USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > Warwick in Bucks County > History of Neshaminy Presbyterian Church of Warwick, Hartsville, Bucks County, Pa., 1726-1876 > Part 2
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of Ireland ; and these are the people, who have of late years, in great numbers, removed thence into these American regions."
Watson in his " Annals," Vol. 2, p. 259, says, "The Irish emigrants did not begin to come into Pennsylvania until about the year 1719; those who did come were generally from the north of Ireland."
CHAPTER II.
REV. WILLIAM TENNENT.
In 1716 or 1717 Rev. William Tennent came from Ire- land to America. Born in or about 1673, he was in middle life, 43 or 44 years of age, when he first reached our shores. It is probable that he received his educa- tion in Trinity College, Dublin, as he was originally a Clergyman of the Episcopal Church of Ireland, in which he was ordained a Deacon, July 1, 1704, and a Priest, Sep- tember 22, 1706. He was married to Catharine Kennedy, a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Kennedy, May, 1702, in the County of Down, in the North of Ireland. This Mr. Kennedy was an able and eloquent Presbyterian Minister, who having suffered persecution in his own country fled to Holland, as some of the settlers of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts had done half a century before, when treated in like manner in England. His daughter, who
REV. WILLIAM TENNENT, SR.
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became Mrs. Tennent, was doubtless a woman of unusual talent, as she was the mother of four sons, born in Ireland, who were subsequently distinguished preachers of the Gospel in America. Perhaps it was through her influence in part, as well as that of his father-in-law, that Mr. Tennent withdrew from the Episcopal Church and entered the Presbyterian. He acted in Ireland as Chaplain to a nobleman, but there is no evidence that he ever had charge of a parish in that country.
On the 16th of September, 1718, he applied to the Synod of Philadelphia for admission as a member, having previous to that time been an Episcopalian. The Synod were well satisfied with the credentials he presented, and with the testimony of members present, to his character, standing, and history ; and approving the reasons he submitted in writing for leaving the Established Church of Ireland, they ordered that they should be put on record "ad futuram rei memoriam." By direction of the Synod " the Moderator gave him a serious exhortation to continue steadfast in his now holy profession."
The following are the *" Reasons of Mr. William Ten- nent for his dissenting from the Established Church in Ireland, delivered by him to the reverend Synod held at Philadelphia, the 17th day of September, 1718.
Imprimis. Their government by Bishops, Arch-Bishops, Deacons, Arch-Deacons, Canons, Chapters, Chancellors, Vicars, wholly anti-scriptural.
2. Their discipline by Surrogates and Chancellors in their courts Ecclesiastic, without a foundation.in the word of God.
* Records of Presby. Ch., p. 51.
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3. Their abuse of that supposed discipline by com- mutation.
4. A Diocesan Bishop cannot be founded jure divino upon those Epistles to Timothy and Titus, nor anywhere else in the word of God, and so is a mere human inven- tion.
5. The usurped power of the Bishops at their yearly visitations, acting all of themselves, without consent of the brethren.
6. Pluralities of benefices.
Lastly. The churches conniving at the practice of Arminian doctrines, inconsistent with the eternal pur- pose of God, and an encouragement of vice.
Besides I could not be satisfied with their ceremonial way of worship.
These, &c., have so affected my conscience that I could no longer abide in a church where the same are practiced. Signed by William Tennent."
The Synod recommended to him to connect himself with whatever Presbytery he found it convenient within the bounds of the Synod, and it is most likely that he joined the Presbytery of Long Island, as he lived for about three years after this in the vicinity of New York, *at East Chester and at Bedford. There was then but one Synod in the whole Presbyterian Church of America, and as its meetings were held uniformly in Philadelphia, Mr. Tennent was present but once, viz., in the year 1721, for eight years, detained probably by distance and want of good public conveyances. It is stated in the History of Log College, p. 20, that " at the next meeting of the Synod
* History of Log College, p. 14.
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of Philadelphia after his reception, he delivered before that body an elegant Latin oration." If by " the next meeting," be meant the next year, this could not be true, for he was not present that year ; but the oration may have been pronounced at some other time, as he was an eminent classical scholar, though it is not mentioned in the Records of the Synod.
