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 2
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It was not strange that a people who had been reared in homes where God's word was honored, and where religious fervor and devotion con- stituted the moral atmosphere, should remember the Covenant in the isolation of the wilderness, and should desire that the institutions under which they had prospered in the home land should be established in their new abodes. They welcomed the minister of the gospel who, in his love for Christ and his people, followed into the depths of the forest that he might break the bread of life to the imperilled people. The soli- tude of the forest may not have been unfriendly to the cultivation of re- ligious sentiment and character; further sustained as such influences must have been by the nearness of possible disaster and a violent death. But it is more probable that the early training in Christian homes had made the ordinances of religion precious in their sight; and into their new homes they brought the hopes and practices of their religious faith.
When the rude cabin was reared to shelter their households, the church building of like humble construction was erected, and their " sup- plications" sent to the distant Presbytery for "supplies," that the bread of life might be broken to them and to their children.
It was perhaps not so much an incident in the country's history as a
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cunning policy that placed a wall of defence, against the incursions of the treacherous savage, around the settlements in the southeastern por- tions of the province, in the persons of the stalwart Scotch-Irish pioneers. It was an easy matter to entertain non-resistant and peace-loving senti- ments with a strong cordon of protection in these frontier settlements. There was no exposure to the merciless tomahawk and scalping-knife of the wily savage, and gushing sympathy for the red man was not out of harmony with the peaceful conditions, secured at the expense of the safety and lives of these venturesome men.
It is with the Scotch-Irish element that we have mostly to deal, though Germany contributed many true and worthy colonists, whose frugality and patience have served largely to develop the vast resources of this central region. From Scotland and the north of Ireland the majority of the early settlers in the region now covered by our Presby- tery originally came. Many of them tarried in the Cumberland Valley for a time, and helped to guarantee its development and prosperity ; and then plunging deeper into the wilderness, they founded homes for them- selves and their children amidst the primeval forests. It was not long until they began to gather for divine worship in their rude cabins or under the protection of the friendly forest tree; for the minister of the gospel was not long in finding out the spiritual destitutions and seeking to supply them. Where their people could go the ministers of religion could follow, and the ordinances of God's house were supplied.
In these early times the region was within the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of Donegal. The name is suggestive of the country whence its members and their congregations came. It was pre-eminently mis- sionary ground. The work was such as would have delighted the con- secrated heart of a Paul ; for there was peril in ministering to such a people, not indeed from furious zealots or cultured heathen enraged by seeming assaults upon their faith, or their want of it, but from the chil- dren of the wilderness, whose hearts were as hard as the adamant and their spirit as fierce as that of the wild beasts of their forests. But the Presbytery did not seem to fully appreciate and exhibit the spirit ot charity and forbearance which their more eastern brethren were specially cultivating. Their controversies would not down at the bidding of synod or on the declaration of the new order of peace, but they seemed to rage with unabated fury, to the hinderance, no doubt, of Christ's cause, and to the neglect of the feeble congregations, which were gathering on the frontier, and hungering for the bread of life. It was a turbulent
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period in ecclesiastical circles as it was also in the outside world. Grave questions of seeming importance had brought schism into the church, and had fostered strife and animosity. Amidst this confusion the church had advanced indeed, but more slowly than it would have done under more favorable conditions. The remote parts, where more vital issues engrossed the thought, suffered from the inattention of their Presbytery. It may, however, be possible that the scarcity of laborers in the vine- yard of the Lord and the utter poverty of the congregations themselves may have occasioned this seeming neglect of the new and remote settle- ments in the valley of the Juniata.
For some reason the members of the congregations of Cedar Spring and Tuscarora petitioned the United Synod of New York and Philadel- phia to place them under the jurisdiction of some other body than that of the Presbytery of Donegal. Their request was not granted; and possibly all occasion for such request vanished, as greater harmony pre- vailed in the Presbytery, and the growing work absorbed their attention and developed their Christian enthusiasm and devotion.
In 1763, at the meeting of the United Synod of New York and Philadelphia, a request from the "Corporation for the relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian ministers" was presented, to the effect "that some missionaries be sent to preach to the distressed frontier inhabitants and to report their distresses, and to let us know where congregations are a-forming, and what is necessary to be done to spread the gospel among them, and that they inform us what opportunities there may be of preach- ing the gospel to the Indian nations in the neighborhood." At the same time that they were solicitous about the distresses of the white inhabi- tants they were devising measures to relieve the spiritual hopelessness and wretchedness of their unpitying foes.
