USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > Washington > History of the Presbytery of Washington : including a brief account of the planting of the Presbyterian church in Western Pennsylvania and parts adjacent, with sketches of pioneer ministers and ruling elders ; also sketches of later ministers and ruling elders > Part 13
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Dr. Elliott was succeeded in the pastorate at Washington dur- ing the years 1836-48, by four excellent brethren, all esteemed, useful and honorably remembered, but each of whom, for good reasons of his own, resigned after a short term of service. The first was the Rev. Daniel Deruelle, who closed an earnest and fruitful work of three years in 18.10, to become an agent of the Board of Home Missions. He died suddenly, of apoplexy, at
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Rockingham, N. C., March 4, 1858, in the sixty-second year of his age. He was followed by the Rev. James Smith, D.D., a Scotchman of decided ability as a preacher, and attractive as a man, who was compelled by advancing disease to return, at the end of three years, to his native land, that he might die, soothed by the tender ministrations of his mother and sisters. Next in order came the Rev. William C. Anderson, D.D., who served this church for a year, ending in 1846, but who will be more properly noticed later as pastor of the church of Pigeon Creek. The last in this rapid succession at Washington was the Rev. John B. Pinney, LL.D., whose pastorate commenced in 1847, and continued one year. Commencing his work as a missionary to Africa, he was soon called back to his country by broken health, and, with the exception of his brief pastorate at Wash- ington, devoted his subsequent life to the cause of African colonization. The entire four thus grouped were men of high character and ability, and carried with them the esteem of the brethren of the presbytery and of the church they had served briefly but well.
THE REV. HENRY R. WEED, D.D.,
held for many years the highest place of honor among the mem- bers of the Presbytery, alike for his talents, wisdom and piety. He was born in Ballston, N. Y., July 20, 1787; graduated from Union College in 1812; was a member of the first class in Princeton Seminary ; was licensed in 1815; and, shortly after- wards, settled as pastor in Jamaica, Long Island. At the end of four years he accepted a call to the First Church of Albany, as successor to the distinguished and eloquent Dr. Nott, and there he remained in success for six years, until failing health constrained him to accept an agency for the Board of Education, a cause ever dear to his heart. It was in this work that he was providentially brought to Wheeling in 1832. The congregation there, hitherto divided, gave him a unanimous call, February 5, 1833, which, however, he did not accept for two years ; waiting doubtless to see how far the blendings of the people would open his way. But he was installed June 16, 1835, and so began his long and useful service. In 1838 the Doctorate in Divinity was conferred upon him by Washington College.
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By the blessing of God upon his great wisdom and zeal the church soon forgot its old controversies, and came into unity and power, insomuch that ultimately his one church multiplied itself into four. And there he continued for thirty years, with growing reputation and usefulness, ever instructive and eloquent, until advancing years came to demand retirement from active labor. But the people who had so long in reverence and love sat at his feet, would not consent to his release, but called the Rev. Daniel W. Fisher, a brother beloved, now Dr. Fisher, the president of Hanover College, as co-pastor, to bear the chief burden of the work.
It was shortly after the death of his beloved wife, August 22, 1861, terminating a happy union of forty years, that the vener- able doctor sought the entire repose suited to life's evening. Removing first to Norristown, Pa., and thence to West Phila- delphia, he lingered, loved and prayed until December 14, 1870, when the Lord came and took him to himself. His body was brought to the church of his long service at Wheeling, where tender and impressive funeral services were held, and then, in accordance with his own choice, was conveyed, for interment, to the " old stone church " (Forks of Wheeling), and laid to rest beside the remains of his wife. Tenderly we placed him in the narrow house, joyful in his triumph and only sorrowing that we should see his face no more.
When Dr. Weed was taken from us we all felt that a great man had fallen in Israel. His powerful and cultured intellect, his paternal tenderness, his enlarged field of study, his profound argument, often crowned with eloquent application, his evangeli- cal spirit, his wise and wholesome influence in the courts of the church, and his sanctified walk all warrant the great honor con- ferred on him in life, and remain a precious treasure of memory, and withal a precious pledge of heavenly fellowship and song. Realizing that in person he was gone from our sight, we felt like joining in Elisha's cry: "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!'
