USA > Pennsylvania > Delaware County > Radnor > The history of old St. David's church, Radnor, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, with a complete alphabetical list of wardens and vestrymen, and of the interments in the graveyard, 1700-1906 > Part 3
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At my first entry upon my mission, I was very kindly received especially by the Welch. * I have visited all my parishioners at their respective houses and found a great many of them much neglected in their education & ignorant of the very fundamentals of religion, & others whose principles were very much vitiated with false doctrines. I endeavored to rectify the mistakes of the latter and to instruct the former what was necessary to be believed & practiced. I had no sooner finished this task than I found a great necessity of visiting a great many Welsh & English gentm that lived far back in the woods, where I found a great number of well disposed persons, but entirely destitute of a Minister. At their earnest request I have gone there several times since and for a long time I had no other place to preach but under the shade of a large tree, their houses being too small to contain the great number that resorted there. My last journey to them completed in all 1105 miles, besides my weekly attendance at Radnor and Perquihoma, at either of which churches I preach and catechise every Sun-
32
Old St. David's Church.
day. * The number of communicants in Radnor at my first coming was 48, now increased to 55. At Perquihoma 19, increased to 21. I have christened in all near 100, ten of these being adults.
A letter from the "Church Wardens and Vestry to ye Society" dated "Radnor, Pensilvania, Sep. 25, 1734," expresses profound gratitude for the action of the So- ciety "in sending the Rev. Mr. Hughes to be our mis- sionary who not only so well officiates in ye Welch tongue, but also by his great care, learning and Piety sufficiently demonstrates the Honourable Society's most prudent Choice."
In a letter to the Society, dated "Radnor, Pensil- vania, December 3, 1734," Mr. Hughes refers to "sev- eral journeys to visit the back inhabitants, sometimes 60 or 70 miles from home, where I christened a great number. But in more particular at Canistogo where for some time past I preached both in Welch and English on the first Tuesday in every month." He further emphasizes the great need of Welsh books, and suggests his willingness-"myself being the only per- son that officiates in that Language"-to return to London "to reprint or Translate a Sufficient number to answer ye present necessity."
This reference to services at Conestoga is, no doubt, to the same place which Richard Backhouse, mission- ary at Chester, in letter of March 12, 1728, identifies as "Back in the Country seventy miles, at one part of Conastogoe near the Place where Mr. Weyman used
.
33
Bangor Church Records.
to go to;" and a petition from "The Inhabitants of Canestogoe, Pennsylvania," in 1734, to the Society represents that they were destitute of an orthodox minister for several years, "until the coming of our dear Countryman, Mr. Hughes, who hath undergone great hardship to come and preach to us once a month."
"and since we cant as yet expect the happi- ness of a missionary we humbly pray to be supplied with some Welsh Books, the want of which has been our greatest unhappiness." "Would the Hon- ble Society be pleased to bestow on us a Welch Bible and Common Prayer for the use of our Church, Your petitioners would esteem it as a great favor." "At Mr. Hughes' first arrival we had no other conveniency than the shade of any large tree to preach under, but now we have built a handsome church."
As this record clearly establishes the parentage of the Bangor Episcopal Church, Churchtown, Lancaster County, it will be of interest, even if a slight digres- sion, to present in this connection the account of the Church settlements at Radnor and later in Lancaster County, recorded November, 1751, by Rev. George Craig, in the Vestry books of Bangor Church, as fol- lows :
By the Honorable William Penn, Esq., original proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania, his Charter to all persons who should be inclined to transport themselves from any part of Christendom, into said Province, it is granted they shall enjoy the free exercise of the Christian Religion, under what- ever denomination. Upon this so engaging a plan of Privileges,
3
34
Old St. David's Church.
among others, several families of Welsh, known by the name of the Ancient Britains, did transport themselves from Wales, in Old England unto the Province aforesaid and settled themselves at first in the Township of Radnor in the County of Chester, in the Province aforesaid, where they erected a place of worship, where they had divine service, according to the doctrine and discipline of the Episcopal Church of Eng- land, of which Church they were all zealous members, and had for their minister the Rev. Mr. Robert Weyman, the Society's Missionary for the Propagating of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. After some years, many of them, finding their settlement too confined (from the vast numbers of incomers), they, Anno Domini 1730, removed some miles to the west- ward into a new county, called Lancaster, and settled in a Township called Caernarvon, from a shire of the same name in Wales, in Old England, and fixing here they (in immitation of all good Christians) found that no place would be agree- able to them without the Public Worship of God, therefore, Unanimously and Cordially Consented and agreed, according to their worldly circumstances, to build a Church of square logs, which they finished, and gave it the name of Bangor, from a Diocese of that name in Wales, in Old England.
