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 2
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"Secondly. The Presbytery judge that said people be contented as part of Mr. Boyd's charge as formerly ;
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and, further, Presbytery judge that said people have acted ungratefully towards Mr. Boyd and the congre- gation of Octoraro for his former kindness and care toward them."
The Presbytery also ordered them to make a "list of all the people of our communion or profession dwelling in the confines of said designed erection next to the border of Octoraro, and send said list to Mr. Boyd."
At a meeting of the Presbytery of Donegal, held June 10, 1735, Jno. Hamilton, as commissioner from the Forks of Brandywine, presented a " supplication" to be erected into a distinct congregation, a list of the people according to the order of Presbytery, and a paper, unsubscribed, alleged to be from said people, casting groundless reflections on Mr. Boyd. " With this paper the Presbytery find great fault."
The Presbytery ordered the usual perambulations, and also selected two persons, who were directed to choose a third, to act as arbitrators in settling the difficulty with William Craige, "who complained of being wronged in relation to his interest in a part of the meeting-house."
On the 15th of September, 1735," another "sup- plication" from the Forks of Brandywine was pre- sented to the Presbytery, and also a request that Presbytery would concur with them in endeavoring to procure a visit from some of the young gentlemen lately arrived from Ireland and connected with New Castle Presbytery, in order to give such visitor a call.
* 26th of September, New Style.
3
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The Presbytery, after observing that they had been badly treated, and having received an apology from the Commissioners for their "misdemeanor," and an assurance that all arrearages to Mr. Boyd would be paid until the next November, "erected said people into a distinct congregation."
The Presbytery also complained of the location of the meeting-house, and recommended that no dead be buried there until the matter was finally settled.
In April, 1736, Jno. Hamilton and James Ward appeared as Commissioners from the Forks of Brandy- wine, with a list of subscriptions and a call to Mr. Samuel Black, one of the young men above referred to. The Presbytery did not consider the call to be in proper form, and also disapproved of the sum of fifty pounds mentioned in the call, when the subscription was nearly sixty-six, but placed the consideration of it with Mr. Black.
May 23, 1736, at a meeting of the Presbytery held at Nottingham, Robert Hamilton and Edward Irwin, Commissioners from the Forks of Brandywine, pre- sented a call to Mr. Black, with the amount increased to fifty-five pounds Pennsylvania currency ($1463). " The call was placed in the hands of Mr. Black, and he accepted it."
On the 10th of November, 1736, the Presbytery met at the Forks of Brandywine, and ordained and installed Mr. Black as pastor of the congregation.
No records remain of the number of members of the Church when Mr. Black became pastor. Nor are there any means of ascertaining the attendance on the Sabbath, or the interest manifested in the subject
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of religion. That the members were few, and the weekly assemblages far from large, may be inferred from the condition of the country, which was still, to a great extent, a wilderness. This is shown by the report of the Commissioners who laid out the Paxtang Road# in 1735-36. In that report they make no mention of farms or buildings of any kind, except the " Presbyterian's Meeting-House," in the entire dis- tance from the Welsh Mountain, or Lancaster County line, to several miles northeast of this place.
Indeed, even so late as the close of the Revolu- tionary war, the roads were little more than " bridle- paths" through the forest. Those, therefore, whom business detained to a late hour at Chester, then the "seat of justice," were often obliged to leave the "finding of the way home" to that sagacious animal, the horse.
Mr. Black had been settled but a short time as pas- tor, when the difference of views which prevailed in the Presbyterian Church, and which finally led to the "Great Schism," caused dissensions between him and his people, and gave rise to charges and counter- charges which were far from creditable to either the pastor or the members of his flock. This state of 'affairs, alike unfavorable to the growth of the Church and the promotion of piety, continued in this and other congregations until the Protest of June 1, 1741, closed the controversy, and the Presbyterian
* Peixtan, spelled Peichong, Pechetan, Paxtang, and Paxton, in old records, once an Indian wigwam or village where Harrisburg now stands. (Rupp, " Hist. of Lancaster Co.")
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Church became two separate bodies with a distinct organization.
