USA > Pennsylvania > Erie County > North East > The centennial commemoration of the founding of the First Presbyterian Church, of North East, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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BENEDICTION-
And, now may grace, mercy and peace from God, the Fa- ther, and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour be with each of us now and forever. AMEN.
ORGAN- 1
The following discourse was given in 1877 by the Rev. J. T. Oxtoby, who was at that time pastor of the Church, and has been deemed eminently worthy of re-publication in this permanent form:
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A HISTORICAL DISCOURSE CONCERNING THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NORTHI EAST PA.
By Rev. J. T. Oxtoby:
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, at its meeting in Cleveland, in May, 1875, adopted a resolution urging the pastor of each of the churches under its care "to deliver a discourse on the history of his church," during the Centennial year of 1876. In accordance with that resolution I have taken a hurried review of the promi- nent history of the First Presbyterian Church of North East, Pennsylvania.
At the close of the Revolution, New York and Massachu- setts both claimed sovereignty over this region of country. New York based her claim on her charter from the Duke of York, af- terwards James 11., and upon her alliance with the Six Nations. Massachusetts claimed that her charter projected her west line all the way to the Pacific.' March Ist, 1781, New York sur- rendered to the Federal Government all lands lying west of a meridian line extending through the most westerly bent of Lake Ontario, providing said line should not be less than twen- ty miles from the most westerly part of the strait of river of Niagara. As the claim was surrendered for the common benefit of all the states, to pay the national debt incurred by the war, Massachusetts also, April 19, 1785, gave up her claim. Thus what is now known as the triangle come under the proprietorship of the United States.
In 1788, Pennsylvania began negotiations for the purchase of the triangle. Gen. William Irvine, then representing this dis- trict in Congress, was prominent in securing it, that his state might have a harbor on Lake Erie.
On the 3d of March, 1792, the triangle was purchased from the United States by Pennsylvania, and not from New York, as some have been led to believe. The price paid was seventy-five cents an acre. As there were 202,187 acres, the entire cost was $151,640.25. Then, this was Allegheny County and Greenfield Township. In accordance with the policy of the Penns, ever
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REV. JOHN T. OXTOBY, D. D., 1870 to 1880.
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pursued by this state, the Indians were given about $3,000 for rights they claimed to the soil.
While the lands on both sides of it, in New York and in Ohio, were being rapidly settled and improved, the triangle was seriously retarded not only by the disturbed state of the fron- tier, but by serious and bitter litigation, lasting for years. . The Population Company could give no titles to land as long as the state held a lien for monies unpaid. Settlers began to move in about 1795; but it was ten years later, or 1805, before the legal strife fully cleared away, under the decision of Chief Justice Mar- shall, confirming the Population Company in their claims. Sev- eral of the early settlers bought their lands twice; first from the previous settlers, and afterwards from the Population Company.
On Sunday, July 2d, 1797, was held at Colt's Station the first religious service in what is now Erie County. Thirty or forty persons were in attendance, and one of Dr. Blair's sermons was read from I. Cor. 14:4: "Let All Things Be Done Decently and in Order." A good subject for a new colony.
Among the early settlers in this region was Wm. Dundass, a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church from Ireland. His house was situated near where the parsonage of this church now stands. Mr. Dundass, in company with Mr. Lowry and Mr. Campbell, held religious meetings, both in the open air and in private houses. Often the people gathered at his house for prayer, and for reading the scriptures, and sermons out of books. Mrs. Robert Mc Neill tells me she remembers having been pres- ent at some of these meetings. Thus church history, in Erie County, begins in the bounds of this church.
Rev. Messrs. Elisha MeCurdy, and Joseph Stockton came twice to Erie County, in 1799, on missionary tours. They were sent by the Presbyteries of Ohio and of Redstone, and met with a cordial reception. One of the facts indispntable that gild our church history with glory unfading is, that as soon as a tent was pitched an altar was erected. Not many log cabins were up be- fore a log church was built. The people brought the church with them.
March 12th. 1800, Erie County was erected as a separate county. In 1801 Rev. E. Mccurdy was sent back on a second mission by the Presbytery of Ohio, now called the Presbytery of '
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Pittsburgh, to preach and organize churches, accompanied by Philip Jackson, who was known as the "Praying Elder."
