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 4
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ANTECEDENT HISTORY.
ments of the olden time which have escaped destruction, is a choice one found among the papers of Rev. Joseph Patterson, being a list of subscriptions taken by him in his congregation in 1794, for the building of the academy at Canonsburg. No doubt a fair specimen of what was done generally by the pastors and churches at that day. How queer it reads.
James Ewing . . . 5 bushels of wheat at 2 shillings
William Flanegan . I bushel
Robert Moore 2 bushels
John Logan . 2 bushels
James Laird.
4 bushels
Samuel Riddle (in money)
75. 6d.
John McMillan, cash.
. $1.00
Joseph Patterson, cash
. $6.00
Mrs. Valandingham
, 6 yards of linen
Mrs. Elenor Thompson
· 3 yards of linen
John Kelso
4 bushels of wheat
John Thompson 4 bushels of wheat
James McBride
. 3 bushels of rye
Hugh McCoy . 4 bushels of rye
Alex. McCandless 2 bushels of wheat
John Cardike (a pious negro) 2 bushels of wheat
George Valandingham, cash . . 7s. 6d.
Mrs. Nesbit 3 yards of linen
Widow Riddle
. 3 yards of linen
Her daughter Mary . 3 yards of linen
Is any one tempted to smile at this recital ? Let him do it, but let his smile be followed also by a reverent spirit of thank- fulness that God put it into the hearts of these dear old people, to thus help as they could to do foundation work for the great future.
It is due also to the memory of that generation to note that somewhat later this same cause was honored on a larger scale, particularly by some testamentary gifts. In Smith's "History of Jefferson College" incidental allusion is made in various places to bequests by John McDowell, Esq., Rev. Mr. Clark, John Baird, Esq., Ezekiel Hannah, of Indiana County, Pa .; Mrs. Margaret Clark and John McPherrin. Concerning some of these persons and the amounts given no information has been procured. It is known that John Baird, Esq., was an elder in Mt. Pleasant Church, Redstone Presbytery, as early as 1790.
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THE PRESBYTERY OF WASHINGTON.
A prominent man, and the only representative for Western Pennsylvania in the First General Assembly, Hon. John McDowell was one of the first elders at Chartiers, who died in 1809, leaving a small bequest to the college. An investigation of official records has brought to light the following facts worthy to be preserved : Rev. John Clark, who was first pastor of Bethel and Lebanon, by his will probated in Allegheny County, 1797, and Margaret Clark, his widow, by her will probated as above, in 1807, made bequests, from which was realized the sum of $4685, part of it in trust for the education of candidates for the ministry and the balance in fee simple to the college. John McPherrin, who was a first elder at Three Ridges, by his will, probated in Washington County 1815, made bequest, pursuant to which his executor, Thomas Byers, afterward paid to the treasurer of the college $2033.25, the interest to be applied in aid of candidates, together with accrued interest $125.
MISSIONARY ZEAL.
Another thing which greatly distinguished the fathers was their missionary zeal. No impulse feebler than this could have prompted the pioneer ministers to venture across the mountains into the wilderness; and they seem to have imparted a similar zeal to all who rallied to their aid. We have seen how this zeal was exhibited in the supply of vacant churches and in minister- ing to neighborhoods destitute of religious ordinances. Also how the new fields that were opened up by the westward move- ment of population were successively occupied. We have had a partial view also of what was done in the way of contributions to the Missionary Fund. The records of Ohio Presbytery show repeated efforts to enlist the interest of the church in general, followed in 1800 by a recommendation that "the several con- gregations or sessions of said congregations form themselves into Missionary Societies; or adopt and mature such other measures as may appear most effectual for raising a fund for the purpose of spreading the gospel -- instructing the heathen and the black people-and that cach congregation make report," etc. In one instance it is ordered that subscriptions be made payable in "money, wheat or linen." In ISO1 Rev. Messrs. Marquis,
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ANTECEDENT HISTORY.
