USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > Brandywine > History of the Presbyterian Church in the Forks of Brandywine, Chester County, Pa. (Brandywine Manor Presbyterian Church), from A.D. 1735 to A.D. 1885 : with biographical sketches of the deceased pastors of the church and of those who prepared for the Christian ministry under the direction of the Rev. Nathan Grier > Part 11
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THOMAS BUCHANAN, M.D.
Thomas Buchanan, the younger son of the late Elder David Buchanan, of Honeybrook, passed three years at Millersville Normal School, Lancaster County, entered the freshman class of Amherst College, Mass., in 1864, and was graduated in 1868. He studied medi- cine under the direction of Prof. A. Pillou, of New York City, and attended the clinics in the hospitals of Paris, London, and St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Buchanan practised medicine several years, but on account of failing health relinquished his profession and became connected with the manufacturing inter- ests of St. Louis, where he now resides. Like most
* MS. Collections.
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patriotic young men, he passed 1861 to 1863 in the army.
Dr. Buchanan has diligently employed the advan- tages which he enjoyed, and is a learned and able physician. His withdrawal from the practice of his profession is a source of regret to his medical brethren and a loss to the community .***
DAVIS F. CROUSE, M.D.
Davis F. Crouse was born in Wallace, then a part of West Nantmeal Township, Chester County, April 29, 1835. His early instruction was received in the common schools, until the opening of Howard Academy, which he attended several sessions with marked diligence and improvement. In 1856 his parents removed to Illinois, where they had been set- tled but a short time when he commenced the study of medicine while teaching a public school. His studies were pursued with so much zeal and perse- verance that three years afterwards he received the degree of M.D. from the Medical College at Cincin- nati. In 1861-62 he attended the lectures of Belle- vue Hospital, New York.
Dr. Crouse followed his profession with success in Carroll County, Ill., and subsequently in Joe Daviess County in the same State, but finally removed to Waterloo, Iowa, where he practised, in connection with a younger brother, until his retirement in 1878, after eighteen years of arduous professional labor. He then undertook the supervision of a nursery and a farm, in
* MS. Collections.
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which he was engaged until his decease, in October, 1880.
Dr. Crouse's medical skill and attention to his pa- tients caused him to be liberally patronized, while his amenity, upright conduct, and general culture gave him a high place in the estimation of both the public and his professional brethren .*
WILLIAM HUNTER, M.D.
William, only son of David Hunter, Esq., of Honey- brook Township, was born in July, 1833. Having completed his preparatory training at this Institution and the Academy at New London, he entered on the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Atlee, of Lancaster, and received the degree of M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in March, 1854.
Dr. Hunter settled as a physician at White Haven, Luzerne County, Pa., and pursued his profession with encouraging success and marked ability until the Spring of 1856, when he sunk under a chronic dis- ease of the alimentary organs. His early death was the cause of much sorrow, not only to his bereaved sisters, but also to the many friends whose seemingly well-founded hopes of his professional eminence and usefulness, were unexpectedly blasted.
Dr. Hunter was the first of the students of Howard Academy who passed from the activity of professional life to the rest of the grave. His death, and the de- cease in less than thirty years of more than one-third
* MS. Collections.
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of those who were pupils of the Institution, are mel- ancholy proofs that youth is no protection against the shafts of the destroyer.
Howard Academy to a large number afforded the means of obtaining a better education than otherwise they could have done, and its discontinuance was a source of regret to the friends of intelligence and cul- ture in Honeybrook and the neighboring Townships.
Besides weekly lectures by the principal on histor- ical, literary, and scientific subjects, addresses to the students were delivered by the Rev. Drs. J. N. C. Grier, Lehman, Crowell, and Hotchkin, and the Rev. Messrs. W. W. Latta, Harry, Holland, Flowers, J. C. Thompson, and Dr. A. K. Gaston .*
* Reminiscences of First Principal ; Records of Academy ; Coms. from Elder John Ralston and others.
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SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.
ROCKVILLE SUNDAY-SCHOOL.
IN May, 1820, the first Sunday-School within the bounds of this congregation was organized in a build- ing that stands a short distance north of Rockville, and which was long known by the name of Walker's School-House. Elder James Ralston, Elder William Templeton, Thomas M'Clune, and Obadiah Robinson were chosen Superintendents. As the first three were Presbyterians and the last named a Methodist, it was not strictly denominational, but was what would now be called a Union Sunday-School.