The accuracy of this account in some details has been questioned in a valuable article by B. F. Owen, Esq., appearing in Vol. VII of the publications of The Lancaster Historical Society; but this criticism has reference mainly to that part of the account which re- lates to the Bangor settlement.
It is probable that this exodus from Radnor into Lancaster County occurred earlier than 1730; but Mr. Craig's account is undoubtedly correct (as appears by the references of Oldmixon and Dr. Evans, already quoted) in the assertion that these original Welsh set-
..
Mr. Hughes' Letters, 1735. 35
tlers were Episcopalians ; and there seems to be no evi- dence that they were at one time Quakers.
In his letter dated "Radnor in Pensilvania, Sept. IO, 1735," Mr. Hughes forcibly suggests some of the tribu- lations of missionary life, and again urges the need of Welsh books and his willingness to return to procure them, adding :
"Ye present would be the most proper opportunity if my absence would be Dispenced with for lately on my way to Perquihoma Church I had the misfortune to break my knee pan which continues, tho upon the mending hand, very weak, so that it is Impossible for one in my present Condition to Serve that Church in a Regular order this present Winter. That and severall other hardships which I have with pleasure almost endured in my severall Journeys to preach among the Back Inhabitants hath very much Impaired my health being often obliged in the day to want the Common necessaries of Life and in the night to be contented with the shade of a Large tree for a Lodging. As for my congregation at Radnor it is in a very flourishing condition. And as to my own conduct in Generall I appeal to my reverend Commissary who is a gentleman equally beloved and admired for his behaviour, Piety and good conduct.
To this letter the minutes of the Society, of Decem- ber 19, 1735, indicate that a reply was framed that "Society forsee great inconveniences in his leaving his Mission so long as to come to England and return." "He can better employ some reliable person to trans- late and superintend press work."
In his next letter dated "Radnor, June 25, 1736," Mr. Hughes completely breaks the monotony, usual to
36
Old St. David's Church.
missionary correspondence, by expressing the hope that the Society has been "informed by the hands of Rev. Mr. Commissary Johnson of my being at Barba- does, the Chief Reason of my going there was as un- expected as unavoidable and nothing but an absolute necessity would have obliged me to quit my mission without the Previous consent of the Society." "At the Earnest Request of a very considerable number of both Welch and English that live near Tolpahocken, 70 miles from town, I officiated there & at Canistogo, at Sundry times." "But the fatigue of returning home by Saturday night to take care of the Churches more particularly under my care and the great Difficulty of travelling into so Remote a part of the country with severall Inconveniences too tedious to be mentioned, threw me into a very Ill state of health. My Physicians were of opinion that a Sudden Change of air would be absolutely necessary for me, especially to one of the Leward Islands, and if I found no benefit there to return to England, wh I resolved upon rather than Run the hazard of my life by staying." *
"I had no sooner arrived at Barbadoes but I found great Benefit by the Change of air." "Soon after the Rectory of St. Lucy's Parish became Vacant, wich by the earnest Request of the Rev. Mr. Commr John- son I was prevailed upon to accept of." "I enjoyed it for near three months and then obtained a Lycence from the Honourable James Dottin, Esq., our Com- mander in Chief, to return to Pensylvania for 4 months,
Fix y
3 =8%
14=11
-
6.31. 4.
Stran Hughes Tresfrance for" Congregation product his teeth when IT a printed de us whole parties are under written y" hey" Said Hugh Hughes Differfed of all Such Sums of Money if he Received being Eightheines Fourteen Shillings 4 Elever beneen according to y forces " Direction of the Rewind and Hughes then Migrenary & Congregation fitnessour Hands
This
Morris w. griffith
mai.
Eway EWilliam. ·Tom + Georgelin?
Ferie Groep
An Early Audit.
37
Mr. Hughes' Withdrawal.
where I now officiate at Radnor & Perquihoma at the expiration of which time I design with the Honble. Society to return to Barbadoes and then beg leave to Resign my Mission, praying that the Honble So- ciety will be pleased to Supply it with another as soon as possible."
This is followed by a letter dated "Radnor in Pen- silvania, Nov. 19, 1736," wherein Mr. Hughes refers to his last letter regarding his visit to Barbados and his return "to this Province where I have officiated not only at Radnor, but at severall other places for these five months past. I am now preparing for the Barbadoes, and humbly beg Leave to Resign my mission."