Immediately after this event a majority of Mr. Black's charge withdrew, and, those who remained being too few to sustain weekly services on the Sab- bath, the pastoral relation was dissolved.
The minority, Old Side, either by an amicable arrangement or a determined resistance, kept posses- sion of the meeting-house and ground, and obtained permission from Presbytery to engage the services of Mr. Boyd, of Octoraro, one-half of his time, at a yearly salary of twenty pounds, Pennsylvania cur- rency.
Mr. Boyd was installed on the 12th of August, 1741, and continued to be their pastor until a few months after the reunion, May 28, 1758, when he ceased to occupy their pulpit, although the pastoral relation was not formally dissolved.
In the mean time, those who seceded, New Side, were not inactive. They purchased a rectangular lot of ground containing three acres, a little to the east of the former church property, and erected a com- fortable building for public worship. They were regularly supplied by the Synod of New Brunswick until May or June, 1745, when the Rev. Mr. Dean became their pastor. He remained until his death, in July, 1748.
Of the condition of this church during his short ministry no record can be found,# but, from the tra-
The Minutes of the " New Side" Presbytery of New Castle are
* lost.
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ditional popularity and faithfulness of Mr. Dean, the conclusion may be drawn that it was highly pros- perous.
After his death, although the congregation gave a call to a Mr. John Todd, and perhaps to some others, they remained without a stated pastor, but, as the heat of the controversy cooled with the lapse of years, many of them attended the ministry of Mr. Boyd.
From the withdrawal of Mr. Boyd, in the autumn of 1758, until the installation of Mr. Carmichael, in the spring of 1761, the pulpits of both the churches were vacant, and public worship seems to have been in a measure suspended.
After the settlement of Mr. Carmichael, an almost immediate change took place. Energetic, zealous, and faithful, he soon acquired a commanding influence, which resulted in the erection of a large and con- venient meeting-house, the restoration of harmony among the people, and the addition of many to the congregation.
During the struggle for National Independence, when, as happens in almost all wars, inroads are made on morals and piety languishes, the religious fervor of his people was not permitted to cool, nor the efforts to arrest the torrent of vice to become either few or weak.
Believing with the Hebrew King, that he who win- neth souls is wise, Mr. Carmichael, after the close of the Revolutionary conflict, labored with increased diligence for the conversion of sinners, until his death left his congregation to mourn the loss of their beloved pastor.
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From the commencement to the end of his ministry, although there were few copious showers, yet the outspread fleece was always wet with the dews of heaven.
A few months after the decease of Mr. Carmichael the church building was destroyed by fire. As this occurred at a period of financial depression and un- certainty, the hand of affliction seemed to be laid heavily upon the flock without a shepherd. Trusting, however, that the Great Head of the Church would temper His chastisements with mercy, they obtained supplies from the Presbytery of New Castle and also of Philadelphia, engaged energetically in the collec- tion of funds, and soon commenced the reconstruction of their meeting-house.
Among those who supplied the vacant pulpit, was Nathan Grier, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Phil- adelphia. His preaching was so well received that before the building was completed the congregation gave him a unanimous call. This he accepted, and, having placed himself under the care of the Presby- tery of New Castle, to which the church belonged, was ordained and installed the twenty-second of August, 1787.
Mr. Grier entered with zeal on the discharge of the duties of his pastorate, and the results of his in- dustry and faithfulness soon became manifest. The rebuilding of the meeting-house was finished. The difficulties which arose from the unsettled monetary condition of the country were overcome, and the burden of sorrow was lifted from the hearts of those who, adopting the plaintive language of the
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prophet,* had refused to be comforted on account of the destruction of the house of God and the death of him who had ministered at its altar.
Having the reputation of an able divine, "apt to teach," members of his congregation and others who were preparing for the Christian ministry gladly placed themselves under his direction. They were faithfully trained, and near a score of young men went forth prepared to battle with the arch-enemy of souls.
But the labors of Mr. Grier as a teacher and a pastor were unexpectedly ended. While his eye was scarcely dimmed and his natural force unabated, he was removed from his abode on earth to his Heavenly home. The grief on account of his death was wide- spread, and a greater number followed his remains to the grave than the most aged had ever seen assem- bled on a similar occasion.
