USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > North East > The centennial commemoration of the founding of the First Presbyterian Church, of North East, Pennsylvania > Part 10
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with John McCord, and they both brought their small families out in 1798. He was a tall man, noted in early life for his ath- letic feats and vigorous frame. He was a farmer but for many . years one of the first justices of the peace. His father was a ruling elder in Central Pennsylvania for many years and in his later years in Kentucky, and was a soldier of the Revolution. Mr. Robinson was one of the three original elders of the North East Church. It was said of him by a contemporary that "he was the most complete gentleman she ever knew, uniformly courte- ous in speech and dignified in manner." He was widely known as the peaceful arbitrator of disputes among his fellowmen. In the church he was beloved for his gentleness and purity of char- acter, and as a man remarkable for the tenderness and power of his public prayers, "A prince with God" and a lover of his fel- lowmen.
James Duncan was a Scotch-Irishman born in the north of Ireland, and came to this country in the earliest years of the nineteenth century. He and William Dickson were ordained Ruling Elders in the North East Church on Feb. 20, 1827, in the presence of a great congregation. Mr. Duncan brought with him the sterling uprightness of his ancestry abroad, and was trusted and revered through all the years of his Ruling Eldership. I recall him as a plain, honest, straight-forward man, short in stature, who never lost his foreign brogue and was scarcely ever absent from his large square pew on the western side of the church in the park. My father's pew was directly opposite on the east side and the straying eyes of a boy knew quite well where everybody sat. It was not an uncommon nor unfashionable thing for the gentlemen of the olden times, if the Sunday was a hot one, to relieve themselves of their coats made of heavy home spun wool, and sit in their shirt sleeves during the service. And if perchance the sermon was long and drowsi- ness feil upon them, they would rise and stand until they were fully awake. "Father" Duncan was a determined foe to church sleeping. All honor to this servant of Christ and of his church. Mr. Duncan resigned his Eldership in the church August 30, 1843, after a service of sixteen years, but remained in the mem- bership of the church until his death, August 9, 1861.
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William Dickson, the son of Capt. James Dickson of the army of the Revolution, and Mary Morris, was born in Philips- burg, Columbia County, New York, March 27, 1783. He was of Scotch descent, although his ancestors came to this country directly from England. In 1789 his father moved westward and settled in Westmoreland County, Pa., for ten years. In 1801 the family came into Erie County and settled on the heads of French Creek. There was not at that time a church or an or- ganized congregation within an hundred miles. Presbyterian Missionaries from the region about Pittsburg were just begin- ning to visit the scattered people in the wilderness. One of the Missionaries was the Rev. James Satterfield. lle came and preached in the settlement where Mr. Dickson had his log cabin. The service was under a spreading beech tree. Every family in the township was represented at the niceting. At the close of the service the young men were invited to meet on Thursday morning and build a meeting house. The building was begun and completed the sante day. In 1818 Mr. Dickson bought a tract of land about a mile and a half west of the village of North East, where he resided until 1837, when he removed to the banks of the Mississippi, in Milan, Illinois, where he died in 1869 in the 87th year of his life. For nineteen years he was con- nected with the North East congregation. He was in the prime of his manhood. Ten of those years were given to the duties of a Ruling Elder in this church. Rev. Dr. S. J. M. Eaton, the biographer of the hie of his son, Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D. D). says of the father, "He had a commanding form, a blue eye full of fire, and great readiness of speech that fitted him for the pub- lic duties to which he was frequently called. Ile was a man of strong fiber, of very decided convictions, a born leader of men, thoughtful, earnest. ivarless, and persistent in carrying out to their full accomplishment the plans and purposes of his life." He was the worthy father of one of the most eloquent and gifted ministers of the Presbyterian Church, and during his connection with this congregation exercised a strong and beneficent in- fluence upon its character and history. Mr. Dickson was or- dained and installed an Elder of this church Feb. 2. 1827.
William Andrew Robinson, son of Thomas Robinson. a member of the first session of this church for twenty-nine years,
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JOSEPH MCCORD. Elder, 1850.