In connection with these memories of Dr. Weed it is not unfit that, for a little while, we should again suspend the order of detes in favor of that of association in place and work.
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.
THE REV. ALFRED PAULL,
A son-in-law of Dr. Weed, was an alumnus of .Washington Col- lege of the class of 1838, having been born in IS15. After a full course in Princeton Seminary he was licensed by this Pres- bytery in 1843, and labored for two years in missionary fields on both sides of the Ohio River, after which he was ordained as evangelist April 17, 1850. He then preached, chiefly at his own expense, in the suburbs of Wheeling through an aggregate of fifteen years, and was the chief instrument in the organization of the Third and Fourth Churches of that city. His last and most useful service was at Hestonville, Philadelphia, during the four years ending eighteen months before his lamented death, November 18, 1872. In bodily health he was feeble; but in spirit he was one of the most consecrated of men-a marvel of self-abnegation, a centre of love. His worthy son preaches the same glorious gospel of which he was a devoted witness.
THE REV. CYRUS DICKSON, D.D.,
Was a co-laborer with Dr. Weed in Wheeling. He came into the Presbytery in the thirty-second year of his age, under a call to become the pastor of the Second Church of Wheeling, at its organization in 1848, to which service he gave eight years among the most active of his life-work. He had labored in his first pastorate, at Franklin, Pa., just the same length of time, greatly endearing himself to the people there. He had received both licensure and ordination from the Presbytery of Erie, within whose territory he was born, having been graduated from Jefferson College in the class of 1837, and pursued his theologi- cal studies chiefly at Princeton His call to the Westminster Church, of Baltimore, in 1856, lifted him into a higher and broader sphere, and still further opened the way of preparation for his crowning work, as a representative servant of the whole church as secretary.
Upon the happy reunion of the old and new school branches of the Presbyterian Church in 1870, Dr. Dickson was elected permanent clerk of the General Assembly and soon afterwards chosen secretary of the Board of Home Missions, both of which
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offices he filled to the admiration of the church, but the latter especially with an energy too great for his strength. Alike in office work, extensive traveling, able and eloquent addresses before Synods and the General Assembly, and all other forms of ac- tivity he was a model secretary, and the impulse of his efforts is still an abiding power. A year of rest was compelled by the strain of overwork, but it came too late and was scarcely ended before the Lord's call, September 11, 1881, opened to him the rest and glory of the upper church.
All of us who were associated with Brother Dickson, as members of this Presbytery, can bear cordial witness to his genial temperament, his evangelical spirit, his excellence as a presbyter, his great power as a preacher and pastor, and to the marked success of his church under the divine blessing upon his labors, insomuch that in eight years from a nucleus of four- teen members, it came to be one of the largest and most influ- ential of our pastoral charges.
For a full account of Dr. Dickson's life, work and character we may well refer to the admirable biography of him prepared and published by the Rev. S. J. M. Eaton, D.D. The general impression left behind him in our region for talent and culture is attested by the title of Doctor of Divinity fitly conferred upon him by the Trustees of Washington College in 1858, two years after he left us. Along with the whole church we hold in grateful remembrance alike his character and his great service.
REV. RICHARD VARICK DODGE
Succeeded Dr. Dickson in the Second Church, of Wheeling, in 1857, and continued in that service about five years, after which, for a time, he preached to the Fourth Church as stated supply, and was principal of the Lindsley Institute, but in 1864 he ac- cepted a call to the Second Church of Washington as its first pastor, and conducted it with vigor and success until 1868. Mr. Dodge was born at Kaskaskia, Illinois, August 4, 1821, was an alumnus of Yale College of the class of 1840, and after a brief study of law passed into Princeton Seminary, and there finished his preparation for the ministry. After laboring for brief periods in Princeton, Vincennes and Terre Haute, Indiana, and for eight
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years in Springfield, Illinois, he came to Wheeling, and became a member of this Presbytery in 1857, and so continued until his acceptance of a call, in 1869, to Madison, Wisconsin. He subsequently served the First Church of San Francisco and the church of San Diego, California, and died February 26, 1885, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
Mr. Dodge was a man of excellent scholarship, a sprightly and earnest preacher, a gifted teacher, and a very active and efficient presbyter. He left warm friends in his several pastor- ates, and in all of them spiritual fruits were gathered, especially at Washington, where an extensive revival of religion attended his ministry.
