USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 34
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The congregation of West Fairfield was organized in 1874. Its pastors have been Revs. D. W. McLane, J. S. Hill, R. E. Stewart, and S. M. Black, the present pastor. New Florence congregation was organized in 1875. Its pastors have been the above named and Rev. J. W. Smith. It is now vacant.
The Associate Reformed congregation of Sewickley was organized in 1805. Rev. Dr. Mungo Dick was pastor 1806-36: Rev. Richard Gaily from 1839-49; Rev. A. G. Fergus in 1851 ; Rev. D. H. Pollock, 1854-60; W. L. McConnell, 1860-65 ; J. D. Walkinshaw, 1865-69; W. R. Stevenson, 1872-81 ; J. A. Law- rence, 1884-86; D. M. Thorne, 1887-97. J. H. McCormick, 1899-1901 ; and W. N. Leeper, 1902 to 1904. This old congregation is the mother of the West Newton and Madison congregations. Its old brick church is one of the land- marks of that community. It was the home for many years of Dr. Dick, who gave two of his sons to the ministry, John M. Dick, D. D., and Rev. J. M. Dick, the latter for many years a home missionary on the Pacific slope.
The Associate Reformed congregation of Brush Creek (now Bethel) near Circleville, is the oldest organized church of the denomination in the county, and was organized in 1784. Rev. Mathew Henderson served as pastor from 1785 to 1788, and from 1800 to 1818. Rev. John Jamison, 1793-95. James Walker, 1820-23. Dr. Mungo Dick, 1824-35. Joseph Osborne, 1836-47. William Conner, 1849-52. A. G. Wallace, D. D., 1854-68. J. W. McFarland, 1869-71. W. H. McMaster, 1871-74. John N. Dick, D. D., 1877-89. Major E. Dunn, 1892 to 1901, and D. D. Dodds, the present pastor, from 1902. This congregation is the mother of the United Presbyterian congregation of Irwin,
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Stewart Station and Duffsville. Duffsville was organized September 28, 1896, and has since its organization been connected with Bethel.
Irwin Station congregation was organized October 17, 1874. Its pastors have been Revs. J. W. McFraland, 1869-71 ; E. N. McElree, D. D., 1875-79 ; C. B. Hatch, 1880-83 ; J. M. Atchison, D. D., 1884-98, and E. C. Paxton, the present pastor since 1898.
Stewarts' Station was organized January 5, 1869. Its pastors have been Revs. D. A. Duff from 1871 to 1879 ; W. S. Fulton in 1881, and A. D. McCar- rell since 1881. The Stewarts, Shaws, Millers and others have been prominent in its work.
Union Congregation, near Sardis, was organized August 7, 1858. Rev. J. D. Walkinshaw served as pastor from 1860 to 1865; S. B. McBride, 1870-77 ; R. A. Jamison, 1878-88, and J. L. Thorne, the present pastor, from 1891 to the present.
Murraysville was organized October 12, 1877. Its pastors have been Rev. A. R. Rankin, 1879 to 1886; J. M. Imbrie, 1891 to 1895; Charles Stunkard, the present pastor since 1895.
Beulah, near Claridge, was organized June 14, 1844. Rev. William Con- ner served as pastor from 1844 to 1857; J. D. Walkinshaw, 1860-65: T. H. Boyd. 1868-74. From 1879 to the present it has been in union with Murrays- -
ville, and the pastors have been Revs. A. R. Rankin, J. M. Imbrie and Charles Stunkard.
Parnassus was organized February 4, 1876. Rev. C. H. Marshall was pas- tor from 1885 to 1889; George Whiteside, 1891-97, and J. M. Atchison, the present pastor, from 1898.
Shearersburg was organized August 19, 1898, largely from Puckety. Its pastors have been Revs. J. B. McIsaac, from 1898 to 1900, and L. K. Peacock from 1901 to the present.
Vandergrift congregation was organized December 10, 1898. The con- gregation, although one of the youngest, is strong and active, with a fine brick church and a devoted people. The pastors have been Rev. J. E. Walker from 1899 to 1901 ; and C. R. Stevenson from 1901 to the present.
The Monessen Mission was established in 1903. Rev. J. M. Jamison, Jr., has charge. Youngwood Mission was established in 1903. Revs. A. M. Reed, WV. N. Leeper served as stated supplies. Rev. W. E. Baird now has charge.
