History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 106

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 106

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

In its form of government the church is strictly Presbyterian, the several judicatories being Sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, and a General Assembly. Be- ginning as a distinct denomination in 1810, it has grown in seventy years from one Presbytery to one hundred and seventeen, from four ordained ministers to about fourteen hundred, and from the churches that had adhered to the revival party to a member- ship of about one hundred and twenty thousand. It has under its care at least five colleges, one of which is properly called a university, having, besides its col- legiate department, well organized schools of law and theology. It may be observed in this connection that the practice of ordaining men to the whole work of the ministry who have not the advantages of a col- legiate education-a practice originating in the exi- gencies of the great revival-is now generally dis- countenanced, and almost entirely abandoned by the Presbyteries. The General Assembly has under its control various boards of Christian beneficence, as a board of education, a board of publication, a board of foreign and domestic missions, and a woman's missionary board. There are three ordained mission- aries with their wives, and two lady helpers in Japan, and five ordained missionaries with twenty native helpers among the American Indians, and a great number of home missionaries.

But I hasten to give a brief account of the planting of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Pennsyl- vania, and especially in Washington County. In May, 1829, the first General Assembly appointed two missionaries, Rev. Messrs. M. H. Bone and John W. Ogden, to travel and preach "in the eastern section of the valley of the Mississippi." They preached with great power in Southern Ohio, in Washington, Pennsylvania, and through the State of Virginia. "The mission of these brethren," says Smith, in his "History of the Church," "paved the way for the opening of a door for extensive usefulness to the church in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania." The preaching of these men made thousands inquire, " Who are these Cumberland Presbyterians ? and how do they differ from other Presbyterians?" These in- quiries were largely answered by reading the article, "PRESBYTERIANS, CUMBERLAND," in Buck's "Theo- logical Dictionary" (Woodward's Edition), many copies of which were sold in those days.

In January, 1831, by request of the Upper Ten-Mile Presbyterian congregation in Washington County, Pa., five of its members wrote to Rev. F. R. Cossitt, D.D., president of Cumberland College, Princeton,

Ky., saying, "That they had lately heard of the Cumberland Presbyterians of the West; that they bad examined the brief exposé of their doctrines and discipline, published in Buck's 'Theological Diction- ary,' which the congregation sincerely approved ; that although they were members of a Presbyterian Church, they could not adopt its Confession of Faith in toto, and were solicitous to become better accquainted with Cumberland Presbyterians, who were viewed by them as their brethren in Christ; and that it was their earnest request that Mr. Cossitt should take measures to provide them, for a short time at least, with the ministrations of a missionary." President Cossitt re- plied that he would lay their application before the next General Assembly, that would meet in Princeton in the following May.

To this letter of President Cossitt the same com- mittee soon sent the following reply : " Immediately on the receipt of your letter we called a meeting of the congregation, and having read your letter to them, they expressed their gratification at the pros- pect of becoming better acquainted with the Cumber- land Presbyterian ministers. They entreated us to continue our correspondence with you, and to renew the request that your Assembly would send us a mis- sionary for a short time. Should you succeed we wish you to inform us as early as possible, and if practica- ble we are solicitous for him to reach this by the 1st of June, which will enable us (should we agree with you in faith and practice) to obtain our dismission from the Presbyterian Church at the session of Pres- bytery which meets about the middle of that month. We are also authorized to state that our minister heartily approves our proceeding, and will with us attach himself to your body so soon as an opportu- nity shall offer. We think that nine-tenths of our sister congregations of the Presbyterian Church be- lieve as we do ; and for some time, especially since two of your preachers were in Washington, an anxious de- sire has been manifested by them to become better acquainted with your ministry. And many who make no profession of religion are solicitous for your ministers to operate in this country ; and we believe that if your Assembly will send us one or more zeal- ous preachers, they will under God prove a great blessing to the Church of Christ. We do request that you press this matter upon the General Assem- bly with as much ardor as possible."

