History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 109

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 109

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Father Horner, the first stationary priest of Wheel-

I By D. J. Malady.

5,981

Pennsylvania.

115

15,600

South Carolina.

2,925

Kangas.

135

101

15,500

Kentucky

615

495

80,525

Maine

485

Oregon.

575

Dakota

424

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ing, afterwards came at regular times, covering a period of about two or three years from 1833 to 1836. In this year Right Rev. Bishop Kenrick, of Philadel- phia, visited this portion of his diocese, said mass, and confirmed in the chapel at West Alexander. The following year, 1837, he sent Rev. Father Galla- gher to take charge of this and surrounding missions, with headquarters in Brownsville. Father Gallagher was the first regularly appointed pastor of the Cath- olic Church in Washington County. He had a large field to labor in, but managed to attend to the church at West Alexander once a month. He also visited Washington monthly, and from this time we may date the separation of the two congregations of Wash- ington and West Alexander, now Claysville.

ST. JAMES' CHURCH, WEST ALEXANDER, NOW SACRED HEART, CLAYSVILLE .- About the year 1839 or 1840, Right Rev. Bishop Kenrick visited this far- away portion of his scattered flock a second time, held divine service, and confirmed in the old St. James' Chapel at West Alexander. Father Gallagher was succeeded in 1846 by the Rev. P. Duffy. Under his energetic administration the old frame church was torn down and a new brick one erected in its place, larger than the first, being thirty-three by fifty. The ground on which both of these churches stood was part of a donation of two acres from Mr. Michael Dougherty, a Catholic, and Mr. Schaefer, a Protest- ant, both of whose farms lay adjoining the spot. It is a beautiful place, commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country. The cemetery of this congregation is still there, and few more charming sites can be found among the hills of Pennsylvania than this peaceful little city of the dead.

Father Duffy remained but a short time, and was succeeded for a brief period by the Rev. Father Gal- lagher a second time. Rev. James Kearney came after in 1849, and Rev. James McGowan in 1850. He was succeeded by Rev. Henry Duff Lambert.

In 1852, Brownsville was separated from this mis- sion, and the Rev. Daniel Hickey was appointed to take charge of West Alexander, Washington, and the Greene County missions. He took up his residence near the church, the first resident Catholic clergyman in Washington County ... The Hempfield Railroad was being constructed about this time, and owing to the number of Irish Catholic workmen employed there was a large though temporary increase of the congregation. When this influx subsided St. James' congregation numbered about twenty, or, at the most, twenty-five families, made up of the descendants of old settlers, of those who had worked on the pike, and of some who worked on the building of the Hemp- field road, and remained after it was done. Father Hickey died Oct. 5, 1854, in the thirty-first year of his age, and was buried in the church cemetery. A beautiful marble monument over his grave attests the devotion of the people among whom the labor of his young life was spent.

Rev. John Farren came next; then Rev. Francis O'Shea in 1855; Rev. Jerome Kearney in 1856; Rev. Francis O'Shea came a second time in 1858, and was succeeded in the spring of 1859 by Rev. Dennis Kearney. Rev. James Nolan came in the spring of 1860; Rev. Patrick Sheehan in the summer of 1862. In January, 1864, Rev. James Lahaney. In October, 1866, Rev. J. Scanlan. Rev. J. McEnrue came in the summer of 1868, and remained until 1873. The old church, built in 1846, had become by this time un- safe, and besides was badly located for the conven- ience of the bulk of the congregation. Ground was, therefore, purchased in the borough of Claysville, about five miles from the old site, with a view of erect- ing a new church. The foundation of the new church was completed when Father McEnrue left in January, 1873. Rev. J. A. Canevin succeeded, but remained only a short time, leaving early in the summer of 1873. Rev. F. McCarthy was then appointed. Mass was said meanwhile in private houses, and in the school hall in the borough of Claysville. Old St. James' Church near West Alexander was sold for the value of the material it contained, and some time after torn down.

The new church was energetically pushed forward, and completed in 1874. It is a brick structure, eighty feet in length by thirty-five in width, with a brick tower in the front centre, and tastefully finished throughout. It was dedicated under the title of the Church of the Sacred Heart by the Rt. Rev. M. Dom- enec in the summer of 1875. Rev. F. McCarthy left in the spring of 1877. Rev. T. Howley succeeded him, and remained until January, 1879. Rev. J. Malady came next. He was appointed immediately after his ordination, and labored zealously and fruit- fully for over three years, and died in Washington, April 27, 1882, in the twenty-eighth year of his age.

