History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 205

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 205

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Methodist Episcopal Church .- Methodist preach- ing was known in Independence township as early as 1808, although they had no church building, no pas- tor, nor any regularly organized society. In the year mentioned (1808), Mrs. Leech, who was then a little girl nine years of age, remembers a Methodist camp- meeting that was held on the flat by Cross Creek, below the site occupied by Plummer's mill. Thick woods then stood upon the place, and very many people gathered in them to listen to the preaching of Rev. Mr. Harrison, the minister in charge, who is de- scribed as a tall, slim man, full of "Methodist fire." In 1840 a church society of the Methodist Episcopal faith was organized in the township. Previous to that date there had been only irregular services of that denomination by the occasional preachers who trav- eled through this section of country. After the church was formed services were held in the brick school- house, the first preacher in charge being Rev. James C. Taylor, and Joseph Adams the first class-leader. Other preachers of the circuit were sent from time to time, among whom were Samuel Worthington, Mr. McCall, and Dr. Edward Smith. Dr. Smith was a physician, who resided in Virginia, but practiced all through Independence township. A lot was donated to the society by George Plummer, and in 1848 a church edifice costing $800 was erected. The society then numbered seventy-five members. Now there are three churches in the charge, under the Rev. G. H. Hoffman, the three church buildings having an aggre- gate value of $6000, and the churches a membership

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of one hundred and twenty-eight persons. There are also three Sunday-schools in the charge, with an en- rolled list of one hundred and seventy-two scholars and thirty-four teachers, and the three libraries have a collection of three hundred volumes.

United Presbyterian Congregation of Mount Hope.1-The United Presbyterian Congregation of Mount Hope is in Independence township, two and one-half miles southwest from West Middletown, and four miles southeast from the village of Independence.

The date of its organization, if formal organization it ever had, is unknown. Scattered families in con- nection with the Associate Presbyterian Church bad been residing in the territory afterward occupied by the congregation for a period of near twenty years before the beginning of the present century. The place of worship for most of these was with the con- gregation of North Buffalo, of the same religious faith, in Buffalo township. But they grew weary of their long journeyings, from five to fifteen miles, to Buffalo, and sought and obtained supplies of preach- ing nearer their homes. In houses or barns, or in "God's first temples, the groves," this was furnished to them from 1790 to 1800 at long intervals of time. The earliest recorded notice of the existence of the congregation as an organized body is in the minutes of the Associate Presbytery of Chartiers, which set forth that a call addressed to Rev. Thomas Allison to become pastor of the congregation was accepted by him Nov. 12, 1801. On the 10th of February, 1802, Mr. Allison was ordained and installed as pas- tor of the congregation. The deed from John Mc- Fadden and wife, by which the ground on which the church was built was conveyed to the congregation, bears date Feb. 17, 1804, from which it is evident that the first house of worship was not erected till that year. It was a log building, in the usual form of the early churches of the county, constructed almost en- tirely without financial cost by the labor of the mem- bers. With various renovations from time to time, this house served the need of the congregation for a period of forty years.

The members of session at the time of the installa- tion of the first pastor were John Templeton, James Dickey, Robert Ferguson, and George Sharp. The first addition to the session consisted of Robert Hum- phrey, Samuel McEwen, and David T. Archer, who were elected Oct. 30, 1806, and soon after duly in- stalled. The congregation grew and prospered during these early years of its history. The members were widely scattered, but they bore cheerfully the hard- ships of their long journeyings on horseback or on foot to the place of worship. About the year 1817 the names of Messrs. Sharp, Ferguson, and Dickey no longer appear in the records of the sessions, though no notice is given of how they became separated from it. During this year Mr. David Gibson and Mr. John

Scott were elected and duly installed in the eldership. The service of public social covenanting was con- ducted in the congregation in the year 1824, in which the pastor was assisted by Dr. James Ramsay, pastor of the church of Chartiers, and Rev. David French, pastor of North and South Buffalo. Mr. Gibson having removed, and others of the session becoming infirm through age, an election was held in 1831, which resulted in the addition to the session of Messrs. John Gilmor, Thomas Hagerty, and Joseph Brown- lee.