These remarkable letters are copied from Rev. James Smith's " History of the Church," pp. 653-55. The five men who wrote them were Odel Squier, the father of Rev. Dr. E. K. Squier, and long an elder of the Concord Cumberland Presbyterian Church ; Luther Day, also an elder and the first stated clerk of the Concord Church ; Ephraim Post, the father of Rev. W. E. Post and of several elders ; Henry Cary, the father of two efficient ministers, Brothers John and I. N. Cary ; and-William Stockdale, the father of Hon. J. M. Stockdale, now the editor of one of our

412

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

county papers. The minister of the Upper Ten-Mile congregation, referred to in the letters, was Rev. Jacob Lindley, D.D., the father of Dr. Lutellus Lindley, who recently died in Connellsville, Pa., and of Rev. Daniel Lindley, a distinguished missionary, who died at his post among the Caffres in Africa some years since. "Father" Lindley, as he was called, had been for some fifteen years president of the State University at Athens, Ohio. Two of his daughters were afterwards married to distinguished ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the one to Rev. Robert Donnell, the other to Rev. Lee Roy Woods. It may be added that after Father Lindley connected himself with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, he was in his old age the author of an inter- esting work entitled "Infant Philosophy."

The General Assembly receiving these letters from the Upper Ten-Mile congregation, with other letters of like character from Western New York, and re- garding these pressing calls as an intimation that the. great Head of the Church was opening to their min- istry a more extensive field of labor, appointed Rev. Messrs. Alexander Chapman, Robert Donnell, Reu- ben Burrow, John Morgan, and Alfred M. Bryan missionaries to visit the congregations that had thus applied for ministers. Smith says, "Soon after their appointment Messrs. Chapman, Morgan, and Bryan proceeded to Western Pennsylvania; Messrs. Don- nell and Burrow passed through North Carolina and Virginia, and in the autumn met the others in the vicinity of Washington." They all made the jour- ney on horseback, and were much delayed by preach- ing and holding meetings on the way.

On the 14th of July, Morgan and Bryan, who were some days in advance of Chapman, reached Wash- ington, Pa., where, Bryan being sick, Morgan preached several times with great power in the Methodist Epis- copal Church, of which Rev. John Waterman was then pastor. On the 20th of that month Morgan, being conducted by some of the committee that had written for the missionaries, preached at a Methodist Church called Mount Zion, twelve miles south of Washington.' Here he first met Rev. Jacob Lind- ley, the Presbyterian minister at Upper Ten-Mile, who, on being invited cordially, took his seat with him in the pulpit. Brother Morgan in his account of this meeting in the Union Evangelist, says, "During the sermon there was nothing remarkable but a fixed- ness of attention on the part of every hearer, and many tears from many eyes which bespoke the search- ing influence of gospel truth. Mr. Lindley closed the meeting with an unusually feeling and powerful prayer, the tears streaming down his eyes all the time." At the close an appointment was announced for preaching the next Sabbath in a beautiful grove of sugar-maples near the spot where the Concord parsonage now stands.

Alexander Chapman, the most aged of the mis- sionaries, usually called "Father" Chapman, ar-

rived in Pennsylvania on Thursday, July 21st, and preached that night at West Alexander. His jour- nal shows that he met Morgan and Bryan the next day in Washington, and that he rode on Saturday to Ten-Mile Creek, where he preached at night. (Bird's "Life of Chapman," p. 93.) On Sabbath morning, July 24th, Morgan preached to an immense multitude col- lected in the sugar-grove above referred to, and was succeeded by Father Chapman immediately with an- other sermon. A deep solemnity pervaded the whole mighty assembly. One lady was so deeply convicted of her lost condition that she fell from her seat as if she had fainted. Dr. Henry Blatchley, the most emi- nent physician of the neighborhood, being called to her assistance, was unable to determine the nature of her complaint,-"a strong mark of the doctor's dis- criminating medical judgment," says Morgan, “ for, indeed, it was a case which demanded the presence of the Physician of souls, to whom the distressed, sin-sick woman made fervent application in prayer ; and in a few days she was restored, and was able to tell who had made her every whit whole."

In the afternoon of that day Morgan preached at the house of Mr. Marsh, an irreligious man, living near the spot where Mr. Day's store is now kept at Sparta. "Here," says Mr. Morgan, "the mighty power of the Holy Ghost was felt by all present, and many of the unconverted were cut to the heart. Truly the place was awful on account of the pres- ence of God. Now it was manifest that the Lord had begun a great and good work among the people." And he adds, " We now continued preaching from house to house, and from grove to grove, every day during the whole week, and convictions multiplied daily in every direction." There must have been a divine power in those meetings, considering that the people were so moved in the midst of the busy season of harvest.

