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 15
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To these three men-THADDEUS DODD, JOSEPH SMITH and JOHN McMILLAN -- of whom biographical sketches will be found elsewhere in this volume, belongs the honorable distinction of having been the pioneers of education no less than religion in Western Pennsylvania. Dodd was a fine classical and mathe- matical scholar. " His life was gentle, his preaching earnest, persuasive, and particularly attractive to the young." Smith was a most devout man, mighty in prayer, and, as related by his biographer, would frequently rise in the night hours to hold communion with God. McMillan was a man of Pauline zeal as well as doctrine, and, surviving the other two some forty years, did a grand work in his day, particularly in the instruction of the rising ministry.
These devoted men, together with others, who carried the gospel west of the mountains, convinced of the importance of an educated as well as a pious ministry, did not hurry ignorant, uncultivated young men into the sacred office, on the ground that laborers were greatly needed. They required their candi- dates to be able to read the Sacred Scriptures in the original tongues, and they provided the best means in their power to give a good education to all who sought it.
A few ministers in Morris County, New Jersey, separated from their Presbytery and formed an independent Presbytery, not because they differed in doctrine, but because so few men
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of education offered themselves as candidates for the gospel ministry, they thought it necessary to license as preachers men who had very little education or knowledge of theology. Sev- cral such were licensed, and remained unemployed. A friend in Morris County wrote to Thaddeus Dodd, who was from that place, inquiring whether or not some of those young men could not be usefully employed in Western Pennsylvania. Mr. Dodd replied to this effect: "That Western Pennsylvania was a very rough, hilly country, and that the roots of trees still green required a very strong, well-trained team to break up the ground, and he did not think that two-year old steers would answer !"
Following the three private schools which have been men- tioned, two incorporated academies quickly succeeded, both of which soon grew into colleges.
The history of Cannonsburg Academy and its successor, Jefferson College, is an exceedingly interesting one. Their influence was most direct and potent in moulding the religious life of the whole Western Church. The tracing out of this influence, and putting on record the history of the two institu- tions, would constitute an attractive labor. This, however, may most appropriately be remitted to the sister Presbytery in whose bounds their site was embraced.
THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY
Was chartered by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, September 24, 1787 ; but it was not until 1789 that it was opened for students under the Rev. Thaddeus Dodd, who was chosen principal on account of his scholarly qualifications. He remained but a year and three months at the head of the institution, and on account of the burning of the court-house, in which the classes recited, the school was suspended in 1791 ; but the sus- pension did not long continue, for we learn that soon afterwards it was re-opened, and carried on with greater or less success until the spring of 1805, under James Dobbins and Benjamin Mills. Then a brighter era dawned upon it, in the call of Rev. Matthew Brown to its management and instruction, who had also been chosen as the first pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Washington. The academy prospered under the able principalship and administra-
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tion of the gifted and skillful educator, and on March 28, 1806, received an act of incorporation as a college.
The foundations of the college were firmly laid, alike in scholarship and administration, and a presidential reputation was made of which the alumni of both colleges, Washington and Jefferson, are justly proud:
DR. MATTHEW BROWN,
As the first President of Washington College, during an admin- istration of ten years, and afterwards the President of Jefferson College for twenty years, will be recognized in history as a prominent and successful educator. He was a graduate of Dick- inson College in 1794. The Rev. Robert Baird, D.D., who was one of his students writes thus concerning him :--- " He was an excellent Latin scholar. In Rhetoric, Logic, Moral Philosophy, and Metaphysics, especially the latter, he was admirable. He was not only well versed in these several branches, but he pos- sessed in an uncommon degree the power of communicating to others what he knew; and in this, quite as much as in his scholarship, lay the secret of his success as a teacher." He was an able and effective preacher. He died after a brief illness at the house of his son-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Riddle, of Pittsburgh, on the 29th of July, 1853, aged seventy-seven. I heard him make his last public address at the Communion table in Cannons- burgh, a few weeks before his death; it was spoken with great fervor and tenderness and made a deep impression upon the minds of all the students and others who heard him. His body was taken to Cannonsburgh, where a funeral discourse was preached by Rev. Dr. Elisha P. Swift of Allegheny. It was then removed to Washington for interment. Both at Cannonsburgh and Wash- ington, there was every demonstration of affectionate respect.