The number of families belonging to the Church of the Sacred Heart at Claysville is not perceptibly larger than it was twenty or thirty years ago. No new indus- try has been developed in the vicinity, and the natural increase has been counterbalanced by death and the departure from time to time of much of the younger portion for more promising fields and pastures new.

CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, WASHINGTON .- The first appearance of Catholicity in this town was in the person of the Rev. Father Lannigan in 1801, and the first public utterance of its doctrine was doubtless his sermon in the court- house at the same time. Rev. C. McGuire, the ven- erable founder of St. Paul's Cathedral, Pittsburgh, came through several times previous to and during the years 1820-21. Rev. P. Rafferty, of Pittsburgh, came and held divine service in the house of Mat- thew Blake. The name of a certain Rev. Mazachelli is also mentioned as coming after him. In the year 1836, Rt. Rev. Bishop Kenrick, of Philadelphia, came at an episcopal invitation, and held divine service, preached, and confirmed in the court-house. The

425

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

congregation at this time did not number ten families. In 1837, Rev. M. Gallagher was sent to take charge. He visited this mission separately from that at West Alexander, and about once a month. The history of the Catholic Church in Washington may be said to begin from this time, when an independent congregation was organized. Being, however, always under the care of the same pastor as the West Alexander mis- sion, the change of incumbent was always the same for both. Soon after this the Catholics bought a lot on Maiden Street, opposite the present gas-works, with a view of building a church. Their Protestant neighbors, however, proved so decidedly hostile that they abandoned the project, and bought the lot of the present site, then outside the borough limits. Hap- pily the spirit displayed on this occasion is now a thing of the past, and without regard to theological tenets the courtesies of life can be interchanged and kindliness exist among men. The new lot purchased was forty feet by sixty, to which was added another piece, twenty by eighty, of adjoining lot, donated to the church by Mr. Anthony Rentz. The lot was pur- chased March, 1842.

A short time previous to this the Rt. Rev. Bishop Keurick visited this part of his flock a second time and administered confirmation. In company with the Methodist clergyman, Rev. Mr. Holmes, he dined at the house of Mr. Rush, on Chestnut Street. So mutually agreeable did this odd association prove that after dinner they adjourned to the minister's house, where the Catholic bishop passed a very pleas- ant evening with the preacher.

From this time mass was said at different Catholic houses in the town, and finally in the court-house until the church was built. The work of building a church was begun in 1853 under Rev. D. Hickey. Rev. J. Farren, who succeeded after the death of Father Hickey, completed the work begun; and the church was finally dedicated under the title of the Church of the Immaculate Conception by Bishop Whelan, of Wheeling, Aug. 26, 1855. About this time, or soon after, services began to be held below Canonsburg on the Pittsburgh pike, for a few fami- lies scattered around in that neighborhood. It is still attended monthly, and bids fair to increase. A new burial-ground was purchased in 1872 by Rev. J. Mc- Enrue. It is beautifully situated on the slope of a hill about one mile from town on the Pittsburgh pike. Under the administration of Rev. J. Malady it was surveyed and staked off according to a well- arranged plan, which will add much to the beauty of the place when the improvements are carried out.

The church in Washington has steadily increased from the beginning, so that whereas in 1852 there were no more than twelve families, now there are over fifty. Property is being bought next to the church, and the future presents an encouraging out- look for the Catholic Church in Washington.

CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, MONONGA-

HELA CITY .- This church is in charge of the pastor of the Catholic Church of Elizabeth, on the opposite side of the Monongahela, in Allegheny County. Its history is comparatively recent. Divine services were first held in the town by Rev. J. O'Reilly, of Pitts- burgh, 1835, although mass was said for a few years before two or three miles back of the town for a few families that resided there. A new church was begun in 1865, and dedicated the following year by the Rt. Rev. M. Domenec. It is a plain brick building, thirty-five by sixty. The congregation is composed principally of miners, is fluctuating in size, and never very large.