THE REV. JOHN MOFFAT
Was another pastor of the Second Church of Wheeling, well deserving of a notice in these memorial sketches. He was born at Westerhall, Scotland, January 1, 1816. After his mar- riage he came to this country without capital to push his for- tune, yet with the force of great energy and indomitable will. It was a kind providence which led him to New Lisbon, Ohio. and brought him under the pastoral influence of the late Dr. Andrew O. Patterson, who, as his spiritual father, discerned his gifts and opened his way toward the ministry, directing both his classical and theological studies, except during the year 1846, which he spent in the Western. Theological Seminary. He re- ceived both licensure and ordination from the Presbytery of New Lisbon. The pastoral service of his life was divided among three charges, as follows, viz. : St. Clairsville, O., 1848- 61 ; Bellaire, O., 1861-63 ; Wheeling, West Va., 1863-75. His death occurred at the last of these places, December 27, 1875, on the verge of sixty years of age, preceded by several years of declining health, during which he was relieved by the service, as co-pastor, of his son, then at the beginning of his ministry, and now our honored brother, the Rev. James D. Moffat, D.D., president of Washington and Jefferson College.
Mr. Moffat's labors in the gospel were exceedingly popular among his own people and elsewhere. He had a clear and dis- criminating perception of the truth, together with a natural power of oratory which, sanctified by grace, made his preaching
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exceedingly evangelical and effective, and by a blessing upon his touching appeals many souls were added to the Lord. The twelve years of his connection with this Presbytery have left their own deep impress upon the hearts of his co-presbyters who still honor his memory as they respected and loved himself.
Before we return to the succession of time let us set forth one more group associated by their relations to one place.
THE REV. WILLIAM C. ANDERSON
Was the first settled pastor of the church of Pigeon Creek after the organization of the Presbytery. The first pastorate of the West, under the venerable John McMillan, had embraced this church along with Chartiers. He was followed by the Rev. Boyd Mercer and the Rev. Andrew Gwinn as pastors, and by Dr. Andrew Wylie, President of Washington College, as stated supply during the years 1822-1829. The service of this last- named eminent man was blessed, as we have seen, in the resto- ration of peace after a bitter strife. The Rev. William P. Alrich then supplied the church acceptably for one year, but declined a call as pastor, to accept a professorship at Washington.
Mr. Anderson was the son of Dr. John Anderson, of Buffalo, a graduate of Washington College in the class of 1824, a theolo- gical pupil of his father and a licentiate of the Presbytery of Washington. He was ordained as pastor at Pigeon Creek April 17, 1832, after a year of service as stated supply immediately fol- lowing his licensure, and resigned July 15, 1836. He was, at different times later, the very popular pastor of prominent churches in New Albany, Ind., Washington, Pa., San Francisco, Cal., Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio, besides serving as Professor of Hanover College and President of Miami University. He died lamented at the home of his son, the Rev. John A. Ander- son, in Junction City, Kansas, August 28, 1870, aged about sixty-six years. A tasteful monument marks the resting-place of himself and his wife, at the place of his death.
THE REV. EBENEZER S. GRAHAM
Was the equally popular successor of Dr. Anderson. He was a spiritual son of the church of Cross Creek, an alumnus of
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Washington College in the class of 1834, a pupil in theology of his pastor, Dr. John Stockton, and a licentiate of this Presby- tery. He was ordained and installed at Pigeon Creek in 1837, and both faithfully and successfully fulfilled the duties of the pastorate for five years, when in broken health he was com- pelled to seek release, and soon afterwards was called to his rest.
THE REV. JAMES SLOAN, D.D.,
Was the next pastor of that venerable church. He also was a son of this Presbytery, having been born September 16, 1807, and reared in the congregation of Upper Buffalo. He was graduated from Jefferson College in the class of 1830. His . theological studies were pursued under the direction of his ven- erable pastor, Dr. John Anderson, to whose able teaching so many ministers were indebted for their power as preachers of the word. For a period including his licensure by the Presby- tery of Washington in 1834 he was a teacher in the academy at Florence, then at the height of its prosperity and usefulness. Soon afterwards, receiving a call from the church of Frankfort, he was ordained and installed as its pastor, and, through the nine years of his service as such, was greatly blessed in the results of his labors. During a portion of this time he con- ducted an academy in connection with his pastoral work.
