USA > Pennsylvania > Huntingdon County > Huntingdon > The Historical memorial of the centennial anniversary of the Presbytery of Huntingdon : held in Huntingdon, Pa., April 9, 1895 : 1795-1895 > Part 10
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 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
97
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
clearly and fearlessly presented,-God or mammon. You can never preach and no Christian man can ever follow God and mammon. The rich young ruler, lovable in character, perfect in outward obedience to the law, went away sorrowful because he could not choose. The next day the little Jewish tax-collector, who climbed into the sycamore-tree to see the Saviour pass, came down from that tree and took the Saviour to his home and to his heart, because he had made up his mind to give the half of his goods to the poor. He was saved because he made the choice between God and mammon with all that it involved. It is entirely safe to say that, if the individual members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America were to follow the example of the despised publican, the next century would witness not only an entire revolution in the social conditions under which we live, but the evan- gelization of the world.
Fathers and brethren, you closed the first century of the existence of the Presbytery of Huntingdon by securing from the civil courts a charter of incorporation which secures what you have never heretofore enjoyed,-a legal entity. You now have a standing in our courts of law and equity. You can sue and be sued. You can plead and be impleaded. You can hold property and convey it in accordance with the provisions of law. This legal existence gives you power, but it is not your strength. Our individual church organizations-many of them-own fine buildings, have valuable property, and control the equipment and machinery for effective service. All these, important and necessary in a sense, do not constitute the strength of the church. The agencies of the church have been wisely planned and are efficiently administered. Under their guidance we are erecting great buildings in our great cities. Their invested funds are increasing year by year and are bringing enlarged income for the work of the church. All these things are valuable and in a sense necessary, but they do not constitute our strength. We have numerous institutions richly endowed for the education of our youth and the training of our ministry. We regard these institutions as essential to the highest development of the youth of the church and the proper training of those who are to preach and to teach and to guide in her councils. We rightly so regard them, and yet numerous and richly endowed educational institutions do not con- stitute our strength. The strength of the church and her future devel- opment and welfare must necessarily depend upon the inception and the growth of the Christ life within the individual believer. Without this
7
98
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
there can be no such thing as real success, and for this we must depend upon the faithful and loving declaration of the whole counsel of God, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The church, therefore, in the century to come must depend, as in the century past, upon the faithful preaching of the word, accompanied by the prayers and the efforts of all who constitute the true body of be- lievers; and, when the pulpit and the pew co-operate in loving service for the salvation of the world, so that the individual Christian shall be fully and symmetrically developed and shall render the service which that development implies, then and not till then shall be brought to pass the condition of the church described in one of the hymns which we joined in singing to-day :
" Unshaken as the eternal hills, Immovable she stands ; A mountain that shall fill the earth, A house not made with hands."
PRESBYTERIAN INFLUENCE.
HON. JOHN SCOTT.
I FELT that I was honored in being asked by my old associates and friends of the Presbytery of Huntingdon to reappear among them at this Centennial celebration and make an address upon the influence of Presbyterianism in Central Pennsylvania. It was with very great regret that, under then existing circumstances and what amounted to a com- mand from my physician, I felt constrained to say I could not discharge that duty. At a later day I was glad when informed that Rev. George Elliott, one of the former pastors at Alexandria, had been selected to fill my place.
Two weeks ago I sat in a Presbyterian home in Georgia. I had just returned from a call upon the widowed daughter of Rev. John McKin- ney, another of its pastors. The husband and wife in that home look back with fond memories of early days to the scenes of the bright and beautiful Juniata, and it stood within sight of an institution of learning which bore the name of one of the Presbyterian mothers of this valley. There I read the sad news of George Elliott's death. They had all listened to his preaching. Could I do otherwise than feel that the in- fluences of the old Presbyterian church at Alexandria, beginning back
99
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
in the days of the original congregation of Hart's Log, extending down through the ministries of Rev. John Johnston, John Peebles, James Thompson, Samuel Wilson, John McKinney, George Elliott, S. T. Lowrie, S. M. Moore, J. C. Barr, S. T. Joly, and Mr. Stewart (all of whom except the first, Mr. Johnston, I have known), that these influ- ences had gone out for good, not only in but far beyond the limits of Central Pennsylvania ?
