USA > Pennsylvania > The Historical journal : a quarterly record of local history and genealogy devoted principally to Northwestern Pennsylvania > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
* This creek is in Juniata County, and empties into the Juniata River. t He was installed in presence of a commission from the charges.
---
----
270
---
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
tion with his ministerial work he also took charge of an academy at Northumberland, which was intended by its founders to be fostered into a college, but never reached that dignity. Mr. Grier had opened a classical school in connection with his Pine Creek charge in 1802, which expired with his pastorate of that church, but was resuscitated by his successor, the Rev. John H. Grier. I have recently been informed, by a friend who received the infor- mation from a near relative of Mr. Grier, that he was induced to move to Northumberland, and take charge of the academy there, through the agency of Dr. Priestly, the distinguished English Uni- tarian and scholar, who settled there at an early day; that Dr. Priestly had organized and tried to establish an academy at that place, but the prejudice was so strong against him on account of his well-known Unitarianism, his effort was likely to fail; and finding Presbyterianism to be the prevailing creed of the popu- lation from which the main support of such a school must be drawn. and that Presbyterians were pioneers of education as well as the industrious planters of churches, he went to Carlisle to consult the president of the college there as to whom, among the Presbyterian clergy, the enterprise could be entrusted with the largest hope of success, who recommended the Rev. Isaac Grier. Mr. Grier seems to have possessed excellent qualifications for such a position, and having a large family of sons and daughters, it afforded him a desirable opportunity to educate his children, which he availed himself of very successfully. His sons and daughters grew up in possession of excellent educations, and became cultured, useful and influential members of society. Two of his sons adorned Presby- terian pulpits for many years, one was appointed by President Andrew Jackson to a judgeship in the Supreme Court of the United States, in which position he became famous, while the other sons and daughters were useful and honored in their respective spheres in life.
In the saine year in which the Rev. Isaac Grier died, 1814. the Rev. Samuel Henderson was received into the Presbytery from the Presbytery of New Castle, at the fall meeting. October 4th, and was installed over the Lycoming Church, at Newberry, at the next stated meeting in April, 1815. This pastorate was not a happy one, nor of long duration. . Mr. Henderson was arraigned at the
271
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
bar of the Presbytery* at its spring meeting in 1817, on a charge of conduct derogatory to his ministerial character, and having been found guilty of some of the specifications contained in the charge, was suspended from the functions of the gospel ministry, and dis- missed from his pastoral charge. He was, however, restored again to the ministry on giving satisfactory evidence of repentance. He seems to have been a man strongly marked by special weak- nesses in certain directions. We find him suspended from the ministry on two separate occasions after this, on similar charges, and restored again the same year in cach case, after confessing his sin in open Presbytery and giving satisfactory proof of repentance; though the Synod took exception to the action of the Presbytery in the third case, as too lenient. +
At the April meeting of Presbytery, 1815, John H. Grier, a licentiate of the Presbytery of New Castle, applied to be taken under the care of the Presbytery of Northumberland, at the same time presenting calls from the congregations of Pine Creek and Great Island, each for half his time. He was received after a sat- isfactory examination, and ordained and installed over these con- gregations, in August, the same year. Mr. Grier had come into the bounds of the Presbytery in 1814, but had labored as a licen- tiate in the Pine Creek and Great Island charges till the date above mentioned.+ He continued to serve the Pine Creek congre- gation, for half his time, till 1851, when he retired from this pastorate, having resigned that of the Great Island congregation some years before. In the providence of God he became possessed of ample private means for his support, and continued to reside at Jersey Shore. to which place the Pine Creek Church was trans- ferred, and whose name it adopted at the time of his retirement, till his death at the advanced age of about 93 years. Several of his children still survive at this writing, some of whom reside within the vicinity of his life-long field of labor, and some in the far West. He was a man of excellent spirit, of good capacity and a faithful minister of the Word. He wrought a good work in his day. was permitted to enjoy a calm and peaceful evening of life.
