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 23
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
RULING ELDERS.
Following William McWilliams and Eli Hastings, the two elders chosen at the organization of the church were John Patton and David Mitchell, elected in 1835 ; John Campbell and Hugh Laurimore, in 1849; William Murray and I. O. Campbell, in 1860; Robert L. Williams, Thomas F. Patton, and H. A. McGonigle, 1871 ; followed by Robert Glenn and John B. Mitchell, and, April, 1884, David Reed, D. W. Miller, and Dr. George Woods.
Of the above, eleven have passed to their reward, having served faithfully in the positions to which they were successively called. In three instances at least the mantle of the father seems to have fallen upon the son, the honored memory of the father having suffered nothing by the transfer.
ROBERT HAMILL.
PORT ROYAL.
ONE hundred and thirty years have passed since the voice of the Presbyterian minister was first heard in the Tuscarora Valley. In 1763 the Synod of New York and Philadelphia commissioned Revs. Charles Beatty and David Brainard to visit this part of Pennsylvania, and aid the
236
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
people in securing the means of grace through organized churches and a living ministry. This effort failed, because of the hostility of the Indians, but was renewed with success by Rev. Charles Beatty and George Duffield in 1766. After a journey of nearly one hundred and forty miles they came into Tuscarora Valley. They learned that on a terri- tory of about sixty square miles there were eighty-four families. They also learned that the people expected to erect churches in this valley, one six and the other sixteen miles up from the river.
These points answer to Academia and McCulloch's Mills. These churches were first under the care of the Presbytery of Donegal, then of the Presbytery of Carlisle, and fell into the bounds of the Huntingdon Presbytery at its organization in 1795. The church organized at Aca- demia was called Lower Tuscarora, and Port Royal was for many years a part of that organization.
The church of Port Royal (first named Perrysville) became a separate congregation in the month of October, 1865. The church building in which the congregation now worships was built in 1852, thirteen years before the organization of the congregation. When the church was organized the following ruling elders were elected,-viz., John McLaughlin, James McLaughlin, D. W. Flickinger, John Koons, George W. Strouse, and G. M. Graham, M.D. Five of these men had been elders in the Lower Tuscarora Church and were installed in the new organization, and Dr. Graham, who had not been an elder, was ordained and installed October 31, 1865.
The second election of elders was held in February, 1870, and the following persons were elected : Professor David Wilson, Isaac Hawn, Samuel Buck, A. J. Patterson, and R. E. Flickinger. These were ordained February 13, 1870. The third election was held April 27, 1879, and resulted in the election of the following : D. S. Coyle, Uriah Wise, N. D. Vandyke. In the year 1891, Hon. W. C. Pomeroy, A. W. Shelly, M.D., W. K. McLaughlin, and Harvey Wise were chosen ruling elders, and were ordained March 29, 1891. The present Session (October, 1895) is James McLaughlin, Hon. W. C. Pomeroy, Dr. A. W. Shelly, and Harvey Wise.
The first pastor of the Port Royal Presbyterian Church was installed in 1866 and remained until the close of the year 1870.
The second pastor was Rev. J. H. Stewart, now of Redlands, Cali- fornia. He remained from 1871 until October, 1877. During his minis- try many were added to the church.
237
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
The third pastor was the Rev. R. F. Wilson, who took charge of the congregation in 1878 and remained until October, 1886. Under his careful management the church gradually increased in numbers and became well established in the Presbyterian faith.
The present pastor, Rev. R. M. Campbell, entered upon his work in the spring of 1887. He found the church in good condition, and for nearly nine years there has been a marked unity of sentiment and action in the congregation.
The Sabbath-school and Christian Endeavor Society are doing good work. The membership of the church at its organization was two hun- dred and thirteen ; its present membership numbers two hundred and twenty-three.
R. M. CAMPBELL.
ROBERTSDALE.
THE Robertsdale Presbyterian Church presents but little that would be interesting in an historical sketch.