How many were connected with the Church at the commencement of the ministry of the Rev. Nathan Grier cannot be ascertained. At its close the num- ber of members was two hundred and thirty-two. A record of those admitted annually to the Church the last ten years of his pastorate has been pre- served. Taking the addition to the membership each year of that period as the annual average, not less than six hundred became connected with the Church during the nearly twenty-seven years of his ministry.
Shortly after the death of Mr. Grier, a call from
* Isaiah lxiv. 11.
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the congregation was placed in the hands of his younger son, the Rev. J. N. C. Grier. This call he accepted, and on the twenty-fourth of November, 1814, entered on his pastorate of upwards of fifty- four years.
At that period many of the customs and habits of the first settlers prevailed. The members of the con- gregation came on horseback or a-foot to attend the services of the sanctuary, a large number of them clothed in garments of domestic manufacture. Visits to the cities, or intercourse with the world at a dis- tance, were limited. There was no post-office nearer than Coatesville or Downingtown, and few religious periodicals. Sunday-schools were not organized in a single church connected with the Presbytery, and societies for the suppression of intemperance were unknown. But an increase of facilities for travel and the general advance of improvement wrought changes. A post-office was established at a convenient distance in 1816. A Sunday-school was organized in 1820, a missionary society in 1829, and a temperance association formed in 1831. A religious newspaper, published at Wilmington, Delaware, was taken by several members of the Church, and the taste for reading created among the young by the publications of the Sunday-School and the Tract Society# led, a few years later, to the general support and perusal of the Presbyterian, Presbyterian JJournal, American Messen- ger, and other religious periodicals.
In several of these movements Dr. Grier took an
* Organized in 1825.
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active and in others a leading part, while all of them had his cordial support.
But his labors were not confined to merely bettering the temporal condition, or in improving and increas- . ing the facilities for acquiring knowledge. In the pulpit he faithfully preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the sinner's only hope of safety, and earnestly besought the impenitent to lay hold of the salvation offered in the Gospel. At every communion there was an addition to the church membership, but in 1822, and especially in 1831 and several years immediately following, there was a copious " refresh- ing from the Lord," and a large number became members of his charge. Such was the success of his labors that, notwithstanding four Presbyterian Churches which "live and flourish," and ten belong- ing to other denominations were organized within what had been the bounds of his charge, the mem- bership of the Church at the close of his ministry was about the same as when he entered on the dis- charge of his duties as pastor.
Although Dr. Grier was not called upon, as Mr. Car- michael had been, to aid in the struggle for National Independence, nor, like his father, to train young men as ambassadors for Christ, yet he added by his faith- fulness to the number of those who went forth as heralds of the everlasting Gospel. During his pas- torate sixteen young men to whom he first broke the " Bread of Life" devoted themselves to the Christian ministry. Two of them, Mr. David Templeton and Mr. Matthew Brown, were removed to the " better land" before they had finished their theological
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course. The other fourteen, of whom short bio- graphical sketches are given in this work, became faithful soldiers of the Cross. Eight of them have fought the good fight and finished their course re- joieing. One, after a successful pastorate of twenty- one years, was forced by ill health to withdraw from active service at the altar; another was the founder and for a long period the principal of a popular educational institution, and a third is the senior editor of a widely- circulated and influential religious newspaper. The remaining five are engaged in making known "the unsearchable riches of Christ" in each of the Middle and one of the Western States.
But while Dr. Grier was zealously and earnestly engaged in the discharge of the duties of his sacred calling, the lapse of more than half a century brought changes. The members of Presbytery with whom he first met had passed away. A majority of his hearers on the Sabbath were the descendants of those who had invited him to take the spiritual oversight of the con- gregation. The infirmities of more than threescore and ten pressed heavily upon him, and, feeling that he was no longer able to labor in the Master's vineyard, he requested and obtained a dissolution of the pastoral relation .*
After the retirement of Dr. Grier the congregation was dependent on supplies. Among those who oc- cupied the vacant pulpit was the Rev. Wm. W. Heberton, a licentiate of the Central Presbytery of Philadelphia. The services of Mr. Heberton were
* Appendix H.
