USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Luzerne > History of the Presbytery of Luzerne, state of Pennsylvania > Part 14
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*Mr. Lane's was the tenth.
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same time teaching, as Principal at Chambersburg; continuing to teach till 1855, and during the last year of this term supplying Dickinson. Residing in Chambers- burg, Mr. Kennedy has still been occupied in teaching the greater part of the time to the present, at the same time preaching a good deal as stated supply of contiguous churches. £ He was professor of Ancient Languages in Wilson College from 1869 to '76. He is now honorably retired, and has been entirely blind for many years. As we have seen, he has been a remarkably active and useful man. His merits were recognized by his Alma Mater in 1872 with the honorary degree of D. D.
Dr. J. F. Kennedy and Dr. C. R. Lane were class- mates and intimate friends ever since college days, and long resided in the same city.
After the retirement of Dr. Kennedy from the pas- torate of the Berwick church, it was supplied for a time by a licentiate, John Jeptha Morgan, during 1851 and '52. Mr. Morgan was a graduate of Lafayette College and had studied in Princeton Theological Seminary. He never in any regular manner became connected with the Presbytery of Luzerne. As we learn from the stated clerk, Rev. P. H. Brooks, of the Lackawanna Presbytery, (which became the custodian of the records of the Lu- zerne Presbytery), that when an informal application was presented to the latter Presbytery for permission on part of the Berwick congregation to apply to the General Assembly to be set off to the Presbytery of Northumber- land, "The Presbytery declined to take any action and directed its stated clerk to write to Mr. Morgan, then supplying the church, that licentiates laboring in its bounds, were expected to put themselves under its care."
I3
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Mr. Morgan was ordained by the Presbytery of Long Island, Jan. 20, 1853, and was subsequently pastor of the Bridesburg church, Pa .; then of Hempstead church, L. I., and afterward a teacher or principal in the same place. He was re-ordained by an Episcopal Bishop, April 6, 1870, and was rector at Altoona, Pa., 1871 and '72, and afterwards a physician in Hempstead, N. Y. Berwick church in 1852, and Briar Creek in 1854, were trans- ferred to Northumberland Presbytery by the General Assembly.
Port Carbon church in Schuylkill Co., Pa., was one of the organizations named in the original petition for a Presbytery, and was set over to Luzerne from the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia.
With regard to its history we gather the following facts from a sermon by the Rev. S. Augustus Davenport, July 2nd, 1876, who was at that time its pastor. He says that the first movement in the direction of church life was a meeting held August 27, 1832, in the house of Henry Porter, Esq., in reference to erecting a Presby- terian church. Lots had already been given, on Grand street, by Messrs. William Landon, Bright, Wallace & Co., with building materials that were on the ground. Another meeting was held August 3, 1833, at which there was no minister present, to take steps toward the organization of a church. What was done is not recorded, but we find that a house of worship was dedicated May 16, 1834. In the mean time, the Rev. Sylvester Haight had been engaged as stated supply for a part of his time, and $400 had been pledged toward his support, and on April 2, '34, the church organization was officially constituted, but by whom does not appear.
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The original members were Henry Porter and wife, William Bodyshall and wife, Elizabeth Whiting from Dr. Livingston's church, Philadelphia, Dr. J. J. Foster, wife and daughter, Ruth S. Foster, from Woodbury, N. J., Mrs. Clarissa Haight and three daughters, Jessie Turner, Hugh McCracken, and Jane Falls of Pottsville church.
Elisha Warne, Henry Porter and Dr. J. J. Foster were elected elders; Mr. Warne declining the office at that time.
As usual the Sabbath School antedates the church organization, having been started April Ist, 1831, with 105 members.
The Rev. Sylvester Haight seems to have been the first regular minister. He supplied the congregation one year. The next supply was the Rev. Mr. Sellers of the German Reformed church. The Port Carbon church appears not at first to have been taken under the care of any Presbytery.
