Sketches of Virginia : historical and biographical, Part 24

Author: Foote, William Henry, 1794-1869. 4n
Publication date: 1856
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott
Number of Pages: 614

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Mr. Turner was not unconscious of his powers, neither was he unmindful of the fact that the inspiration of truth and the gush of resistless feeling that came upon him, in his ministry, were not at his bidding. He looked for them, and if they came not, he went away bemoaning himself and humbled before God. He once told an anecdote of himself, illustrating the operations of his mind and heart. Preaching of a week-day in the extreme part of his charge, in the earlier part of his ministry, Mr. Lacy and another brother in the ministry heard of this appointment on their road, and, anxious to hear him planned their arrival so that he should be in the exercises of worship on their entering, and so prevented from calling on them. He had commenced his sermon when he saw them quietly enter and take their seats, said-"Ah, why did you not come earlier-you will get only plain fare from me to-day." It was a hot day, and he had. . taken off his coat to be more free. He wished he had it on again.

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REV. JAMES TURNER.

On he went with his sermon, and his little congregation were in tears ; he looked round and saw the tears rolling down the cheeks of his brethren - "Ah, have I got you too ?" So he concluded to preach when it was his duty, and not to mind who came in.

The time came that he must die. His strength was evidently giving way fast. He set his house in order. On the 10th of March, 1827, he put his hand and seal to his last will and testament, in which are these sentences : "I, James Turner, a minister of the gospel, in Bedford County, Virginia, convinced of the uncertainty of human life, and of my own in particular, and now laboring under a complication of complaints, that I am apprehensive will before long, remove me from time to eternity ; but in full exercise of my reason and judgment, do institute and appoint this my last will and testament. In the first place, as a poor lost and ruined sinner, I cast myself wholly upon the mercy of God, in and through his be- loved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, hoping, praying for salvation from sin and hell, in no other way; and do hereby solemnly ratify and confirm that written covenant with the Lord, into which I entered not long after I became a professor of religion, and renewed shortly after I was licensed to preach the gospel. I know most assuredly that upon any other plan than that of the gospel I cannot be saved; but upon this plan of infinite grace and mercy, the vilest sinner upon earth, who has become a believer, may humbly, yet confidently hope for heaven with all its everlasting enjoyments. As to my body I feel no anxiety about it, only that it should without parade, and in the plainest manner, be committed to the earth to see cor- ruption, believing that at the last day it will be raised to immor- tality. With respect to the disposal of my earthly property amongst my children, it has long been a settled point with me, that I would as near as possible, make an equal division.

In the October following, in Lynchburg, he met the Synod of Virginia for the last time. On Sabbath afternoon, the sacrament of the Supper was administered, the communicants occupying the entire area of the church. The sight of this assembly, as he looked at it from the pulpit, overcame him. The minister that read the hymn of institution, as he took his seat, saw the tears flowing down Mr. Turner's cheeks. "This large assembly," said the old man, " of the people of God, so reminds me of what is said of their coming from the north, and the south, the east, and the west, and sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven - and the thought that I shall so soon be there myself, quite overcomes me.". He at the earnest request of the brethren girded up his strength and delivered one sermon, perfectly characteristic. It was on the progress of the church of God from the day of Pentecost to the present, and its anticipations of future glory. With graphic power he recounted its trials, its enemies, its conflicts, and its victories. It was the last effort of the old man. On the 18th of January, 1828, a fit of apoplexy brought him to his end. He was sensible of his disease, its power, and progress, and uttered but one sentence -" I am dying."

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BETHEL AND HER MINISTERS.

CHAPTER XV.

BETHEL AND HER MINISTERS.

OF the four congregations formed by John Blair on his visit to Virginia in 1746, with their appropriate elders, embracing the whole width of the Valley from a little above Staunton to some distance beyond Lexington, south-westwardly, Forks of James, Timber Ridge, New Providence, and North Mountain ; the first of the last have disappeared from the records of the church. In the place of the first name, Hall's meeting-house, New Monmouth, New Mon- mouth and Lexington were in common use. In place of the fourth, Brown's meeting-house embracing one end of the congregation became the leading name on the records - then Brown's meeting- house and North Mountain ; and now Hebron and Bethel. The old North Mountain meeting-house stood near the grave-yard eight or nine miles from Staunton, on the Middlebrook road. Brown's meeting-house accommodated one part of the extended congregation, better than the North Mountain did the other. After much consul- tation a new church called Bethel was reared, principally by the agency of Col. Doak, a few steps from the site of the present brick church, in a retired but pleasant and central spot, about ten miles south of Staunton, and about midway between the Greenville and Middlebrook roads, from Staunton to Lexington. To this place a greater part of those families in the neighborhood of the North Mountain meeting-house have come, and with them were united some from New Providence, and some from Tinkling Spring, and formed the large and flourishing congregation of Bethel.