The pastor of the congregation, having officiated in that capacity for a period of almost thirty-six years, was now no longer young, and feeling that his labors in the future would not be so much for edification as they had been in the past, tendered his resignation, and on the 28th of November, 1837, was released from the charge of the congregation. He continued for some time to minister to the other branch of his charge, to which one-third of his time had been given ; but the infirmities of age increasing, he was soon released from that field of labor also, and passed at length to his final rest on the 6th of April, 1840.

The Rev. Thomas Allison was born, probably, in York County, Pa., June 3, 1771, but removed while still a child with his parents to Washington County. He prosecuted his classical and scientific studies in Canonsburg Academy, afterward Jefferson College, and having gone through the regular course of theo- logical study, in a class with three others, under the supervision of Rev. Dr. John Anderson, the regu- larly appointed theological professor of the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania, was licensed to preach in the beginning of the year 1800. He was of me- dium size, erect and well-proportioned form, aquiline nose, of dignified and solemn demeanor, and of a gen- eral bearing calculated rather to elicit respect and ad- miration than draw those around closely to him. The wife of Mr. Allison was Anne, daughter of Rev. Matthew Henderson, the first pastor of the Associate Congregation of Chartiers, at Canonsburg. They had twelve children, eight daughters and four sons. The daughters and one son have passed away. Three sons still survive. The widow, having survived her husband more than thirteen years, died Oct. 4, 1853.

During the winter immediately following the re- lease of Mr. Allison the congregation of Mount Hope was supplied for a considerable time by Rev. David Thompson. Some ten or twelve years before he had emigrated from Ireland, and, traveling alone, found his way to the village of West Middletown, where he had some relatives residing. Possessed of a burning desire to obtain a liberal education, with the gospel ministry in view, and being without means of his own, and without friends on whom he could draw for help, he set himself to work, and by labor- ing on a farm and on a flat-boat on the Ohio River, by carrying a pack of dry-goods and notions from house to house, by teaching school, by one means or

1 By Rev. John T. Brownlee.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

another, he was enabled to graduate from Jefferson College in the class of 1829, and, having gone through the regular course in the theological seminary at Can- onsburg, was licensed to preach the gospel March 18, 1834. Having itinerated for some time through the church, he received a call to the pastorate of Mount Hope, which he accepted July 3, 1838. Having been admitted to the communion of the church by the session of Mount Hope in 1826, he was installed as the pastor of that congregation, Sept. 12, 1838.

It is matter of regret that the minutes of the session of the congregation during the whole of the pastorate of Mr. Thompson and up to the year 1860, twenty-one years in all, were lost in the burning of the house of the clerk. The exact date of some events during this period cannot therefore be given. Near the close of 1838 or in the beginning of 1839, Messrs. William Ralston, Sr., and David Archer were elected and or- dained to the eldership in the congregation. The old church building, which for a period of forty years or more had served the congregation as a place of wor- ship, was becoming dilapidated and antiquated in appearance. It was taken down in the year 1845, and a new structure erected on the same ground. The new building was somewhat smaller than the old, being thirty-eight by forty-five feet. It was substan- tial and neat, but quite plain, as may be inferred from the fact that its whole cost was but $1060.

The pastorate of Mr. Thompson terminated June 15, 1847. Not long after he removed with his family to the State of Oregon, traveling by the overland route. Remaining there for a few years he returned to the East, and was settled for some time as pastor of the congregation of Clear Fork, in Guernsey County, Ohio. He afterwards removed to the State of Kansas, and located in Arkansas City, Cowley Co., where he still remains.

For a period of four years following the close of the pastorate of Mr. Thompson the congregation was · supplied with some regularity by various itinerating preachers. The call addressed to the present pastor . was accepted in the month of May, 1851, and on the last Sabbath of June following, being about the 25th of the month, he formally assumed the charge of the congregation. Its numbers during the period since the close'of the former pastorate, according to the usual experience in such cases, had become consider- . ably reduced. Of the session but two members, Mr. Joseph Brownlee and Mr. Thomas Haggerty, were now remaining. An election for elders was soon held, the result of which was that Messrs. William Smith and Samuel Jamison were ordained and installed on Saturday, Oct. 16, 1851, and Mr. John B. Garrett on the Monday following, October 18th. Of these, Mr. Smith survived only till the 25th of January follow- ing, so that the substantial result of this election was only the addition to the session of Messrs. Jamison and Garrett. The union of the Associate and Asso- ciate Reformed Churches in 1858, resulting in the