The Rev. Robert McCartee, D. D., subsequently pastor in New York City, succeeded the Rev. Mr. Sellers upon a salary of $800, and manse, continuing his charge till 1840, and we learn that about the close of his ministry the church was taken under the care of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia. The church at that time had 60 members. Soon after Dr. McCartee left, an elderly Scotch minister by the name of Jardine supplied the church one year; a learned and able man, but the people complained that they could not understand him. He seems to have been a Highlander.
In 1842, and through a part of '43, a young man just from Princeton Seminary, Mr. Garrett Van Artsdalen,
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ministered to the church, and during his time there was deep interest and a large ingathering. It was just after Mr. Van Artsdalen's time that the Port Carbon church was set over to the Presbytery of Luzerne, by the General Assembly, May, 1843.
The Rev. George Printz, just before his retirement from the active ministry, supplied Port Carbon some six months, after which he was engaged in teaching in his native city, Reading, and for twenty years he filled the office of Alderman with great dignity and wisdom. Thus, while unable to perform the duties of a pastorate, he was active and useful, and of him it is justly said : "He was an upright man, a consistent and devoted Christian, a faithful preacher, a greatly respected citizen and magistrate." He died April 6, 1881.
The next supply at Port Carbon was Mr. John A. Reiley, also a Princeton student and licentiate, who continued for more than a year, and although called to the pastorate, declined the invitation. He was subse- quently pastor of several churches in N. J., and did good service. He died in East Feliciana, La., Sept. 25, 1878.
The next minister was the Rev. William Wilson Bonnell, who served as stated supply in Port Carbon from
1845 to 1846. Mr. Bonnell, a graduate of Washington College, Pa., a student in Princeton Seminary during part of the course, and for a time Assistant Secretary of the Board of Domestic Missions, was afterwards ordained by the German Reformed Classis, July 10, 1842. He began ministrations in Pottsville during his term at Port Carbon, which seems to have resulted in the organization of the Central Presbyterian church in that city; and in 1846 he became stated supply of the new church which the
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Luzerne Presbytery had organized in Pottsville .* Mr. Bonnell was an aggressive and efficient minister. After leaving the Presbytery in 1848, he became Principal of a Female Seminary in Frankford, but his ministry was terminated Dec. 1, 1849, by the call of the Master. He had spent about one year and six months at Port Carbon.
In 1848, Mr. Henry J. David, a student in Princeton Theological Seminary was introduced to the church at Port Carbon. He was a Prussian, by birth an Israelite, and possessed a pleasant address. He was regarded in the seminary as bright and sincere. His conversion to Christianity did not seem to be questioned. The church at Port Carbon was pleased with him and made out a call for his pastoral services. The Presbytery of Luzerne being satisfied with his examination, proceeded to ordain and install him as pastor, May 9, 1848, the ninth ordination by the Presbytery. A little more than a year afterward, the Presbytery was called upon to institute another examination, of a greatly less satisfactory char- acter, which resulted in the suspension of Henry J. David from the functions of a gospel minister. The church at Port Carbon was again made vacant. Mr. David went West, and seems to have been lost sight of. This was, to the Presbytery and former friends of Mr. David, a sad and disappointing turn of affairs. Is was, however, the only case of this kind the Presbytery of Luzerne ever had to deal with, at least among English speaking ministers.
There seems to have been a brief interval between the trial and suspension of Mr. David and the time his successor took hold of the work at Port Carbon. In the spring of 1849, a young man graduated from Princeton
*The First Church in Pottsville was connected with the N. S. Assembly.
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Seminary, who had come almost directly into that institution from the land which has furnished so much of the material of which the Presbyterian church in this country has been constructed, viz., the North of Ireland. He was a good specimen of its healthy climate und Presbyterian stability. He had been graduated from Belfast College, before leaving his native land. This young man, Thomas DeLacey Wardlaw, aged 23, was, by some instrumentality, directed to Port Carbon. He came fully equipped for the work upon which he proposed to enter. The church opened its pulpit to him, and after they had afforded him an ample opportunity to show his ability and meetness for the work they extended to him a formal call to become their pastor. He was ordained and installed January 29, 1850, having been stated supply for a considerable time. Under Mr. Wardlaw's ministry the church became self sustaining, and has continued so ever since. Mr. Wardlaw's ordination was the 13th in order.