Dr. Sloan was called to the pastorate of the church of Pigeon Creek April 8th, 1844. and was regularly installed in December following. This relation continued for eighteen years and six months, until 1862. He ever looked back upon that as the period of his chief life-work. He was strongly and tenderly bound to his people, ever bearing their burdens and ministering to their spiritual wants, "both publicly and from house to house." The church flourished under his care; God's people were edified by his evangelical discourses, and sinners were converted unto the Lord. After his resignation of this charge Dr. Sloan served the church of Waynesburg with great accept- ance and benefit as a stated supply until ill health compelled his relinquishment of labor. He died in holy peace at Monon- gahela City, March 11, 1871, at the age of sixty-three years. As many of us as were associated with him in presbyterial relations
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and co-operative work cannot fail to recall his assiduous faith- fulness to duty. We also affectionately remember him as a true servant of the Lord.
Besides his direct ministerial work, Dr. Sloan devoted much attention to the social, educational and moral elevation of the community in which he lived. He was, for twenty years, a trustee of Jefferson College, and then also of the united college from the union of 1865 until his death.
THE REV. SAMUEL MCF. HENDERSON,
Born at New Hagerstown, Ohio, December 24, 1839, an alum- nus of Washington College of the class of 1860 and of the Western Theological Seminary in 1863, and licensed in 1862 by the Presbytery of Steubenville, was ordained as pastor at Pigeon Creek by this Presbytery November 4, 1863, and served that church with ability and faithfulness for four years, when he ac- cepted a call to Wilkinsburg, where he labored for eleven years more. He was a fine scholar as well as an carnest minister. Whilst pastor at Wilkinsburg he temporarily conducted the studies of a chair in the Allegheny Seminary, and the last year of his life was spent as a professor in Biddle Institute, North Carolina. He died April 2, 1879.
After this group of names joined by the relation of place, let us come back once more to the succession of time.
THE REV. ROBERT McCREA WHITE
Was born at Fagg's Manor, Chester County, Pa., March 2, 1815. He was a son of the Rev. Robert White, and on the maternal side a grandson of the Rev. Nathaniel Grier. He became a graduate of Amherst College in 1834. He was a student for one year in the Princeton Seminary, but made the rest of his special preparation for the ministry under private instruction. Having come into our bounds as a licentiate of the Presbytery of New Castle, he was ordained by this body December 27, 1837, and at the same time installed as pastor of the church of Fairview. That pastorate of eleven years proved to be most happy and fruitful. It was marked with strong mutual attach- ment, and sealed with every token of growth and prosperity.
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Mr. White, if not a cultured orator in the ordinary sense, was a powerful preacher of the truth and eloquent in pressing it home to the conscience and heart. His services were much in demand in surrounding churches, and few were more frequently called to occupy the pulpit at meetings of Presbytery and Synod. But for the depression of health and spirits coming forth from a brain diseased, it was thought, by undue mental stress in minis- terial study and work, he would have seemed to have a long and bright future of usefulness.
But sad to his devoted people was his announcement early in 1848 of his purpose to accept a call to the church of Chartiers, near Cannonsburg, for the sake of lighter labor. Upon his re- moval the trustees of Jefferson College were quick to tender him a professorship in connection with his pastorate. But the relief of change came too late. He returned to his former home broken in spirit, to die under a cloud, December 14, 1848. But none who knew him doubted that above that cloud was the sunlight of his Father's love.