The next prominent educator of that early day was, the
REV. ANDREW WYLIE.
He was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of April, 1789. He had been a pupil of Dr. Matthew Brown, in the Washington Academy, but graduated in the class of Isso, in Jefferson College. He was a young man of fine
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talents and scholarship and address, and possessed great energy. At the carly age of twenty-two years, and only eighteen months after his reception of a diploma, he was elected to the presidency of Jefferson College, where he continued for five years. In 1816, he was transferred by election from the presidency of Jefferson to that of Washington, where he continued for twelve years ; so that he was noted in the administration of both the colleges, and also in their controversies at that time, concerning which I shall not speak. He retired in 1828 to take charge of the Indiana State University, at Bloomington, where he was dis- tinguished as an educator, and died November 11, 1851, having passed three-score years.
A prominent figure in our picture gallery of educators, was the
REV. DAVID MCCONAUGHEY, D.D., LL.D.
He was born in Adams County, Pa., September 29, 1775, and was an alumnus of Dickinson College, graduating in 1795 ; he was called from the pastorate at Gettysburg, Pa., in the spring of 1832, to the presidency of Washington College. During his whole administration, which embraced a period of seventeen years and six months, three hundred and eighty-eight young men received the honors of the institution. The college, during the whole period, enjoyed a constantly increasing prosperity. His resignation, in September 1849, was followed by his peace- ful death at his home in Washington, January 29, 1852, " in the seventy-seventh year of his life, and fiftieth of his ministry." His friend, Rev. Dr. David Elliott, has written concerning him in the following language :- " His commanding talents, his ex- tensive and commanding scholarship, his unswerving integrity, his purity of motive, his paternal care and affectionate regard for his pupils, the uniform dignity of his deportment, and the captivating benevolence of his disposition -- in a word, the con- centrated force of the many rare qualities which constituted his character, gave him a power and control over the public mind. and over the hearts of the young men, against which any few incidental defects in the management of the college, which might perhaps be justly imputed to him, presented but slight re- sistance. The history of the college during his administration
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is a sufficient certificate to the ability and fidelity with which he presided over it."
The next educator whom I shall bring to your view, is
NICHOLAS MURRAY.
He was born in Brooke County, Va., on the fifth of February, 1809. He served an apprenticeship of two or three years at the saddler's trade, in Steubenville, Ohio. He began to feel a strong desire for a liberal education, after he had commenced business for himself in West Liberty, Ohio County, Va. At this time Rev. Dr. John McCluskey was pastor of the West Alexander Presbyterian Church. He says, " I first met young Murray at a Bible class within the bounds of my congregation, and my atten- tion was drawn to him by the deep interest which he manifested, especially in the explanations which were given of the more difficult points. On inquiry I learned something of his previous history, and also his strong desire to obtain a liberal education, in connection with the untoward circumstances which seemed to forbid the hope of it. The next morning I sent a request to him that he would call at my house; he did so, and the follow- ing is the substance of the conversation that passed between us :-
"' Mr. Murray, I have learned that you desire a liberal educa- tion.' 'I do, sir, but have no hope of getting it.' 'Give candid and full answers to the questions I am about to propose, and I will tell you whether you can get an education or not.'
" I. 'Have you any engagements, in love matters, with any lady ?' ' No, sir.'
"2. ' Have you any money ?' ' Not a dollar.'
" 3. 'Are you in debt ?' 'About thirty dollars.'
"4. 'Have you any friends who would aid you?' 'I know of no one who would give me a farthing.'
"5. ' Have you any better clothes than those you have on ?' (Not only threadbare but rent.) 'No, sir; these are the best I have.'
"' Well, my young friend, it is a hard case, but if you will closely follow my directions, I will, under God, secure you a liberal education. Come here next Monday, and I will tell you.
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In the meantime I visited a few families of my congregation, and obtained for him a small English school. On Monday he came. The plan was submitted. It was as follows :---
" J. 'You will go with me to the store, and, on my credit, get yourself a suit of clothes. I intend that you shall pay for them as soon as you are able.'