formation of the United Presbyterian Church, had its effect on the congregation of Mount Hope, in common with all other congregations in communities where both branches had before existed. A few of its fami- lies, who were geographically nearer to the adjacent congregation of West Middletown, changed their membership to that congregation, but the loss thus sustained was made up by the reception from West Middletown of as many, whose names were now added to the roll of Mount Hope. Partly in view of the increasing age of the two senior members of the session, and in part from a desire that the new element introduced into the congregation should also be repre- sented in the session, an election was held during the month of December following, which resulted in the addition to the session of Messrs. John Meloy, Esq., and William Smith. Mr. Meloy had been for many years a member of the session of West Middletown, and Mr. Smith a member of that congregation. The former was installed and the latter ordained and in- stalled at Mount Hope during the month of January, 1859. Mr. John Jamison, who had been for many years a member of the session of West Middletown, was received into membership at Mount Hope Oct. 27, 1860, and on the same day, on the recommenda- tion of the session, was chosen as an elder, and ac- cepting the position, was at the same time installed as a member of session.

The war of the Rebellion drew its recruits from the congregation of Mount Hope as well as others. Nine young men went forth to the "high places of the field" from its midst who were either communing mem- bers of the congregation at the time or became such soon after the close of the war. Their names deserve to be recorded in the history of the congregation, and are as follows, viz. : Samuel Williamson, William R. Jami- son, Thomas B. O'Donald, Alexander Walker McCon- nel, Samuel Donaldson, Joseph W. Brownlee, Samuel A. Garrett, John F. Gibson, and Thomas J. Zeigler. Though exposed, in common with others, to the dan- gers of the camp, the march, and the battle-field, it is a noteworthy fact that these young men all returned to their homes at the close of the war, none of them having been even seriously wounded during the prog- ress of the conflict.

The house of worship occupied by the congregation since 1845 was still firm on its foundations and with- out defect in its walls, but it was small, the number of the pews not quite equaling the number of families in the congregation, and in many respects its appoint- ments were regarded as not quite up to the demands of the times. After the usual amount of considera- tion, investigation, and argumentation, it was decided that the old house must give way to something better. The contract for the new erection was made in the spring of 1867, and on the first Sabbath of November in the same year the completed house of worship was occupied for the first time by the congregation. It is a frame, forty-three feet wide by sixty feet in length,

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with story twenty feet high, the whole cost to the con- gregation being about $4500. It is not fine or grand, but fully meets the wants of the congregation, and is a house of worship of which they do not feel that they have need to be ashamed.

Messrs. James M. Welch and Nathan Patterson on the 28th of November, 1870, were elected to the elder- ship, and a short time afterwards were ordained and installed in the office. The latest addition to the membership of the session is that of Messrs. James H. Welch and David A. Brownlee, who were elected in the month of November, 1880, and ordained and installed Jan. 7, 1881.

The congregation of Mount Hope has never been one of the large and strong congregations of the United Presbyterian Church in Washington County. During the earlier years of its history statistics of its membership do not appear to have been taken, and when afterwards taken give evidence of inaccuracy, and of being corrected only at long intervals from year to year. During the incumbency of the first pastor there is no evidence that the number of members was at any time higher than one hundred and twenty, and at the close of that pastorate was reduced much below that number. During the nine years of the pastorate of Mr. Thompson, when returns began to be more carefully corrected, the whole number of members at no time rose higher than eighty-eight. At the begin- ning of the present pastorate in 1851 the corrected roll was found to contain but sixty-six names. From this time the increase was slow and gradual till the year 1864, when the membership numbered one hundred and sixteen. There was then a decline, mainly by removals, till 1877-78, when the number was eighty. The tide then turned, and with gradual increase the number is now (February, 1882) one hundred and seven. The whole number of accessions to the mem- bership of the congregation during the present par- torate has been two hundred and seventy-six, of which one hundred and forty-one have been by examination and profession of faith, and one hundred and thirty- five by certification or other attestation of membership from other congregations. The average annual ad- ditions from both sources has been nine. The largest accession during any single year is twenty, which is during the year yet to close (April, 1882). Infant bap- tisms during the present pastorate, one hundred and fifty-six, an average of five each year. Adult baptisms, twenty-two, being less than one each year.