J. Hughes, T. E. Hughes, McCurdy, Brice, McMillan and Pat- terson each made a missionary tour north or west of the Ohio. The worthy record thus begun was not dishonored in the years following. In 1802 the Synod of Pittsburgh was erected. Standing alone, west of the Alleghenies, first born of many sisters, an infant in age, a giant in moral strength, it signalized its first meeting by enacting a series of resolutions, of which the first was in these significant and far-reaching words. "Resolved, That the Synod of Pittsburgh shall be styled the Western Mis- sionary Society "-Synod thus trausmuting, and at the same time grandly conserving itself. The second set forth the two- fold object of this action as being to propagate the gospel among " the inhabitants of the new settlements " and to evangelize " the Indian tribes "-the Synod thus foreshadowing the two grand lines of all missionary effort -- the home and the foreign. The third and succeeding resolutions created a Board of Trust, to carry out the object proposed. How well this 5th of October, 1802, deserves to be accounted a historic day in the annals of the Presbyterian Church, would be more apparent if the his- tory of subsequent events were to be traced. It would in this way be seen that the action of Synod was no unimportant factor in leading the General Assembly to concentrate its scattered energies by erecting, in 1816, its Board of Home Missions, through which channel the Synod thenceforth worked with undiminished zeal. It would also be seen, that the Western Missionary Society, which was the name and shape into which the Synod's child ultimately grew, after this curtailment of its functions, was the direct and acknowledged parent of our present honored Board of Foreign Missions. But this carries beyond the period under review. All that needs now to be emphasized is the fact, that away back here at the very beginning of the century, warm and vital in the heart of the young church, and practically developed were these two great germinal principles- the idea of Home Missions and the idea of Foreign Missions, and correlate to these the further idea that the work on both these lines is the work most directly and immediately, not of temporary agencies or organisms, but of the church itself as such.
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34
THE PRESBYTERY OF WASHINGTON.
To further the movement thus set afoot, Synod at the same meeting voted to establish a monthly missionary magazine for general circulation, appointing twelve of its members as editors in general, with three of their number as managing elders. To the same end it was ordered that a missionary meeting be preached at each meeting of Synod. A member of Synod, fur- thermore, was appointed to act as secretary of the society to conduct its correspondence, etc. From this time mission work was prosecuted with not less of zeal and with more of system and efficiency. The records of the three Presbyteries and of the Synod, and of the General Assembly also, are largely a record of mission work. Scarcely a minister or licentiate was then on the Presbyterial rolls, the most aged only excepted, who was not appointed to labor for a period of from one to four months in the new settlements, or among the Indian tribes-the Wyan- dotts, Senecas, Ottawas and others. Many were thus appointed annually for several successive years.
That the ministers and churches on those parts of the field now included in Washington Presbytery did their full share in this work is abundantly apparent. No names appear more con- spicuously as active missionaries in the western territories than the names of James Hughes, Elisha Macurdy and George Scott. The names of Thomas Marquis and James Edgar, elders of Cross Creek, are in the first Board of Trust and William Mckinley, elder of, Short Creek, is its treasurer. Rev. Messrs. Thomas Moore, John Anderson, James Hughes and George Scott are editors-the two former managing editors of the monthly, to which is given the name Western Missionary Maga- zine. It is published at Washington, Pa., and the first number was issued February, 1803. Rev. James Hughes acted for many years as corresponding secretary of the society. And as early as 1806, for some reason not stated, possibly the necessity for closer inter-communication, the Board of Trust became cen- . tralized on this part of the field, the election for members result- ing in the choice of James Hughes, Thomas Marquis, John Anderson and Elisha Macurdy, ministers, and William Rhea, William Lee and John Duncan, elders. And thus with slight changes, the Board remained constituted of ministers and elders
35
ANTECEDENT HISTORY.
on this part of the field, for nearly a decade of years until God maised up such younger men, north of the river, as Francis Herron and Elisha P. Swift to take their places. Facts of this kind are not unworthy to be stated, as showing the abundant reason which the older churches of Presbytery have to revere the memory of their former pastors. It should be an inspiration to present duty in behalf of missions, to merely recite such names as those of James Hughes, Thomas Marquis, John An- derson, Elisha McCurdy, George Scott, Joseph Stevenson and others of kindred spirit.
REVIVALS. 1676663
If the question were asked, what is the explanation of that ardent zeal which animated the fathers in behalf of missions and also of education, but one answer could be given. Most plainly it was the direct result of that special and glorious ministration of God's Spirit which characterized the times in which they lived. The story of those wonderful revivals, which is by far the most important and interesting chapter of the early history, cannot now be given. It is too vast and many-sided. Fortu- nately there is little or no need for this. If there is any one feature of early history with which the popular mind is familiar it is this. The knowledge of it has been derived from ample and authentic sources. In a volume published in 1S02, entitled "Surprising Accounts of Revivals of Religion in the United States," etc., may be found a letter which had been addressed in 1799 to a friend in Philadelphia, by a gentleman residing in Washington County, giving a full account up to that day. In the Western Missionary Magasine for 1803 is a fuller and later account, prepared and published by order of the Presbytery of Ohio. From these and other original sources full histories are given in Elliott's " Life of Macurdy " and in Smith's " Old Red- stone." More recently in the " Centenary Memorial " is a chap- ter by Rev. A. Williams, D.D., on the "Religious History of the Western Church." And still later is a tractate on "The Great Revival of ISoo," written by Rev. W. Speer, D.D., and published by the Presbyterian Board. Nor is it by the written page alone that this knowledge has come down to us, but on
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THE PRESBYTERY OF WASHINGTON.