" 2. ' You are to teach a small English school, and recite two lessons per week of your academic studies to me, in my study. I will furnish you books and tuition gratis.'
" 3. 'The first money you earn must be used in payment of your debt of thirty dollars. So much of the plan I tell you now.' He seemed much pleased. I gave him a Latin grammar and he went to work. He gave entire satisfaction in his school, and recited his lessons to me with remarkable accuracy, -- though he taught six hours per day he advanced in his studies more rapidly than any of the thirty pupils under my care in regular attendance at the Academy. He was admitted, on an examina- tion, to the full privileges of the church in West Alexander, on the 29th of April, 1832."
Mr. Murray entered Washington College in 1832, and very soon obtained a tutorship in the college, at the same time reci- ting in the regular classes. During his whole collegiate course his standing for talent, scholarship and deportment was unusually high, and he graduated with the first honors of his class in 1834.
He studied Hebrew and theology under Dr. Mccluskey, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Washington on the 2d of October, 1839. He resumed his employment as a teacher and was for some years at the head of a classical school of a very high order in Wheeling, Virginia. In 1844 he was unani- mously appointed Professor of Ancient Languages in the col- lege where he had graduated, and immediately entered upon the duties of his new office.
As a teacher he was most accurate and thorough, laying deep and broad the grammatical basis of cach language in the minds of his classes, and exploring the profoundest depths of its philosophy.
He was ordained as an Evangelist at Wellsburgh, Va., on the 16th of April, 1845.
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Soon after his removal to Washington he accepted a call from the neighboring church of Ten Mile. His labors, both as a professor and a pastor, were highly appreciated and emi- nently useful. In the early part of his ministry he was not so spiritual and unctional in his preaching, but afterwards he was the subject of remarkable spiritual exercises, which resulted in a most striking change of the whole man. When he preached, "it appeared that his mind was so absorbed with the person, office and mediatorial glory of the Redeemer, that his soul was literally on fire." During the whole winter of 1852-53 his la- bors in different places were abundant, and were characterized by a zeal that seemed almost superhuman. After the most in- tense and uninterrupted labor at the church of Mill Creek, night and day, for nearly a week, he left for Washington, a dis- tance of nearly forty miles, and rode on horseback, exposed to a cold, violent March storm. He was completely prostrated when he reached home, and after a few days, died on the 23d of March, 1853, in the forty-fifth year of his age and in the very prime of his manhood.
REV. WILLIAM P. ALRICH, D.D.,
Was born and brought up at Wilmington, Del. ; his preparatory studies were pursued at the Bucks County Academy, which was located in Newtown, Pa. He was an alumnus of Princeton Col- lege, and graduated with highest honors, being the valedic- torian of his class. He studied theology in the Princeton Theological Seminary.
In 1830 he was made professor of mathematics, astronomy and chemistry in Washington College, and so continued until 1860, when he resigned for rest. During all the time of his connection with the college he fulfilled the active duties of a minister, preaching for a time as supply at Pigeon Creek, but for the most part of the time at East Buffalo. He was a man of great kindness and integrity. His preaching was peculiar in style, but pithy and popular. Not a few were brought to the Saviour under his ministry. He was a man of decided convic- tions, conservative spirit, very conscientious, plain in manners, even old-fashioned, and was a warm true friend. He left a
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"good name." He died in Winterset, Iowa, at the residence of his son-in-law, Mr. C. Ballard, December 31, 1869, in the sev- enty-second year of his age.
Among the names to be mentioned on this occasion is that of
REV. JOHN W. SCOTT, D.D.,
Of the Jefferson Class of 1827. He was a fine scholar, espe- cially in the Latin, and a thorough instructor. He conducted an academy in Steubenville, O., and afterwards in Wheeling, Va. He was called to the presidency of Washington College in 1853, and continued in the office until 1865. The twelve years of his administration were not surpassed by any like period in thorough scholarship. Two hundred and sixteen were added to the alumni, of whom one hundred and eighteen became ministers of the Gospel, including six Foreign Mission- aries. During this period several revivals of religion extended their influence into the college, as others had done before. A brief notice of the revival in Washington College was published in the Home and Foreign Record of May, 1858, in which there is the following statement : "The session just closed was the most pleasant we have had. It is admitted by gentlemen here, who have the best opportunity of knowing, that in discipline, good order, industry, morals and religious influence, and also in the standard of scholarship maintained and required, the col- lege is far in advance of any former times." It is recorded concerning President Scott, that in his voluntary retirement, preparatory to the union of Washington and Jefferson Colleges, he " carried with him the high esteem of all connected with the institution." He afterwards did efficient service in the cause of education, as vice-president and professor in the University of West Virginia, at Morgantown, and died July 25, 1879, after many years of great usefulness as an educator.