During this visit, the churches of upper Greenfield, after- wards known as Middlebrook, and of lower Greenfield, now known as North East, were organized. So that the first Pres- byterian Church of North East is the oldest existing church in. Erie County. Next comes the Presbyterian Church of Fair- view.
Mr. Judah Colt says :- "On Sabbath, September 27th, 1801, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was first administered in this county, on the plantation then occupied by Mr. Dundass, and a congregation of 300 assembled; about 40 communed. Min- isters present : Revs. McCurdy, Satterfield. Wick, and Boyd. Services over they adjourned to the residence of Mr. John Mc- Cord and came together on Monday to hear preaching."
This communion was held in the woods somewhere near the residence of the late Col. Gould, and this church was organized then and there. It is not surprising that Judah Colt remembered that sacramental occasion. On the day previous he had talked with Mr. MeCurdy about joining the church, but the way was not plain before him. This communion was held in the open air. As the occupants of one table dispersed, Mr. Colt felt that he must join the church just then. So a meeting of the session was called, and Mr. Colt was received into membership, and at once sat down at the table of the Lord. This is one of the most striking incidents in the history of the Presbyterian Church of North East. It is mentioned in Dr. Elliot's "Life of Mc- Curdy," and was testified to by many of the older members. Rev. Dr. Orton bore witness to me of its truth. Mr. Colt af- terwards became an active and honored elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Eric.
Social affairs at that time are pictured by the following in- cident :--- When Thomas Moorhead and Jane, his wife, were at the meeting to organize the church in 1801, a party of Indians, traveling along, stopped at their house to rest and take refresh- 10Git. Such things were common in those days, and did not terrify the children. Denn's equitable treatment of the Indians had its effect from Philadelphia to Lake Erie. Macauley's in- justice to Penn is rendered more glaring by such a fact. After a time the Indians set out their dinner, consisting of jerked ven-
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ison, as a sort of bread, and bear meat. But when they drew their huge knives out of their belts, the children became frightened and fled to the barn for a while. Col. James Moorhead, as one of those children, very naturally has a distinct recollection of the incident. He was then eight years old. In 1817 he established in Moorheadville the first Sabbath school ever held in Erie County, Pa. April 13th, 1802, the Presbytery of Erie was or- ganized. In June, 1802, Rev. Robert Patterson accepted calls to the churches of upper and lower Greenfield (Middlebrook and North East) for two-thirds of his time, at a salary of two hundred dollars. The other third of his time was to be spent in mission- ary work. Mr. Patterson was a student of theology under Dr. McMillan, of Cannonsburg, Pa. September Ist, 1803, he was or- dained and installed pastor. The ordination took place at John McCord's bark house, on what is now the farm of Samson Short, Rev. Mr. Badger preaching the sermon, and Rev. Messrs. Tait and Stockton giving the right hand of fellowship, and this was followed by preaching for three or four successive days.
Our church history naturally groups itself about the three edifices in which the congregation has gathered. I shall there- fore divide the subject into the log church, the frame church, and the brick church.
1 .- The Log Church. This was built in 1805. It was about thirty feet long by twenty wide, made of plain logs, hewed smooth on the inside, filled in with sticks, and daubed with mor- tar. The front was on the south; the entrance was on the west, and the high pulpit was on the north side. It was located in the midst of our present beautiful cemetery; the Robinson fam- ily monument is on a portion of the site. Five acres of land was the amount originally set off for the property of the church. In this building no fire was ever made; but after the school house was built adjonng and a door was cut through from the church, on extremely cold days some of the people used to go in there to get warmed. Some of the women carried foot-stoves into the church, and many warm bricks and soap-stones served to keep off the chills. The seats were portable, and there were no sheds for horses; but as the woods were thick and warm, there was no urgent necessity for them.
Rev. Robert Patterson as the first pastor found twenty five members in the church. Yet the congregations were large, as
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the people came from all the region round about, and the settle- ment was chiefly Presbyterian. Mr. Patterson at first boarded with John McCord; then lived at the mouth of Twelve-Mile Creek; then kept house in a part of the dwelling of Mr. William Wilson, and then lived on the old Whitehill place. Often the services were held in the woods, so large were the congregations. Communion was served from tables in the aisles, sometimes hekl in the woods. Tokens were given to all the communicants, be- ing a piece of lead with or without initials.