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was born in Perry County, Pa., July 20, 1795. He came hither with his father in 1798, being carried on horseback a large part of the way. He was a farmer by occupation, but when a young man spent some of his winters in teaching school. Shortly after the death of his father, he was called to take the vacant place in the Eldership as the sixth Ruling Elder of this church. He was ordained and installed on Feb. 2d, 1830. He continued to serve the church for a number of years. His relationship to the church was broken about 1860, when for a few years he resided in Pittsburg. The closing years of his life were spent with the church of his love. He died in 1871 in the 76th year of his age, having been a Ruling Elder for 41 years. He was a man universally be- loved for his integrity and purity of character. It is said of him that he was never a party in a suit at law with any of his fellowmen. He felt a deep interest in the anti-slavery and tem- perance movements when he was yet a young man. His pastor during some of the later years of his life gives the highest testi- mony to the gentle, pure, and strong influence of his presence and character.
Harmon Ensign was born in Morris, Litchfield County, Conn .. Feb. 14, 1793. He came to North East in 1815. He was ordained as an Elder in the Presbyterian Church in 1834 and died March 14, 1875, after a faithful service of forty-one years. Mr. Ensign was one of that excellent body of New Eng- land people who through all the history of this church have by their intelligence and piety contributed so largely to the moral and religious welfare of this church and the community. For sixty years he was a highly respected citizen of North East town- ship and borough, living before his fellow men a life of thorough- ly Christian integrity, passing away at the age of eighty-two. For nearly forty years the writer of this sketch was familiar with his face and the character of his life and is glad to write of him in words of unstimed praise. The Ensign and Robinson pews were very near each other in the old White Church. Their homes in the town ship and the borough were never far apart, and the friendship between them was never broken.
William Crawford was born at Jersey Shore, Pa., on Dec. 25, 1796, and was brought to North East with his father's family in 1798. It is not known at what time he made a public profes- sion of his faith in Jesus Christ. He was ordained as a Ruling
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Elder September 10, 1834, and served the church until his death on Aug. 19, 1850. Mr. Crawford is remembered as a success- ful business man and the owner of one of the first paper mills of Erie County. He was a man of high integrity and through the nearly one-third of a century in which he held his office as Elder, he was trusted and beloved by the members of the church and congregation.
James Smedley, M. D., was born in 1787 in Litchfield, Conn. He was ordained as a Ruling Elder in the church Sept. 10th, 1834, and continued in the Eldership until his death, January 6, 1868, a period of over thirty-four years. The date of his union with the church has not been preserved. Dr. Smedley was a man of marked character and ability. For his position in a new frontier community in was a peer among the best men of his day. He was cultured, a man of quick and large experience, a leader among his fellowmen. He stood very high in his pro- fession and his counsel was widely sought. In the work of the church he was prominent and wise. At a teacher of the Sun- day school he was remembered by his pupils for his clear and keen knowledge of Scriptural truth and his power to impart it. His influence was most widely felt in the church and community as the friend of all that was good. Personally he was a bright, witty, delightful companion and his death was felt as a great public loss.
Obce Selkres was born in Connecticut on Sept. 20, 1795. and came to North East at an carly date, and became a member of the church Feb. 29, 1828. Six years later, September 10, 1834, he was ordained a Ruling Elder of the church and con- tinued in the faithful discharge of his duties until his death June 4, 1883. £ His wife Harriet ( Robinson) Selkregg died Nov. 17, 1889. There are many living who will recall the uniform goodness of Mr. Selkregg's life. He was a thoroughly devoted Christian, irreproachable in character, unfailing in the virtues and good deeds that mark the best of lives. As a ruler in the church he was an example to all who till that sacred office, and as a man among his fellowmen he won universal esteem. Until the last infirmities of advanced years prevented he came to the house of God. The cause of religion and the welfare of the church of ('hrist were dear to his mind and heart.