The name North Mountain, as applying to the whole region now covered by Hebron and Bethel, was never entered upon the records of Hanover Presbytery. "Brown's meeting-house" -" the meet- ing-house near Major Brown's " -"the inhabitants assembling at the meeting-house," &c., were the names recorded in petitions for supplies. For a number of years after New Providence, and Tim- ber Ridge, and Tinkling Spring had pastors, this region could get no settled minister, and depended on supplies, and the labors of the neighboring ministers. In October of the year 1766, Mr. Charles Cummings received a call from - "the congregation belonging to Major Brown's meeting-house in Augusta ;" this he accepted, and' served the congregation till April, 1772. In what manner he dis- posed of his labors we have no memoranda, and can only conjecture that the Bethel part of the congregation was not neglected. The two parts of the congregation remained vacant till 1778, when a call was put in for the services of Archibald Scott from Brown's meeting-house and North Mountain, which he accepted. They were an associated charge during his pastorate of more than twenty

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT ..

years. After his death the congregation made separate provisions for their spiritual wants.

Mr. ARCHIBALD SCOTT, a lonely emigrant from Scotland to Penn- sylvania, in early life, followed the plough for a livelihood, in the employ of wealthy farmers. His correct religious deportment, and studious employment of all his leisure hours in the acquisition of useful knowledge, attracted the attention of Dr. Cooper, a member of Donegal Presbytery. On further acquaintance the doctor encour- aged him to commence a course of study for the sacred ministry. Having been educated in the peculiarities of the Seceders in Scot- land, he retained through life a strong attachment to the Church of his fathers, and carried out in his ministry, in after life, some of the characteristic traits of that division of the Scotch Presbyterian. Church. The kindness shown him in Pennsylvania, and the encour- agement to prepare for the ministry, drew him to a closer acquaint- ance with the Presbyterian Church, from which he differed in some matters, of importance in the estimation of his own denomination ; and after a time he became a member of that Church and a candi- date for the ministry. He pursued his classical studies under the direction of a Mr. Finley, whose course of instruction was ex- tensive and his teaching thorough, though principally confined to the classics. Here he became acquainted with a Mr. Ramsey, whose parents had emigrated to the Virginia frontiers, and by him he was persuaded to seek employment in that new and fertile region.

Supporting himself by teaching school, he pursued a course of theological reading, under the direction of Mr. William Graham, of Liberty Hall. The first notice of Mr. Scott, on the minutes of Presbytery, bears date June 19th, 1777, Concord, Bedford County. "Mr. Scott delivered the lecture, and the Presbyterial exercise assigned him at our last Presbytery, which were considered and sus- tained as parts of trial." This refers to the meeting at Concord, Oct. 1776; the records of the meeting are lost. Oct. 30th, 1777, at Buffalo, Mr. Scott delivered a popular sermon on Rev. 22d. 17th, "And the Spirit and Bride say come." On the next day, he and Samuel Doak and Edward Crawford, after a protracted examination were licensed to preach the gospel. The Presbytery, upon delibe- rating upon their several trial sermons, resolved, " that they be sus- tained as parts of trial, and that the moderator administer to them such cautions as the Presbytery thought necessary, upon the consid- eration of their performances." For about a year, Mr. Scott preached as a supply to the vacancies in the Valley ; and in October 1778, at Mountain Plains a call from the North Mountain and Brown's meeting-house was put in his hands by Presbytery and ac- cepted ; preparations were made for his ordination at Brown's meet- ing house on the first Tuesday of the succeeding December ; Mr. Graham to preach the ordination sermon, and Mr. Waddell to pre- side and give the charge. Mr. Scott was appointed to preach prior to his ordination from the words, "God is love." Mr. Samuel Doak

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT.

having accepted a call from the congregations of Hopewell and Concord on Holston, in Tennessee, his ordination was appointed to take place with that of Mr. Scott. The records of the meeting for the ordination are lost ; but Mr. Scott appears as a member at the next meeting.

The year suceeeding his settlement, as he was riding through the neighborhood, he came unexpectedly upon a company of men put- ting .up a large log building. - Upon inquiry, he found it was de- signed as a meeting-house. The people worshipping at the old North Mountain meeting-house, had been talking about a new church build- ing, and a new position, but nothing had been decided upon by the congregation. Fearing lest evil might spring from this sudden movement of one part of the congregation, the young pastor says- " Are you not too fast, my boys ?" "No," said Col. Doak, "we will end the dispute by putting up the Church." The church building was completed and called Bethel, and the dispute was heard of no more. This church building became notorious for two politico-, religious meetings during the Revolution.