Dr. Wardlaw resigned in 1852 and became pastor at Paris, Kentucky, where he continued four years, or until 1858. In the meantime he seems to have studied medicine. He was pastor at Clarksville from 1858 to 1867. In connection with his pastorate from 1865, he was a physician and principal of a Female Seminary in Shelbyville, from 1867 to 1879. He died in Shelbyville, Tenn., August 29, 1879. Stewart College, Tenn., had conferred on him (1871) the degree of D. D.
After the departure of Dr. Wardlaw from Port Carbon, the church was for a time supplied by the Rev. Ephraim Saunders, and others.
In 1858, the Rev. Andrew M. Lowry became stated
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supply. He was born in Northumberland county, June 20, 1820, and was graduated from Washington College, Va. He was one of the young men who followed Dr. George Junkin to Virginia, when he left Lafayette College. He also was a graduate of Princeton Seminary, a Presbyterian to the manner born. After a probation of one year in the Port Carbon church, he was called by the church to become its settled pastor, and was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Luzerne, Oct. 9, 1854. He was still pastor when the Presbytery ceased to be in 1875, and continued to hold his place under the care of the Presbytery of Lehigh, till he was obliged to relinquish it on account of failure of health in 1874. He has since resided in Watsontown, Penn.
Mr. Lowry is a modest man and of retiring disposition, but possessed of good ability, mentally and morally. That he retained the confidence and esteem of the wide awake and somewhat restless community where his lot was cast, through so many years, indicates his worth.
The field at Port Carbon has never been an extensive one, and the liability to frequent changes, families constantly coming and going, has been a hindrance to the growth of the church there. It seems to have had an intelligent and efficient eldership; prominent among them was Jesse Turner, who long served as a member of the session. The Presbyterian church of Port Carbon has been a power for good in that place, and is under the charge of the Presbytery of Lehigh.
XVIII.
THE SCRANTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AND ITS PASTORS.
S IX years ago we visited Slocum Hollow to look in upon a transaction which antedated the erection of the Presbytery of Luzerne. For that transaction, however, said Presbytery soon became a responsible party, and was vitally interested in the results of what had been done. This was the organizing of a Presbyterian church for the Lackawanna Valley, in which Slocum Hollow was even then regarded as an important point, although only hav- ing a population of two or three hundred people. The church, of course, was designed for such of that number as affiliated with it, recognizing its mission, and for those who, in the future, would be attracted thither by the unknown and undeveloped mineral wealth of the locality, and who might be won to co-operation with it in search- ing for, or in receiving and distributing, the more precious " hid treasure" which is to be found by every one persuaded to seek it.
Our visit now is not to Slocum Hollow or the dark hollow of the past, but to Harrison. The man who opened the way to the extensive business we now see pro- jected, in what was only a short time before a dark and gloomy wilderness, was William Henry. He properly estimated the importance and possibilities of the place now realized by others. This gave that enterprising
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pioneer in Slocum Hollow such influential standing in the rising community, that his suggestions and recommen- dations would be favorably regarded. Therefore, upon his motion, the place was given the name of Harrison, in honor of the Hero of Tippecanoe, the ninth President of the United States, in whose election Mr. Henry had been deeply interested. The Slocum family was an old one in this part of the valley. Its members having long been the active and aggressive business men of the com- munity, their name, long a familiar one to the oldest in- habitants, seemed to cling to the place, so that the name Harrison was not universally adopted. The post office had not been re-established in what was designed to be called Harrison,* and when afterward, in 1850, it was restored, the name Harrison seems to have already been pre-empted in the State. By that time new names had been familiarly associated with the new and more im- posing business operations in progress, and it was sought to honor the name now most on the tongues of the peo- ple in connection with business. But because, probably, of the modesty of the men whom the people sought to honor, that name was somewhat disguised by a Latin termination. So under the name of Scrantonia the post office was opened. A year after, however, the direct and worthy name of Scranton was properly adopted and its propriety universally recognized. Hereafter in this nar- rative we will take the liberty of using it even when we speak of events which antedate its adoption, as now, we dwell on the progress made between 1842 and 1848, or at our second visit.