the wings of tradition as well. One generation has declared to another God's mighty acts. We have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us this wonderful story of the Lord's doings in the days of old. Little need, indeed, would there be to rehearse it here among the ministers laboring on this very field, among the members of these century-old churches, -- the places where these scenes transpired. Your own thoughts would outstrip the speaker's words, would anticipate each detail. They would carry you back swiftly to these historic scenes, these memorable events. You would think of the first prayer-meetings in Vance's Fort and the beginnings of revival almost co-incident with church organization, not at Cross Creek and Buffalo alone, but at Pigeon Creek, and Chartiers, and Ten Mile, and Bethel, --- wherever indeed churches had been established. And then later, of the more abundant outpourings, not passing by these indeed, but taking in also the newer churches of Three Ridges and Forks of Wheeling and Short Creek and Lower Buffalo ; and then your thoughts would hurry on to the still greater work, a decade later, when not at these places only, but at Three Springs, and Cross Roads, and Mill Creek, and The Flats, and Raccoon, and Montours, and east of the river in the old mother Presbytery, and at the one only place north of the Ohio where a church existed-in a word, all over the field God so marvellously displayed his power and grace. And you would think of the re- markable incidents and accompaniments of these events, you would think of McCurdy's famous "War Sermon " and Thomas Hunt's singing, and the wrestling prayers of the fathers and mothers in Israel, Philip Jackson and Robert McCready and a great many more, and the intense carnestness of the preaching, the vast concourses of people, the overwhelming convictions and deep distress of awakened sinners, the extraordinary play of sympathetic emotion evincing itself so often in that strange phenomenon, the falling exercise; and yet with all that was human and weak, God's converting grace so illustriously dis- played, and such joy and blessedness begotten in new-born souls, and so many consecrated lives laid on Christ's altar, and the kingdom of God's dear Son so manifestly promoted. Ah, yes, brethren, it was a glorious way that God had of ringing out
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37
ANTECEDENT HISTORY.
the old century and ringing in the new, and now standing here to-day on ground hallowed by such memories, how can we escape from them? Do we not seem to feel in our souls the very touch of that long vanished past? See again those vast concourses of people-breathe again the atmosphere of those sweetly solemn sacramental Sabbaths, hear again the thrilling tones of those devoted servants of God who then guided men's feet in the way of salvation. Yes, brethren, that long vanished past comes back to us again to-day. We must needs greet its presence with reverential .regard. We may not even seem to forget its voice, so eloquent of God's love and grace. Its mem- ories are a precious heritage. Let us not thrust it from us. Let us be faithful in conserving it as a gift bestowed by God.
In closing permit me to add a word of tribute to the religious character and experience of these early Christians,-not so much of the ministers, for their record is not obscure, but of the ruling elders who held up their hands, and of the general Christian community. On this point there is sometimes evinced a certain amount of doubt and incredulity in the present day. So that such word of tribute will not be amiss.
What I wish to say, however, is not in the form of elaborate testimony, but is simply a reference to a very remarkable histor- ical paper, which, like a floating fragment on the bosom of a stormy sea, has come down to us, preserved from the general wreckage.
This paper, very well known to a few, but never heard of by the many, is in the shape of " A Religious Agreement," entered into in 1782, and its special historical value consists in the fact that it did not originate with any of the very few ministers then in the West, but was conceived in the mind and indited in the handwriting of a ruling elder, Hon. James Edgar, of Cross Creek, and was numerously signed by the members of that and the neighboring churches. Let us look at this remarkable paper. What a voice it is, coming down to us from the wilder- ness of a hundred years ago! "We, and each of us, whose names are underwritten, being chiefly the inhabitants of the western frontiers of Washington County, considering the many abounding evils in our own hearts and lives, as also the open
38
THE PRESBYTERY OF WASHINGTON.
and secret violation of the holy law of God, which dishonors His name, and defiles and ruins our country 1 (Here follows a long enumeration of prevailing iniquities), "which," concludes the paper, " we desire to acknowledge with shame and sorrow of heart before God, solemnly promise to engage against, both in ourselves and others, as Providence shall give us opportunity and prudence direct."