West Newton Associate Reformed congregation was organized November 5. 1850, largely from Sewickley. Its pastors have been Revs. A. G. Fergus, 1851 ; D. H. Pollock, 1854-60; W. L. McConnell, 1860-65; J. D. Walkinshaw, 1865-69 ; W. R. Stevenson, 1872-81, and Rev. Dr. J. S. Garvin from 1882 until the present time. This congregation has always been one of the solid conserva- tive prosperous congregations in the county. It has a fine church building, a splendid record of liberality to the philanthropies of the denomination, and a membership strong in numbers and character.
The Scottdale congregation was organized July 22, 1875. Rev. R. B. Tag-
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gart, of the Mount Pleasant church, served as pastor from 1879 to 1883 ; Rev. J. M. Moore, 1885-88; J. D. Palmer, 1889-91 ; J. H. Morhead, 1895-98; and Rev. H. W. Miller from 1900 to the present time.
Latrobe was organized May 25, 1853. Rev. William Conner served the congregation from 1853 to 1857; Rev. J. Buff Jackson, 1873-77; Rev. Josias Stevenson, 1878-82; Rev. G. C. Vincent, D. D., LL. D., 1885-89 ; Rev. A. W. Lytle, 1890-92 ; and Rev. J. S. Hill, the present pastor from 1893. The con- gregation has made rapid strides under the present pastorate. It has a fine church building and parsonage.
Bolivar congregation was organized August 20, 1899. Rev. D. S. Tinker has been the only pastor. The congregation has a fine new church building, and has had substantial growth.
The Jeannette congregation was organized in 1890, and its building erected the same year. Its first regular pastor was Rev. D. H. Graham, in 1893, who served until 1897 ; Rev. T. L. Jamison, 1897 and 1898 ; Rev. J. H. Leitch, 1899 till 1903 ; and Rev. J. T. Wright from 1904 to the present.
Greensburg's organization is of comparatively recent origin. Its history is one of trial and vicissitude. For years beset with discouragement, chilled by indifference, depleted by removals and hampered by want of a house of wor- ship, the congregation labored on with a zeal and persistance until it has at- tained prosperity.
In response to a petition presented to Presbytery, May 29, 1855, Rev. Jonathan G. Fulton by appointment preached June 3, 1855. The interest was such that further appointments were filled by Mr. Fulton. The active and liberal promoters were Gordon M. Lyon, James C. Clark, H. M. Jamison, William Welsh, C. R. Painter and Andrew Graham, many of whose descend- ants are still actively identified with the church. In 1857 an organization was formed, twenty-six members being enrolled, but one of whom (Mrs. Mary A. Lyon, widow of Gordon M. Lyon) now remains in the congregation. William McCall, Joseph Greer and H. M. Jamison were elected elders. In 1858, by death and removal of two members of session, the congregation became dis- organized, but was reorganized in 1861 by the election of Gordon M. Lyon and W. H. Barr to the session. From time to time the congregation was united with the New Alexandria, Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe congregations, and by courtesy of other denominations its services were held in their churches. Dur- ing the war the congregation again became disorganized by the absence of W. H. Barr and Joseph Greer in the army, leaving Gordon M. Lyon the only resident member of session. Greatly discouraged and disheartened by deaths and removals, a few faithful ones struggled on maintaining ordinances until September, 1872, when the congregation was reorganized with thirty-seven members. After the decease of Rev. J. G. Fulton, who had labored long and faithfully, April 8. 1873, Rev. J. Buff Jackson was ordained and installed pastor over the United charge of Greensburg and Latrobe, and so remained until Jan- uary, 1876. January 1, 1878, Rev. Josiah Stevenson became pastor, and
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
served until June, 1884. The Sabbath School was organized in November, 1872, Hon. James C. Clark being the first superintendent. In 1880 the present brick church was erected at the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Third street, and was dedicated June 20, 1881, with the presence of the Westmoreland Presbytery.
Rev. J. A. Brandon became pastor in June, 1885, and served for two years. In February, 1888, Rev. H. S. Boyd was installed pastor, and so continued until February 1, 1894. The present pastor, Rev. John A. Douthett, D. D., began his labors in June, 1894. The congregation has thus far been served by five pastors, covering a period of thirty-three years. The leading forces of the congregation have been the Clarks, Lyons, Welshs, Greers, Johnstons, Gra- hans, Ludwicks, Baers, Irwins, Davidsons, Cliffords, Fultons, Bells, Watts, Leasures, Gills, Laughreys, and many others.