* See old minutes, 1817.
t See old minutes for 1817, and other dates.
*Old minutes. .
272
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
"and came to his grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season."
Previous to 1815-for the first four years of its existence-the growth of the Presbytery was small, not exceeding one above its original number, but from this date onward it exhibits a creditable succession of candidates for the ministry coming forth from the families of its own churches. We find the names of Thomas Cald- well, William B. Montgomery, James Thompson, Robert Smith and others-the representatives of families still living in the bounds of the Presbytery, and which have occupied a large and honorable place in both Church and State. William B. Montgomery, licensed in 1816, preached as a Supply to the weak and vacant churches of the Presbytery till 1821, when he was ordained to go as a foreign missionary, under what was then called " The United Foreign Mis- sionary Society." Still the Presbytery was not distinguished in the first decade of its history for rapid growth, either as to its mem- bership or the number of its churches. It commenced its career, in 1811, with five ordained ministers and, as near as can be ascer- tained, thirteen organized churches; and in 1821 it was composed of seven ministers and, perhaps, fourteen churches. The territory covered by it was sparsely settled, and population increased slowly. Society was in a formative state, and the facilities of life, especially the means and ways of communicating with the world beyond their own valleys and mountains, were primitive and slow. The people for the most part were poor, engaged in making homes for them- selves, and money, as a means of exchange, extremely scarce; so that the support of the clergy was limited to a very scant suste- nance, and was usually paid in farm produce. When a man sub- scribed his "stipends," as it was called, or designated the amount he was willing to give for the annual support of his minister, he did so, not in terms of dollars and cents, but of bushels of wheat, rye, corn, oats and barley. And even this was not in every case promptly and willingly paid when it became due; for in the treas- urer's records of one church at least, which the writer has been allowed to inspect, several parties are mentioned as having been sued for their stipends, and forced by law to pay what they had subscribed, but refused to deliver to the needy pastor. The highest salary paid in these early times, by any church in the Presbytery,
.
273
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
was estimated at $575, till in 1813, or 1814, the Rev. Thomas Hood's salary was raised to $600 by the three churches which he served,* one of which was the church at Milton, at that time the most prosperous town within the limits of the Presbytery. Even in 1851, when the writer of this sketch became a member of the Presbytery, the highest salary paid to any of its pastors, except one, was $600; the exception was Dr. John W. Yeomans, pastor of the Mahoning Church at Danville, who received $800. At that time there was not a parsonage owned or provided for its pastor by any church in the Presbytery. The ministers of the Presby- tery, at the time now under review, were largely engaged in foun- dation work: their labors and hardships were many and arduous, their comforts few and meagre, and their self-denials constant and trying in the extreme. Yet they toiled on. patiently laying foun- dations for those to build on who should come after them. They not only wrought patiently and industriously, but wisely also, and the most of them much better, as to the future, than they knew. All the five original members of the Presbytery continued to labor . within its hounds till the close of their respective lives, a few of them reaching an unusual old age; and the descendants of some of them are still to be found in several of the churches of the Pres- bytery, useful Christians, honorable and honored citizens.
During the first twenty years of the existence of the Presbytery, before public improvements, such as canals, railroads and telegraph lines had penetrated this interior region of the State. there were few changes wrought in either the aspect of the country or the social condition of the people. In 1818 we find recorded in the minutes of the Presbytery an effort in the line of temperance. This was probably the earliest dawn of the temperance reformation that broke on this region of Pennsylvania. It was an effort at self-reformation on the part of the clergy, and doubtless it had no inconsiderable influence in preparing the way for future efforts to
reform the people. The record reads thus: " Resolved, unani- mously, that the use of ardent spirits be excluded from our meet- ings in the future." This action was taken long before the general temperance reformation had made any appreciable progress in the community at large, and was probably suggested to these fathers
*See minutes of this date.