About the year 1721, "he came by invitation to Bensa- lem, Bucks Co., Pa., to supply the Presbyterian Church
* Watson says (Annals, Vol. 2, p. 96) "Bucks County has the honor of having had located, at the Forks of the Neshaminy, the once celebrated 'Log College,' so called, of the Rev. William Ten- nent, commenced there in 1721; and from it issued some of our best men of earliest renown. It was then the day of small things."
It is not probable that the History of Log College is correct in stating that Mr. Tennent was in Bensalem from 1721 to 1726, for during that time a pastor of another name, a Dutch minister, had charge of the Bensalem Church, at least two or three years. At what time exactly Mr. Tennent came to Neshaminy is doubtful; but his absence from the Synod at Philadelphia seven years out of eight, from 1719 to 1727, being present only in 1721, would indicate that he did not reside in Pennsylvania'; for from 1727 to 1741, when he left the Synod and joined the New Brunswick Presbytery, he was present at the meetings of Synod every year but one. He was absent in 1735. It is probable, therefore, that he did not come to Pennsylvania to reside permanently till 1726, when he came to Neshaminy, though he may have preached some time about 1721 at Bensalem. If he was at either Bensalem or Neshaminy, which places are within twenty miles from Philadelphia, why was he pres- ent only once in eight years at the meetings of Synod, which were uniformly held in Philadelphia?
It has generally been supposed that Mr. Tennent came to War- minster, below Hartsville, and established "Log College" there in
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there with the stated means of grace. This church was small and feeble, as the population at that period, in that region, was thin and scattered, a wide forest extending in almost every direction. He remained there only a short time. He was not present at any meeting of the Synod during those five years, and we know nothing of his labors, trials, or successes. It is almost certain that he was much engaged then in giving instruction to his four sons, who were in their boyhood and youth, and who received a thorough classical education, when there were no schools in the county at which such a training could be had. It is probable that he also taught some other boys, and assisted in cultivating their minds and forming their characters, during the week, as well as proclaimed the truths of the Gospel on the Sabbath.
In 1726 he was invited to take charge of the Church
1726. But this could not have been the fact, as he did not purchase what is known as the "Log College " property till September 11, 1735. Previous to that time, or at that time, he resided in Northampton Township, exactly where is not known. Old deeds now in posses- sion of Mr. Cornelius Carrell, the owner of part of the Tennent prop- erty, show the history of the farm to be as follows :
March 24th, 1724. Charles Read, Job Goodson, Evan Owen, George Fitzwater, and Joseph Pidgeon, Trustees of the Free Society of Traders in Pennsylvania, gave to James Steel, of Philadelphia, a warrant for 1,000 acres of land.
March 25th, 1724. A warrant for the survey of 100 acres was made out to Jacob Taylor, Surveyor of the Province of Pennsylva- nia, which was laid off for James Steel.
September 13th, 1728. James Steel sold this land to John Linter, of Warminster, for £60.
June 30th, 1732. John Linter, of New York, whither he had
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at Neshaminy.§ He accepted the invitation, and though never installed as Pastor in due form, he remained there till his death, a period of twenty years ; but for the last four years he was not actively engaged in the ministry. Many of the clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church at this period were thought to be deficient in zeal and devo- tion to the progress of religion and the salvation of souls. They were correct in their creed, and maintained most of the doctrines of the evangelical system of faith. But their piety had become somewhat cold, and their efforts for the
moved, sold by Thomas Davids, of Northampton Township, his Attorney, this land to Joseph Howell, of Philadelphia.
Joseph Howell died, leaving Wm. Howell and Martha, his wife, executors of his will. A claim of £71 1s. 11d, of John White and Abraham Taylor, not being paid by the executors, the Sheriff, Tim- othy Smith, of Bucks Co., sold it to John White for £121, August 30th, 1735.
September 11th, 1735. John White, of Philadelphia, sold it to Rev. Wm. Tennent, of Northampton, Bucks Co., Pa., for £140.