The only mention of Mr. Hughes' incumbency ap- pearing in the records at Radnor, besides a statement dated "June ye 24th Day, 1734," of contributions, amounting to two pounds eleven shillings, and a "sub- scription towards a stable to be paid ye 16th of May, 1735," amounting to five pounds, nine shillings, six- pence, is the following certificate of audit of accounts, evidently prepared at the close of his ministry at Rad- nor :
OCTOBER, YE 8TH, 1736.
Hugh Hughes, treasurer to ye congregation of St. David's Church produced his accepts, when it appeared to us whose names are under written yt. he ye said Hugh Hughes disposed of all such sums of money as he recd. being eight pounds fourteen shillings and eleven pence according to ye order and
38
Old St. David's Church.
direction of ye Reverend Mr. Hughes then Missionary and congregation.
[Signed] GRIFFITH HUGHES, Cler.
WILLIAM DAVIES.
his PETER (P. E.) ELLIOT. mark his
JAMES (J.) DAVID. mark
his
MORRIS (M.) GRIFFITH.
mark
THOMAS GODFREY. ISAAC WAYNE.
EVAN DAVID.
his
EDWARD (E.) WILLIAMS.
mark his
EDWARD (X.) GEORGE, Sen. mark
JOHN JONES. GEORGE JAMES.
There is little evidence apart from his letters of Mr. Hughes' influence at Radnor during his short term. And although his reports of extended mission work near Lancaster indicate an active life, yet in each re- port is an unmistakable strain of egotism that cannot be disregarded. It must nevertheless be remembered in considering the language of these reports from Mis- sionaries in Pennsylvania, that the absence of any Bishop in the Province who could give personal atten- tion to their individual cases necessitated a personal
39
Mr. Cummings' Report.
relation between them and the Propagation Society, which otherwise would not have existed. The need of such a head of the clergy, resident amongst them was the subject of great concern throughout the colonies and is forcibly presented in many letters. Nevertheless Mr. Hughes' desertion of his mission, and unceremoni- ous withdrawal from Radnor, would seem to demand a more satisfactory explanation than his letters vouch- safe. No other has been found. The minutes of the Propagation Society of September 17, 1736, indicate the receipt of his letter regarding his visit to Barbados, and their decision to write to the Commissary at Phila- delphia to ask how long he was away and what care was taken of the mission in his absence.
The following reply to this communication, very re- cently discovered amongst the records of the Propaga- tion Society, is an interesting contribution to the his- tory of the time :
(From S. P. G. Records-A. M. S. Vol. 26, p. 233.) Mr. Cummings to the Secretry:
PHILADIA 1736.
This is the first oppertunity I could Find, of conveying an Answer to the Honble the Societies Queries in Relation to their Late Missionary at Radnor, Mr. Hughes. He was absent from his Mission above Seaven Months. I know that he Endeavoured to get his Cure supplied by Messrs Weyman, Backhouse, and Howie, and promised an Allowance for their trouble, accordingly Mr. Howie often officiated at Perquihoma, & Mr. Backhouse sometimes at Radnor, Mr. Hughes arrived here from Barbadoes, ye Latter end of June last and did not leave his Mission till the Latter End of November, when he
40
Old St. David's Church.
sailed hence for Barbadoes and left the Inclosed with me. In my opinion it would be a generous Act in the Societie to allow him his Sallary Seeing the Ill State of his health was the first occasion of his moving hence and he was thereby put to a good deal of charge, the people here have allowed nothing since he Left them first being out of humour on that account. I hav't to add but that I am
Revd Sir Your most obedt humble Servant ARCHD CUMMINGS.
There appears also amongst the archives of the So- ciety the following equally interesting and valuable memorial, to wit :
To the Honble Society for Propagating the Gospel &c.
The Humble Petition of Sundry Members of the Congre- gation belonging to St. James's Church ner Perquihoma in The Province of Pennsylvania in behalf of themselves and the whole Congregation.
Sheweth
That your Honourable Society was pleased some years since to send a Missionary for this place in Conjunction with Whitemarsh with whom we were very well pleased and used our best Endeavours to make him easy wch we thought we had effectually done; but nevertheless that Gentleman (Mr. Howie) pray'd leave to officiate at Oxford instead of this Church which was granted him, after which you were pleased to send over a Very Young Welch Gentleman to serve Radnor and this our Church of St. James' to whom we regularly paid our Subscription money amog to about £24 or 25. p. annum altho. the said Mr. Hughes very seldom came near us and some time in September last (as by Mr. Cummings' letter to the Society may be seen) he thought fit without giving us the least Notice to make a Voyage to the Island of Bar- badoes where he has accepted of a Parish and we are now
4I
A Remonstrance, 1736.
destitute of a Minister and without Your Honorable Society will be pleased to Continue your care to us this congregation will in a very little time dwindle to naught, we being sur- rounded with Dissenters of every sort. We beg Leave father to acquaint your Honours that unless the Gentleman you send has much more solidity and conduct than Mr. Hughes our Religion will be brought into Contempt. We shall not trouble your Honors with a Detail of his misbehaviours not doubting but you'll receive that from some able hand; but shall Conclude Earnestly desiring your Care of us and with assuring you that every one of us will most Chearfully Con- tribute every thing in our Power for promoting the Christian Religion and Towards the Support of the Gentleman you'l be pleased to send us.
