ye purpose aforesaid."
When John Barnes was chosen Sexton, in 1803, he was
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paid eight dollars a year for his services. He was to re- ceive also "for every large corpse he should bury 10 shil- lings, or $1.33, and in proportion for those that were less." When he buried a person who was not a seat-holder, or contributor to the support of the Gospel in the church, he was to charge the relatives 10 shillings, as a fee for breaking the ground, and one-half of that sum he was allowed to retain for his trouble in collecting ; the other half being paid into the treasury, to be used in keeping the grave-yard in repair. In 1808 he was allowed $2 more " for cutting and splitting the stove wood."
In 1806 the grave-yard wall was again repaired, the expense being met by a general subscription.
In 1803, at a meeting of the congregation, $175 was subscribed toward building stables for sheltering horses, and this sum was subsequently considerably increased. Many in those days came to church on horseback, and they found it convenient and desirable to put their ani- mals in stables or sheds that would be closer than the open sheds around the meeting-house now. These enclo- sures, for which provision was then partly made, seem not to have been erected till 1812. In 1810 a Committee was appointed by the Trustees, consisting of the following members, viz .: John Carr, James Polk, Samuel Hart, and William Mearns, to consider the subject, and devise a proper plan. They reported, that in their opinion " one stable should be built for horses alone, 60 feet long, and 27 feet wide; the side walls of stone about 7 feet high ; doors in the ends ; the horses to be fastened to each side ; a double roof of cypress shingles ; the expense of which they estimate at $300. They also thought, that stables for
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carriages should be erected, but whether as public or pri- vate property they were not determined." No definite action was taken on the matter by the Board then ; but in May, 1811, William Mearns, John Carr, Samuel Mann, Francis Baird, and James Darrah were appointed a Com- mittee to "devise and lay before the Corporation at its next meeting a draught and plan of a stable with an estimate of the expense." In August they reported that they had agreed to recommend the erection of a shed 60 feet long and 20 feet wide; and that if the wall was of stone, they might be built for $250; if of frame, except the foundation, the expense was estimated at $180; where- upon the Trustees resolved, that they would build sheds of the above description, of wood; and $110 was sub- scribed at once toward the cost. A subscription was made through the congregation, and it was determined to build as many sheds as the money subscribed would allow. Elijah Stinson was appointed to superintend the erection of them, and he was allowed $1 a day for his services, when necessarily engaged in the work, and his travelling expenses when abroad. In the spring of 1812 John Greir, Samuel Mann, James Polk, and William Mearns were appointed to collect the money subscribed, and pay it to John Harvey, who was designated as Treas- urer to receive it. The sheds, a part of which are still standing, were built that season, and were the first, ap- parently, that were ever built around the meeting-house. In 1844 six of these sheds were sold, according to a reso- lution passed at a congregational meeting, for $20 each, to Hugh Long, John Polk, James McKinstry, Jacob
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Stuckert, Matthew Wilson, and Dr. Washington Mat- thews.
Rev. Mr. Irwin was widely known and respected in Bucks Co., in which he resided, and took a more active part in the affairs of the County and its politics, than most clergymen do in such matters at the present time. The Court House and Jail were formerly in Newtown, ten or twelve miles south-east of the centre of the County, and when new public buildings became necessary it was proposed to remove them to a more central location. The idea was vehemently opposed by many, and as ardently supported by others. Mr. Irwin was among the latter class. He advocated the change with energy and zeal, and his influence [contributed largely toward fix- ing the County seat at Doylestown, but he was abused and ridiculed by the enemies of the plan. A caricature of him was published, in which he was pictured without his hat and in his shirt sleeves, tugging to pull the Court House to its present site .* He was also largely instru- mental in securing the purchase of the tract of land of 300 acres for the establishment of the County Almshouse, three miles south of Doylestown. He was appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania Register and Recorder of Bucks Co., while the public offices were in Newtown, but discharged the duties of the position by a deputy, em- ploying for the purpose his son-in-law, Dr. William Hart.
Mr. Irwin was a fluent, ready speaker, a keen debater, and familiar with all the forms and rules in use in ecclesi- astical bodies, and had great influence among his breth- ren in the courts of the church. Previous to the forma-
* History of the American Whig Society, Princeton College.
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tion of the General Assembly he was Clerk of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia from 1782 to 1785 inclu- sive, and after the General Assembly was constituted he was its Moderator in 1801, its Permanent Clerk from 1802 to 1807, and its Stated Clerk in 1806.
Dr. A. Alexander said of him: "Nathaniel Irwin of Neshaminy was an influential member of this Assembly. [1781.] It was easy to discern, that as his head was liter- ally long, so it was intellectually." He was fond of both instrumental and vocal music, and, was in the habit of often amusing himself and his friends by playing on the violin, in which he showed no slight degree of skill. The society of young people was very agreeable to him, and he often invited them to his house, and unbent from the labors of the day with music and even dancing. The youths of the congregation were attached to him, and were fond of being in his company, and he exercised a powerful influence over them.
He was highly esteemed for his business capacity and his knowledge of the laws of the State, by the principal men of the congregation; they confided in his judgment in the disposal of the permanent funds of the Corporation and to a large extent for many years placed the manage- ment of them in his hands.
He was welcomed always to the homes of his people. In seasons of festivity, on marriage occasions, or in social gatherings, he displayed a cheerful, lively temperament and native wit, and his conversation was enjoyed, marked, as it was, by sound sense and abundant information. He was gladly received into families which had been smitten by affliction or death. He knew how to afford consola-
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