Elder John Ralston and his brother James, Jno. Dorlan, James Lockhart, Washington Righter, John Lockhart, Jos. Donnell, Master John W. Pinkerton, and perhaps some others, were selected as teachers. Master Pinkerton acted as Secretary.
Two of the Superintendents attended every Sab- bath. One of them opened the School with prayer, and the other closed it in the same manner. The ex- ercises consisted principally of the recitation of por- tions of the Scriptures and of Psalms and Hymns. There was a generous rivalry among the scholars in regard to the number of verses which each could recite on a Sabbath, and this emulation was carried so far that
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upwards of three hundred verses of the Bible were repeated by some of the pupils at one time.
The School assembled in the afternoon, and as it was somewhat of a novelty, the attendance was large, the children being accompanied in most instances by their parents.
The School building often proving too small to ac- commodate the scholars and spectators, the exercises were not unfrequently conducted in a grove which stood West of the road leading from the School-house to Rockville.
Dr. Grier, the pastor, occasionally attended, and gave the scholars some religious instruction and ad- vice ; but as he generally preached on the afternoon of the Sabbath, either in a school-house or at the resi- dence of some aged member of the congregation, his engagements seldom permitted him to be present.
Tickets or cards with a text of Scripture printed on them were given to the scholars. Some of these tickets were printed on red paper, and others on blue. The recitation of a hymn, or of a fixed number of verses of Scripture, entitled a scholar to a blue card, and a certain amount of these could be exchanged for a red one. When the fortunate holder had obtained as many of the latter as were required, a book was given in their stead.
As the School had to be closed in the Fall, the dis- continuance proved unfavorable, and when it was opened the next Spring the attendance was smaller, and the interest manifested much less. This became so apparent towards the end of the Summer, that those who were mainly instrumental in carrying it on were
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disheartened, and no arrangements were made for conducting it the next year.
In 1828 the School was reopened with but partial success. After that no effort was made to revive it until 1832, when it was reorganized by Elder William Templeton, who continued to be its efficient and faith- ful Superintendent until his death, in 1849. Ever since that time the School has been regularly kept open during the Summer season. Messrs. Thomas Walker, William Robinson, John F. Templeton, and Lewis Worrell have acted as Superintendents.
MANOR SUNDAY-SCHOOL.
A Sunday-School was opened in 1821 in the School building which stood near the Upper Graveyard. John Templeton, Esq., James K. Grier, Joseph F. Grier, M.D., John McCathran, James McCathran, William Major, William Stanly, and some others performed the duties of teachers. James Hindman filled the office of Secretary. The Rev. John W. Grier, who was at that time the Principal of the Brandywine Academy, acted as Superintendent. This School was in opera- tion about two years, when it was discontinued.
In the Spring of 1828 a number of young people of the neighborhood met at the residence of General Matthew Stanly and organized a Sunday-School, which was held in a large spring-house loft belonging to the General. This School was mainly conducted by the same teachers as the one which had been kept in the school-house. It was continued during the
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Summer season of two years, 1828 and 1829, when, owing to the unsafe condition of the walls of the building, it was thought imprudent to reopen it in the same place, and no other suitable building could be obtained.
After the lapse of several years a Sunday-School was opened in the Manor Church, under the superin- tendence of the Pastor, Dr. Grier. It was held in the morning, before the customary services of the day were commenced. Dr. Grier occupied a part of the time in explaining portions of the Scriptures and other religious exercises. This School, which was con- tinued during the remainder of his pastorate, has been watched over and aided by his successors in the ministry. It has at present 112 scholars and 15 teachers and officers, with Mr. B. G. Rea as Superin- tendent.
Both it and the school at Rockville, which has 85 scholars and 11 teachers and officers, are regarded not only as important auxiliaries to the Church, but as a means of benefiting many who otherwise would receive no religious instruction.
The superintendents, all of the teachers, and many of the scholars connected with those first Sunday- Schools have passed away, while the survivors, with few exceptions, have numbered the allotted threescore and ten. But in reviewing the incidents of seventy years, there are scarcely any which they recall with more pleasure and gratitude than the associations and instruction of the weekly gatherings on the Sabbath which they attended more than half a century ago.