The idea of organizing a Presbyterian church at Robertsdale origi- nated, I believe, with Rev. James H. Baird. He spent some time in visiting the people, and found a number of families, mostly Scotch, who were Presbyterian in their tendencies and many of whom were actual members in the old country. Presbytery appointed a committee, con- sisting of Rev. S. M. Moore, D.D., Rev. A. Nelson Hollifield, and Elder William P. Orbison, to organize the church, which they did on June 30, 1880, consisting of twenty-one members and two elders, one of whom had previously been an elder in the church of Shade Gap. The report of the committee was adopted by Presbytery and the church enrolled October 12, 1880.
A small, but neat and comfortable, church building was erected in 1882 and 1883. The funds were contributed by the people of Roberts- dale (the Roman Catholics contributed liberally) assisted by outside friends and the Board of Church Erection.
The church has never had a regular pastor. Rev. George Elliott was elected pastor, and served the church from March, 1884, to Decem- ber, 1886, but, so far as I can learn, he never was installed. Previous to Mr. Elliott, Rev. John McKean, Rev. S. W. Pomeroy, and Rev. G. K. Scott served the church as supplies. I have been supplying them once a month since 1887.
238
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
Since the organization of the church there have been received on certificate thirteen members, on examination seventeen. Adults baptized, six ; infants baptized, twenty-six. Dismissed on certificate, fourteen. Several have dismissed themselves,-that is, they left the place without lifting their certificates, and we have lost track of them.
There are about twenty-four members still on the roll. A number of these have moved away to other mining districts, such as Six-Mile Run, where there is no Presbyterian church. We know where they are and their names are still on the roll, but they are too far off to attend church, and since the hard times commenced they have ceased to contribute.
We have now only two Scotch families here, and the rising genera- tion of them do not appear to take to religion of any kind. Since 1890 the population here has almost entirely changed. Many non-English- speaking foreigners have come in, who are mostly Catholics. The Eng- lish-speaking people who have come in have been mostly inclined to the Methodists. The mining boss is a Methodist, which has a great influ- ence with the church proclivities of many of the miners.
The Sabbath-school averages about fifty. Financially our church is at a low ebb. For the last two years many of the families have had difficulty in getting enough to eat.
N. A. McDONALD.
NOTE .- Rev. N. A. McDonald, D.D., pastor of this church, was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He removed in early boyhood with his parents to near Shade Gap, Pennsylvania. He united with the church there under the pastorate of the Rev. J. Y. McGinnis in 1849; prepared for college at the Milnwood Academy; graduated from Jefferson College in 1857 and from the Western Theological Seminary in 1860; was licensed by the Presbytery of Huntingdon in 1859, and ordained as a missionary to Siam by the same Presby- tery in 1860. He sailed from New York for Siam by the way of Cape of Good Hope, June 5, 1860; arrived in Siam September 21 of the same year; and spent almost twenty-six years as a missionary, during which time he was treasurer of the mission funds of Siam and Laos. He was pastor of the First Church of Bangkok for nearly twenty years; was acting United States consul and minister to the Siamese court at different times, in all nearly five years. For two years he was the only male member of the Siam Mission who could speak the language. He translated into the Siamese language, of the Old Testament, the books of Ex- odus, Joshua, Ruth, First and Second Kings, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Daniel. He also revised the former translation of the entire New Testament. He compiled and translated a small work on astronomy and one of natural philosophy ; also translated, for the Siamese government, a small work on logic and one on political economy. In 1869, during the massa- cre of native Christians under the late King Chiang Mai, he was selected by the Siam mission, in company with the Rev. S. C. George, as an ambassador to Chiang Mai, to secure protection for the resident missionaries.
H. G. F.
SAXTON.
239
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
SAXTON.
THE Saxton congregation was organized in 1861, with Rev. Samuel Lawrence as pastor. Services were first held in a small brick school- house. The present church edifice-a two-story frame building thirty- five by fifty-five feet, with lecture-room on first floor, situated on the corner of Catharine and Church Streets, occupying two lots, fronting one hundred and fifty feet on Catharine Street and one hundred feet on Church Street-was erected in 1867, and dedicated in the fall of that year, Rev. William Harding officiating. The church was incorporated March 15, 1875.