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so well received that a call made on the 18th of July, 1869, by the congregation, to become their pastor, was placed in his hands, which he accepted, and was ordained and installed October 28, 1869. The pastoral relation was dissolved in October, 1872, by the Presbytery of Chester.
During the ministry of Mr. Heberton the parson- age was built, twenty-nine were added to the member- ship of the Church, and three of the Ruling Elders were removed by death.
In June, 1873, Mr. Heberton was installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Elkton, Md., where " the work of the Lord has prospered in his hands." Near a hundred have united with the Church during his ministry, Christian harmony prevails, and the influence for good of both the pastor and his people is daily increasing .**
After the withdrawal of Mr. Heberton the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. Mr. Bingham, of Oxford, Pa., and by some young men who were candidates for settlement. Among them was the Rev. John M'Coll. a graduate of the University of Toronto, Canada, and of the Theological Seminary at Princeton.
* Mr. Heberton is a native of Columbia County, in this State. His classical studies were pursued at Media, Delaware County, and his collegiate at Lafayette, Easton, where he was graduated in 1865. Ile spent the next eighteen months after his graduation in the study of medicine, and then entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton. He finished his preparation for the ministry in the spring of 1869, and was licensed in April of that year. His pastoral oversight of this congregation was his first charge.
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The ministrations of Mr. M'Coll were so satisfac- tory that he received a call from the congregation to become their pastor, and was ordained and installed by a committee of the Presbytery of Chester on the 24th of July, 1873. On that occasion the Rev. J. Collier presided, Rev. Mr. Totheroth preached the sermon, Rev. Mr. Pomeroy charged the pastor, and Rev. Mr. Collier the people. The trial-sermon of Mr. M'Coll was from Heb. iv. 12.
The ministry of Mr. M'Coll has been successful, and the membership of the church under his discreet over- sight has increased. Two Sabbath-schools have been organized in the outlying districts of his charge. The new church edifice is filled on the Sabbath, and a growing interest in the subject of religion is daily becoming more manifest.
The meeting-house having become scarcely safe for public worship and the congregation having resolved to build another, Mr. M'Coll aided greatly in the furtherance of the work by the collection and disburse- ment of funds, the arrangement of plans, and encour- agement at periods of difficulty and despondency. Finally, his efforts, seconded by the liberality of his congregation, were crowned with success. When the new meeting-house, free from debt, was dedicated to the service of the Triune God, he could thankfully and reverently have asked, in the words of the Psalmist, " Who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort ?"
May the pastorate so auspiciously begun be long continued, and on the Great Day may many, very many, whom he had gathered into the fold of the
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Redeemer, shine as stars in the " Crown of his rejoie- ing.":
MEETING-HOUSES.+
FIRST MEETING-HOUSE.
Of this building we have no authentic information, except such as some remains of the foundation which existed at a comparatively recent period afforded of its size and situation, and a few collateral statements which have escaped the ravages of time. In all else tradition is the only authority. But in this instance tradition agrees with the recorded description of buildings erected for the same purpose in the pioneer settlements of Virginia, North Carolina, and the western counties of our own State.
This meeting-house, which was built either in the summer or fall of 1734, stood in what is now a part of the " upper graveyard," a few rods east from the northwest corner of the ground which the congrega- tion had obtained for church purposes. The size was about forty feet by twenty-five. It was placed, like nearly all buildings erected at that period, with the front to the south, and north of the Indian trail, then used as the highway. The material used was un-
* Minutes of Presbytery of Neweastle ; Minutes of Presbytery of Donegal ; Dr. Grier's " Historical Discourse ;" Church Records ; Local Memoranda.
+ Buildings set apart for public worship by the early settlers, Bap- tists, Presbyterians, and Friends, were called meeting-houses, as they still are by the last-named denomination. In England the places of worship of the Dissenters are uniformly called meeting-houses.