The partial success in the use of anthracite coal *In former years the P. O. was in the centre of the new business operations.
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attained in 1842, in the manufacture of iron, proved a complete success in 1843. The patience, energy and perseverance of Messrs. Scrantons, Grant and Co., were rewarded. New iron mines were opened, railroads were built to convey ore to the furnaces and other roads im - proved, in order to make it easier to cart the iron to the still distant railroads and canals over which much of it must pass to reach a market. The original company had been enlarged by new members, and the capital stock in- creased from time to time. The company had also been reorganized for extended operations.
A number of its new stockholders have become active agents or officers in its management. In addition to the manufacture of iron from the ore, new and ex- tensive plants have been provided for the manufacture of iron itself into the articles needed in the general market, from a nail to a railroad bar. Hundreds of tons have been made for the New York and Erie Railroad, with such expedition and so satisfactorily as to bring the great railroad company under obligations to the new and en- terprising Scranton company for furnishing such an excellent article and for so promptly delivering it where it was wanted, thus saving the New York and Erie Com- pany from heavy forfeiture, and enabling it to secure the State bonus of three million dollars which had been offered for compliance with certain conditions. These conditions the Erie company could not have met but for the aid thus afforded it by Messrs. Scranton, Platt & Co. from their furnace and rolling mill, built in the then wilderness, to which their heavy machinery had to be carted a long distance, and from which their manu- factured iron was all to be hauled an equal, and some of
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it a much longer distance. Such are some of the evi -- dences that the business of Scranton was in 1848 estab- lished, and in the hands of able and worthy men. We- have not indicated the painful labor and the many dis- appointments experienced in reaching this point, but it may be pertinently added just here, that the success of the intelligent, enterprising and heroic men who pro- jected and accomplished the establishment of the business undertaken in Slocum Hollow, which built up the city of Scranton and made it the fourth city in the great com- monwealth of Pennsylvania, depended on their moral character. They might have had the same business- sagacity, the same measure of general intelligence and enterprise, and yet their scheme would certainly have- failed but for their established integrity and reliability as. men. This it was which, in addition to their intelli- gence and heroic enterprise, enlisted the capital of good and wise men, such men as Jno. I. Blair and James Blair, of New Jersey, Anson Phelps, William E. Dodge, and others in New York city. Thus results were secured which have proved good for themselves and all others.
The three Christian families which seem to have been found in Scranton when the Lackawanna church was organized there in 1842, have been greatly increased during the six years past. The mountain missionary had been constantly at his post, giving to Scranton its portion of his labors, and good results had followed. But the present and prospective growth and importance of Scran- ton demanded a church organization that centered in and would be controlled, as to its local policy and measures, by Scranton Presbyterians. Their own statement of the then situation, as given when the church reviewed twenty-
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five years of its church life, is furnished in the sermon of the pastor, the Rev. Dr. S. C. Logan, preached on that occasion.
After speaking of the organization of the Lackawanna church in 1842, and the circumstances of which we have already treated, Dr. Logan said : "In June, 1844, the Rev. N. G. Parke, a young man from the Seminary, with a warm heart, and without experience, was called to the bishopric of the scattered church. So wide-spread was the membership, that neither the young pastor nor the people seemed to know definitely where the church be- longed. We find the singular incident recorded of a meeting at Harrison, of which a Mr. Hutchinson was chairman, and one, J. C. Platt, secretary, as late as 1848, when a committee was appointed consisting of said Hutchinson and one Charles Fuller, to examine the charter and by all other available means obtain know- ledge which might enable the people to decide whether Lackawanna church is here or at Pittston. When Mr. Parke began his labors, there were but four of the mem- bers of the congregation residing here, and all the time of this discussion the larger body resided at Lackawanna, about three miles down the valley, where by some means a site had been selected and a house of worship built, which was dedicated in 1848. In the meeting for inquiry, it was reported that the pastor had expressed his con- viction that the church was here, which certainly was a reasonable conviction from the fact that it was organized here. This church, with its name changed, ultimately found its home at Pittston, where it has enjoyed the efficient ministrations of Mr. Parke ever since. After the building of this edifice, (supposed to be near Lacka-
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wanna), Scranton was only occupied as a preaching station. The Presbyterians worshiped with other de- nominations, and sustained a union Sabbath School with them until, as the most reasonable solution of the questions arising from a doubtful location of the Lacka- wanna church, in the summer of 1848 it was determined to ask from the Presbytery of Luzerne, a separate organization."