Ministers .- Rev. David Banks ; Rev. J. R. Graves, 1868 ; Rev. Boal, 1871 to 1875 ; Rev. E. P. Foresman, 1876 to 1878 ; Rev. J. H. Baird, 1878 to 1880; Rev. J. C. Wilhelm, 1880 to 1883; from August 31, 1883, to May 1, 1885, supplies ; Rev. Harvey Shaw, May 1, 1885, to 1887 ; Rev. W. A. Schuyler, 1887, to August, 1892 ; Rev. William Prideaux, Sep- tember, 1892, to the present time.
THEO. P. FOCKLER.
SCHELLSBURG.
THE Presbyterian Church of Schellsburg, Pennsylvania, was organ- ized May 18, 1833, with thirty-nine members. The records of the church are very imperfect for several years after its organization. Rev. James G. Breckenridge seems to have been the pastor at the time of organization, but there are no records from May 19, 1833, to August 14, 1836, when Rev. Daniel McBruley administered the communion. Rev. Henry K. Wilson, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, administered the commu- nion December 4, 1836, June 4 and December, 1837.
Rev. D. D. Clark was pastor from 1838 to 1843, Rev. G. S. Ingles from 1844 to 1847, Rev. W. L. McCalla in 1848 and 1849, Rev. T. K. Davis from 1850 to 1855, Rev. Daniel Willims in 1858 and 1859, Rev. Wil- liam Prideaux from 1861 to 1863, Rev. J. H. Donaldson from 1864 to 1867, Rev. J. C. Wilhelm from 1869 to 1871, Rev. E. P. Foresman from 1873 to 1875, Rev. Thomas McMinch from 1878 to 1882, Rev. George K. Scott from 1883 to 1885, Rev. J. F. Dienn from 1885 to 1890, and Rev. W. H. Schuyler from 1891 to the present time.
240
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
The names of ruling elders in order of service are as follows : James Taylor, Sr., Benjamin Gibbony, John Smith, Benjamin Blymyer, William McMillen, George Hunt, Robert M. Taylor, James Taylor, James Mul- lin, Richard M. Stuckey, A. J. Snively, W. A. B. Clark, John Sill, James Mc Vicken, B. F. Henderson, Prof. W. R. Vaughn, Isaiah Conley, George W. Taylor, and Reuben R. Colin.
The names of those who were members of this church and became ministers are Albert Clark, John H. Clark, T. T. Ealy, and Silas Fait.
About twenty-five members withdrew from this church to organize the Mann's Choice Presbyterian Church about the year 1875; records do not show exact date. Present membership seventy-one.
ISAIAH CONLEY.
SHADE GAP.
THE first religious services in the vicinity of Shade Gap were held in the grove of sugar- and walnut-trees which once covered the site of the present Presbyterian Church and cemetery attached thereto. The hand of the vandal has spared but few of these fine trees. Here, beneath their grateful shade, the faithful old-time worshippers gathered and listened devoutly to the expounding of the gospel. Theirs was a simple and abiding faith in the promises contained in the Word of God. How long they worshipped thus before they organized the " Little Aughwick Con- gregation," as this church was first called, we do not know, but Rev. Charles Beatty, who held services at the Juniata end of the Tuscarora Valley in 1766, says there was at that time no house of worship in the whole valley. The first record of this congregation the writer finds in Gibson's " History of the Huntingdon Presbytery," which says,-
" In the spring of 1798, Alexander McIlvaine, a licentiate, who had lately come to this country, made application to be received under the care of the Presbytery. .
"On the 17th of April, 1799, the Presbytery made the following minute in respect to Mr. McIlvaine : Having now resided and preached within the bounds of this Presbytery for upwards of one year, his case was reviewed: . . .