Nothing seems to have been done in this direction by the Synod until three years afterwards, when Revs. Charles Beatty and George Duf- field were sent upon a mission to the inhabitants on the Juniata and in the regions beyond. They performed this service in the summer of the same year (1766), and preached to the congregations in Tuscarora, at Cedar Spring, at Aughwick, Bedford, and other points, continuing their explorations far into the depths of the western wilds. By Indian trail and obscure forest path these devoted men pursued their solitary way, hunting up the scattered sheep in the vast wilderness. The next year they reported " that they found on the frontiers numbers of people earn - estly desirous of forming themselves into congregations, and declaring
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their willingness to exert their utmost in order to have the gospel among them, but in circumstances exceedingly distressing and necessitous from the late calamities of the war in these parts." It is evident that no per- manent relief came to the congregations, as it was after this visitation that members of the churches of Cedar Spring and Tuscarora petitioned to be detached from Donegal. This request being almost unanimously declined, the congregations in all this region were dependent for the ministry of the word upon it until the Presbytery of Carlisle, its imme- diate successor, was formed in 1786.
In the mean time, however, the struggle for colonial independence had taken place. The inhabitants of this region were not insensible to the claims of their country, and many a hardy pioneer hastened to the support of the patriotic cause. The demoralizing effects of the war were doubtless felt in all these parts in the impoverishment of the people, and in the desolations which seem to necessarily follow upon the heels of conflict. An occasional allusion is made in the records of the Synod to "the distracted condition of public affairs," and for three years in succession during this period not a single member of the Presbytery of Donegal appeared at its meetings. It is evident that the distracted con- dition of the country interfered greatly with the work of the church in all these parts.
After peace had been established the congregations began to re- cuperate, and progress in church work again manifested itself. The re- adjustment of the Presbyteries led to the formation of the Presbytery of Carlisle, which is practically the old Presbytery under a new name, for the new body was ordered to meet at the place and time of the adjourn- ment of the old. Under the care of this organization the missionary region on the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers now came, and hence- forth the urgent " supplications" for supplies are addressed thereto.
A number of pastors had before this time been placed over the churches, and finally, when the time came for a further division of the territory, eleven ministers occupied the field and ministered as best they could to the widely scattered and rapidly increasing congregations. It was a notable event when the General Assembly, itself but recently or- ganized, directed that all the ministers and congregations occupying the central part of Pennsylvania, and now comprised within the limits of fifteen counties, should be constituted a new organization to be called "The Presbytery of Huntingdon." This order was made in May, 1794, and on the second Tuesday of April, 1795, it was carried into execu-
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tion, and from that time until this, covering the space of a hundred years, this organization has attempted to perform the work committed to it. To gather up some of the facts, and to recount the mercies of the Cove- nant God unto our fathers and to ourselves, is the object of our assembling here to-day.
The name of the Presbytery comes to us from the town and county within whose limits we meet. It is in accordance with the fitness of things that we are assembled here on this auspicious occasion. It is a happy coincidence that the name is derived from that illustrious Christian woman, the Countess of Huntingdon, the friend of Whitefield. Her devout character is the admiration of the Christian world. Her name is associated in the doctrinal teachings of the day with the tenets of Calvin and Knox. It is becoming that such a name should indicate the doc- trinal tendencies of a Presbytery which throughout the years of contro- versy and of defection on the part of some from the truth, has adhered to the standards of the church, has maintained with unfaltering devotion its attachment to the formulated statements which the fathers accepted and loved and taught. This does not mean that progress is resisted, and old forms blindly adhered to, merely because of their antiquity, but it means fidelity to truth, and reverence for the oracles of God, placed in their custody. In every direction under the guidance of the divine Spirit these teachings have wrought blessing,-have brought spiritual enlightenment and material prosperity to the people. The land has prospered with the church's growth. The Presbytery of Huntingdon, under the good hand of God upon it, has been a notable factor in the sum of prosperity, which has crowned the people of the central portion of our beloved Common wealth.
Under the direction of the Presbytery of Donegal a young licentiate of the First Presbytery of Philadelphia in the summer of 1775 made a missionary tour through this region, supplying the vacant churches. He approached the town of Huntingdon with some misgivings as to the re- ception which might be extended to him. After carefully adjusting his garments that all traces of his calling might be concealed, he boldly en- tered the town. His description is unique : " I met two men on horse- back. As they passed I smelled their breaths. It was strong of whiskey. By this token, which in thicker-settled places you would scruple, I grew certain I was near the town. My conjecture was right. I soon after en- tered Huntingdon." Such fragrant indications are not, I am confident, the present methods of determining the proximity of the hospitable town.
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The young missionary found no church established here, and he did not tarry over the Sabbath to seek the scattered sheep or offer his ministra- tions to the people. It is a painful fact that the author of this sprightly diary of travel never became an ordained minister. The death of Philip Vicars Fithian was reported to the Synod two years afterwards. The consolation which he offered in the promises of the gospel to a dying stranger at Shirley was his own solace as he passed down into the valley of the shadow of death.