Mr. Bryan, having now recovered, preached with great power. While the solemn meetings still con- tinued on Ten-Mile, others of great interest were held in Pittsburgh and in Williamsport (now Monongahela City). The missionaries held a meeting of several days' continuance in a Presbyterian Church seven miles from Washington, not far from a place now called Van Buren. Of this church Rev. Dr. Dodd was then pastor. They afterwards held another meet- ing of like continuance in Dr. Lindley's church at Upper Ten-Mile, or Prosperity. To each of these Presbyterian Churches Mr. Morgan says they were invited by the pastor and session when their doc- trine and manner of preaching had become well known. The meetings at these churches were char- acterized by deep feeling and great solemnity, and at each of them there were many " professions of relig- ion." One or two incidents will illustrate the power of these meetings. At Upper Ten-Mile Church, when by request of Mr. Lindley the anxious were first in- vited, on Sabbath evening, seventy-two came forward, asking the prayers of the church. On next morning

413

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

Father Chapman preached one of his most powerful sermons, that which he calls in his journal his "ac- tion sermon," urging sinners to immediate action with reference to their salvation. He was succeeded by Mr. Morgan, after a recess of thirty minutes. When the audience came together, Morgan began by reading a hymn in his most impressive and solemn manner; then, two of the elders having that morning laid in a complaint against what they deemed too much excite- ment, he remarked that "some thought the anxious had been called forward the evening before under too much excitement, and to prevent this charge being made again he would now invite them forward at the very commencement of the service, before singing, praying, or any appeal to their feelings whatever." The seats then being designated and prepared for them, one hundred and twenty came forward. " Those who before had found fault," says Mr. Mor- gan, " now melted, and said with streaming eyes, 'It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good.' " 1

About this time, probably before this meeting, the first Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Pennsylva- nia was organized. This was called by the mission- aries "the Concord Church," the minutes of which begin with this record: "August 16th, 1831. This day there was a Cumberland Presbyterian Church or- ganized by Rev. Alexander Chapman and Rev. John Morgan, a congregation consisting of thirty-seven members, who presented certificates from the Old Presbyterian Church. And on motion the congrega- tion proceeded to the election of Ruling Elders, when | visible result was two hundred and fifty professions of Odel Squier, Samuel Day, Luther Day, and Isaac religion." Mr. Morgan testifies to the same result as to the number of converts, and he adds, "Never, per- haps, were there fewer spurious professions, where the number was so great, in so short a time, since the days of the Apostles." Connet were duly chosen and ordained Ruling Elders, and Luther Day was chosen Stated Clerk of the Ses- sion thus formed." Concord congregation, having its church edifice at Old Concord, Morris township, Washington Co., extends some distance over the line into Greene County. Indeed, the organization, Mr. Morgan tells us, took place in a grove of sugar-maple on the farm of William Stockdale, now belonging to James Dunn, and situated in Greene County.

"The groves were God's first temples," and many of the great meetings held by the missionaries were in the groves. Mr. Morgan, in his account of these meetings, published in the Union Evangelist, says, " We had no meeting-houses, of course, and indeed if we had had they would have been of but little use to us, unless they had covered from one-half to one acre of ground, so large were the crowds that at- tended."

There were now numerous cases of deep awakening widely separated, and the missionaries thought that, under the circumstances, a camp-meeting would be the best means of drawing these together, and bring- ing them more directly and effectually under the means of grace. After the removal of many scru-

ples and objections, this meeting was held in Wash- ington County, near one of the head-springs of North Ten-Mile, and about half a mile from the spot where Concord Church now stands. It began on Thursday, Sept. 1, 1831, and continued one week. This was probably the greatest meeting of the kind ever held in this State. Indeed, the missionaries, who had been long accustomed to camp-meetings, never had seen one that would compare favorably with this. There were about two hundred and fifty families that tented upon the ground. Mr. Morgan says, "We had at- tended many meetings, but this surpassed any we had ever seen. Several times when the anxious were in- vited we counted some two hundred and fifty on the seats at one time. Convictions of sin were more gen- eral, deeper, and more rational than we had ever be- fore noticed, and conversions the clearest, attended with the most overwhelming joy and peace. It was common to see persons of age and intelligence, over- whelmed by a sense of their sins and their lost and miserable condition, in the deepest anguish of soul, as if they could not possibly live, their whole appear- ance clearly showing that the arrows of the Almighty had deeply wounded their hearts. From this sad and affecting condition they would seem all of a sudden to awake into light, and life and joy the most ecstatic and indescribable." Mr. Chapman says of this meet- ing in his journal, "There was harmony among Christians, and much conviction among the wicked. The meeting continued seven days. The immediate