What is true of the Presbyterian congregation of old Hart's Log and Alexandria is also true of this whole Presbytery. The Presbytery of Carlisle originally embraced Huntingdon, and Huntingdon Presbytery originally embraced what is now Northumberland. This may safely be deemed Central Pennsylvania, for it would be a too limited application to confine it to the counties now embraced in the Presbytery.
To discuss at length the influences of Presbyterianism in this terri- tory would require the historian to take up the family names of our congregations in the old Presbytery of Carlisle and in this Presbytery and follow them in their movements through all the States in the Union ; for what Charles Dickens said, after his visit to the United States, of the typical American citizen, that "He would hardly consent even to enter heaven without the reserved right of going farther west," might be emphasized when applied to that part of our countrymen who are Pres- byterians, and especially who are Scotch or Scotch-Irish.
When the letter announcing Mr. Elliott's death was handed to me I had taken up the volume of Egle's " Pennsylvania Genealogies." That volume was compiled, without reference to denominations or national- ities, by the descendant of a family from Zurich, Switzerland, and upon turning over its pages, as I was then and there prompted to do from the train of thought caused by the sorrowful news of the death of one to whose voice I had hoped to listen in this meeting, I found that of the fifty-two family genealogies there given, thirty-eight of them were of Scotchmen or Scotch-Irishmen. Let me read the names, and as I do so you will need no prompting to recognize many whose families and descendants have had a large part in exerting the wholesome influences of Presbyterianism in Central Pennsylvania and far beyond it: Allen, Alrichs, Anderson, Awl or Auld, Ayres, Barnett, Beatty, Boas, Bom- berger, Boyd, Bucher, Crain, Cowden, Dixon, Egle, Elder, Espy, Fer- guson, Fleming, Forster, Fulton, Galbraith, Gregg-Curtin, Greenawalt, Hamilton, Hays, Keller, Kendig, Kunkel, Linn, Lyon, Maclay, Mc- Cormick, McNair, Muller, Murray, Neville-Craig, Orth, Parker-Denny,
100
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
Roan, Robinson, Rutherford, Stewart, Swan, Thomas, Wallace-Weir, Wallace-Hoge, Wiestling, Wiggin-Simonton, Wilson, Wyeth.
I have thus read the whole list, and it embraces from Scotland and Ireland 38, Germany and Holland 8, Switzerland 5, England I.
When I had gone through this list I asked myself, " Although I can- not make such an address as would adequately present the subject as- signed, and which I had hoped to hear discussed by Mr. Elliott, may I not read this list and a few comments upon it at this meeting, the order of my physician to the contrary notwithstanding ? If I dare not speak, may I not read ?"
What a history would flow out from a consideration of these family names! How many ministers of the gospel, presidents of colleges, teachers of schools and seminaries, governors, judges of courts, legis- lators, officers and soldiers in army and navy, men of prominence in all the professions and occupations of life, and women who have adorned and blessed the homes of such men, would be found among their descendants !
By way of illustration I first take the name of Galbraith, a familiar one in Central Pennsylvania. In reading through its connections occur the names of John Bannister Gibson, the great chief justice of Pennsyl- vania, and Ephraim Blaine, the father of James G. Blaine. The influence of that Galbraith family in the Valley of the Juniata you will readily appreciate when I read this note from the book referred to: "Martha McLellan (a descendant) married James Galbraith, and other daughters married, respectively, John Holliday, William Holliday, Captain John Blair, of Blair County, Samuel Culbertson, Mr. McDowell, and Mr. Ramsey, of Franklin County, Pennsylvania." Sarah W. Galbraith married, in 1810, John Bannister Gibson. W. A. Galbraith was a presi- dent judge in Erie County. Milnor Roberts, a prominent civil engineer. It was no small tribute to the grade of character resulting from Presby- terian education and its accompanying Bible training that Judge Black paid when, in speaking in eulogy of the integrity of Judge Gibson, he said, " His was not that common kind of honesty which it is no credit to have, but simply a disgrace to be without."