That your Pious endeavours may not be wanting to the Destitute is the Earnest prayer of
Your Honours most sincere & most obedt humble servants
Augst Ist 1736
ROBERT SHANNON
WM. MOORE
PHILIP KING
SAMUEL LANE
ROGER WORTH
EDWARD NICHOLAS
NICHOLAS HICKS
JOHN NEWBURY
JOHN SHAIN
GEORGE EVANS
MORRICE LEWIS
JOHN BULL
JOHN EDWARDS
THOMAS BULL
THOMAS JAMES
JOHN DAVIS
DAVID PHILLIPS
STEPHEN BOYES
ARNSWELL BEAILLY
THOS. TURNER
JOHN JORDAIN
WVM. ADAMS
THOS. KENWORTHY
ABRAHAM ADAMS
HENRY PAWLING
ENOCHI DAVIS
HENRY BARNARD
WM. BULL
JOHN MORRIS
JOHN SIMMONDS
DANIEL MORRIS
PETER RAMBO
PAUL CASTLEBURY
HENRY PAWLING
RICHARD BULL
THOS. HOWE
HENRY HOLSTEIN
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Old St. David's Church.
It will be of interest and value in this connection to add the following fragmentary data regarding this un- usual character :
Griffith Hughes, the son of Edward Hughes, of Towyn, in Merionthshire, Wales, was born about 1707. He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford, 1729, and graduated there in 1732. He does not seem to have had any close associations with his brother mis- sionaries while at Radnor, and no mention of him has been preserved among their letters to the Society, excepting Mr. Cummings' letter, already quoted.
In 1748, while in charge of St. Lucy's Parish, Barba- dos, W. I., Mr. Hughes received the degree of A.M. from St. John's College, Oxford, and in 1750 he pub- lished "The Natural History of Barbadoes," and was made Fellow of the Royal Society of England. He refers in one of his letters to the Society to being also the author of "A Welsh Pamphlet Upon Death, Judg- ment, Heaven and Hell," but these are by no means all his contributions.
By the will of William Evans, of Philadelphia, who died in 1734, and who bequeathed the first legacies to Radnor Church, Mr. Hughes is named as one of the guardians of testator's children; and under the will of Hugh Jones, one of the early settlers of Berks County, who died in 1734, he is made legatee of "one bright bay young mare with a star on her forehead." This bequest probably indicates his sometime con- nection with an abandoned Anglican Church in Comru
43
Character of Mr. Hughes.
Township, Berks County, and the Welsh graveyard there, where Hugh Jones was buried, and to which some allusion is made in an article by B. F. Owen, Esq., in Pennsylvania Magazine of 1900.
Other records also indicate that in January, 1733, Mr. Hughes took up by survey over 400 acres of land in the fine farming district along Cacoosing Creek, Berks County, near the present Village of Sinking Springs ; but he seems to have left the country before perfecting his title and his interest lapsed. At the time of obtaining the foregoing survey he seems to have also taken up two other tracts of 175 acres and 230 acres respectively in Lancaster County.
He was evidently a man of culture, and, as previously stated, of considerable activity in his mission, but the most charitable judgment could not accord him the high place justly held by each of the other missionaries as an influential pastor to the congregation of Radnor Church ; and his considerable investments in real estate so immediately after his entrance on his missionary labors certainly furnishes little evidence of single- minded consecration to the exalted work undertaken. It seems quite certain that he was the last person to officiate at Radnor with regularity in the Welsh lan- guage.
There are no records regarding Mr. Hughes' in- cumbency at St. Lucy's Parish ; but in lieu thereof a weird tradition exists there, telling of its termination as abruptly as had his connection with Radnor and
44
Old St. David's Church.
Perkiomen, and that his horse (perhaps the "bright bay young mare") found tied to a tree on the sea-coast gave the only clue to the avenue of his exit. He seems, however, on this occasion to have had company, for with him are said to have disappeared the records of St. Lucy's Church.