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hewn logs, ridged and notched at the corners, and let into what workmen call a king-post in the middle of each side. It was low, dimly lighted, unplastered, and without any means of obtaining heat. Logs cleft in two and smoothed on one side served as seats, and the pulpit was little more than a rough, elevated table. Rudely constructed and poorly furnished, it was also far from being a substantial building. This is shown by the fact that, although it was used, at least twice a month, during twenty-five years for divine worship, and considerable repairs must have been made, yet at the end of that period it was wholly unfit for the public services of the sanctuary.
That comfortless structure would contrast strangely with the commodious edifice which has recently been built ; and yet many interesting events, events which ought never to be forgotten, are associated with that primitive meeting-house. In it those worshipped who organized a church in this portion of what was then a wilderness. There Samuel Black entered on the arduous labors of a pioneer minister of the Gospel ; and there Adam Boyd, during seventeen years, broke the Bread of Life to those who had come for Spiritual nourishment through pathless forests and from humble homes, and who devoutly thanked God that they could worship Him without the dread of banishment, the dungeon, or the stake.
More than a century has passed since Black and Boyd were called to their reward, and the features of all and even the names of the greater part of their hearers are no longer remembered ; but the germs of truth which they planted continue to flourish and
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bear immortal fruit. The ground which they devoted to sacred purposes is still hallowed ground, and along the course of one hundred and fifty years are strewn blessed proofs that the Most High has had the Church then organized in His Holy Keeping.
SECOND MEETING-HOUSE.
This was probably built in 1744, and may have been one of the inducements which led the Rev. Mr. Dean to accept a second call from the New Side con- gregation. It stood on the vacant ground immediately above the "lower graveyard," with the front to the south. It was a well-constructed frame building, about forty-five feet by thirty-five, one story high, with a hipped or angular roof, and without a gallery .**
There does not appear to have been any means for affording heat in the building; but this inconvenience was probably obviated, to some extent, by the Session- House, which was placed near the southeast corner of the property. This, like the Session-Houses built at an carly period in other parts of this State, may have been furnished with a fireplace, where persons could have the benefit of heat before they entered the main building.
When the union of the Presbyterian Church took place, in 1758, and the first meeting-house was aban-
The difference between the first and the second meeting-house shows the advance which had been made in ten years in the prepara- tion and use of materials. The first saw-mill in the vicinity, accord- ing to tradition, was built about 1740, on the West Branch of the Brandywine, above the Beaver Dam.
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HISTORY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
doned, this building was too small to accommodate all who assembled on the Sabbath, and after the erection of the Manor Meeting-House it was no longer used as a place for public worship. It remained unoccu- pied several years, until the members who resided in the eastern bounds of the congregation moved it to the ground connected with the new church edifice and placed it about sixty yards to the east of that building. There it served, partly as a shed for stand- ing horses, partly as a place for depositing saddles and umbrellas in stormy weather, and remained until the winter of 1812 or '13, when it was blown down and the materials used for fuel.
Although this building stood upwards of two-thirds of a century, public worship was not conducted in it more than fifteen or sixteen years; but during those years many incidents worthy of record took place within its walls. In it Dean performed his last labor ere he was called to his Heavenly rest; and Samuel Blair, John Blair, William Tennent, and others scarcely less eminent, dwelt with awakening earnestness on the condition of the lost. There John Carmichael was installed as pastor of the united con- gregations, and entered on that important relation which ended only with his life, and from its sacred desk was diffused a warm, active piety, alike opposed to cold formality and a listless profession.
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THIRD MEETING-HOUSE .- " MANOR MEETING-HOUSE.
The erection of this meeting-house, as is stated else- where, was due in a great measure to the energy and popularity of the pastor, Mr. Carmichael. The united congregations rightly judging that the number attend- ing on the services of the sanctuary would be largely increased, determined to erect a building which would accommodate all. They immediately made efforts to obtain the means, and were so successful that the work was commenced in the latter part of the summer of 1761. Their recently installed pastor, whose labor in forwarding the undertaking had been unceasing, delivered an animated address when the corner-stone was laid, and at the conclusion of the ceremonies, in accordance with the custom of the time, threw a Twenty-Shilling note on the stone to treat the masons. The building was erected under the direction of Samuel Cunningham,f chief carpenter. No cut stone
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