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Frederick Ensign was born at Soulle Farms, Litchfield County, Conn., June 2d, 1795. He came to North East in 1833, uniting with the Presbyterian Church in the same year. Ile was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder in the church on De- cember 31st, 1843, and removed to Roscoe, Ill., in 1844, after a brief service in his office. He served for a time in the Congregational Church as a deacon and later in the Presbyterian Church from 1846 until he removed in 1860 to Saratoga, Minn. In 1865 he removed to Farley, lowa, and united with . the Presbyterian Church. At this place he died after a brief illness on Aug. 6, 1879, in the 85th year of his age. From early life he was a consistent and active member of the Christian Church, living and dying in its happy faith.
Benjamin Royce Tuttle was born March 29, 1798, and united with the church on profession of faith in 1837 and was ordained as a Ruling Elder Nov. 25, 1849. His death occurred suddenly May 14, 1860, as he was about starting to the General Assembly as a Commissioner to that body from the Presbytery of Eric. The Assembly passed a resolution of regret and sympathy to be sent to his family and the church at North East.
Extract from the records of the Presbytery of Erie, June 27, 1860.
"In the Providence of God, Elder Benjamin Royce Tuttle of the church of North East, under appointment of Presbytery as Commissioner to the General Assembly, was suddenly called away after every preparation had been completed, and when upon the eve of his departure to the body of which he was chosen a member, to that higher 'Assembly and Church of the first- born which are written in Heaven.' It was his intention to have obeyed the instructions of his fellow Presbyters, but the Great Head of the church anticipated that intention, overruled the wishes of Presbytery, and honored our brother by the com mand, 'Come up higher.' ..
AAt his funeral service, his pastor, the Rev. Dr. A. H. Carrier, preached a memorial discourse on the words "An Israelite in- deed in whom is no guile." Brief extracts from that discourse speak but the general estimate in which Mr. Tuttle was held. "None knew him but to praise."
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"I count it almost the rarest, the highest, the most noble tribute to the character of our departed friend that with signal unanimity all accorded to him the praise of a true, consistent, and devoted Christian. There was in him no guile. His dis- position was as open and ingenuous as a child's. He was ut- terly without affectation, entirely sincere, ingenuous, artless. If he had faults they were such as touched not the essence of his- character. Guilelessness is the highest attainment of earthly virtuc. In this we claim that our brother was pre-eminent. He was a living embodiment of Christian principle." In the family in social life, amid the cares of business, in the duties of his church life, he was ever a calm, generous, kindly and wise Christian man, winning the universal respect of his fellowmen and drawing about him the deep and genuine love of his Christian brethren.
James Whitehill was a native of Pennsylvania: his wife Sophia Platt of the state of New York. He was born March 30, 1797, in Lancaster Co., Pa., and came to Erie County in 1822, settling at first in Greenfield township, but removing in 1830 to a farm in North East township, about three miles northeast of the village, where he died, April 23, 1870. He was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder Aug. 30, 1849, serving the church over twenty-seven years. A generation has nearly passed away since his death but the mentory of the good life and influence, of the faithful life and labors, and of the noble Christian character of Mr. White bill remain to this day as the possession of the North East Church.
Dyer Loomis was born Oct. 1, 1810, on a farm in North East just east of the borough limits. He was carried in a cradle hewn out of a rough beg to the farm house, which is still standing in the eastern part of the village, where he spent nearly eighty- five years. The last four years of his life were spent in the vil- lage. He died Dec. 2, 1901, in the 2nd year of his age. Mr. Loomis married Eliza McCord Robinson, a daughter of Thomas Robinson, a member of the first session of this church, April 28, 1839. He and his two sons Joseph and Lamartine entered into the War of the Rebellion, the father becoming captain of Com- pany C, 145th Regiment Pa. Volunteers, and his youngest son, Lamartine, a private in the same company. Lamartine con- tracted typhoid fever at Harper's Ferry and died four weeks later,
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WILLIAM E. MARVIN, Elder, 1868.
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in his seventeenth year, at North East. The elder sister, Mary, nursed him in his illness, contracted the fever and died a month later. Joseph, the eldest son, became a member of Company C, ITIth Reg. Pa. Volunteers. All the male members of the fami- ly served their country in the war. Two members of it were victims of the Rebellion. Captain Loomis was taken a prisoner at the battle of Chancellorsville and was an inmate of Libby Pris- on, and on account of poor health was discharged from service in September, 1863.