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
In October, 1766, nine years before the passage of the act creating the county of Westmoreland, the first Methodist meeting was held in New York City, in the house of Philip Embury, who had been a local preacher in Ireland. Mrs. Barabara Hick gathered the congregation. She found four persons will- ing to attend, she herself made the fifth, and with the preacher, six persons con- stituted the congregation. Such was the humble beginning of Methodism in America. It was not until 1769 that John Wesley sent two preachers to the Colonies. The growth of Methodism was for some years confined to the eastern shores and then the itinerants began their journey southward to Vir- ginia and the Carolinas and to Georgia. The Revolution beginning in 1775 was a decided check to the' spread of Methodism. The preachers of that time were Englishmen ; many of them were Tories in their sympathies, and those who were not were under suspicion.
Western Pennsylvania was, at the time that Methodism began in New York, a battleground between the French, the Indians and the English. Settlers who had only squatters' or traders' rights followed Braddock's expedition and began to settle along his route in 1755. More followed in the wake of Forbes in 1758, and the first settlers' permits were issued between 1755 and 1769. The first actual settlement by Pennsylvania authority was in 1769, the Stanwix Pur- chase having been made the preceeding year. The settlers were Scotch-Irish traders and Dutch farmers.
The only part of Great Britain in which Wesley himself had made little direct impression was Scotland. The Dutch, so far as they were inclined to- wards religion, were Lutheran and Reformed. Preachers from the Cumber- land Valley established Presbyterian churches here and there, and the Lutheran and German Reformed ministers were early on the ground. The first Metho- dist sermon preached in Pittsburgh was by Rev. Wilson Lee, in 1785. Lee was preacher in charge of the Redstone circuit. Three years later Charles Conway was sent to the newly formed circuit of Pittsburgh; at the close
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of the conference year he reported no members. He was returned the next year. It is not likely that there were then many Methodists within what is now Westmoreland county. In July, 1789, Bishop Asbury writes in his jour- nal: "I passed through Greensburg, dined at Rowletts, six miles from Greens- burg, and went to Pittsburgh." There he preached in the evening. "This," he writes, "is the day of small things. What can we hope? Yet what can we fear"? In 1784 Redstone circuit made its first appearance among the ap- pointments of the Baltimore conference. The wide journeyings of John Cooper and Samuel Breeze, with their thirty preaching places, doubtless took in the portions of Westmoreland that lay along the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers. We read of the society formed by them at the forks of the Yough- iogheny. Here Benjamin Fell, with his wife, ten sons and daughters, the widow Beazell and her large family, formed the nucleus of what soon grew into a large congregation. In 1788 Jacob Surton and Lasley Mathews, then on the Redstone circuit, formed the first Methodist society in the Ligonier Valley. In this neighborhood lived Robert Morgan Roberts, who with his family afterward joined the Methodists. One of his sons, Robert Rickford Roberts, afterwards entered the Methodist ministry, was elected a bishop in 1816, and died in Indiana, March 26, 1843. His father moved to Westmore- land county in 1785, when the future bishop was seven years old. "The Life of Bishop Roberts," now a rare book of great value, is valuable not only as the record of the labors of a great and useful man, but as history of the early frontier conditions and customs. We read in it descriptions of the early Scotch- Irish school teachers and their methods. In the school which young Roberts attended, reading, writing and arithmetic were all the branches then taught. but the instruction in these was thorough. Mr. McAbee taught near Mr. Fisher's, three and a half miles from the Roberts home. The future bishop worked for his board at McCracken's. The discipline of this school had the old Irish features. When a boy became unruly, and an ordinary whipping with a rod did not have the desired effect, the last punishment was "horsing." The refractory boy was mounted on the back of another, or, if there were two, they interchanged the office of horse and rider. The "cat with nine tails" was then freely applied. On one occasion, when a bad boy was mounted on the back of another, and Mr. McAbee was about to apply the "cat," young Roberts offered himself as security for the boy and agreed to take a horsing if the boy did not behave, and his offer was accepted. In 1785 the "Life of Bishop Roberts" states that the people of Ligonier Valley, as far as they were religious, were generally Presbyterians and Seceders. The standards of conduct were not high. Dancing, shooting matches and drinking were the customary diversions. It was not unusual for some of the elders of the church to become intoxicated.