Then, several years afterward, a supplementary clause is added, giving us this second voice :
" We desire to acknowledge the goodness of God, who hath continued his precious gospel with us in purity, and especially for his late gracious outpourings of divine influence on many parts of the land, and especially here, where we were so much in carnal security and worldly-mindedness, floating along with the flood of vanity. And we desire to lament our barrenness and leanness under these gracious favors, and we do now, in the strength of God, relying on his grace, resolve that we will seek the Lord for help, . . and that we will be careful and watchful to perform the duties required by Christian rules in the families we belong to, as we stand related, severally, as parents and children, husbands and wives, masters or mistresses and servants."
To these papers are attached in all, of men and women, one hundred and fourteen names,2-names which, almost without
1 " Such as ignorance, unbelief, hardness of heart, contempt of God and his ordi- nances, law and gospel (in particular in setting our hearts upon the creature, in one line or another, more than upon God), breach of His Sabbaths, disobedience to par- ents, backbitings, entertaining bad thoughts, and receiving groundless evil reports of others, unfaithfulness to God for His mercies, profaning His name, uncleanness, las- civious songs, filthy discourse, promiscuous dancing, drunkenness, defraud, deceit, over-reaching in bargains, gaming, horse-racing, cock-fighting, shooting for prizes, lying, covetousness, discontent, fretting against the dispensations of God's provi- dence, unfaithfulness for God (in suffering sin to remain on our neighbor unreproved ), denying God in the neglect of family and secret worship, catechising and instruction of our children and servants or slaves, vexatious wranglings and law-suits, together with innumerable evils, provoking God to send down heavy judgments on our Land and to withdraw His gracious presence, and unfit our souls for enjoying any solid happiness."
I Signed February, 1782 .- Robert McCready, William Vance, John Stone, James Edgar, William McCandless, Robert Dunbar, John Robinson, John Donahey, Mat- thew Hilles, Benjamin Bearkus, John McMillen, Samuel Hindman, George McCul-
39
ANTECEDENT HISTORY.
exception, show Scotch-Irish lineage, --- and which, down to the present day, are proudly borne by a great number of worthy descendants in the several churches to which the original signers belonged, and by a still greater number, -- even a multitudinous host, -- dispersed in multiplying generations throughout the great West. How much more convincing than any mere gen- eralities of laudation is this simple record of the former day !
Standing on the basis of all the evidence adduced respecting the real character of the early fathers, we may confidently affirm that, however the fact may have sometimes failed of recognition, and little, comparatively, as it has been emphasised, it is yet none the less a fact of indisputable certainty, and a fact which will some day stand in its proper light upon the page of history, that the settlement of West Pennsylvania and parts adjacent, by the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, was one of the really greatest events that ever occurred in the history of American Christian- ity, and of the American nation. All honor, under God, to these worthy sires. They were of the excellent of the earth, God's sifted grain. They were mighty men, valiant for the truth, and for the glory of God. If their blood courses in our
lough, John Ekin, Moses Wallace, David Thompson, Henry McBride, John Dodds, John Strain, James Barr, Thomas Hanna, James Dobbin, Thomas Strain, Samuel Jeffery, Alex. McCandless, Samuel Leeper, James Matthews, William Smith, Thomas Bay, Ebenezer Smith, John Cowen, Thomas Barton, Hugh Sherer, Hugh Newel, Arthur Campbell, John Stephenson, Samuel Johnston, James Loop, John Hustein, William Thompson, William Reno, William Rannells, Henry Graham, William Hughes, William Campbell, Patrick McCormick, John Singer, Joseph Patterson, Daniel C. McCoy, David Kerr, John Morrison. John Stone, William Park, William Smiley, George Marquiss, William Wallace, Samuel Reed, James Marshall, Elias Newkirk, John Cooper, William McCullough, Alex. Wright, Jantes Jackson, Agness Jackson, Mary Cowen, Sr., Mary Cowen, Jr., Martha Dunbar, Prudence Matthews, Elizabeth E. Hughes, Janet McCandless, Anne Vance, David Rannells, Elizabeth Mccullough, Ruth Rannells, Anne Park, Mary Johnston, Martha Edgar, Mary Gra- hamn, John Hughes, Gabriel Walker, Alex. Kidd, Jean Patterson .- 86.