He was elected a justice of the peace in 1845, and filled the office for the largest part of his life.
He was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder of the Presby- terian Church March 25. 1849, and continued in the office until his death December 2, 1901, nearly half a century, the longest service of any of its Elders. He was for more than sixty-eight years a member of the church.
It may be truthfully said of Mr. Loomis that in all the re- lations of his long life he was a most worthy example to his fel- lowmen. In the family he was a loving husband and excellent father. In social life he was courteous and honorable. In public he was irreproachable in his uprightness. He was a warm lover of his country, giving himself and his two young sons to the perils of battle and army life for her sake. As a citizen he ever sought the best good of his fellowmen. As a member of the church he adorned his profession. He was a model Ruling Elder, serving the church for nearly half a century in the Ses- sion and. when called upon, in the Presbytery, the Synod, and the General Assembly .. Let his memory ever be held in highest esteen.
Joseph McCord, Jr., was the youngest son of Joseph Mc- Cord, Sr., an early Ruling Elder of this church, and was born in North East township on the banks of Lake Erie May 29, 1810. For ten years after his marriage he followed the lakes and was mate and master of several of the first-class vessels of that day. He quitted the lakes in 1842 and settled on his farm, where he remained until tas death on June 2, 1886. On March 2, 1856, he was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder, giving to the church thirty years of faithful and excellent service. He is re- membered as a man of a genial nature, beloved for his excellent
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traits of character and for the uprightness of his life. Some of his family are at this day members of the church.
Horatio M. Gilman was born at Westfield, N. Y. He re: moved to North East township, became a member of the First Presbyterian Church at North East in 1848, and was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder March 2, 1856. Mr. Gilman was re- spected and honored as an upright and consistent Christian, giv- ing to the church of which he was an Elder his best service. One who knew him well says of him, "I never knew a better man."
William E. Marvin. The parents of Mr. Marvin, Elisha and Minerva ( Prendergast) Marvin, came to Erie County in 1796. He was born in Mayville, March 2, 1814, and at the early age of six weeks was brought on horseback by his mother to their home in Greenfield. He was married in 1848 to Catharine Spencer of Connecticut. For many years he was justice of the peace in Greenfield. At a later day he removed to his farm in North East township about three miles cast of the village. At a still later date he removed to North East, where he spent the rest of his life. He was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church of North East Nov. 8, 1868, and held the office until his death, Sept. 16, 1899. The high and sturdy character of Mr. Marvin, his unfailing integrity, his devotion and love to his chuten are well known to the present generation. He was the generous friend of all classes of his fellowmen, and was noted for his kind and genial nature. for his wisdom in counsel, and for his irreproachable Christian character.
Benjamin T. Spooner was born at Gill, Mass., on the 28th day of August, 1802. He became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of North East on April 5, 1851, and was ordained as a Ruling Elder on March 2, 1856. Ilis former pastor, Rev. Thomas B. Hudson, D. D., pays the following hearty tribute to His memory :
Mr. Spooner was a sincere and consistent Christian and a faithful servant of Christ and of the church. ' The better I knew him the more I became attached to him. He was a man who could be depended upon. . . As an officer of the church he was
MARTIN L. SELKREGG, Elder, 1868.
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true to his trust. He felt his responsibilities and honored the Eldership. He was a good man, a kind husband, and devoted father. His domestic relations were happy. He was a good citizen, and his name deserves to be ranked with the best men who have been enrolled in the membership of this church.
Martin L. Selkregg, a son of Mr. Osee Selkregg, a former Ruling Elder of this church, was born at North East on the 4th day of November, 1834. He united with the First Presbyterian Church of North East Oct. 12, 1850, and on Nov. 8, 1868, was ordained to the office of Ruling Elder in the church with the great unanimity and cordiality of the people. He was the youngest member of the session-younger than men usually are who are called to such an office. His pastor at that time pays the following warm tribute to Mr. Selkregg's char- acter: "By his intelligence and force of character and earnest religious zeal, he soon became one of the most influential and useful of its members. He loved the church. He had decided views as to what would promote its prosperity and best interests, and was diligent in its service."