It is necessary that we glance at the ministers and some of the churches which by the act of the Assembly constituted the Presbytery. Possibly the oldest man was Rev. John Hoge, who had been appointed to preach the sermon. He had been forty years, at least, in connection with the Synod, and must have been superannuated at this time. He died in 1807.
The Rev. James Martin, in whose church the first meeting was held, was also somewhat advanced in years, and before the next meeting he had passed to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven. Many of his descendants have been prominent in church and business circles in central Pennsylvania ever since.
Rev. Hugh Magill was pastor of the churches of Cedar Spring and Lower Tuscarora. Because of increasing infirmities he relinquished, very soon after the formation of the Presbytery, his care of Lower Tuscarora, and a few years thereafter retired from the active work of the ministry. He died in 1805.
Rev. James Johnston was born in the Cumberland Valley in 1754. He served for a time as a hospital steward in the army of the Revo- lution, intending to become a physician. The ministry attracted his attention, and he was ordained by the Presbytery of Donegal, and in- stalled over the churches of Kishacoquillas Valley in 1784. The origi- nal call, signed by the entire congregation, is in the hands of General John P. Taylor, of that valley, and bears date of March 15, 1783. This was his only charge. The good man died in January, 1820, greatly lamented.
Rev. John Johnston, for many years the pastor of the church whose hospitality we enjoy, was a native of Ireland, and came to this country about ten years before the formation of the Presbytery. He was pastor of the churches of Hart's Log and Huntingdon for the third of a century. He was a man of great force of character, and his attainments were of a high order. He died soon after resigning his pastoral charge at the age of seventy-three.
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Rev. Matthew Stephens came to this country about the same time that Mr. Johnston did. He was installed over the church of Shaver's Creek. According to the tradition concerning him he was a man of superior ability, but unhappily addicted to habits that greatly impaired his usefulness and clouded his life.
Rev. David Bard was a native of Virginia. The first charge which he held was in the Great Cove, where the writer spent pleasant years as pastor of the same church. At different times thereafter he was pastor of the churches of Bedford, Frankstown (now Hollidaysburg), and Sink- ing Valley. For many years he represented his district in Congress. His attendance upon the sessions of Presbytery was irregular and infre- quent. He was evidently a man of superior force of character. In 1815 he passed to his rest whilst on his return home from service in the halls of Congress.
Rev. Hugh Morrison was pastor of the churches of Buffalo, Sunbury, and Northumberland at the time the Presbytery was organized. But little is known of his ability as a preacher, or his character as a man ; but the fact that he continued for years in this relation indicates that he must have been possessed of fair natural gifts, and at least respectable attainments. His pastoral work ended in 1801, and his death occurred about three years afterwards.
The Rev. David Wiley was one of the original members, but did not long remain in this connection. He was pastor of churches in Centre County now known by other names. Being released from his pastoral charge, he early removed from the bounds of the Presbytery, and passed his later years in teaching near the capital of the country.
Another of the fathers was the Rev. Isaac Grier. He was a conspic- uous character in the early times, possessing an excellent education, and being eminently successful as a teacher of others. One of his sons became a distinguished member of the Supreme Court of the United States. He died in 1814.
Rev. John Bryson was another member of the Presbytery, and one of the five who subsequently constituted the new Presbytery of Northum- berland. He was a graduate of Dickinson College and a student of theology probably under Dr. Cooper. Six churches now occupy the field in which his faithful work was done. He died in 1855, having attained to the great age of ninety-eight years.
As will be seen, the original members of this Presbytery were men of stable character and considerable learning, well fitted by natural and
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acquired abilities to lay the foundations. It would occupy too much of your time to speak in detail of the congregations to which these men ministered, and which were scattered over a vast region.
At the very first session of the Presbytery a young man made appli- cation to be received as a candidate. It shows that the pressing needs of this region for ministers to preach the glorious gospel of Christ were engaging the attention of the fathers. But it further establishes the fact that their anxiety for an increase in the ranks of the workers did not blind them to the importance of a proper fitness on the part of those who sought the sacred office. After protracted examinations and fre- quent trial pieces, the young man withdrew from the care of the Presby- tery, possibly discouraged by the difficulties interposed at the entrance to the work. His name does not reappear, and he doubtless sought some other calling, or turned to some other denomination, whose doors were not so carefully guarded against the intrusion of incompetent teachers.