THE REV. E. C. WINES, D.D.,
Was a professor for about five years in Washington College. Afterwards, for some years, he was president of the City Uni- versity, of St. Louis. He was a scholarly and literary man, and wrote some valuable books. Among the number was one
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on "The Laws of the Ancient Hebrews " and one on " Regen- eration." He afterwards did splendid service in prison reform, writing and lecturing upon the subject, and traveling in Europe to obtain information by visiting the prisons of various coun- tries. He became an authority on Prison Reform, and was counted a leader among Christian philanthropists in the amelioration of the physical and moral condition of prisoners throughout civilized countries. He died at Cambridge, Mass., December, 1879, while revising the proof sheets of his book, entitled " The State of Prisons." But there is another man who has a legitimate right by inheritance to a place in this record of the century. His name is
SAMUEL JENNINGS WILSON.
He was in every sense a son of the Presbytery of Washington. He was born in Washington County, Pa., July 19, IS28. He was awakened and brought to the Saviour under the ministry of Rev. James I. Brownson, D.D., and united with the First Pres- byterian Church of Washington while a student of the college, in 1849. He was graduated in the class of 1852, and from the Western Theological Seminary in 1855 ; was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Washington April 18, 1855, at a meeting held in Wheeling, and was ordained by the same Oc- tober 20, 1857, in the same city. He was chosen instructor in the Western Theological Seminary in 1855, just after graduat- ing ; for six months he was stated supply for the Second Church of Wheeling, and received a call June 15, 1857, to become pas- tor of that church, which he declined, as he had been elected professor by the General Assembly of 1857, and was inaugu- rated April 18, 1858. At his own request he was dismissed to the Presbytery of Ohio (now Pittsburgh) October 2, 1866, and in addition to his duties as professor was the pastor of the Sixth Church of Pittsburgh for a number of years. In 1874 he was chosen to be the Moderator of the General Assembly, which met in St. Louis, Mo. Under the new arrangement of Synods by the General Assembly, he was elected the first Mod- erator of the Synod of Pennsylvania, which met in Harrisburgh, October, 1882. He was a member of the preliminary " Gen-
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eral Council of the Presbyterian Alliance," which met in Lon- don, July 21, 1875, and was also a member of the Second Gen- eral Council, which met in Philadelphia in 1880, before which he read an able paper on the " Distinctive Principles of Presby- terianism." The General Assembly, in 1883, appointed him to be a delegate to the General Council, to meet in Belfast, Ireland, July, 1884. But the Lord had other purposes concerning His servant; after a brief severe attack of typhoid fever, he "fell asleep in Jesus," August 17, 1883, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and after twenty-five years of faithful service as professor in the Western Theological Seminary. He was interred in Al- legheny Cemetery, August 20, 1883. Professor Wilson was a remarkably modest man, as free from arrogance, and presump- tion, as humble in the estimate of his own importance, as one can be well conceived to be in this world of sin. And yet he was as brave a man as ever lived. He was a successful and accomplished professor in the Theological Seminary, and an eloquent preacher. He was a thorough Presbyterian in his views of doctrine and order. He was not merely acquainted with the doctrines of the gospel, but they so imbued his whole train of thought that they came forth in his teaching without effort or labor in all their native majesty and grace. He united in his own person a remarkable assemblage of those qualities which fit a man for discharging his high trust as a professor. He possessed, in a high degree, that dignity that commands re- spect, the accuracy that inspires confidence, the ardor that kin- dles animation, the kindness that wins affection. On the whole, if a bright intellect, unaffected simplicity of manners, staunch integrity of heart, unswerving fidelity in friendship, the gentle- ness of the lamb and the boldness of the lion-and all those qualities, consecrated by a piety, the most ardent and sincere on the high altar of devotion, have any claim to respect, the memory of Dr. Samuel J. Wilson will long be cherished with tears of admiration by those who knew him. "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." (Ps. 112 : 6.)