CHAPTER XXXV.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY .- ( Continued. )

SOLOMON SPAULDING AND THE BOOK OF MORMON.1

THE conviction has become almost universal, except among Mormons themselves, that the " Book of Mor- mon" was founded upon Rev. Solomon Spaulding's romance, entitled "Manuscript Found." It is emi- nently fitting, therefore, that a history of Washington County, Pa., in one of whose villages Spaulding spent his last years, and where, after a checkered life, his wearied body found its resting-place, should contain at least a brief notice of the man whose pen has been the guiltless cause of one of the most remarkable de- lusions the world has ever witnessed.

Solomon Spaulding was born in Ashford, Conn., in 1761; graduated at Dartmouth College, N. H., in 1785; entered the ministry of the Congregational Church; preached for three or four years, and then, on account of impaired health, relinquished the sacred office, removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y., and engaged in mercantile business ; in a few years failed in this en- terprise, and in 1809 removed to Conneaut (formerly New Salem), Ashtabula Co., Ohio, where he engaged in building a forge. This business also proved unsuc- cessful, and he became involved in debt. Residing at Conneaut for three years, his attention was arrested by the numerous Indian mounds and fortifications in its vicinity, and being a man of literary tastes, and particularly fond of history, he conceived the project of writing a romance which would purport to account for the presence of the mound-builders on this conti- nent, and to narrate their history. This employment beguiled the tedious hours of his enforced leisure, and when the romance approached completion, the idea suggested itself that its publication, by the profits arising from its sale, might enable him to discharge his debts.

The time of Spaulding's residence at Conneaut was chiefly spent in the preparation of this historical ro-

I By Robert Patterson, Pittsburgh.

426

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

mance, and as the work progressed the author was accustomed to inform his neighbors, who would gladly assemble to hear each new installment read. In this small frontier settlement, where books were few and mail facilities very limited, each additional portion of five years after the publication at Palmyra, N. Y., the romance was awaited with the same interest with of the Book of Mormon, by Joseph Smith. Mr. which the reader of the modern magazine looks for . Howe's work was the pioneer upon this subject, and the number that will contain a fresh installment of the popular serial of the day. The characters and the incidents became subjects of general discussion, the outlines of the narrative were deeply impressed on the minds of the hearers, and the names of the prominent personages grew " familiar as household words." though long out of print, the few copies extant are still the store-house from which successive investiga- tors derive their most important facts. It contains the statements of eight witnesses, whose testimonials were obtained in 1833, twenty-one years after Mr. Spaulding left Conneaut, seventeen years after his death, and three years after the appearance of the Book of Mormon. Their authenticity has never been impeached. Our limits permit only the extracts given below, but as printed in full by Mr. Howe they show ' the opportunities of the respective writers to become fully acquainted with Mr. Spaulding's romance, and this feature, had we room for the entire statements, would give them great additional force. Our tran- script is taken at second-hand from D. P. Kidder's "Mormonism and the Mormons," Carlton & Lanahan, publishers, New York, 1842.

At last, in 1812, with the fond hope that his day- dreams might be converted into something more sub- stantial, Spaulding removed to Pittsburgh, at that time a small but rapidly-growing city (its population in 1810 was 4768, with 767 houses in all), and took his manuscript to the printing-office of Mr. Patterson (father of the present writer) to see if arrangements could be made for its publication. For some reason, probably lack of funds on the part of the author and doubts of success on that of the publisher, it was not given to the world. In 1814, Mr. Spaulding removed to Amity, Washington Co., Pa., where he died Oct. 20, 1816.1 His widow removed to the home of her brother, W. H. Sabine, Esq., at Onondaga Valley, N. Y.

Thus far all accounts agree. What became of Mr. Spaulding's manuscript is not so clear. That it was not published is matter for profound regret. How many bitter tears had remained unshed, how many homes undesolated, how many hearts unbroken had the printing in 1812 of Spaulding's prose epic rendered forever impossible the imposture under which, eighteen years afterwards, with many incon- gruous additions, it saw the light !

In this discussion there are manifestly but two points to be considered. The first is to establish the fact that the historical portions of the Book of Mormon are certainly derived from Spaulding's " Manuscript Found;" and the second to show, if practicable, in what way and by whom the plagiarism was probably effected. Of these, the first is the only vitally import- ant one. If the identity can be determined the imposture will be proved, even though it may not be possible to demonstrate absolutely how the fraud was perpetrated.