It should be remarked that on Saturday of the great camp-meeting, Robert Donnell and Reuben Burrow, the other two missionaries that had been ap- pointed by the General Assembly, arrived at the camp-ground, and their powerful preaching added greatly to the interest of this and of subsequent meetings. They preached with great success in the Upper Ten-Mile Church at Prosperity, and at many other points in Washington County. The Concord camp-meeting had been attended with such an out- pouring of the Spirit, and had been so solemn and orderly, that many requested the missionaries to hold another " as soon as convenient." To these requests the missionaries readily acceded. This second camp- meeting was held in October, on the premises of Abel Millikin, near what is now known as Clarktown, and still nearer the spot on which the Pleasant Hill Cum- berland Presbyterian Church, which sprang from this meeting, now stands. There were some strange rumors afloat in the vicinity of this meeting. A few supersti- tious people, who believed in witchcraft, lived in that settlement. They had heard of the mighty work on the head-waters of Ten-Mile, and they readily be-

1 Morgan's history of these meetings in the Union Evangelist, vol. i. No. 7.

414

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

lieved the story told by some mischievous person, that the "strange preachers," as the missionaries were called, carried about with them a certain magical powder, which they sprinkled upon the people, thus making them crazy. Mr. Morgan says, "They were actually afraid to have the preachers come nigh them, lest some of this powder should fall on them."

However, the second camp-meeting was a grand success. The Spirit was graciously poured out, and one hundred and twenty-five professed faith in Christ. It should be remarked that many of the Presbyterians were deeply interested for the success of this meeting. Rev. Dr. Dodd himself became so enlisted in it that he employed Dr. Lindley to conduct a sacramental meeting for him at Braddock's, now the Presbyterian Church, near Grayville, in Greene County, while he went with his family and camped at Millikin's. His faith was rewarded, for Morgan says, "Several of his children, as well as we remember, were hopefully converted during the meeting."

The time now came for the return of the older mis- sionaries to their homes in the South. The two younger men, Morgan and Bryan, who were still single, had intended to labor here for a few months only, and then cross the mountains, spend some time in New England, and then return to the South. But after much hesitation they at length yielded to the entreaties of the people, and concluded to make their homes in Pennsylvania. But before Morgan could settle here he had to return to his father's, in Ala- bama, to arrange some business. And it did seem for a time that Bryan would be left alone in this State during the coming winter. What must have been his joy when he heard of the coming of his friend and fellow-presbyter, Rev. Milton Bird, then in the full vigor of youthful manhood. As an evangelist, a pastor, an editor of church papers, and a teacher of probationers for the ministry, no one did more in establishing and confirming the churches in Pennsyl- vania than Mr. Bird. He was long pastor of the Pleasant Hill congregation, on Lower Ten-Mile, in this county. In regard to his coming to this State, his esteemed widow, still living near Princeton, Ky., has sent me the following extract from his journal : " The Green River Synod was induced to pass an order for the organization of Pennsylvania Presbytery. Pursuant to the appointment of Synod I proceeded to Pennsylvania, going from Elkton, Ky., to Paris, Ky., where I took the stage for Maysville; thence I took passage on the steamer ' William Parsons' for Wheel- ing; and thence by stage to Washington, Pa., where I arrived on the morning of November 7th, 1831."