In the family name of Hamilton there occurs this about aristocracy and loss of pedigree : a lady tracing the pedigree to a duke of Hamilton says, "The coat of arms and his descent were carefully preserved by my grandfather, General Chambers, for many years after his marriage to Catharine Hamilton, as a cherished relic, but in the infancy of the American Republic and the essential and consistent training of the dis-
IOI
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
tinguished patriot and his accomplished wife the children were taught to abhor aristocracy or anything like it. So the two cases containing the proofs of these honors became playthings and eventually disappeared, leaving only the certificate of General James Chambers, of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, commander of the first Pennsylvania regiment in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the Society of the Cincinnati." As a commentary upon this, let me say that the lady who uttered these words was not only a connection of the Hamilton family, but, as you have learned, was also a descendant of the Chambers family. She lived in Cincinnati, and was herself the wife of Judge McLean, of the United States Supreme Court.
Thus might I go on and comment upon the names of Beatty, Gregg, Linn, Lyon, Maclay, Murray, Stewart, Wilson, and others, and find running out from them all streams of influence which have permeated for good all the States of the Union. In doing this, especially would we find the Scotch-Irish always in the front in the establishment of schools and colleges. Dickinson College was founded by Presbyterians. Rev. Isaac Grier, a graduate of that college and a member of the orig- inal Presbytery of Huntingdon before Northumberland Presbytery was taken from it, founded a classical school at Jersey Shore, and his son, Robert C. Grier, became another judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The schools of Kirkpatrick, at Milton, and, in more recent days, of Mr. McGinnis, at Shade Gap, Huntingdon County, at Academia, Juniata County, at Milroy, Mifflin County, Bellwood, Blair County ; female seminaries at Chambersburg, Birmingham, Hollidays- burg, and others have continued to keep alive the interest in education of both sexes. Although the old Presbytery, in 1810, did vote against the expediency of establishing the theological seminary at Princeton, " on the ground that such a school would not be calculated to promote the interest of religion," she has manifested her confidence by sending her sons to that seminary to be trained for the ministry, and that Pres- bytery and seminary are now in entire accord I may safely argue from the fact that Dr. Hamill, Governor Beaver, S. T. Lowrie, and myself are among the directors of the seminary to assure Dr. Mutchmore and his associates of the Assembly's Committee that she is sound in the faith and will need neither a mandamus to command her to do her duty nor an injunction to restrain her from teaching heresy.
Such influences as this Presbytery exerted in early days it has con- tinued to exert. How could it be otherwise when I recall such men as
.
IO2
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
I have known in her ministry, Doctors Junkin, Mckinney, and Gibson of Hollidaysburg, Linn in Bellefonte, Woods and McClain in Lewistown, Peebles and Zahnizer in this pulpit, Matthew Allison and George W. Thompson in Juniata County; and in the eldership such as Professor Wilson and E. L. Doty in Juniata County, Dr. Maclay and E. Banks in Mifflin County, Judge Ker, Jacob Miller, John Porter, John Owens, and Judge McWilliams in Huntingdon County, and Joshua Roller, Judge Rea, and John Tussey in Blair County, E. C. Humes and H. N. McAlister in Centre County, and others like them equally entitled to mention ?
It is not only the men who exerted their influence upon their day and generation and that which has followed it, but it is the Presbyterian- ism which was in them and exerted its influence upon them and made them the men they were that must be borne in mind: that system of doctrine to which they adhered, in which they believed, which acknowl- edged in its full extent the sovereignty of God,-that he rules and reigns in the armies of heaven and doeth his will among the inhabitants of the earth,-and developed at the same time the highest type of individuality, independence, and self-reliance in man. It is this characteristic of Pres- byterianism which has given the church in this land its high position for intelligence and fidelity to truth, and to its members their influence in public affairs of State and nation. They may not be in the proper sense of the term pugnacious, but they are always persistent and persevering.
Sitting one evening in South Carolina with a former lieutenant- governor of that State, we were discussing the features of the war, and among other questions was presented this one: " Could it have ter- minated any earlier than it did?" Governor Cannon's reply to me was, " No, it could not. There were too many Presbyterians on both sides for that. When they go into a fight, whether right or wrong, they always believe they are right, and they fight it out." And he might strongly argue the truth of his opinion when we consider that from the Puritans and Scotch-Irishmen scattered from New England down through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Caro- lina, and Georgia, with the Huguenots who were mingled with them, it was too much to expect that the spirit of independence and individu- ality which found its way from the shores of Europe to Plymouth Rock, and was manifested at Bunker Hill and Yorktown, would not again manifest itself as it did at Antietam, Gettysburg, and Appomattox.