How many those primitive Sunday-Schools led
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to become partakers of the blessings of the New Covenant, or how often the texts of Scripture and Psalms of prayer and thanksgiving, then impressed on the memory, may have guarded against temptation or Tightened the burdens and smoothed asperities in the pathway of life, the " Great Day" alone will 'reveal. i)
Reminiscences of James M'Cachran; of Elder John Ralston ; Local Memoranda ; Communication from Rov. Mr. McColl; from Samuel Hindman.
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THE PARSONAGE.
IN Scotland the Manse is considered almost equally essential with the Kirk. As a majority of the minis- ters of the churches there are not the owners of any means for passing from place to place, it is deemed im- portant that he whose duties require him to be present in the House of God twice or thrice a week should reside near to the scene of his labors.
For many years after the settlement of Presbyte- rians in America, in consequence of the necessity for every one to be provided with a means of conveyance of his own, parsonages were not considered absolutely essential. The funds of most of the congregations having been exhausted in building a meeting-house and a session-house, no provision was made for a pastor's residence.
This was particularly the case with the churches first established. Hence it often happened that churches whose organization was but yesterday, when compared with those of an early date, were furnished with a dwelling appropriated for the use of the pastor, while the church of which they were in many in- stances colonies had made no provision of the kind.
Of this the congregation worshipping in this place affords an example. The churches at Coatesville, Waynesburg, and Fairview composed, at first, either
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wholly or in part of members from this church, had each a parsonage before it was determined to erect one here.
Mr. Black having no family when pastor of the con- gregation, made his home with some of the members of his charge. The house in which Mr. Dean dwelt in West Nantmeal Township, as stated elsewhere, is no longer in existence, and Mr. Boyd, while supplying the Old Side, continued to reside near his church in Octoraro. Mr. Carmichael, with Scotch thrift and frugality, acquired considerable property, and passed his last years on a farm in West Brandywine Town- ship, which was long the residence of the late Squire M'Clellan. Mr. Nathan Grier, shortly after his mar- riage, in 1787, bought the farm now belonging to the estate of the late Richard Parke, and resided there until his death. When his son, the Rev. J. N. C. Grier, succeeded him in the pastorate he purchased the homestead, and it continued to be the parsonage until 1841. In that year he erected, on land adjoin- ing the church property, the mansion in which he passed the remainder of his life.
After the resignation of Dr. Grier the necessity of providing a residence for the pastor became so ap- parent that efforts were made to accomplish it. With the energy and liberality which have always been shown by the members of this Church when they were convinced that any measure was needed for the prosperity of their beloved Zion, funds were collected and a suitable building erected in 1869-'70. The main structure, which is carefully and neatly finished, stands East of the Lower Graveyard, on a part of the
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land originally owned by the New Side. It is thirty- five feet in front by twenty-six feet deep on the East side ; forty-four feet deep on the West side, and two and a half stories in height. The entire cost of the dwelling, out-buildings, and improvement of the ground was about four thousand dollars.
The situation of the parsonage is retired, healthful, and elevated, affording an extensive view in almost every direction, and needs but a tasteful arrangement of the lawn, and the addition of trees and shrubbery, to compare favorably with buildings erected for a similar purpose by rural churches in general.
Like " the ministers' home" in other lands, this par- sonage, in the course of years, will become closely con- nected with the remembrance of the pastors who have occupied it and passed away. Around it associations will gather scarcely less salutary and less solemn than those which pertain to buildings specially dedicated to the service of the Most High .*
* MSS. ; Church Records.
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SESSION-HOUSES.
As the Presbyterians who first settled in America generally considered the Session-House or Study almost equally important with the Meeting-House, and seldom erected the latter, however rude, without, at the same time, placing the former near by, it is altogether likely that there was a Session-House belonging to the First Meeting-House. But as even tradition is silent respecting such a building, it would be futile to inquire, if it did exist, where it was situated, and whether it served both as a school-house and a place for the meetings of the members of Session .*
The Session-House belonging to the Second Meeting- House stood near the Southeast corner of the ground belonging to Mr. Dean's congregation. It was placed with the front parallel to the Road leading to Down- ingtown, and was probably furnished with a fireplace. This Session-House having become nearly unfit for use, and being inconveniently situated in respect to the Meeting-House erected in 1761, a log Session-House about sixteen by eighteen feet, with a large fireplace in one end, was built a few rods South of the new church edifice. The entrance was on the side most distant from the church.