"On the 2d of October following [1799] a call from the United Congregation of Upper Tuscarora and Little Aughwick for the pastoral services of Mr. McIlwaine, promising him a salary of one hundred and fifty-one pounds. Mr. McIlvaine declared liis acceptance of the call, and on the 6th day of November of the same year he was ordained by the Presbytery and installed pastor of said congregations."
241
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
In the minutes of Presbytery for 1803 Mr. McIlvaine is recorded as pastor in charge of "Upper Tuscarora, etc." Upper Tuscarora is now called Waterloo, and the " etc." meant Shade Gap and other places. The first reference in the General Assembly minutes to service at Shade Gap is found in 1809, when the name of the church only-" Upper Tuscarora and Aughwick"-is given.
The original Session book was purchased by Captain James Morton September 2, 1800, and the record runs from December 6, 1800, to June 16, 1854. No further record appears until June 27, 1868, which is in a new Session book. Rev. Alexander McIlvaine, who was without doubt the first regular minister of the Little Aughwick congregation, receipts for salary in the old Session book as follows :
Rec'd in full of all accounts from the Congregation of Little Aughwick due me for the year 1800 per me 75 14th Apr. 1801. A. McILWAIN. Rec'd Sixty-nine Dollars 3s and four pence half peny this 17th April 1802 per me.
A. Mc.
Rec'd Thirty-six shillings and I peny this 7th of May 1802 per me. A. MCILWAIN. Rec'd from Aughwick Congregation May 28, 1804, per Wm. Morrow Collector, £53-16-0. per me A. MCILWAIN.
He was united in marriage with Catherine Canan October 7, 1800, by Rev. John Johnson, of Hartslog Valley. He was a physician as well as a minister. We find no record of the severance of his relations with the church at Shade Gap, but the following subscription list perhaps indicates the time of his retirement :
We and each of us do promise to pay unto Rev. Samuel Bell yearly and every year the sums annexed to our names during the time he shall continue to exercise his ministerial func- tion among us.
Witness our hands this 28th day of March, 1808.
George Hudson 8.75 Nathl. Kelley 1.00
6.00
Jas. Crouthers, Sr. 2.00
John Blair 4.00
Hugh Arters 2.00
James Clements 5.00
Gavin Clugage 4.00
George Wilson 5.00
Thos. Clugage 4.00
Matthew Taylor
4.00
Agnes Clugage . 3.00
Patk. Fitzsimmons 2.00
Jane Clugage 3.00
James McKee 4.00
John Bell
2.00
Hugh Glenn . 2.00
Jos. Campbell 2.00
Thos. Murphy
2.00
James Magee 1.00
Geo. McGee
2.00
James Waters 1.00
Wm. Likely
3.00
Wm. Swan 5.00
James Speer 2.50
John Appleby, Sr.
. 3.00
16
Alex. Blair
242
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
Gordon Speer
2.50
John Appleby, Jr. 2.00
Gilbert Kennedy
3.00
Alex. Appleby . 2.00
Robert Taylor
2.50
James McNeal . 3.00
Robert Marshall
2.00
Matthew Martin 2.00
David Marshall
2.00
Saml. Waters
2.00
James Clements 2.00
John Harper 1.00
James Crouthers
1.00
Hector Harper
3.00
Archd. Stitt
1.50
Robert Harper
1.50
Robert Welch
2.00
Saml. McCune
1.50
James Fleming .
3.00
Robt. Wilson
2.00
Wm. Wilson .
1.50
John Shaw
2.00
Wm. Fareman
3.50
Polly and Nancy Frame . 1.50
Robert Fleming
2.00
Thos. Wilson 2.00
Alex. McElroy
2.00
Mich. Bolinger, Jr. 1.00
Nicholas Wilson
2.00
Wm. McClean 1.00
Wm. Scott .
1.00
Robert Brown
2.00
Hugh Johnston
2.00
Richard Hall
1.00
John Wilson .