Shall this spirit of individuality and self-reliance be maintained ? In these days, when organization is in danger of crushing out the indi-
IO3
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
vidual in business enterprises, we must see to it that in the old Presby- terian Church each man's responsibility to his Maker shall keep him independent and upright in the discharge of all his duties, let his station in life be what it may.
It is only from the united influences of those " whose works prosper because they delight in the law of their God" that any church organiza- tion can effect good results. Let us hope that the men and women of the present will maintain and increase the influence for good which this dear old Presbytery has for a century exerted, feeling at once the oppor- tunities and responsibilities of life, and realizing for each of us the truth of those beautiful words of Ruskin when he spoke of the individual trees making the Garden of God and compared them to our lives.
" Other symbols have been given often to show the evanescence and shortness of our lives,-the foam upon the water, the grass upon the housetop, the vapor that vanishes away; yet none of these are images of true human life. That life when it is real is not evanescent, is not slight, does not vanish away.
" Every noble life leaves the fibre of it interwoven forever in the work of the world : by so much evermore the strength of the human race has gained ; more stubborn in the root; higher toward heaven in the branch ; and ' as a tall tree, and as an oak where substance is in them when they cast their leaves, so the holy seed is in the midst thereof.'"
CENTENNIAL HYMN. REV. D. K. FREEMAN, D.D.
OUR fathers' God, to thee we raise The anthem of our grateful praise. Inspire each thought, rejoice each heart, The spirit of thy grace impart.
Within these hallowed walls we meet, Thy goodness through the past repeat. Rich mercies crown the era done, O Saviour ! bless the opening one.
The century fell " from out thy hand," The days and hours "like grains of sand," The church our fathers planted then We consecrate to thee again.
104
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
The people thou hast led, through years Of joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, Lead on; bring all within thy fold ; Let the new age surpass the old.
CLOSING PRAYER OF THE CENTENNIAL SERVICES.
REV. ROBERT F. WILSON.
OUR Father who art in heaven, we come at the close of this inter- esting Centennial service to render to thee our united thanks for all the way in which thou hast led us and our fathers before us.
We express to thee our heartfelt gratitude for what they and we as a Presbytery, under thy guiding hand and assisting grace, have accom- plished in the century past.
For all the manifold good the generations preceding achieved, of which our ears have heard and which our eyes have seen and which our hearts have experienced, coming down to us through all these eventful years, we unitedly give to thee, our Lord and Redeemer, thanksgiving and praise. Thy loving-kindness and forbearing mercy have been vouch- safed to us as a Presbytery during all the coming and going years which to-day complete our Presbyterial century. And now as we leave the past, filled as it is with hallowed memories, and turn our view and thought to the future where duty and responsibility await us, help us, blessed Jesus, to address ourselves anew to the discharge of obligations, as they meet us, with increasing diligence, zeal, and fidelity.
Heavenly Father, we do entreat thee to grant us needful wisdom to guide us in the right way, to aid us in the performance of duty, and to keep us in all the coming years loyal to the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. Help us to gather fresh encouragement and in- spiration from our review of God's faithfulness to us as a Presbytery hitherto, to nerve and strengthen us for all the future.
And now may the Presbyterial vantage gained by reason of a cen- tury's experience serve to make the Presbytery more and more efficient in the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, and to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost shall be all the praise, now and forever. Amen.
REV. JOHN F. DIENER UPPER TUSCARORA.
REV. NOAH A. MC DONALD., D.D. ROBERTSDALE
REV. R. G. WILLIAMS ANSONVILLE
REV. W. E. STEW
RT, ALEXANDRIA
PASTORS.
IO5
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF THE FOLLOWING CHURCHES.
ALEXANDRIA.