1 The headstone which formerly marked the grave of Mr. Spaulding at Amity has almost entirely disappeared. Rev. Abner Jackson, of Canton, Ohio, when visiting Amity in 1840, thoughtfully copied the inscription, then entire, from the crumbling stone, and records it in his letter published in the Washington Reporter of Jan. 7, 1881. It was as follows :

IN MEMORY OF

Solomon Spaulding, who departed this life Oct. 20th, A.D. 1816. Aged 55 years.

" Kind cherubs, guard the sleeping clay Until the great decision day, And saints complete in glory rise To share the triumphs of the skies."

I. THE PLAGIARISM .- In our inquiries upon the first point a merited tribute should be paid to the value of Mr. E. D. Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," issued by its author at Painesville, Ohio, in 1835, only

1. John Spaulding, a brother of Solomon, visited the latter at Conneaut just before his removal, and states as follows :

" He then told me he had been writing a book, which he intended to have printed, the avails of which he thought would enable him to pay all his debts. The book was entitled the ' Manuscript Found,' of which he read to me many passages. It was an historical romance of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to show that the American Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribes. It gave a detailed ac- count of their journey from Jerusalem, by land and sea, till they ar- rived in America, under the command of NEPHIE and LEHI. They afterward had quarrels and contentions, and separated into two distinct · nations, one of which he denominated Nephites and the other Laman- ites. Cruel and bloody wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They buried their dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so common in this country. . . . I have recently read the Book of Mor- mon, and, to my great surprise, I find nearly the same historical matter, names, &c., as they were in my brother's writings. I well remember that he wrote in the old style, and commenced about every sentence with ' And it came to pass,' or 'Now it came to pass,' the same as in the Book of Mormon, and according to the best of my recollection and be- lief, it is the same as my brother Solomon wrote, with the exception of the religious matter."

2. Mrs. Martha Spaulding, wife of John Spaulding, states in regard to Solomon Spaulding and his writings as follows :

" I was personally acquainted with Solomon Spaulding about twenty years ago. .. . The lapse of time which has intervened prevents my recollecting but few of the leading incidents of his writings; but the names of Nephi and Lehi are yet fresh in my memory as being the prin- cipal heroes of his tale. They were officers of the company which first came off from Jerusalem. He gave a particular account of their jour- ney by land and sea till they arrived in America, after which disputes arose between the chiefs, which caused them to separate into different bands, one of which was called Lamanites and the other Nephites. Be- tween these were recounted tremendous battles, which frequently cov- ered the ground with the slain; and these being buried in large heaps was the cause of the numerous mounds in the country. . . . I have read the Book of Mormon, which has brought fresh to my recollection the writ- ings of Solomon Spaulding; and I have no manner of doubt that the historical part of it is the same that I read, and heard read, more than twenty years ago. The old obsolete style, and the phrases of 'And it came to pass,' &c., are the same."

427

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

3. Henry Lake, the partner of Spaulding in build- ing the forge, writes from Conneaut in September, 1833, as follows :

" He [Spaulding] very frequently read to me from a manuscript which he was writing, which he entitled the ' Manuscript Found,' and which he represented as being found in this town. I spent many hours in hearing him read said writings, and became well acquainted with their contents. He wishes me to assist him in getting his production printed, alleging that a book of that kind would meet with a rapid sale. I de- signed doing so, but the forge not meeting our anticipations we failed in business, when I declined having anything to do with the publica- tion of the book. This book represented the American Indians as the descendants of the lost tribes, gave an account of their leaving Jeru- salem, their contentions and wars, which were many and great. One time when he was reading to me the tragic account of Laban I pointed ont to him what I considered an inconsistency, which he promised to correct ; but by referring to the Book of Mormon I find, to my surprise, that it stands there just as he read it to me then. Some months ago I borrowed the Golden Bible, put it into my pocket, carried it home, and thought no more of it. About a week after my wife found the book in my coat-pocket as it hung up, and commenced reading it aloud as I lay upon the bed. She had not read twenty minutes till I was astonished to find the same passages in it that Spaulding had read to me more than twenty years before from his ' Manuscript Found.' Since that I have more fully examined the said Golden Bible, and have no hesitation in saying that the historical part of it is principally if not wholly taken from the ' Manuscript Found.' I well recollect telling Mr. Spaulding that the so frequent use of the words, ' And it came to pass,' ' Now it came to pass,' rendered it ridiculous."