Wm. McCord tells me that one day, while Mr. McCurdy was preaching in the log church, one man was taken with what was then called "The Power" and fell down, weeping and praying, and became stiff and rigid as death for a time. Such things were not at that time infrequent. Banns of marriage used to be pub- lished in the log church, so that the people had due notice and an opportunity to object or to approve. A snake three feet long was discovered after services had begun one Sabbath, lying at ease on one of the logs on the side of the church. The men soon clubbed it to death and threw it out of doors.
Services were quite lengthy in those days. Preaching would last two hours or more. During intermission of an hour the people would take lunch and some of the old people still remem- ber the wintergreen or mountain tea, and the huckleberries that were then so abundant about the log church. Then they went back to hear a second sermon of at least an hour and a half long. Sometimes three or four went te "meeting" on one horse. And the old people insist that there was a great deal more sleighing in those days than we have now, partly on account of the dense woods.
The first elders were John McCord, Joseph McCord, and Thomas Robinson. All of the names of the first members I am not able to obtain. Here are some of them :- McCord, Moor- head, Robinson, Brawley, Lowry, Jacks, Stewart, Loomis, Shad- duck, Gallaher, Cochran. Most of, these names are still found in this church.
The greater portion of the original members were of Scotch- Trish descent, coming here from the regions of the Susquehan- na River. Old Mr. Hunter, grandfather of John Silliman, and Daniel Wilson came from French Creek, ten miles distant, and many came from Colt's station, seven miles away, and were quite
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FREDERICK ENSIGN, Elder, 1843.
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regular in attendance. Our beautiful cemetery is the continua- tion and outgrowth of the cemetery in the rear of the log church. The first grave was that of Miss Sarah McCord, sister of William and Joseph, who are yet with us in the flesh. The second grave was that of Hugh Crawford, brother of Robert, of our town. Col. James Moorhead was one of the first directors of that Presbyterian cemetery. April 15th, 1852, the North -East cemetery was incorporated. Twelve acres and a half were ad- ded to the five belonging to the Presbyterian burying ground.
April 12th, 1807, Mr. Patterson resigned the charge of this church. His reason assigned to Presbytery, was "insufficient salary, so that I have neither leisure nor due composure to engage in that reading, meditation, and study which are necessary to a faithful and profitable discharge of ministerial duties." Of the people he said : "I have found them respectful, obliging, and friendly; and though the dispensation of the Gospel and its or- dinances have not been attended by any remarkable success, yet we are not without some encouragement and dawnings of hope." He left the church with forty members.
This church was certainly nourished in its infancy by good preachers. MeCurdy and Stockton were men of mark in church and educational circles. Stockton was the author of the "West- ern Calculator." . Patterson was a tutor in the University of Pennsylvania for five years, and also had charge afterwards of the Pittsburgh Academy, now the Western University. Tait was considered one of the best preachers of that time, and he was a frequent and welcome visitor to the log church.
From the resignation of Mr. Patterson the church had no permanent minister until 1812, when Rev. John McPherrin sup- . plied the church for six months. Of Mr. McPherrin the fol- lowing is related: A young man wanted to marry his danghter, and she had agreed to be his wife. The father was inexorably opposed to the match, and threatened to prosecute any one who would perform the wedding ceremony. Late one night a couple presented themselves to be married at the door of his residence. They were in great haste, it was said, and so he married from the window. When all was over he discovered that he had married his own daughter to the man he so much disliked. £ Mr. Mc- Pherrin thereupon declared that thereafter he would marry no one without first publishing the bans. He adhered to this rule, to the discomfort of several couples in his congregation.
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During Mr. McPherrin's labors a communion service was held in the open air. Just in the midst of it rain was much threat- ened, and public prayer was offered that it might be averted, and there was no rain until the congregation had reached their homes. This incident of our early history is well authenticated.