Martin L. Selkregg was a noble man and a true Christian. His whole life was characterized by the strictest integrity and most conscientious devotion to duty. As was said of him at the time of his death in the public press: "He was a prominent and successful business man for almost forty years. He was abso- lutely honest in all his business transactions and no stain rests upon moral and commercial life and character. He was a de- voted and self-sacrificing husband and father. His home was a model of love and mutual sympathy on the part of all its mem- bers." The later years of his life were years of physical weak- ness and suffering, but all was borne with patient and brave res- ignation to the Divine Will and when the end came, he was pre- pared to enter into his Heavenly home, that house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. His death occurred on Sept. 4, 1801. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."
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Symposium.
JULY 19, 1901.
Introduction of speakers by Rev. Herbert Ross, D. D., Toast Master.
I am here first to offer my congratulations that you have reached your centennial, and to invite you to the next one. I congratulate you on the long history that you have of strong and able and Christian men and women in this church at North East.
And we rejoice to-day with you all. There is one regret which you have doubtless, and which I have, that the gentleman who was to occupy this position has gone to convert the savages in the North, gone over to Canada. I hope that he will do his work well there.
The first toast is "Our Church," and as you are going to get a great many good speeches, I will not inflict any long speeches apon you, as I expect to speak quite frequently. My brother preached to his congregation just one hour and ten minutes, I will have mercy on you.
"OUR CHURCH"-Rev. Frank J. Nash, M. A., Pastor Weed- en Street Congregational Church, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. "Our Church." -This is a big subject. It includes the whole Centennial celebration; for it is the one hundred years' history of "Our Church" that we celebrate.
For three days bright and learned men have been delivering public addresses in your hearing upon sub-topics of my subject -- and now the whole thing is bunched together and given to me and I am expected to put the waters of Lake Erie in a pint cup without straining the cup. Or, perchance, the committee is like the boy who set the hen and put nineteen eggs under her and his mother said "Why, my son, why did you put so many eggs under the her. she can't possibly cover them?" "I know it," said the boy, "but I wanted to see the old thing spread her- self once." Doubtless the committee does not expect me to cover so big a subject, but it is generous and wants to give me
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REN. F. J. NASIL. Son of the Church.
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a chance to spread myself upon this glorious centennial occasion. Kind of a trust subject incorporating all of the rest of the topics. Well, I like such a subject-broad enough so there is no danger of stepping off from the edge. I have almost the freedom of the wind and can go where I list and need not worry whence I came or whither I go. With perfect propriety I may talk about per- sonal reminiscences of our church. . I might speak of my ac- quaintance with the fine lot of pastors, who have ministered to our church during nearly a half of its hundred years history. I might give half an hour or so to what I know about the Elders. I notice "Our Ladies" on the programme. That is only one part of my subject, for what would our church be without "our ladies," and very reluctantly I shall leave our ladies alone to-day. But even then, I hope you don't expect me to get through in the ten minutes or one-half or three-quarters of an hour allowed to speakers who had sub-topics, while you have given me the whole thing.
However, you have commenced the exercises at 2 o'clock in the afternoon rather than half past seven as you did last even- ing, and I have four or five hours advantage of the speakers last night and fine refreshments at the start, and yet I am mindful of the proverb of the old colored preacher who said :"Blessed am de man who maketh a short speech, caze he will be invited to come again." I want to be invited again to the next occasion like this.
"Our Church" is a platform broad enough for all Christians to stand upon together. "Our Church" means my church, your church, cur church. That is full of fraternal feeling, and friendship and brotherly love and Christian fellowship, a kind of church federation which embraces every sister and brother, whether a nurse, or soldier in the Presbyterian Artillery, or Con- gregational Infantry, or Baptist Navy, or Methodist Cavalry, or any other loyal denominational division of the grand army of God. Our Church means the denominational regiment, or all of the forces in the Christian army. One dag, one captain; "in essentials, unity, non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity." "Bless be the de that binds our hearts in Christian love." But specifically "Our Church" means our dear old Presbyterian Church on the shores of lake Erie, in North East, Pa., the dear- est church on God's footstool. I am speaking from a personal
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