The meetings for Presbyterian services were at this time, and for some time previously, held in what subse- quently was known as the old Odd Fellows' Hall. Dr. Logan in his sermon proceeds to say : "In this Hall, July 10th, 1848, a meeting of Presbyterians, with their adherents, was gathered to hear the report of the com- mittee appointed to learn the truth as to the locus ubi of the church of Lackawanna. A letter was read from the pastor at this meeting in which he states his conviction that the Harrison, Lackawanna and Pittston churches were all one, and that Harrison must be considered the head of the church, although it was called Lackawanna. At this meeting, after deliberation and consultation, as the record states, it was unanimously agreed that the in- terest of the church required a separate organization at this point. Accordingly, Mr. Charles Fuller was ap- pointed a committee to secure from Presbytery such an organization, to be called the Church of Harrison. Another committee was authorized to rent the 'Odd Fellows Hall' at $10 a year for worship." Dr. Logan, at this point, gives us some information as to the char- acter and influence of some of the movers and active agents in the establishment, and in the subsequent foster- ing, of this proposed new organization. We prefer to give
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information, without which our narrative would be defec- tive, in his language, uttered originally in the presence of many living witnesses who fully comprehended its truth and pertinency. Speaking of that meeting which determined to secure a new organization, he says : " Joseph H. Scranton was secretary, and it would seem, was one of the chief actors." He was not one of the original partners in the business transactions which were becoming so ex- tensive and promising when he afterwards came from Augusta, Georgia, in 1846 ;* nor was he a brother of George W. and Selden T. Scranton, but cousin. He became pre-eminently the moving spirit in business operations when completely identified with them. The firm of the Scrantons and Platt had been formed in 1846, and on the Ioth of June, 1853, was merged into the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company. This business association had given a new impulse to the little com- munity in 1848, and it had much to do with the material advancement and character of this city of singular growth and immense schemes of industry.
The firm of Scranton and Platt deserves an honorable »mention in the history of the church organization, both for the material aid and the generous support it has given "in the building of the church and the maintenance of its ordinances, and in the efficient identification and co- operation of its officers and employes with it from the beginning until now. This church should thank God for the two Scrantons gone, and for such men as William E. Dodge, S. T. Scranton, and a host among the living «connected with this company, and for the noble women . associated with them, who, by their efforts, have ever « cheered and helped on its work.
. * He had, however, been identified at Scranton from 1843.
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Nor, let it be understood, is mention made of this business association in depreciation of other companies and business associations of the city; for all these have given material help and encouragement in furtherance of the work of the church. This new firm had just begun to exercise its influence in laying the founda- tions of the business and social structure of the community, and its progress is evident from a single fact. On the Ioth of July, 1848, the meeting instructed its committee to ask for an organization to be called the Harrison Presbyterian church, and on the following October the organization was effected; but in the record of it, it always appears as "The First Presbyterian church of Scranton," or "Scrantonia," and no recorded reason ap- pears for such a change.
Further confirmation of Dr. Logan's testimony as to the friendly and helpful attitude of the greater and smaller business firms created and stimulated by the enterprise at Scranton, toward the work of the church generally and the Presbyterian church especially, is indicated by the utterance of the General Superintendent of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which was completed in 1854. He (Mr. Brisben) said, " There is no class of men that do more for the protection of our property all along our lines than ministers of the Gospel. We cannot aid in their support by taking pews in their churches ; we ought therefore to recognize our obligation to them by furnishing them passes over our lines of road." This his company did.
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