After leaving this church Mr. McPherrin went to Butler, where he was pastor from April 7th, 1813, to the day of his death, February 10, 1822. His memory is greatly revered in Butler as an evangelical laborer in the cause of Christ. Hon. Walter Lowrie, who left the United States Senate to become the first honored and efficient secretary of our Board of Foreign Mis- sions, married one of his daughters.
It is certainly a striking coincidence that this church should have one of its sons, Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D. D., the secretary of the Board of Home Missions, and the grandson of one of its ministers, Rev. John C. Lowrie, D. D., as the secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions.
Rev. Johnston Eaton preached in 1815-16 to this congrega- tion one-third of the time. He was living in Fairview and was giving to that church a portion of his time. Of Mr. Eaton I need only say that he was pastor of the Fairview Church for forty years, and was one of the chief pioneer pastors of this lake re- gion. Faithful to Christ, his family follow in his footsteps.
The log church enjoyed a most precious revival in 1818. Rev. Phineas Camp, an Evangelist, who spent most of his life in revival work and died in the triumphs of the Gospel, conducted the meetings. Not only were the members fired with a new life and zeal, but twenty members were added to the church.
This was about the close of services in the log church, and it was the crowning blessing ; the approving smile of the Master; a fitting seal and end to the devotions held in the first church of the fathers reared for the worship of the Lord.
Glad, indeed must have been the hearts of the people of God. In seventeen years they had only had two pastors, serving seven years ; and only one that had lived among them. Ten years ont of seventeen they were dependent on supplies; yet they faith- fally clung to the services of religion. Whenever they could, they had a minister; when they could not secure one they read ser- mons or held prayer meetings. As the filling of the Jewish Temple
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GAD WHITE CHURCH IN THE PARK.
1820 to 1860
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with the cloud, must this ingathering of souls and refreshing of hearts have seemed to that congregation. Considering the pri- vations and hardships of the people, that log church must be re- garded as a monument to the piety and liberality of the early settlers of North East township.
Turn we now to the second church building.
II. The Frame Church. In 1818 began the project of erecting a new church building. As usual, the first question was concerning the location. The old site had become endeared to many; sinners had been converted; Christians had enjoyed many delightful hours, and then the dead were buried near the old church. We are assured that there was a great deal of feeling on the subject. The village was becoming quite a place, for that time; now it would seem strange to see Main street dotted with log houses at long intervals, and the intervening spaces filled with girdled trees.
However, it was decided by a majority of one, to leave the old site on Cemetery Hill, and build a church in the village.
Mr. Colt had laid the town out about 1801, and called it Gibsonville, after his friend Gibson, who was a large owner of the town lots, and gave the land at present occupied as the park : on the Map of 1825 the town was called Burget Town, and the name was changed to North East in 1834. The project of erect- ing a new Presbyterian Church was agitated as soon as 1818, al- most as soon as the town was settled to any considerable degree.
From 18IS to 1822, the work went forward, as the means were furnished by the subscribers. . The manner of building is of interest, as showing the state of society and the method of doing business in that time. I have given a careful study to the sub- scriptions to that church building, for they are still in a good state of preservation. Very few of them were made or paid in money. Lumber and labor are the chief items, while grain, four, nails, and so on, figure prominently. Even whiskey was given in one or two instances, for it was then readily convertible into money, and was used by the majority. Mr. Judd was the builder. It was put up, not by contract, but by days' work. As lumber was abundant, and freely given, a great deal of it was tised; enough, it is said, to build two or three such churches.
The frame Church stood in the center of the present park, and the front and entrance was on the south. In it there were both
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pews and slips; a pew was a sort of family box, having seats on at least three sides, and the corner ones having seats on four sides. A slip was a straight seat, such as are now exclusively found in most churches.
At the time of its erection, the frame church was believed to be the best edifice of its kind this side of Pittsburg. Many peo- ple came from a distance to see it as a model of most excellent building. During the "raising," the women of the church pro- vided dinners for all who aided. Long tables were set out on the common, and for more than a week all were bountifully supplied. In contrast with the rest of the town, the church edifice was a great ornament. In seating capacity, including the gallery, there was as much room, if not more, as in any edifice ever put up in this borough. This is beyond dispute: that in each of the three buildings in which the Presbyterians of North East have worshipped, they have shown a commendable desire to have the best for the service of the Lord.