THE REV. JAMES FLEMING
Was the quietest, yet one of the most trustworthy members of the Presbytery of Washington in his day. He was born August 5th, 1806, in the bounds of the congregation of Cross Creek, and from the date of his majority enjoyed the educational as well as spiritual oversight of his pastor, the Rev. Dr. John Stockton. His graduation from Washington College was in the class of 1833. His licensure by this Presbytery in 1838 fol- lowed a year of study in the Western Theological Seminary, which had been preceded by a course of professional instruction at the hands of his pastor. He was ordained and installed as pastor of the church of West Union, West Virginia, in 1839, by his mother Presbytery. That relation of usefulness and mutual confidence was severed by his own wish in 1856, and two years later he was installed in charge of the church of Lower Buffalo, where he labored faithfully until his removal to Mansfield, Illi- nois, in 1869. Seven years later we find his name in the statis- tical records of the General Assembly marked " H. R.," i. c., honorably retired on account of the infirmities of age, having
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reached the boundary line of three-score years and ten. He was a member of this Presbytery thirty years, and twenty-eight years one of its pastors. The necrological record of the Gene- ral Assembly of 1887 has his name among the deceased of the preceding year at the venerable age of eighty years. He is and will be remembered by our older ministers and people for his gentle spirit, his consistent life, the singleness of his devotion to the work of the gospel and the spiritual blessings which came down upon the church through his ministry. His son, the Rev. David B. Fleming, pastor of the church of Unity, Indiana, a son also of this Presbytery, nobly represents him in the work of the gospel.
THE REV. JOEL STONEROAD
Spent by far the largest part of his ministerial life in the Pres- bytery of Redstone, but the eight years of faithful work in our connection (1842-50), as pastor of the church of Cross Roads, entitle him to a place in these memorial records. His charac- teristic and habitual activity carried him beyond the limits of his own charge, in preaching and other labor, and was stamped with the divine blessing. He was especially a chief agent in preparing the way for the organization of the church of Burgettstown, now one of our strong and prosperous churches. To survivors asso- ciated with him, his name is still precious.
Mr. Stoneroad was born at Derry, Mifflin County, Pa., Janu- ary 2, 1806; was graduated from Jefferson College in 1827, and from Princeton Seminary in 1830; was pastor at Uniontown 1831-42, and, returning to Redstone Presbytery in 1850, labored in charge of the churches of Laurel Hill and Tyrone for eleven years, and of the former until 1877, when he retired, to spend life's evening of infirmity in preparation for his crown and joy. He died August 11, 1884, in his seventy-ninth year.
THE REV. JAMES ALEXANDER, D.D.,
Departed this life, in peace with God and honor among men, July 26, 1879, at the venerable age of fourscore years. From 1860 until his death he was a valued member of this Presbytery, and with the earnestness of his earlier years, through this period of his ripening for celestial glory, he gave to several of our churches the benefit of his matured wisdom and faithful labors.
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Dr. Alexander was born near Mercer, Pa., September 25, 1798. He was graduated from Jefferson College in 1826, a classmate of Drs. A. T. McGill, Aaron Williams, William C. Matthews, John W. Scott, and others of more or less distinction. His licensure by the Presbytery of Erie, April 9, 1828, was followed, October 13th of the same year, by his ordination and settlement at Greenville and Big Bend, in the same Presbytery. He was subsequently pastor, at different periods, of the churches of Hope- well, Allegheny County, Pa .; St. Clairsville, and afterwards Martin's Ferry, in Ohio. In 1860 he took charge of the churches of Allen Grove and Wolf Run, W. Va., which led to the transfer of his name to our roll. From 1867 until near his death, he was pastor of the church of Moundsville. His mortal remains were, with impressive ceremonies, laid down to rest July 28, 1879, in the Walnut Grove Cemetery, Martin's Ferry, Ohio.
Dr. Alexander was made a Trustee of Jefferson College in 1856, and so continued until the union of the colleges in 1865, after which he served as a member of the Board of Washington and Jefferson College until his death. For a number of years, also, he was a Director of the Western Theological Seminary. He was ever held in high regard by his ministerial brethren, as well as by the people whom he served in the gospel, and has left behind him the memory of a useful life. He is now repre- sented by two sons in the ministry, viz. : Rev. J. Kirkwood Alex- ander, of Keokuk, Iowa, and Rev. Walter L. Alexander, of Beallsville, Ohio.
THE REV. ALEXANDER McCARRELL, D.D.,
Was the earnest and beloved spiritual leader of the church of Claysville for the continuous period of thirty-five years. For six of these years he was a stated supply, but was installed as pastor in 1852, and so remained, in the bonds of love, until his death, April 18, 1881. He was born, September 22, 1817, at Cross Creek, and was reared under the ministry of Dr. Jol.n Stockton, who baptized him, received him into the communion of the church, guided his academical studies, instructed him in theology, after his graduation from Washington College in the class of 1841, took part in his licensure, April 17, 1845, and or-
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