In the Ligonier Valley of these times there lived a Quaker named Abel Fisher, who was regarded as a singular character because he would not drink. and because he was unusually moral and upright in his life. He joined the Methodists, and did much to establish the denomination in that section. His
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son, Abel Fisher, became one of the best known laymen in Western Pennsyl- vania Methodism. His intelligence and purity of life gave him a much more than local influence. He lived till 1876.
A Methodist society was formed at an early date at the Black Lick set- tlement of Mr. Wakefield, the grandfather of the late Dr. Samuel Wakefield. The early Methodist societies were nearly all along the mountains and ridges. When the rich lands of the Scioto and other Ohio valleys and the Shenango lands were opened for settlement, the Methodist itinerants who knew the country well, as they journeyed back and forth, were instrumental in persuading many of the owners of ridge and mountain farms to emigrate westward and to the north. This at an early day weakened Methodism in Westmoreland county.
In the rich farming regions of what is now Westmoreland county, Metho- dism was slow in taking root. Other denominations were in possession. In the first attempts to plant Methodism some of the foremost men of the church took part. McKendree, Asbury, Valentine Cook and Lorenzo Dow often preached and labored within the present limits of our county. Valentine Cook was on Redstone circuit for one year, and on the Pittsburgh district for two years. At a later date Bishop Henry B. Bascom, Asa Shinn, Wesley Kenney, Thornton Flemming, Charles , Elliott, Charles Cooke, and John J. Swayzee were all heard repeatedly within the limits of our county. All of them were preachers of the highest order, and men who subsequently achieved national fame.
Short as was Valentine Cook's ministry in Western Pennsylvania, his in- fluence for the church was great. He was a kinsman of Captain Cook, the navigator. He came to the Redstone circuit in 1792, having preached but four years before that. He had been a diligent student at Cokesbury College. He was over six feet in height, of dark complexion, coarse, black hair, deepset eyes, large nose, and an unusually large mouth. He was absent-minded, eccen- tric, absolved in thought, and over-fired with zeal for his church, yet Amer- ican Methodism has not had a more eloquent man in all its history than Valen- tine Cook. The restlessness of the explorer was in his veins. The traditions of his eloquence still live in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1796, while on the Pittsburgh district, Mr. Cook accepted a challenge for a public discus- sion from a Seceder minister. The discussion took place in a grove near Congruity. People came to it forty and fifty miles. The Methodists were somewhat downcast when they saw their unprepossessing-looking advocate. The Scotchman arrived rather late, but said, "I'm here in ample time to give the youngster a dose from which he will not soon recover." For two hours the Methodist church and its doctrines, after the fashion of public discussions of that day, were bitterly assailed. But when Mr. Cook began to speak his per- sonal appearance seemed to change. He overwhelmed the audience from the- beginning. His opponent cried out, "Wolf, wolf, in sheep's clothing." When he could endure it no longer, he sprang to his feet and cried out, "Follow me,.
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follow me, leave the babbler to himself." Some few left, but the majority re- mained. As Cook discussed infant salvation and the provisions of the atone- ment, the audience rose from their seats and stood in enraptured silence. When he quit speaking they crowded around the rude platform and remained long after he had finished. Bishop Roberts, then a boy, had walked from Ligonier to hear the discussion. Long afterward he wrote in the highest terms. of the effort of Cook, and said that he heard one elderly man say to another, "Did ye ever hear such a man"? His companion answered, with apparent ex- citement and solicitude, "Ye are in great danger of being led captive by the devil at his will. Ha'e ye never heard how that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light that he may deceive the very elect, if it were possible? I tell you, sir, he is a dangerous man, and the less we have to do with him the better for us." The age of such discussions has long since passed, but they were common then, and now they but illustrate the methods by which different religions were implanted in early Westmoreland.
The name of Rev. Samuel Wakefield is prominently connected with Metho- dism in Westmoreland county. He was born March 6, 1799, and died Septem- ber 13. 1895. On June 11, 1819, he walked with his father thirteen miles to where New Florence now stands, to attend a Methodist meeting. The meeting was conducted by John Jasper Wirsing, a local preacher of great native power, who had served as a soldier under Napoleon. There Samuel Wakefield went forward and gave his name to the church. He had been a wild young man. but of considerable education for his day. His love for music made him a prominent factor in dancing parties, and when he joined the church an old lady cried out. "Thank God, the devil has lost his fiddler." Two months afterward he began to preach, and preached the gospel for seventy-six years. He was a great student, and his pen was seldom idle. He published works on music, taught singing schools, and divided with James G. Samson the fame of the sweetest singer of Methodism. His work on Theology was for years a stand- ard, and may yet be consulted with profit. Most of his years in the ministry were spent as pastor of the churches in this county, and he was always a con- cise writer and a strong preacher. He spent the evening of his life at West Newton, preaching almost constantly even to the last.