This building, like nearly all the Session-Houses of
* Some remains of the foundation of what seems to have been a small building, recently noticed near the entrance to the Upper Grave- yard, may have been part of a primitive Session-House.
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the Presbyterian Church at that day, was used as a school-house. A man by the name of Bowser, who was not remarkable for the purity of his morals or his amiable disposition, taught a school in that Session- House upwards of one hundred years ago. The late John Strong, Major George Dorlan, Nathan Dorlan, Alexander Nesbit, and others whom some now living remember, were among his pupils. Both Bowser and Stephen Wray, who taught towards the close of the last century in the Session-House of the Seceder Meeting-House, were firm believers in the efficacy of the rod. Consequently the frequent applications of it, as an aid to discipline and a spur to mental activity, were a part of their daily programme.
In 1827 the log Session-House was removed, and a stone building about eighteen feet by twenty, with a fireplace in the west end, was erected on the ground occupied by the former Session-House, and stood, like it, with the front to the South. This served for the meetings of the Session until 1875, when it was taken down to afford room for the site of the recently-erected church edifice.
In the construction of the New Meeting-House, a room was set apart in the basement for the transaction of all business belonging to the government of the church. The members of the congregation, therefore, instead of having their Session-House in one place, their Meeting-House in another, and their Sunday- School room at a considerable distance from both, as was formerly the case, have these all conveniently arranged in the same building .*
* Local Memoranda ; Church Records.
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BEQUESTS.
ALTHOUGH there has been a number of wealthy members of the congregation who contributed lib- erally for benevolent purposes and the keeping of the buildings and enclosures belonging to the church in a proper condition, yet many of them failed to make any provision for assisting to defray the ex- pense of repairs, improvements, and other beneficent objects, after their decease. The bequests, therefore, have been comparatively few and the amount small ; the whole sum not exceeding three thousand dollars. This is to be regretted, as not only the cost of pre- venting the grounds and buildings from becoming impaired, but the purchase of books for the Sunday- Schools, the circulation of tracts and temperance doc- uments, and support of missions require funds which are often difficult to be obtained, and the smallness of which frequently confines these means of doing good within narrow limits.
Those whom the bounty of Providence has blessed with plenty might be the almoners of that bounty when life has ceased by endowments for charitable purposes, the spread of religious intelligence, and the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom.
BEQUESTS SO FAR AS KNOWN.
Joseph Mackelduff, who died in 1750, left five pounds for the benefit of the Church.
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John Beaton, in 1776, bequeathed thirty pounds " for the use of the Meeting-House." This was ap- plied towards defraying the cost of restoring the church edifice after its injury by fire.
Elder William Irwin, whose death occurred in 1794, devised a small sum, six pounds, for the purpose of renewing the fence around the Upper Graveyard.
Hugh Morton, long an active member of the con- gregation, in 1811 left fifty pounds, which were ex- pended, under the direction of General Stanly, for the iron gate and marble posts at the eastern entrance to the Upper Graveyard.
Isaac Smith directed about one hundred dollars to be placed by his executors in the hands of the trustees of the church to be applied towards keeping the Lower Graveyard and the wall surrounding it in suitable order. A portion of this sum was used to purchase the gate and the pillars that bear the initials of his name which are placed at the entrance, and the bal- ance appropriated towards paying for the repairs and extension of the wall in 1860.
About one hundred and fifty dollars were directed by the will of John Craig, in 1825, to be invested by the trustees of the church, and the interest applied from time to time in keeping the Lower Graveyard in good repair. A part of this was expended for the extension of the enclosure on the South side, and the remainder (two hundred and twelve dollars) in restoring and flagging the wall.
Peter Kurtz, who died March 19, 1880, left five hundred dollars for the benefit of the church, and a like amount was devised for the same purpose
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by Mrs. Elizabeth Christman, whose death took place in February of the same year.