The first regular preacher in the frame church was Rev. Ju- dah Ely, a licentiate of the presbytery of Buffalo. He remained six months of the year 1823, filling the pulpit half of the time.
In 1824 came Rev. Giles Doolittle, who was ordained and in- stalled April 15, 1825, and became the first pastor of the frame church. Then the church numbered sixty-eight members. John McCord and Thomas Robinson were still the elders. It is note- worthy that of the original elders of this church. John McCord served thirty-seven years,'and Thomas Robinson twenty-nine. Much of the harmony and efficiency of the organization is doubt- less to be ascribed to this fact.
Of the members on the roll of 1825, I believe the following are the only survivors: Col. James Moorhead, Mrs. Nancy Crawford, William Duncan, Mrs. Sophonia Baldwin, and Mrs. Nancy Robinson.
February 2d, .827, the sesssion received its first accession, for on that day James Duncan and Wm. Dickson were ordained and installed elders. in the presence of a great congregation. For twenty-six years there had been no addition to the members of session.
September 9, 1829, the "First Presbyterian Congregation of North East Township" was chartered by the justices of the Su- preme Court of Pennsylvania. First trustees: Wm. Doolittle,
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Nathaniel Norris, Wm. H. McCord, Wm. McCord, and Robert Hampson.
For five years Mr. Doolittle gave half of his pastoral labors to Ripley, but for the remaining two years and five months he gave all his time to North East.
In 1831 W. A. Robinson was ordained and installed an elder, to take the place vacated by the death of his father.
Mr. Doolittle's labors were greatly blessed in this church. Several revivals of religion crowned his ministry. He took charge of the church with sixty-eight members; he dismissed fifty-eight to form the church of Harborcreek; and yet, after sending out this colony, almost as large as the whole church when he came, he left a membership of one hundred and five. Never very robust, he only lived seven years after leaving North East, having died in Hudson, Ohio, where he was pastor, in the 49th year of his age.
November 15th, 1833, Rev. W. A. Adair, a licentiate of Hart- ford, now Shenango, Presbytery, was ordained and installed pastor. Rev. A. McCready moderated this call. Harbor- creek took half of his labors for the first year.
November 30th, 1833, this action was taken by the Session:
"Unanimously resolved, that this Session will receive no one to the communion of this church, upon examination, who will not wholly abstain from the use of ardent spirits, except as a medicine, and who will not use his or her influence in favor of total abstinence."
March 26th, 1835, we find a member suspended because this pledge was violated. February 23d, 1836, there is another sus- pension for the same reason. As friends of temperance, we re- joice in the carly action upon this important subject, as showing that in the very inception of this effort this church ranged itself on the side of the Lord, and in favor of humanity.
September toth, 1834, James Smedley, M. D., Harmon Ensign, and Wm. Crawford were ordained and installed ruling elders.
From the very beginning of the pastorate of Mr. Adair, there were many accessions to the membership of the church. In 1834 there were forty-five members received at one time. The minutes show some judicial proceedings against some men- bers, yet it was a very prosperous era in this church, as in most
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of the churches in this region of country. Our roll of members was increased from one hundred and five to two hundred and fifteen. Much valuable work and aid was given, at this time, as afterwards by Rev. S. G. Orton, D. D. In April, 1838, Mr. Adair closed his labors for this people.
In June, 1838, came as pastor Rev. Nathaniel West, D. D., a remarkable man in many respects. A Scotch-Irishman of strong endowments, especially of memory and of logical faculty, he was a preacher of power, thoroughly versed in the Bible, original and instructive to an eminent degree, yet positive and peculiar in his relations to the church and community. About twelve members were added to the church during his ministry. He was released by Presbytery July 17th, 1841, and died as chaplain of the Sat- terlee U. S. Hospital, Philadelphia, September 20, 1864.
In 1839, the first bell for any church in this neighborhood was obtained. Mr. Bester Town assumed the responsibility of the debt, and was chiefly instrumental in collecting the funds to pay for the purchase. Mr. B. Town was the largest subscriber, by one-third, of all on the subscription list for repairs, etc., made during the year 1839. He also took a prominent part in the movement to obtain the organ.
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