February 28th, 1746. Rev. Gilbert Tennent, of Philadelphia, exec- utor of the real estate of Mr. Wm. Tennent, sold to John Baldwin, of Warminster, for £361. John Baldwin sold it to Carroll.
Mr. Tennent must have had the institution under his charge in Northampton Township, or at some other place than on the farm, on which it was finally located in 1735; for in that year he is spoken of as a resident of Northampton.
¿ Mr. Tennent may have gathered and organized the church of Neshaminy. A stone of red sand-stone, now in the grave-yard wall near the gate, has on it the date 1727. This same stone was once in the old church, which stood in the grave-yard, in which Mr. Tennent preached, and probably indicates the date when the first house of worship was built. It is quite probable that the church organization was formed either that year or the year before.
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spiritual welfare of men were too formal and heartless. They opposed " new measures," which were adopted in some sections for the elevation of the church to a higher plane of religious feeling and living, and were content with going through without much emotion the same routine of services year after year. Many became connected with the churches, who gave no evidence in their lives of being Christians ; and the children of persons who were baptized, though not in full communion with the church, were exten- sively admitted by Pastors to the ordinance of baptism under what was sometimes called the " half way covenant." Some of the ministry and laity however greatly lamented the decay of vital godliness, and sympathized with any proper means for promoting it. Among these was Mr. Tennent. He was anxious to see the church " fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with ban- ners," and to behold the standard of the cross borne high above all forms of wickedness. He rejoiced in the coming of Rev. George Whitefield to this country, and viewed him as a messenger of God sent to accomplish great good among this people. When he learned that this eminent servant of Christ was in Philadelphia, he went a distance of twenty miles from his home to see him, and converse with him upon the interests of religion in the land. Mr. Whitefield was much gratified with this visit, and the more so because most of the members of the Presbytery of Phila- delphia did not view his measures or work with approba- tion. He says in his Journal, after he had been out in the city making a call, " On my return home was much com- forted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent, an old gray- headed disciple and soldier of Jesus Christ. He keeps an
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academy about twenty miles from Philadelphia, and has been blessed with four gracious sons, three of which have been and still continue to be eminently useful in the Church of Christ. He brought three pious souls along with him, and rejoiced me by letting me know how they had been spoken evil of for their Master's sake. He is a great friend to Mr. Erskine of Scotland ; and as far as I can learn, both he and his sons are secretly despised by the generality of the Synod, as Mr. Erskine and his friends are liated by the judicatories of Edinburgh, and as the Meth- odist Preachers, (as they are called) are by their brethren in England."
In the autumn of 1739, Mr. Whitefield visited Philadel- phia again, and on his way from New York stopped by previous arrangement at Neshaminy. He speaks of this. visit in his Journal in the following terms :
" Nov. 22 [1739.] Set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles distant from Trent-Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives, and keeps an academy ; and where I was to preach to-day according to appointment. About 12 o'cl'k we came thither and found about three thousand people gathered together in the meeting-house yard .* Mr. William Tennent, Jr., an eminent servant of Jesus Christ, because we stayed beyond the time appointed, was preaching to them. When I came up he soon stopped, sung a psalm, and then I began to speak as the Lord gave me utterance. At first the people seemed unaffected, but in the midst of my discourse the power of the Lord Jesus came upon me, and I felt such a struggling within myself for the people, as I scarce ever felt before. The hearers began to be melted
* This was in the present grave-yard.
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down immediately and to cry much ; and we had good reason to hope the Lord intended good for many. After I had finished, Mr. Gilbert Tennent gave a word of exhor- tation, to confirm what had been delivered. At the end of his discourse we sung a psalm and dismissed the peo- ple with a blessing. O that the people may say amen to it ! After our exercises were over we went to old Mr. Ten- nent's, who entertained us like one of the ancient patri- archs. His wife to me seemed like Elizabeth, and he like Zachary ; both, as far as I can learn, walk in all the com- mandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Though God was pleased to humble my soul, so that I was obliged to retire for a while ; yet we had sweet communion with each other, and spent the evening in concerting what measures had best be taken for promoting our dear Lord's Kingdom. It happened very providentially that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are appointed to be a Presbytery by the Synod, so that they intend bringing up gracious youths, and sending them out from time to time into the Lord's vineyard. The place wherein the young men study now, is, in contempt, called the College.