274
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
of the Presbytery by the disastrous effects of the universally prev- alent habit of using intoxicating drinks among the people. It was a wise procedure, the best expedient and strongest argument that could be proposed for the breaking up of old-time customs and the reformation of vicious practices that had become prevalent among the people. It showed keen foresight on the part of these teachers and leaders of the people; they could now preach temper- ance, as well as righteousness, without being rebuked with the chilling, terrible taunt, "Physician, heal thyself." Still the effort at temperance reformation advanced slowly. In 1826 the Presby- tery passed a resolution "lamenting the common daily, though it be the temperate, use of ardent spirits."* Again, in 1828, it was resolved "that a paper, binding total abstinence on the part of the signers, be presented to the members of this Presbytery and others for signatures."+ It is refreshing to notice the solid progress made by the temperance reformation among these fathers when the use of ardent spirits was a common, in fact, a universal and popular habit. Light broke in upon them slowly and gradually, but every forward step they took was sure. It required ten years to advance from the banishing of ardent spirits from their Presbyterial meet- ings to the idea of total abstinence.
As early as 1817 Presbytery seems to have found itself called on to guard its members against mutual ministerial discourtesies, by passing the following resolution, viz .:
Presbytery, after deliberation, resolved, that it is disorderly in any member to perform pastoral duties within the bounds, or respecting the members of any con- gregation of which he is not the pastor, without the request of the minister, or ses- sion, or, if vacant, of the elders of said congregation, or except by appointment of Presbytery. #
There must have arisen some serious occasion for such a deliv- erance, though none appears on the records. This is as good com- mon sense as it is sound Presbyterian order.
. In 1818 an unusual interest in missions was awakened in the Presbytery from some cause not apparent on the records, but prob- ably through the sympathetic influence of the reviving spirit of missions which began to manifest itself throughout the Presbyterian
*See the minutes for that year.
t See page 242, old minutes.
# See page 66, old minutes.
---
----- - --
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL. 275
Church in the United States about this time-the forerunner of that marvelous activity in this direction which distinguishes the Church at the present day. A general convention was ordered by Presbytery to be called at Milton, in which the Associate Reformed, and the Reformed Dutch were invited to join the Presbyterians. A public address on the subject of missions was issued by a com- mittee appointed by Presbytery; and the first Monday of each month was set apart as a day for concert of prayer in behalf of mis- sions, and ordered to be observed by the churches. From this time onward the cause of missions, both domestic and foreign, has lain very near the hearts of many of God's people within the churches of this Presbytery; and though for some years its progress seemed slow, and contributions to it were limited, yet it retained its hold on the affections of the people, and little by little accumulated an influence which, in these later years, has developed itself into some- thing wonderful, with the promise of increasing growth for the time to come. Much of the credit for the progress of, and the continually increasing interest in, the cause of missions is due to the women of the churches under the care of the Presbytery. They have always taken a lively interest in this cause, and of late years have infused into it a new life and a marvelous energy, as if they were pene- trated with the fullest conviction of the truth, "To whom much is given, of them is much required." They are worthy of all praise for their labor of love, and may hope to receive the Master's ap- probation in the language : " Well done, good and faithful servants."
In 1825 the Rev. George Junkin, an Associate Reformed minister, belonging to the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, and preach- ing to the Associate Reformed congregations called Shilo and Pennicl. the one located in Milton and the other in Warrior Run, applied to be admitted to the Presbytery of Northumberland, the Second Associate Presbytery of Philadelphia having become ex- tinet. His application was cordially granted, and henceforth he became identified with that branch of the Presbyterian family represented by the General Assembly. This was an important acquisition of strength. Mr., afterwards Dr., George Junkin was a man of distinguished endowments and great zeal. He could not be associated with any body of men long without making his influ- ence felt, and communicating something of his own spirit to those
.
.