Signed 1786 .- Angus Sunderland, Jane Sunderland, Thomas Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Mary Patterson, Sarah Vance, Jean Marquis, Martha Rannells, Robert Morgan, Margaret Marshall, Susannah Patterson, Robert Marshall, Elizabeth Thompson, Ta- bitha Kirk, Sarah Marquis, Susannah Parke .-- 16.
Signed May 31, 1787 .-- Thomas Hays, Joseph Colville Vance, William Huston, John M. Cloan, Joseph Wiley, Catharine Edgar, Catharine Phillis, John Sanders, Andrew Ferguson, Elizabeth McMillen, Mary Edgar, Sr., Hannah Huston, -- 12.
---
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THE PRESBYTERY OF WASHINGTON.
veins we may well be proud of it. We may not forget what chosen vessels they were, providentially fitted to accomplish God's purpose. We may not forget their unbending religious faith, and actual fidelity in Christian service. We may not for- get the circumstances of hardship and peril and isolation and poverty of earthly comforts and all the conditions of many- sided trial in which they were placed, while being made the in- struments in God's hands-ministers and people together -- of sowing those seeds of gospel truth and love, the fruits of which, in all their plenitude and worth, in all their comfort and joy and blessedness we now possess, undeserving though we be of such a heritage. Honor to their memory ! Let their names be in everlasting remembrance !
REV.
REV. HENRY
I. B3
RKV.
REV. J
VES
REV. TE
PRESENT MEMBERS, 1.
.
REV. DAVID A. C
K.
WITH F
II.
HISTORY OF ORGANIZATION AND PROCEED- INGS OF PRESBYTERY, 1819-SS.
ORGANIZATION.
The Presbytery of Washington was formed by an act of the Synod of Pittsburgh passed at the meeting held in Washington in October, 1819. An overture had been sent up by the Pres- bytery of Ohio asking for a division of that body and the erec- tion of a new Presbytery out of a part of its territory. The request was referred to a committee, by whom a report was brought in containing the following recommendation : "That so much of said Presbytery as lies between the river Ohio and the road leading from Georgetown to Washington, thence to Waynesburgh, and thence south to the boundary of the Synod, including the Rev. Messrs. Thomas Marquis, George M. Scott, Elisha Macurdy, John Anderson, Cephas Dodd, Joseph Steven- son, Andrew Wylie, James Hervey and Thomas Hoge, with their respective charges, be formed into a separate Presbytery, to be known by the name of the Presbytery of Washington." In accordance with the direction of Synod, the Presbytery of Washington met at Three Ridges (now West Alexander), Octo- ber 19th, 1819, and was opened with a sermon by the Rev. Thomas Marquis from Romans 1: 16. The nine ministers named above were present, with ruling elders from four of the pastoral charges belonging to the new organization. They were John Henry, from Cross Creek; John Flack, from Upper Buf- falo; Joseph Donahey, from East Buffalo, and John Maxwell, from Three Ridges. Representatives appeared from three va- cant congregations, who were admitted as members, viz .: Wil- liam Brown, from Short Creek (now West Liberty); David Gray, from Unity, and Ziba Casterline, from Upper Ten Mile.
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THE PRESBYTERY OF WASHINGTON.
It was provided that the borough and congregation of Wash- ington should be considered as belonging to the Presbytery of Ohio, and the college of Washington to the new Presbytery. The territory embraced within the limits assigned to the Pres- bytery covered more than six thousand square miles. There were nineteen congregations within its bounds, though several of them were not completely organized according to Presbyte- rian order. As reported to the General Assembly of 1820, they were, -- Cross Creek, Mill Creek, Flats, Cross Roads, Three Springs, Upper Buffalo, Lower Buffalo, Upper Ten Mile, Lower Ten Mile, Three Ridges, Short Creek, Forks of Wheeling, Wheeling, East Buffalo, Wolf Run, Unity, Wellsburgh, Waynes- burgh and Crab Apple. The church of Crab Apple was within the boundaries of the Presbytery of Steubenville, and no reason has been discovered why it was regarded for a time as under the jurisdiction of this Presbytery. Wheeling, Wellsburgh, Waynesburgh and Claysville were points at which services were held with more or less regularity up to this date. Churches were formally organized at these places subsequently.
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