" Friday, Nov. 23. Parted with dear Mr. Tennent and his other worthy fellow laborers ; but promised to remem- ber each other publicly in our prayers."
At this meeting at Neshaminy, when Mr. Whitefield preached, people assembled from the country a great dis- tance in circuit, and from Philadelphia. His fame had spread all over the land, and when it was announced that he was to speak in any place, his hearers were numbered by thousands, so great was the desire to listen to his elo- quence, and to witness the effects of the presence of the
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Holy Spirit, which usually attended him. On the next day after the meeting at Neshaminy he proceeded to Philadelphia, and we are not informed that Mr. Tennent and he ever met again. They were animated by a kin- dred spirit, and were dear to each other, as brethren engaged in the same great work, and acting on similar principles. Scarcely any of the ministers of America are spoken of by Mr. Whitefield in more affectionate and honorable terms than Mr. Tennent. They were both de- nounced and ridiculed by many of the Presbyterian clergy of that day, but posterity has set the seal of its approba- tion upon their motives, character, and labors.
At the time Mr. Tennent came to Pennsylvania there was no institution for the education of pious young men, with particular reference to the ministry, within the bounds of the Presbyterian Church. Some of the minis- ters needed to supply congregations, vacant or newly or- ganized, and to preach in infant settlements, came from Scotland, the North of Ireland, Wales, and England, some from New England, and a few were educated by pastors at their homes. He felt that there was great need of a school, in which youth of talent and piety might be trained for the sacred office, and in which their minds might be imbued with earnest zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of the irreligious. He had commenced the education of his own sons previously, and Gilbert, when he came to Neshaminy, was nearly prepared for ordination. He desired to continue the training of his own family and to provide means for the instruction of others, that the principles of evangelical, vital piety he held dear might be widely extended.
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Influenced by these considerations, he erected a building of logs, cut probably from the ground around the site, just across the road from his residence, about a mile south of the present village of Hartsville, on the main road to Philadelphia, eighteen miles north of that city. This road is called the " York Road," because at that time and for half a century or more afterwards, it was the prin- cipal route of travel between Philadelphia and New York. [In 1751 Benjamin Franklin was appointed Deputy Post Master General for the colonies united by the " Albany Congress," and in that capacity he used to travel up and down this road in a chaise, superintending the mails. How great a change in the Postal service of the country since that day!]
This log structure was small and humble, being but about twenty feet long by eighteen broad, and was used like modern school-houses for the pupils to study and recite in. There were no dormitories attached to it, and the young men instructed there were boarded and lodged in the neighborhood by friends, or by Mr. Tennent himself. There is no doubt that he benevolently provided for some in this way, and at considerable expense, and probably involved himself in pecuniary difficulties, that he might assist young men in their education. He borrowed a sum of money from the fund of the Synod, the interest of which was remitted to him several years by vote of the Synod ; * and so great was the confidence of his brethren in him, that they took his own bond for it after a time, instead of an obligation upon certain real estate.
Mr. Whitefield in his Journal thus speaks of Mr.
* Records of Presby. Ch., p. 88.
-
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Tennent's institution. "It is a log house about twenty feet long and near as many broad ; and to me it seemed to resemble the school of the old prophets, for their habita- tions were mean ; and that they sought not great things for themselves is plain from those passages of Scripture wherein we are told, that each of them took them a beam to build them a house, and that at the feast of the sons of the prophets one of them put on the pot whilst the others went to fetch some herbs out of the field. All that we can say of most of our universities is, that they are glori- ous without. From this despised place seven or eight worthy ministers of Jesus have lately been sent forth ; more are ready to be sent, and the foundation is now lay- ing for the instruction of many others."
CHAPTER III.
REV. WILLIAM TENNENT'S SONS.