Soon thereafter another applicant presented himself, and it is a note- worthy fact that the first successful candidate for licensure received his authority to preach at a meeting of the Presbytery held at this place. The church with which it met at that time had been in existence for about seven years, and was, I have reason to believe, without a house of worship. Services were held in the court-house, and doubtless the Presbytery was assembled there when it performed its first official act in licensing a novice to preach the gospel. The temple of justice sheltered the servants of Christ in the discharge of their official duties. It was in accordance with a true spirit of reciprocity that the courts in Juniata County in its earliest history enjoyed the hospitality of the congregation of Mifflintown, and dispensed justice in the old stone church where the writer worshipped in his childhood, and where his maternal grandfather preached the word for many years.
It is a sad commentary on the weaknesses and infirmities of our human nature that this brother subsequently ordained and installed in a pastoral charge was deposed from the ministry. The drinking habits of the day doubtless occasioned his downfall. His latter years, it is said, were brightened by a deliverance from his bondage, and we may hope that his life went out in peace.
As late as 1809 the Presbytery petitioned the General Assembly because of "the deplorable situation of a great body of people within their bounds," and because of "the fact that they had not a single
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licentiate under their care," to furnish a missionary or missionaries to occupy the inviting fields within their bounds. It was not a lack of interest, but an utter inability, that prevented them suitably prosecuting the hopeful work which opened up before them throughout all their borders. "Supplications" for supplies were sent to them from all parts, and in some cases the applicants were encouraged to address their requests to the Presbytery of Carlisle, because of their utter inability to meet these demands. It is an interesting fact that the pastors of self- sustaining churches were appointed to preach as often as possible to the growing congregations and in the increasing settlements that were form- ing in the rich valleys and amidst the mountain districts in the remote parts of the Presbytery. The list of supplies was oftentimes appalling, and must have taxed to the uttermost the ingenuity of the committee appointed to bring in a schedule.
But in the sketch which I am expected to prepare it is perhaps the better plan that we consider the development of the Presbytery in periods of considerable extent. In this way we may note the progress and may sum up the aggregates of a century's work,-a century the grandest in the history of the world. It may not contain such splendid manifestations of God's visible presence as the times which Israel was directed to contrast with "the days that are past," but in the progress of truth, in the advancement of the race in civilization, in the development in every department of human activity, the like has not been seen. The very elements are made tributary to the comfort and convenience of man. The lightning leaps to do his bidding. The whole earth teems with new agencies that multiply indefinitely the products of human skill and genius. It is a great privilege to live in such an age as this,-to be eye- witnesses of the marvellous progress that amazes and delights the human mind.
" We are living, we are dwelling In a grand and awful time, In an age on ages telling To be living is sublime."
The history of this Presbytery is coexistent with this amazing de- velopment, and as far as its field of operations extends, it has contributed its share to this development. It has set influences in operation which have contributed to the glorious aggregate which excites our wonder- ment. The rude ways which the fathers opened for communication and for traffic changed into macadamized turnpikes or easier water-ways, and
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lastly into the stately railway and its branches over which the products of a continent are carried. Where a hundred years ago the fathers painfully plodded their weary way, their children's children ride in luxu- rious ease with the swiftness of the wind. What changes has the revo- lution of the years wrought! What marvellous advance have the coun- try and the world made in these hundred years !
For years after the formation of the Presbytery but little increase seemed to be experienced. Very few ministers came within the bounds, and candidates rarely presented themselves. The tide of emigration to more western parts may partly account for this, and the prevalence of French ideas, tinctured by the sceptical tendencies of that people, may have largely produced this paralysis of Christian work. And yet in some parts of the land the reaction had already come; the truth in its saving power was laid upon the consciences and hearts of the people. The life of the church was deeply stirred, and the joy of salvation suc- ceeded to the dismal speculations of infidelity.
In 1811 the Presbytery of Northumberland was formed by the Synod of Philadelphia, and the number of ministers was reduced from fourteen to nine, and twelve of the churches were apportioned to the new organi- zation, leaving twenty-five to the care of less than half a score of min- isters. For the first time the number of communicants was reported to the General Assembly in 1807, and the number reported as in connec- tion with the Presbytery was five hundred and fifty-eight. At the time of the formation of the new organization it had increased to thirteen hundred and sixty-seven. The next year thereafter it diminished to nine hundred and twenty-eight, and from that time to the present the increase will pertain to the Presbytery as now constituted. A few changes have been made in its boundaries, but not materially affecting its extent. A part of what is now Perry County was restored to the Presbytery of Carlisle, and many years afterwards the churches of Bed- ford County were placed under its care.
At the end of the first half-century of the Presbytery's existence the number of ministers had increased to twenty, whilst one licentiate was in its connection and seven candidates were under its care. Thirty-six churches appeared upon its roll, and five thousand one hundred and twenty-three communicants were reported to the Assembly. The con- tributions to home and foreign missions amounted to thirteen hundred and thirty-seven dollars, and to education five hundred and seventy-two dollars, whilst one other object was presented to the benevolence of the
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