1.00
John Garner
1.00
George Moor
1.33
John Downs 1.00
Robert Clements
1.00
Barty Davis 1.00
Saml. Falkender
2.00
John Tague 1.00
John Ramsey .
1.33
Mich. Mills 1.00
Benj. Briggs
1.00
Thos. Eliot 1.00
James Piper 3.00
Hugh Richison 1.00
Saml. Parsons
1.00
Joseph Campbell 2.00
Jane Martin
1.00
Thos. Moreland
1.00
Wm. Morrow
3.00
Robert McNeal 1.00
Mary Fitzsimmons
2.67
James Welch 1.00
David Cree
1.00
John Shell . 1.00
John Kelley
1.00
Alex. Rankin
2.00
The footing on the original is $174 58.
In 1809 we find Presbytery supplying the pulpit, and we doubt if Rev. Bell ever served the congregation.
For some reason or other the congregation held services in other places besides the old church. Mr. Alexander Appleby, now eighty years old, and his twin sister, the late Mrs. A. E. Taylor, were baptized in the old Hudson grist-mill, and the Foreman House, now used by Squire Zeigler as an office, was used for a time by this congregation.
In the Assembly Report for 1814, "Upper Tuscarora and Aughwick, Shirleysburg, Wayne, Millerstown, and Chincklecamoose" are marked " Vacant, united able to support pastor ;" in 1819 "Upper Tuscarora and Aughwick" are "Vacant, united able to support pastor ;" and in 1825 the two churches are separately marked vacant, and fifty-three given as the strength of the Aughwick Church.
·
243
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
In 1824 Rev. George Gray was called to take charge of these two churches, which had been vacant since the death of Mr. McIlvaine, and for twenty-five years was their faithful and zealous pastor. Rev. George Gray was born in Antrim County, Ireland, in 1772, and, his parents dying when he was quite young, he was placed in charge of relatives. At the age of sixteen he embraced religion, and joined the church under the care of Rev. W. M. Rutherford, in Down County, Ireland. His academic studies were pursued in Ireland, his collegiate and theological courses in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was licensed to preach the gospel and ordained in 1796 by the Independents of Ireland. In this connection he labored for a number of years, and his wife dying he came to America, landing in Philadelphia in August, 1820, where he met his eminent fellow-coun- tryman, Rev. Samuel B. Wylie, who, knowing him to be thoroughly orthodox in his doctrine, urged him to join the Presbyterian Church. From here he went to Northumberland Presbytery, became a member, and passed his first years as a missionary.
He resigned the Aughwick charge September 30, 1843, and in October, 1849, pressed with the infirmities of age, being nearly fourscore, he tendered his resignation to the Upper Tuscarora Church and closed his active ministerial life. He seldom preached afterwards, except on dedi- catory occasions. He suffered from dimness of vision, but retained his reasoning faculties to the last. He was cheerful and contented, amiable in disposition and interesting in conversation. He died August 26, 1860, of natural decay. He was twice married,-first to Margaret Smith, who died in Ireland, and second, to Mrs. Amy Warrick, widow of George Warrick. She, with two sons and three daughters, survived him. There is no evidence that he was an author.
Between 1842 and 1844 the Shade Gap Church seems to have been supplied by Presbytery, Revs. Collins, Peeples, Sterrett, Jardine, and Nurrs filling the pulpit at different times.
Rev. James Y. McGinnes, who followed Mr. Gray, infused such a wonderful amount of enthusiasm into the community about Shade Gap, displayed so much energy in his undertakings, and crowded so much good in the short life he spent there, that he deserves something more than a mere passing notice. It was not the writer's privilege and good fortune to know him personally, but he has read and heard enough about this good man, and of his wonderful success in building up in the wilder- ness a fine educational institution, to satisfy him that James Y. McGinnes was no ordinary man, and that his untimely death in the midst of what
244
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
seemed his life-work was a public calamity but faintly realized at the time. He was born December 8, 1815, at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Rev. George McGinnes, who emigrated to this country from Ireland with his parents, who were Presbyterians, in 1787. He married Elizabeth M. Criswell, of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1840, and after preaching in the West for several years came to Shade Gap, and served as stated supply for the Little Aughwick Congregation for one year from October 1, 1844, and on October 8, 1845, accepted their call. Mr. Brice Blair presented him with a lot, and in 1847 Mr. McGinnes began the erection of the stone cottage which stands south of the Academy Hall, and in this he lived till his death, August 31, 1851, in the eleventh year of his ministry. He left a wife and five children, and is buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, where a nine-foot monument, erected by his students and friends, marks his resting-place.