PROF. SAMUEL JONES
Is here entitled to mention among our noted educators. He was born in Ireland, and educated in the University of Dublin. He
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came to this country and took charge of the Academy in Beaver, Pa., where he soon attracted attention as a successful teacher and a gifted scholar. In 1853 he was elected by the trustees of Jefferson College to the chair of Natural Sciences in that institu- tion, which he accepted and filled with great satisfaction until the union of Washington and Jefferson ; he was then transferred to the same chair in the united College, and continued in this position until failing health and the infirmity of years compelled him to retire from active service. He died May 22, 1885, after an honored and useful life. He was an earnest Christian, simple in his habits of life, and had the utmost contempt for shams and lofty pretensions. He was a genius in his line of study, and possessed mechanical skill, as was evidenced by the fact that he manufactured many of the instruments which he used in his laboratory. He was a popular teacher, and won the affection of his pupils, and always retained their highest esteem and respect. In the class-room he was always ready to answer a proper ques- tion ; but if a student put one out of mere curiosity, or for the purpose of puzzling the teacher, almost as quick as the lightning the Irish wit or sarcasm would flash forth, to the complete dis- comfiture of the venturesome student. Many of the witty say- ings of Prof. Samuel Jones have been transmitted from one class to another, and will live for years to come in the college history. He was an humble Christian and a firm believer in the Word of God and in the atoning merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. His teachings of natural science were always in harmony with the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. In his will he left a consid- erable legacy to the College which he loved and for which he had so faithfully labored. When he died, he was buried in the beautiful cemetery of Washington, where so many rest who had been faithful Christian educators.
To this list of successful educators, now deceased, may be added others whose term of service was more brief, but whose names should not pass unrecorded.
In 1815 JOHN REED was Professor of Languages in Wash- ington College. He was a graduate of Jefferson College, stand- ing high in the class of 1810, of which Andrew Wylic and Wm.
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Hendricks were members. He afterwards entered the ministry, and died in 1840, in Indiana, Pa.
At a later date ANDREW K. RUSSELL was Professor of Lan- guages, and subsequently entered the ministry.
In 1831 REV. DAVID ELLIOTT, D.D., was president pro tem. of Washington College.
In 1831-32 REV. J. HOLMES AGNEW was Professor of Lan- guages. (Vide Presbyterian Encyclopedia, p. 16.)
He was succeeded by ROBERT FULTON, who afterward entered the ministry.
At a later date REV. JAMES W. MCKENNAN, at two several times, rendered efficient service.
It is deemed sufficient to merely mention here the names of these servants of God. Their fuller record may be found else- where in this volume, in the personal sketches which it contains.
Other names of deceased persons who were educators in another sense than that of giving instruction, may here be introduced.
The late REV. CHARLES C. BEATTY, D.D., LL. D., of Steuben- ville, O., will never be forgotten as the most generous benefactor of Washington and Jefferson College, up to this point in the history.
Nor will the friends of this institution ever let die the name of DR. FRANCIS JULIUS LEMOYNE, whose timely and liberal dona- tions have added so largely to its endowments.
We also find connected with the early history of education on this field, in the responsible office of trustee, many familiar and honorable names. Prominent among these at a very early date were DR. ABSALOM BAIRD, ALEXANDER REED, ANDREW SWEA- RINGEN, ESQ., JAMES BRICE, HON. JAMES ALLISON, ALEX. WRIGHT, EsQ., and COL. WM. MCKENNAN. A little later are the sons instead of the fathers-GEORGE BAIRD, HON. THOS. H. BAIRD, WM. BAIRD, ESQ., HON. T. M. T. MCKENNAN, HON. JOSEPH RIT- NER, HON. R. R. REED, JOHN K. WILSON, JOHN L. Gow, EsQ., HON. JOHN H. EWING, COLIN M. REED, and not a few others, who, as members or adherents of the Presbyterian Church, were faithful guardians of their trust, and zealous promoters of the cause of sanctified learning.
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