The minutes of the Propagation Society of Septem- ber 17, 1736, indicate that with Mr. Hughes' letter of June 23, 1736, regarding his visit to Barbados, a peti- tion was received from Mr. William Currie, with ac- companying testimonials, announcing his intention to apply for Episcopal ordination, and praying to be re- ceived into their service, and that it was decided to employ him as soon as he was ordained by the Bishop of London.
No record has been preserved of the date of Mr. Currie's appointment to the mission at Radnor and Perkiomen, but a reference to the subject in one of his later letters indicates that he entered upon his duties in May, 1737. The earliest record entered by him in the old Radnor register is July 24, 1737. As Mr. Currie was the last of the English missionaries at Radnor, and more closely associated with the parish than any of his predecessors, it will be of interest and value to enter in this connection some details of his early history.
He was born at Glasgow, Scotland, about 1706, and educated at that University, where it is said he was "much esteemed as a man of learning and sound judg-
45
William Currie, 1737.
ment." Some few years before his appointment to Radnor he had, upon the recommendation of the Fac- ulty at Glasgow University, been selected to accompany a son of a Mr. Carter, of Virginia, who was returning from the University back to his parents, and desired to secure the services of a tutor to complete his educa- tion. After remaining with Mr. Carter's family for a few years in Virginia, Mr. Currie removed to New Castle, then a part of Pennsylvania, and in September, 1734, was there licensed to preach by the Presbytery of that place. Here it is said he became intimately associated with Rev. George Ross, the missionary of the Propagation Society at Immanuel Church, New Castle, and having under his and his daughter's influ- ence finally decided to enter the ministry of the estab- lished church, he proceeded to London for ordination. This accomplished, he seems to have at once entered upon the service of the Propagation Society, and in 1739 he married Mrs. Margaret Hackett, daughter of Rev. George Ross and widow of Rev. Uri Walter Hackett sometime missionary at St. Ann's Church near Appoquiminy, who died about 1734. It is noticeable that Mr. Currie's testimonials come both from the Pres- bytery of New Castle and from the Commissary and missionaries of the Church of England in Pennsyl- vania. According to a romantic tradition, the suc- cess of Mr. Currie's suit with Widow Hackett was by her made dependent on his taking Holy Orders in the Church of England.
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Old St. David's Church.
Of the condition of the Parish when Mr. Currie en- tered upon his charge some impression is obtained from his "Notitia Parochialis," furnished to the Society soon after his arrival. From this it appears that the inhabitants of the mission (which presumably in- cluded Perkiomen), numbered some two thousand per- sons, of whom about fifteen hundred and fifty were "Dissenters of all sorts," and four hundred nominally connected with the Church of England, and of these some sixty-six were communicants.
No special mention is made in any of his letters, of the Welsh inhabitants, and the presumption is there- fore reasonable that at that time the parish had become practically an English-speaking one.
In this connection of much interest is the "Petition of Inhabitants of Towyn" to have "one minister who can preach English and Welsh settled among us," re- cently found among the records of the Society. It would be impossible to locate this place with accuracy, but the reference therein to a "neighbouring parish" at French Creek would indicate its probable proximity to a point north of Downingtown, in Chester County. The petition, dated October 15, 1741, is addressed to "My Lord and Most Reverend Father in God," and recites :
Our Condition like many Others in this Remote Part of the World has been, That we for Several years have been almost like Sheep without a Shepherd, Except the Revd Mr. Curry minister of the Parish of Radnor and Perkiomy some few Times hath been Pleased to Visit us. But he having
47
The Petition from "Towne."
enough to do with his own Flock cannot Assist us as often as our need doth require and many of us not Understanding English cannot make that use of his preaching as if we being Welch men heard one in our own Native Tongue which cannot but be a great Grief to us Besides an Unspeakable Damage and loss to our Spiritual Improvement so that many of Weak Judgment fall away from the Truth, Some to Dis- senters Some to nothing.
It concludes, "Most Humbly beseeching the Bounty of the Venerable Society that before now has relieved many others in the same distress by send- ing out Labourers to plant and trim a Vine yard to the praise and Glory of God."
During the early part of Mr. Currie's ministry George Whitefield made his first visit to America. Al- though as an ordained clergyman of the English Church he was received at first in many Episcopal Churches, he seems to have excited in Mr. Currie only the most intense resentment and apprehension, and the following letters are of exceptional interest not only for the incidental details they give of the mis- sions at Radnor and Perkiomen, but as indicating Mr. Currie's impressions of the menace which Whitefield's preaching, and indeed early Methodism, constituted to the established church, and thus affording some esti- mate of the character of Mr. Currie himself.
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