Among those who were educated wholly or in part at this school, or connected with it, were Gilbert, William, John, and Charles Tennent, sons of the founder; all preachers of the Gospel of unusual excellence and devoted- ness. Gilbert, the oldest son of Mr. Tennent, born in the County of Armagh, Ireland, April 5, 1703, and about fourteen years old when his father and family came to
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this country, was licensed to preach in 1726 by the Pres- bytery of Philadelphia, and assisted his father in teaching for a year at Log College, when he became pastor of a church in New Brunswick, N. J., and in 1743 was called to the charge of the Second Church in Philadelphia, where he remained until his death in 1764, in the sixty-second year of his age. He was buried at first under the middle aisle of the Second Church, and when the building was remodeled his remains were deposited in the grave-yard belonging to that church, in Arch street between Fifth and Sixth streets, and in 1853 they were removed to the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church in Abington, Pa., where they now lie. He was a man of great power in the pulpit ; clear, searching, and pungent in applying the truths of God's word to the consciences of his hearers ; and Mr. Whitefield, with whom he labored much in revi- vals of religion, speaks of him in the highest terms, as an able, earnest, and effective preacher. He was one of the principal agents in bringing about the division of the Synod of Philadelphia, which took place in 1741 and con- tinued till 1758, seventeen years. Being one of the princi- pal leaders among the "New Lights," as they were called, because they favored new measures in efforts to secure the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of believers, the majority of the Synod did not sympathize with him, and after years of earnest, and sometimes intemperate discussion, he and those whose views were similar to his, withdrew and formed the Synod of New York. When the two Synods were united in 1758 Rev. Gilbert Tennent was elected Moderator, which shows that he was held in high esteem by both the large bodies in the Presbyterian Church.
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William Tennent, Jr., the second son of William Tennent, Sr., was born in the County of Armagh, Ire- land, June 3, 1705, and was eleven or twelve years old when he came to America. He was educated by his father before coming to Neshaminy, and at that place in English studies and the classics, and made extensive attain- ments in the ancient languages, especially Latin. After his brother Gilbert had assumed the pastoral care of the church at New Brunswick, he felt it to be his duty to devote himself to the ministry and to follow the example of his father by spending his life in that sacred calling ; and as he had finished his academical studies, and assisted in instructing the pupils at "the college " for a year or two, he thought it best to repair to his brother's home to pursue the study of theology under his supervision. This was done with the consent and by the advice of his father, as he would enjoy greater advantages in many res- pects in a town than at home. He had gone through the regular course of systematic theology and was about to be examined by the Presbytery with a view to licensure to preach the Gospel, when a very remarkable event occurred in his history, which made a deep impression upon his character and his life. The account of it cannot be given in a better manner than in the words of Dr. Hen- derson of Freehold, N. J., as quoted in the History of Log College, p. 112.
" His intense application " in preparing for his exami- nation, " affected his health, and brought on a pain in his breast, and a slight hectic. He soon became emaciated, and at length was a living skeleton. His life was now threatened. He was attended by a physician, a young
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gentleman who was attached to him by the strictest and warmest friendship. He grew worse and worse, till little hope of life was left. In this situation his spirits failed him, and he began to entertain doubts of his final happi- ness. He was conversing one morning with his brother in Latin, on the state of his soul, when he fainted and died away.
"After the usual time he was laid out on a board, accord- ing to the common practice of the country, and the neigh- borhood were invited to attend his funeral on the next day. In the evening his physician and friend returned from a ride in the country, and was afflicted beyond meas- ure at the news of his death. He could not be persuaded that it was certain ; and on being told that one of the per- sons who had assisted in laying out the body thought he had observed a little tremor of the flesh under the arm, although the body was cold and stiff, he endeavored to ascertain the fact. He first put his own hand into warm water, to make it as sensible as possible, and then felt under the arm and at the heart, and affirmed that he felt an unusual warmth, though no one else could. He had the body restored to a warm bed, and insisted that the people who had been invited to the funeral should be re- quested not to attend. To this the brother objected as absurd, the eyes being sunk, the lips discolored, and the whole body cold and stiff. However, the doctor finally prevailed, and all probable means were used to discover symptoms of returning life. But the third day arrived, and no hopes were entertained of success but by the doc- tor, who never left him night nor day. The people were again invited, and assembled to attend the funeral. The
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