Rev. McGinnes was beloved by all, and especially by his students. He was highly gifted, and successful beyond all expectations with the church and school, which were really built up together, and whose interests were so interwoven that the history of one is that of the other, and had he lived the usual span of life it is believed that a Presbyterian college would now stand on the ground at present occupied by the old buildings around which so many tender recollections and associations cling, and which to-day only furnish shelter and seclusion for owls and bats.
Rev. J. B. Adams served the church for six months from October 9, 1851, and in the summer of 1852 Revs. Elliott, Floyd, and S. H. McDon- ald acted as supply. On March 28, 1853, Rev. W. S. Morrison was called, and from November 12, 1853, till October 8, 1856, acted as regular pastor. From the last date till May 25, 1857, when he was released from the charge, the church was supplied by Presbytery. In 1858 Thomas Ward, a licentiate, was placed in charge, and on March 9, 1859, Rev. Garret Van Artsdalen was called for one year, and divided his time between the Shade Gap Church and the Pine Grove, or Mountain Foot, Church, a new one erected near Robert Fleming's. He served till March 18, 1865, and on April I, following, his connection with these churches ceased. From September 24, 1865, R. Lewis McCune acted as supply, and on March 19, 1866, was called and took charge of the pulpits. He was followed by Rev. William C. Kuhn, who became pastor on Sep- tember 10, 1867, and served the congregations faithfully till June 11, 1879, when Rev. John D. Owens took charge, and was succeeded in
۔
IN.
ORIGINAL AND PRESENT CHURCH AT SHADE GAP, PA.
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HUNTINGDON.
1885 by Rev. L. L. Houghawout, who was followed by the present pastor, Rev. J. H. Deiner, who took charge in 1890.
The accompanying cut is a good picture of the first Presbyterian
W
W
PULPIT
CLERK
w
13/0064
V
5
6
S.W DOOR MOST USED
Diagram of Little Aughwick Congregation Church 1800.
N.E. Door.
32 ft.
13
14
15
20
25
26
16
21
17
18
23
6
Front or
S.E. Door
24
w
38 ft.
w
dashed. Rev. McGinnes describes it in 1840 as " a little white church." two by thirty-eight feet, built about 1800, afterwards plastered and pebble- meeting-house. It was originally a plain two-gabled log building, thirty-
245
GRAVEYARD
22
246
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
It stood about one hundred feet north of the present brick structure. It had no belfry or spire, and the roofing was of " improved clapboards,"- shingles three feet long,-with plain boxing under the eaves, but no gable projections. It was heated by two stoves, whose pipes united in a large drum close under the ceiling, which was twelve feet high, and passed through the roof single. The floor space was divided into four sections, containing twenty-six pews, by aisles seven feet wide leading to three doors and to the pulpit. The latter, which was on the northwest, or graveyard side, was entered by steps, and had a wooden canopy for a sounding-board, and opposite was the front door, whose sill was level with the ground, but the southwest door, which was the first reached from the road, was most used and had one stone step, as had the third, or northeast door. The doors were all alike, double but narrow, whole width four feet, and height seven feet two inches. There were six win- dows, each having fifteen lights, eight by ten,-one on each side of pulpit, one in each end on west half of church, and one on each side of front door.
The following old-time worshippers sat in the seats indicated in the accompanying diagram of the old log church :
I. James Morton, Thomas Wilson, and John Bigham.
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.