Mr. Morgan returned to his father's, in Alabama, early in November, 1831. I have recently received from his daughter, Mrs. Brown, of Nashville, Tenn., a letter written by him to his father a few days before he started on this journey, and dated " Washington, Pa., Oct. 28, 1831." In this letter he says, in regard to the meetings in Pennsylvania, " We have had one

of the most powerful and glorious revivals of religion I have ever seen. About six hundred have professed religion since the last of July, and many more are now inquiring what they must do to be saved." This pri- vate letter shows beyond all doubt that the mission- aries had not labored in vain in the Lord. Among the converts at their meetings in the summer and autumn of 1831 might be mentioned a number who became ministers of the gospel, as Rev. E. K. Squier, D.D., Rev. W. E. Post, Rev. Messrs. John and Isaac Newton Cary, Rev. Messrs. Philip and Luther Axtell, Rev. Stephen Winget, and also many distinguished citizens of this county, as Elias Day, long a ruling elder of the Concord Church; Col. Albert Squier, who recently died at Cumberland, Ohio; Stephen Blatchley, one of the most eminent physicians of this county ; and Abram Van Voorhees, who, though a noted skeptic, was converted at the Concord camp- meeting through the conversation and prayers of a little girl ten years old, and who afterwards removed from Washington County and became one of the dis- tinguished legislators of the State of Ohio. If there was space, many others might also be mentioned in this connection.

Early in 1832, Mr. Morgan returned to Pennsylva- nia. Green River Synod, having passed an order in the fall of 1831 for the organization of a Presbytery in this State, appointed four of its members to carry this into effect. Pursuant to this order two of these, Rev. Messrs. Alexander Chapman and William Har- ris, par nobile fratrum, came to Pennsylvania early in May, 1832 ; the other two, Messrs. Bryan and Bird, as has been shown, came in 1831. A camp-meeting was now held at Millikin's, on Lower Ten-Mile, in- cluding the third Sabbath in May, at which there were seventy-five professions. During this meeting Rev. S. M. Aston, a famous Cumberland preacher, arrived in this county from East Tennessee. On the 25th of May, 1832, the Cumberland Presbyterian ministers, with a few representatives from congregations already formed, met in Washington, Pa., and there constituted what was at first called the Washington Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Soon after the constituting act the name of the Presbytery was changed to that of Pennsylvania. At this first meet- ing of the Presbytery Mr. Aston was received into membership; also Rev. Jacob Lindley, D.D., and Rev. Cornelius Loughran were received from the Presbyterian Church.

The new Presbytery thus formed was practically without boundaries. The churches formed in Ohio were for several years included in it. The number both of churches and ministers rapidly increased. At an early period Lee Roy Woods, S. M. Sparks, Isaac Shock, A. T. Reese, Felix G. Black, and other Cum- berland Presbyterian ministers came from the South ; Rev. David Barclay and his son, Charles R. Barclay, who soon became an eminent minister, came from the Presbyterian Church ; Rev. A. Shearer, from the Bap-

415

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

tist Church; Rev. Roderick Chapin and Rev. R. C. Hatton, from the Methodist Episcopal Church ; and a number of young men who became efficient ministers were trained under the care of the Presby- tery.

In the spring of 1837 the Pennsylvania Presbytery was divided, pursuant to the order of Green River Synod, Union Presbytery being struck off on the east, including all the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches east and north of the Monongahela River, except the church in Pittsburgh, and Athens Presbytery being formed on the west, including the churches in Ohio, and from these three Presbyteries the Pennsylvania Synod was constituted at Uniontown, Pa., in the fall of 1838. At the second meeting of this Synod, which took place in Washington, Pa., Oct. 17, 1839, there were reported twenty-two ordained ministers, eight licensed preachers, eleven candidates for the minis- try, thirty-five congregations or separate churches, with a membership of three thousand two hundred and fifty-seven communicants. The Synod had for a number of years under its fostering care Greene Academy, at Carmichael's, Pa., Madison College, at Uniontown, and Beverly College, in Ohio. It has had under its care for about thirty years Waynes- burg College, a flourishing institution of learning at Waynesburg, Pa., many of whose graduates have be- come efficient ministers, two of them presidents of colleges, and three of them missionaries in Japan. In April, 1847, the northern part of Union Presby- tery was struck off and Allegheny Presbytery was constituted, and soon thereafter the Ohio Synod was constituted, three Presbyteries having been formed in that State, and Pennsylvania Synod was also recon- structed from the three Presbyteries of this State. The Synod thus severed from the churches in Ohio contained in 1880 thirty-five ordained ministers, forty-seven congregations, one hundred and nineteen elders, eighty deacons, five thousand and eighty-three communicants or regular members, and over thirty- five hundred in its Sabbath-schools. The total con- tributions reported during the year amounted to six- teen thousand four hundred and seventy-eight dollars.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 106

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216