Space forbids the mention of the great number of preachers of the Methodist church who have ministered to the people of this county. Though slow in its. youth in the early years of last century, Methodism has increased very rapidly in the last fifty years. The conference minutes for 1905 show that within the present bounds of the county there are thirty-six regular pastors, and that the church has 9,159 members, with an enrollment in the Sunday schools of 9113.
THE REFORMED CHURCH.
When our early Pennsylvania German or pure German pioneers first came to Westmoreland county they brought no ministers with them, nor did they have any ministers for many years after they began to form congregations.
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The duties usually performed by a minister outside of the pulpit, such as bap- tizing, performing the marriage ceremony, reading the burial service, etc., were performed by the schoolmasters. They very early built rude churches, and near by they built a schoolhouse. Often the schoolhouse came first, and served as a church till a church could be built. Before they had either school- houses or churches they designated the house of some German Reform or Lutheran pioneer which was centrally located, and at his house services were held. Occasionally they had a regular preacher to come to them from the east, where they were more numerous, and on such occasions they had a :series of services which not infrequently lasted a week or more.
The German Protestants in Pennsylvania all sprang from the Reformation started by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century. Here they formed two branches, known distinctly as the German Reformed and the Lutheran churches. At the early period in our history of which we are now writing, and, indeed, up to 1869, the first named branch was popularly and properly known as the German Reformed church. At that time a general synod met in Phila- delphia and dropped the word "German," and since then have been known as the Reformed church. The church did not differ widely in general doctrine or belief from the Presbyterian church. Sometimes it was supposed to be a Ger- man branch of Presbyterianism, but this was not the case. Both the Reformed churches and the Lutheran churches were kept up almost entirely by the Ger- man speaking people of Europe. These two churches were bound together by lineage, by speaking the same language, and by using the same liturgies. They were governed by the same pastoral authority, and made about the same professions of faith. It so happened that both congregations frequently wor- shipped in the same church or schoolhouse. Both churches have Presbyterian forms of government in contradistinction to the Episcopal, or Papal, or Con- gregational governments of other churches. Both the German Reformed and the Lutheran churches were and are yet governed by the minister and certain representatives from the congregation, so far as the immediate government of the society is concerned. The higher governmental body of the Reformed church is called the "Classis."
The German Reformed church and the Lutheran church were much more nearly united in former years than they are now. In their early years in our state the nearest pastor of either church was asked to baptize the children of a family, to perform a marriage ceremony, or read the last sad rites of the dead, and this almost without regard to the church to which they belonged.
As we have said, the first church services in our county were without a minister. They brought with them an inherent desire to be religious, and doubtless failed to bring with them and support a minister, because of the few- ness of their number and their poverty. Their church services consisted in meeting at the house of some German Reformed or Lutheran family, it mat- tered little which, and reading the Bible and offering prayers from a German prayer book. It then became the duty of the schoolmaster to catechise the
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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.
children and baptise them. By this means they held their people together till. they could afford both churches and preachers. When a pastor was finally en- gaged for a church, they came long distances to attend services. At Brush. Creek, it is said that in former days they frequently came as much as twenty miles or more, and brought with them their children.
The German Reformed and the Lutheran churches also owned nearly all their church property in common. They worshipped alternately in these churches, and quite often their ministers performed services for each other. Members of these churches intermarried more than in other churches, and were buried finally side by side in the common graveyard.
The early members secured land while it was very cheap, and put up a log church. Near by they erected a small house for the pastor. They also built a schoolhouse, and sometimes a house for the schoolmaster to live in. The pastor's house always had some extra land attached, so that he might dig a part of his living from the earth. They also provided for a cemetery, or graveyard, as it was generally called, and, be it said to their honor, they were unusually careful to mark the last resting places of their dead with tombstones. From their inscriptions a great many dates and other matters relative to pioneer his- tory have been gathered. One is well repaid by making a visit to the Harrold. church graveyard, near the oldest of the German Reformed churches in West- moreland county. Most of the gravestones are from a nearby quarry. In an. early day they were dressed and carved by an ordinary stone cutter named Hines, who belonged to the church. While the carving and lettering is some- times very crude, and almost amusing to our generation, they tell well the story of the primitive condition of our early people.
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