The contributions for charitable and religious pur- poses, at home and abroad, during the year closing April 1, 1881, were an average of $14.43 to each mem- ber. The whole amount of contributions for charit- able and religious purposes during the thirty years of the present pastorate has been about $30,000, being an average to each member of about $10 each year. Of those who were members of the congregation at the beginning of the present pastorate but seven con- tinue to be members now. But one remains (Mrs.

Jane A. Brownlee) who was a member during the pastorate of Mr. Allison, which closed forty-five years ago.

The officers of the congregation are as follows : Pastor, John T. Brownlee; Ruling Elders, John Me- loy, Samuel Jamison, William Smith, James M. Welch, James H. Welch, and David A. Brownlee ; Treasurer, James M. Welch; Sabbath-school Superintendent, Samuel Jamison.

The Church of the Disciples was organized in this township in 1865, by Paul Ralston, Mr. Dean, George Armspoker, Mrs. Robert Hartman, Mrs. Rob- ert Buchanan, and others. Services were held in the school-house until 1867, when the present building of the society was erected. The pulpit was supplied most of the time from students of Bethany College, no regular pastor being in charge. The services ceased in 1876, and the church has been practically discontinued since that time.

The Old Doddridge Chapel .- On the Reeves farm (originally the Doddridge property) is the site of a house of worship that was erected by the Rev. Joseph Doddridge, though the date of its erection is not known. It afterwards came into possession of the Methodist Episcopal denomination, and was by them used for the holding of their services. Later it be- came the place of worship of the African Methodist Episcopal congregation, who used it for several years, but it was given up by them and abandoned when they purchased the Wesley, a church building in West Middletown, about 1860. It was then taken down, and the logs removed to the McConnell farm adjoining. An old burial-ground, adjoining the site of this old meeting-house, is still inclosed, though not in use for its original purpose.

On the Dr. Parkison farm, in the west part of the township, is an old burial-ground containing many graves, among which may be seen those of Maj. Francis Maguire and his wife Barbara, their tomb- stones being still standing. Other graves in this ground are marked by rude headstones, but few of them having legible inscriptions. There is a tradi- tion that there once stood on a site adjoining this graveyard an old log meeting-house, in which the Rev. Joseph Doddridge sometimes preached. This is but a tradition, as there is now no vestige of the old building, nor is there any person living who remem- bers having ever seen it.

Camp-Meeting Ground .- On or near the west line of the township is a lot of about seventeen acres of ground, a part of the tract originally warranted to Benjamin Wells, which, about 1874, was leased of Thomas Buchanan by the Methodist Episcopal people, who fitted it up as a camp-meeting ground, and named it "Belle View." At the expiration of the lease the ground was purchased, and is now owned and used as a place for the holding of camp-meetings by the Methodist Churches of the district.

Schools .- The first school building known to exist

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

within the territory of Independence township was built as early as, if not before, 1800. This is one that Mr. J. Scott, of this township, remembers very well, as he attended school there. It was situated on the hillside of the farm belonging to James Welch, now the property of his grandson, James H. Welch. Mr. Scott describes it as a log cabin, in the construc- tion of which not a nail was used. Yet, rude as it was, this building served its purpose well, and within its walls gathered the pioneer children of its imme- diate section, to be taught by John Robinson, and after him by Thomas McCready, and again for a time by John Robinson. Lawrence Gardner, who was a noted penman, was also a teacher in this school-house, as was Isaac Sharp and others. In 1810 another log school-house, in which were used the oiled paper windows, was built in the vicinity of The Forks, on the Widow Wells' farm, but not a vestige of the building remains. An Irishman named Moses Han- lan was the teacher in 1810 and 1811. Hugh Maguire taught a school on the property of Cornelius Gist, just over the Virginia line. This was said to be at " the far end of The Forks." In 1820 a school-house was located on a branch of the creek, which was called Witch Run from its banks being lined with witch hazel. Nathaniel Smith, who owned a farm near by, was a teacher in this school-house. His son, William Smith, was a later teacher in the township. This school building was succeeded in 1830 by what is known as the Cuthbertson school-house, built on the farm of Dr. Cuthbertson, and which is still stand- ing, but unoccupied. Among the teachers in the Cuthbertson house were William Smith, Joseph Baker, and Thomas Patterson. In 1833 a log school- house stood about twenty rods east of the site of the present Mount Hope Church, and Joseph Baker and George Vasbinder were among the teachers.