276
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
with whom he acted. Accordingly we notice, soon after his entrance into the Presbytery, a more quickened spirit, a larger range of purpose, and a more energetic prosecution of all the ob- jects which lie within the scope of Presbyterial supervision. He did not remain long a member of the Presbytery. His active zeal for the Master's cause, his untiring energy and enterprising nature found a more congenial and fruitful field of labor in the educational department of church work. The Church and the country have received a valuable legacy from his splendid life, in the establishment and fruits of Lafayette College, which, in its conspicuous position, will remain a monument of the wisdom and worth of this Godly man in the long future. He was the father of Lafayette College, without dispute, while, as the president successively of Miami University, Ohio, and Washington College, Virginia, his labors have distributed their rich fruits over a wide extent of country. At the same meet- ing of Presbytery at which Mr. Junkin was received, the two churches of which he was pastor were also received and enrolled at his request, the congregations having authorized the transfer.
In 1827 the Mifflinburg Church, which had also belonged to the Second Associate Reformed Presbytery of Philadelphia, was re- ceived under the care of this Presbytery, and remains on its roll to this day, while we hear no more of Shilo and Penniel .* At the same date the Rev. David Kirkpatrick, who was either the pastor or stated supply of the Mifflinburg Church, was received into the Presbytery. He also had been a member of the Second Associate Presbytery of Philadelphia. Mr. Kirkpatrick had attained a dis- tinguished reputation as a classical teacher, and he was possessed of a force of character which made him a valuable member of Presbytery. He had charge of the academy at Milton, and in- structed a generation of men who have acted a prominent part in the Church and the State, some of whom arose to honor and dis- tinction. His memory is held in high esteem by his old pupils, some of whom still survive at the date of this writing.
In 1828 a discussion arose in Presbytery involving several topics which excited unusual interest among the people, and was finally concluded with the passing of seven resolutions embodying the sentiments of the body on the whole subject of the discussion. It
* Penniel was dropped from the roll of Presbytery, having ceased to report.
:
277
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
may not be amiss to transcribe these resolutions here, as they relate to matters of permanent interest in the Church. They are as follows, viz .:
I. Resolved, In the judgment of this Presbytery, according to the standards of the Presbyterian Church, and the word of God, no parents have the right to present their children for baptism, but those who for themselves make a credible profession of faith in Christ, and obedience to Him, and evidence the same by obeying His dying commandment when His providence shall afford opportunity.
II. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Presbytery, the practice of private baptism, except in extreme cases, is contrary to the word of God and to the stand- ards of the Presbyterian Church.
III. Resolved, That according to the word of God and the standards of the Presbyterian Church, an adult, in order to his right reception into the Christian Church, must be acquainted at least with the leading doctrines of revelation as they are set forth in the standards of this Church; must be able to give a reason for the hope that is in him, by showing that these doctrines have operated on his experience ; must make an open, unequivocal avowal of the Redeemer's name, and must be vigilant in the habitual discharge of his religious and moral duties.
IV. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Presbytery, the form of government and the Bible make it the duty and exclusive right of the Church Session to ex- amine candidates for sealing ordinances on doctrinal and practical religion, and if satisfied with these and their moral conduct, to admit them to membership and communion.
V. Resolved, That Sessions ought to inquire at the hands of families directly whether family worship is observed or not, and by no means to admit either to the table of the Lord or to baptism for their children any by whom it is habitually neglected.
VI. Resolved, That in the opinion of this Presbytery, the moral turpitude of false and faithless vows of parents at the baptism of their children, and of un- hallowed approach to the Lord's table, in all cases where the knowledge of facts would enable and justify the Session .in preventing it, lies upon every member of Session in possession of that knowledge as well as upon the persons more obviously criminal.
VII. Resolved, That sound judgment, familiar acquaintance with scripture doctrine, piety and prayer, with a capacity to rule, are indispensable qualifications for the office of Ruling Elder, and where these cannot be found, that people are not ready to be organized into a church.
These resolutions will bear critical inspection. They go down to the roots of the subjects involved in them; they bring the duty of church officials into plain view, and supply the motive to per- form it. It would not be unwholesome to pastors, however dis- tasteful it might prove, nor to churches, for Presbyteries to repeat such or similar resolutions often.
278
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
PART II.