It should be stated in explanation of the above that the Book of Mormon, at the time of its publi- cation, was frequently spoken of as the "Golden Bible." Also that an incongruity occurs in the story of Laban, in the First Book of Nephi, where Nephi says they "did speak many hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod." Whereupon an angel appears and says, " Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod ?" Consistency would require that the number, whether plural or singular, should be the same in both sen- tences. The oversight is in itself a trifle, but its oc- currence in both the Spaulding manuscript and the Book of Mormon is an unanswerable proof of identity.

4. John N. Miller writes from. Springfield, Pa., September, 1833, as follows :

" In the year 1811 I was in the employ of Henry Lake and Solomon Spaulding, at Conneaut, engaged in rebuilding a forge. While there I boarded and lodged in the family of said Spaulding for several months. I was soon introduced to the manuscript of Spaulding, and perused it as often as I had leisure. He had written two or three books or pam- phlets on different subjects, but that which more particularly drew my attention was one which he called the ' Manuscript Found.' . . . It pur- ported to be the history of the first settlement of America before dis- covered by Columbus. He brought them off from Jerusalem under their leaders, detailing their travels by land and water, their manners, cus- toms, laws, wars, etc. He said that he designed it as an historical novel, and that in after-years it would be believed by many people as much as the history of England. . . . I have recently examined the ‘ Book of Mormon,' and find in it the writings of Solomon Spaulding from begin- ning to end, but mixed up with Scripture and other religious matter which I did not meet with in the 'Manuscript Found.' Many of the passages of the Mormon Book are verbatim from Spaulding, and others in part. The names of Nephi, Lehi, Moroni, and in fact all the princi- pal names are brought fresh to my recollection by the Golden Bible. When Spaulding divested his history of its fabulous names by a verbal explanation, he lauded his people near the Straits of Darien, which I am very confident he called Zarahemla. They were marched about that country for a length of time, in which wars and great bloodshed ensued. He brought them across North America in a northeast di- rection."

5. Aaron Wright, a former neighbor of Spaulding, writes at Conneaut, August, 1833, as follows :

" I first became acquainted with Solomon Spaulding in 1808 or 1809, when he commenced building a forge ou Conneant Creek. When at his house one day he showed and read to me a history he was writing of the lost tribes of Israel, purporting that they were the first settlers of Amer- ica, and that the Indians were their descendants. Upon this subject we had frequent conversations. He traced their journey from Jerusa- lem to America, as it is given in the Book of Mormon, excepting the religious matter. The historicul part of the Book of Mormon I know to be the same as I read and heard read from the writings of Spaulding more than twenty years ago; the names more especially are the same without any alteration. He told me his object was to account for all the fortifications, etc., to be found in this country, and said that in time it would be fully believed by all except learned men and historians. I once anticipated reading his writings in print, but little expected to see them in a new Bible. ... In conclusion, I will observe that the names and most of the historical part of the Book of Mormon were as familiar to me before I read it as most modern history."

6. Oliver Smith, another old neighbor of Spauld- ing, writes at Conneaut, August, 1833 :

" When Solomon Spaulding first came to this place, he purchased a tract of land, surveyed it out, and commenced selling it. While engaged in this business he boarded at my house, in all nearly six months. All his leisure hours were occupied in writing an historical novel founded upon the first settlers of this country. He said he intended to trace their journey from Jerusalem, by land and sea, till their arrival in America ; give an account of their arts, sciences, civilization, wars, and contentions. In this way he would give a satisfactory account of all the old mounds so common to this country. During the time he was at my house I read and heard read one hundred pages or more. Nephi and Lehi were by him represented as leading characters when they first started for America. . . . [Mr. Smith narrates his last interview with Spaulding, when the latter was about starting for Pittsburgh, and so- licited Smith's leniency as one of his creditors, not to prevent his going. Mr. Smith then closes as follows :] This was the last I heard of Spauld- ing or his book until the Book of Mormon came into the neighborhood. When I heard the historical part of it related, I at once said it was the writing of old Solomon Spaulding. Soon after I obtained the book, and on reading it found much of it the same as Spaulding had written more than twenty years before."

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 109

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