In 1836, under the operation of the school law of 1834, eight new school buildings were erected. One of them stood about one-fourth of a mile east of Mount Hope Church. In 1840 a brick building for school purposes was put up in District No. 5, known as Scott's District. In 1874 the present frame struc- ture replaced it.

In 1834, after the enactment of the school law, a brick addition was made to the school-house then in use in Williamsburg. At that time Paul Ralston, David and Robert Buchanan were school directors. In 1855 or 1856 the first frame building was put up, the site on the hill, which belonged to the village, being exchanged with George Plummer for the one now occupied by the school buildings.

In 1863 Independence township comprised six school districts, in which six teachers were employed, and two hundred and forty-five pupils were enrolled. The amount of money received from all sources for school purposes was $914.92; the State appropriation was $97.20; and the expenditures for the year were $777.51. In 1873 there were six districts, six teachers

employed, and two hundred and twenty-eight pupils enrolled in the township. The amount of tax raised for school funds was $2411.13; amount received from the State was $144.46; cost of schools for that year, $2496.40. In 1880 the township had still six districts, which were supplied with six teachers ; number of pupils enrolled, 257; $1424.37 was raised by tax ; $330.30 received from the State; and the expendi- tures for the schools were $1550.42.

Justices of the Peace .- The names of persons ap- pointed and elected to the office of justice of the peace in and for the territory now forming Independence, prior to the time of its erection as a separate town- ship, are included in the list of justices in Hopewell township. The list of those elected for Independence since it became a separate township is given below, viz. :

Jefferson Wells, April 16, 1856. James K. McConnaughy, May 18, 1858.

John Jeffrey, April 10, 1860.

R. McConnaughy, April 14, 1863. John Jeffrey, July 12, 1865. Thomas Boyd, April 14, 1868.

David Buchanan, March 29, 1870. Lemuel Leggett, Nov. 30, 1870. David Buchanan, Jan. 31, 1874. Robert Y. Meloy, March 17, 1875. W. C. Leggett, March 21, 1877. Robert Y. Meloy, March 30, 1880.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

DR. JOSEPH PARKINSON.

Dr. Joseph Parkinson, the eleventh and only living child of Thomas and Margaret (Latimer) Parkinson, was born in 1807. The Parkinson's were of English ancestry, having come to this country in the early part of the last century. Afterwards William Par- kinson, grandfather of Dr. Joseph Parkinson, settled near Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pa. He had a large family, most of whom were sons. Of these, Benjamin, Joseph, and Thomas came to Washington County at an early date. Joseph owned and kept the ferry on the Monongahela River, then called "Parkinson's Ferry," now Monongahela City. He and Thomas were also engaged in the mercantile business at that place. Thomas was enterprising and energetic, taking an active part in all the efforts of the time in the mate- rial development of the county. He was strictly tem- perate in his habits, and opposed to the " Whiskey In- surrection," in which his brother Benjamin was one of the leaders. In 1777, Thomas Parkinson bought a farm of three hundred acres from John Decker, on Pigeon Creek, near Parkinson's Ferry. Subsequently he built at this place the first mill on Pigeon Creek, where he carried on the business of milling and farm- ing for a number of years. In 1792 he sold this prop- erty to James McFarlane, and the next year he moved to Fayette County, Pa., in the immediate vicinity of Connellsville, where he owned a mill and farm. He also owned five hundred acres of land in Huntington township, Westmoreland Co., Pa. In 1804 he sold his farm and mill in Fayette County, Pa., and bought

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 205

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