THIS church, including the old Hart's Log Church, by which it was first known, is the oldest of any denomination in this region of the State. The Hart's Log Church merged into the present Alexandria Presbyterian Church in 1830. The earliest records we have are dated 1786, when a house of worship was built for the Hart's Log congregation one mile north of the present town of Alexandria, where the old burying-ground is still to be seen. But we have reasons to believe that the congrega- tion was in existence for a considerable time prior to this.
The Presbyterians were the pioneers of this region, some of whom, such as Charles and Robert Caldwell, James and John Dean, Peter Graffius, and others who might be named, were actors in the Indian troubles during the Revolutionary War; and from what we know of those sturdy old Scotch-Irish Presbyterian pioneers, it may be presumed that the Presbyterian faith and form of worship were observed at least ten years, and perhaps longer, previous to the records in our possession dated 1786. The house of worship referred to, built for the Hart's Log congregation, was a very primitive affair; it was built of logs, with a ground-floor, exposed rafters, and rudely seated. Occasionally serpents crawled in during service and upset the equilibrium of the staid wor- shippers. The swallows also, as of old in the tabernacle, found nests for themselves amid the rafters. This building was used for some years without the luxury of a stove, during which time some of the more enterprising members supplied themselves with warming-pans and foot-stoves. After using this building for about twenty years, the con- gregation built a stone church nearer to Alexandria, which was then something of a village, but the material yielded so rapidly to the ele- ments that the building was considered unsafe, and they returned to the
IO6
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
old log church. This church became divided in 1814 on account of differences of opinion concerning the war with Great Britain, which was then drawing to a close. A part of the congregation took offence at a political sermon preached by the pastor, Rev. John Johnston, and with- drew and worshipped in Alexandria. The Rev. John Johnston was installed pastor of the Hart's Log Church in November, 1787. His pastorate here continued until April, 1823. In June, 1825, Rev. John Peebles was called to this church, to which he gave one-third of his time, and which he served until 1830. The balance of his time he gave to Huntingdon. The disaffected element who seceded from the Hart's Log Church in 1814 continued to worship in Alexandria, but they were not fully organized until 1819. Rev. James Thompson was installed their first pastor on the 19th of April, 1819. He continued their pastor until the 8th of October, 1830, when he was called to his reward. Mr. Thompson was a faithful and efficient pastor. His people showed their appreciation of him by erecting a beautiful marble slab over his grave. A new church was built during his pastorate.
Soon after the death of Mr. Thompson, Mr. Peebles resigned his charge at Hart's Log, generously gave up one-third of his salary in the interests of peace, and advised the two churches to unite, which they did soon afterwards with one hundred and forty members. They united at Alexandria, and hence this church became the lineal descendant of the old Hart's Log Church.
The first pastor after the reunion was Rev. Samuel Wilson, who was installed November, 1832, and served the church four years and six months. The next pastor was Rev. John McKinney, who was installed in May, 1838, and continued as pastor until June, 1848. The next pas- tor was Rev. George Elliot, who was installed in June, 1849; he con- tinued a faithful pastor until April, 1858, when he resigned. The church was then supplied for several months by Rev. D. A. Happer. The Rev. S. T. Lowrie was installed pastor in December, 1858; he remained pastor until April, 1863. The next pastor was Rev. S. M. Moore; he was installed in November, 1863; his relations to the church were dis- solved in October, 1870, having served the church for seven years. The Rev. J. C. Barr, the next pastor, was called July 15, 1871, and installed the following November; he continued to serve the church faithfully as pastor until October 6, 1885, a period of about fourteen years. The next pastor was Rev. A. H. Jolly, who was called January 13, 1886, and installed in the following June. His relations to the church as
ALEXANDRIA.
IO7
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
pastor were dissolved in August, 1893, after serving the church about eight years. During his administration a mission chapel was built in the valley, which continues under the care of this church. The present pastor, Rev. W. E. Stewart, was called November 16, 1893, entered the field December I, and was installed in June, 1894.
The first record that we have of the election of elders in the Hart's Log Church is dated September 10, 1787. The persons elected were James Dean, George Gray, Thomas McCune, and William McCoy. The next year Edward Hunter and David Stewart were elected. In May, 1796, Matthew Gray, David Caldwell, and John Dean were chosen.
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.