Mrs. Mary Ann Grier directed in her last Will and Testament that five hundred dollars should be invested by the trustees of the church, and the in- terest expended in keeping up the graves of herself and her husband, Elder James K. Grier. She also bequeathed five hundred dollars to aid the operations of the church.
A bequest of one hundred dollars was made by Augustus J. Dowlin, who died in April, 1884.
About one hundred and fifty dollars were devised by Thomas Lomas, whose decease occurred in 1883, for keeping the Lower Graveyard in repair.
By the will of William Moore, his executors were directed to place five hundred dollars in the hands of the trustees, a part of it, or the interest accruing, to be expended in keeping his family burial-lots in repair, and the balance to be expended for the benefit of the church.
The sums devised by Mrs. Kurtz, Mrs. Christman, and Mrs. Grier, together amounting to fifteen hundred dollars, less the collateral inheritance tax, were used for the payment of debts arising from the improve- ment of the enclosures and other necessary expenses connected with the church property .*
* Records of Session ; Local Memoranda ; Office of Register of Wills.
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PEW-HOLDERS IN 1792-96.
IN no part of the world are changes of residence more frequent than in the United States. New fields for adventure are continually being laid open. New enterprises which promise much are again and again presented, and real or fancied advantages foster the desire "to better their circumstances," which seems to be the leading idea in the minds of a large portion of our countrymen. As a consequence many abandon the homes of their childhood, and the places where their youthful years were passed, for more inviting and distant localities.
Although this " disposition to wander" is more char- acteristic of the Scotch-Irish, the Irish, and their pos- terity, than of any class of our citizens, yet an exam- ination of the following list of pew-holders will show that a considerable number of the supporters of this church at the present time are the descendants of those who sustained a Gospel ministry here fourscore and ten years ago.
All whose names are comprised in this list, and with a few exceptions the generation which immediately succeeded them, are dead, but the Church still lives.
The influence of their example and of their pious instruction has reached to the third and even to the fourth generation. How much of encouragement does
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this afford to those who are "never weary in well- doing," and especially to those who have aided in the construction of the building which has recently been dedicated to the service of the Great Head of the church.
They, like their fathers and forefathers, are leaving a memorial of their good works and an influence, which will be seen and felt long after the " places which now know, shall know them no more."
The following is a list of the pew-holders in 1792- 96, as near as can be ascertained from imperfect Church Records and other sources :
John Alford.
Joshua Davis.
Ephraim Allen.
Methusaleh Davis.
James Anderson.
David Denny.
Margaret Anderson.
James Denny.
William Anderson.
Samuel Denny.
Andrew Barr.
William Denny.
Robert Beatty.
William Diven.
William Blair.
George Dorlan.
William Brown.
Nathan Dorlau.
Hannah Buchanan.
Samuel Dorlan.
John Buchanan.
John Dunlap.
Matthew Buchanan.
James Dunwoodie.
Samuel Byers, Sr.
John Dunwoodie.
Samuel Byers.
Elizabeth Elliott.
Widow Byers.
William Elliott.
Adamı Campbell.
Theophilus Erwin.
David Carson.
Elizabeth Ferguson.
Samuel Caruthers.
John Craige.
James Forrest. Francis Gardner.
Samuel Craige.
Dr. Isaac Gibson.
Parmenas Crowe.
James Graham. Michael Graham.
Samuel Cunningham, Esq. Isaae Davis.
John Gray.
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John Grier.
Joseph Grier. Rev. Nathan Grier. Adam Guthrie. James Guthrie.
Agnes Henderson. William Henderson.
James Hood.
Sarah Hughes. William Hunter, Esq.
Ezekiel Irwin.
Adam Jack. John Johnson.
Robert Johnson. .
Mary Kennedy. Samuel Kennedy.
Thomas Kennedy.
William Kennedy. John Lewis.
William Loag.
Alexander Lockhart, Esq.
James Lockhart, Sr. James Lockhart. William Lockhart.
William Long.
Alexander Marshall.
James McCachran.
James McConnel.
Samuel Mackelduff.
James M'Clune.
Benjamin McClure.
James MeClure. Joseph McClure. Bryan MeCune. Elizabeth McKinly. Paul McKnight.
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