In the preceding pages we have traced the history of the Pres- bytery down to 1831, noting all that seems worthy of record. In the old minutes of that year we find a record entitled the "Crisis." It has exclusive reference to controversies which arose out of the spread of Hopkinsianisin in the Presbyterian Church, as then con- stituted in the United States, and which resulted in the division of the Church into "New School" and "Old School,"-a division which continued to afflict the Presbyterian Church throughout the country till 1869, when the wound was healed by a reunion, which it is fondly hoped will never be disrupted by a similar cause in the future. The Presbytery of Northumberland, as might have been expected from the names of those who composed its membership at that date, was unanimous in its condemnation of the new phase of theology and the new measures sought to be imposed on the Pres- byterian Church, and was by no means sparing of the forcible terms by which its condemnation was expressed. And when, in 1838, the actual "crisis" came, and the Church was divided into two General Assemblies, there was no uncertain sound in the de- liverances of this Presbytery touching the matter, or hesitation as to which Assembly its allegiance should be given. The ministers and people of the Presbyterian Church, within the limits of this Presbytery, were so thoroughly saturated with Presbyterianism of the Scotch-Irish type that no new phases of theology, and no new schemes of church polity and extension, and no change of practice concerning human slavery and the way it should be treated by Christian churches, could find the slightest favor among them. Within the whole territory covered by the Presbytery there was not a New School church to be found, save one, which became such from other causes than sympathy with the new movement. The sensitiveness, and the decisive action of the Presbytery touching this matter show a strength of orthodoxy as firmly established as the hills and mountains among which it had fixed its abode. A minute consisting of a lengthy preamble, in which considerable alarm is expressed at the peril to which the Church was exposed by the efforts of certain parties to propagate the errors involved in this new movement, and all the faithful people of the churches,
279
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
both officers and laymen, are earnestly exhorted to shun and oppose them, followed by eleven elaborate resolutions, in which the objectionable features of the movement are clearly defined and strongly denounced, was passed and recorded with entire una- nimity .*
The wisdom of the Presbytery in siding with the Old School Assembly cannot be doubted; indeed it seems almost inconceivable that men bred to Presbyterianism and thoroughly educated in its tenets, as they were, could have taken any other ground. For the new movement involved a serious departure from the established theological views of the Presbyterian Church, threatened the sub- version of her polity and sought to commit her to an aggressive policy touching the institution of slavery, which had a legal status in the land. It has been said that the first two of these elements of discord were only of secondary importance; that if the question of slavery had been out of the way all other differences could have been reconciled and the division of the Church would not have taken place. We are satisfied that neither facts nor logie sustain this view of the case. For while the New School body, after the division, became distinctively anti-slavery, the Old School never was positively pro-slavery, but always adhered to a prudent con- servatisin concerning the institution of slavery. On the other hand, the theological differences of the two bodies, as developed in the controversy, were wide apart and could never have found a common ground on which they could meet in harmony. The fol- lowers of Calvin and Knox never could join hands and hearts with the disciples of Hopkins, the modern "Sabellians, running into . Socinianism," as the old minute above referred to describes them. A separation was the best cure for the existing sore. And the event has proved that the infected body was purified by a thirty- two years' quarrantine, and now, restored to perfect theological soundness, can live and labor in loving brotherhood and cordial harmony with the defenders of undoubted Evangelical doctrines, themselves among the foremost champions "of the faith once de- livered to the saints."
Apart from the subject just presented we find very little in the records of Presbytery worthy of special notice for several years.
*See old minutes, pages 295-300.
280
THE HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
The regular routine of business was carefully attended to at two stated meetings, with occasional adjourned and called meetings. Churches were organized and enrolled as occasion required: candi- dates for the ministry were educated, some of whom received aid from the churches through the Presbytery, and a gradual and solid increase of the number of ministers and churches is noticeable. In 1833 the number of ministers in the Presbytery was double the number at its organization in 1811-the five had become ten; the number of elders enrolled at its meetings had increased in a greater ratio.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.