In the year 1784, the Presbytery of Hanover presented a memo- rial to the General Assembly of the State, on the Bill for a general assessment for the support of religious teachers, brought forward and advocated by Patrick Henry, who thought that support should be given to the public instructors in religion, of whatever denomi- nation, under the sanction and provisions of law. That memorial was presented by Messrs. Smith and Todd. A few days after, these gentlemen handed in one in their own name.

TO THE HONORABLE THE SPEAKER AND THE HOUSE OF DELE- GATES - The petition and memorial of John Todd and John B. Smith respectfully shows -that your memorialists as members of the Presbytery of Hanover, entrusted by them to wait upon the . Assembly with their late memorial, (see Ist Vol. of Sketches, pp. 337 and 8), beg leave to explain that particular which refers to the incorporation of clergymen, as we are afraid that some gentlemen in the house may entertain a misapprehension of it. The Presby- tery suppose that the only incorporation, which government is ade- quate to, is of a civil nature, by which societies in a collective capacity may hold property for any lawful purpose. And in their view, to incorporate clergymen exclusively of the religious commu- nity which they serve, would be an unequal, impolitic and dangerous measure. As to the incorporation of any order of men, or any religious society by the State, under the express idea of conveying to them any powers of Church government, the Presbytery abso- lutely protests against it, as inconsistent with the proper objects of legislation and an unnecessary and dangerous measure; unneces- sary, because it would be to acknowledge the state as the indulgent parent of any class of citizens, whose consciences would permit them to become obedient children in spirituals, whilst those who should refuse submission in this respect, though equally good citizens, might be treated with a partial coldness, which would be undeserved. We

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT.

therefore pray in the name of the Presbytery, that this distinction of the two kinds of incorporation may be preserved as their true meaning. We are gentlemen your humble servants,

JOHN TODD, JOHN B. SMITH.

Richmond, Nov. 18th 1784.

At the next Spring meeting, held in Bethel meeting-house, May 19th, 1785, a petition came up from the session of Augusta church, requesting an explanation of the word liberal in the late memorial. This led to consultation by Committee, and in Presbytery at large, which ended in the Presbytery declaring, unanimously, against any assessment whatever. The Presbytery were unanimously of the opinion, that a Convention of the Presbyterian body was expedient. In concurrence with several members of different congregations, the 10th of the succeeding August, was fixed upon. This Convention met and adopted an able memorial, (see Ist vol. of Sketches, pp. 342, 43, 44), in which the memorialists say - "We oppose the bill, because it is a departure from the line of legislation; because it is unnecessary and inadequate to its professed end, impolitic in many respects, and a direct violation of the declaration of rights." On this memorial, J. B. Smith was heard on the floor of Assembly, in Committee of the Whole. In the event, Mr. Jefferson's bill on the freedom of conscience was adopted. *

The members of this congregation took some share in the strug- gles of the Revolution. Captain Tate was in the battle of the Cowpens, and shared in Morgan's retreat to Virginia with the prisoners. He returned to Carolina with the militia that were sent from Bethel and Tinkling Spring, to join General Greene, and assist in turning Lord Cornwallis back from his approach to Vir- ginia. When his company of militia assembled at Midway, or Steele's tavern, Dr. Waddell addressed them on the eve of their departure, and exhorted them to patriotism and courage, and prompt obedience to the military rules, under which they now came. They joined Greene, and were with him in the battle of Guilford, March 15th, 1781. Captain Tate was in the second, or Virginia line of militia. The first line of militia had orders to fire once and retreat ; the second to act as circumstances required, and when necessary, to fall back on the regulars. Tate, bravely maintained his post ; being a little deaf, it is supposed he did not hear the signal call for the militia to retire, and was surrounded and slain with a number that stood courageously with him. The majority of his company returned, and were assembled with their neighbors to worship God, from Sabbath to Sabbath, at Tinkling Spring and Bethel. Many of these militia carried scars from Guilford to their graves. Some of these militia soldiers were for a time hearers of the present minister, Dr. McFarland, the last of whom, Mr. Wil- son, he attended to an honorable grave.

In the June succeeding the battle of Guilford, an alarm was given on a Saturday, that Tarlton having surprised Charlottesville, was

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT.

on his way to Staunton. Mr. Scott was then hearing a class in the Catechism, at Bethel meeting-house. This he hastily dismissed to go home, and spread the alarm. The succeeding Sabbath was a day of military gathering from Lexington to the Peeked Mountain, to pre-occupy all the gaps of the Blue Ridge with expert riflemen. Scott had no preaching that day at Bethel; Brown had no worship at Providence ; Wilson, of Augusta, sent his people to watch the enemy; Waddell went to Tinkling Spring, but his people were lining the mountains on the look-out for the approach of Tarlton; and Graham in Lexington was parading his people, and marching with them for Rockfish Gap. But the Valley was spared the shedding of blood on that occasion. No hostile force trod upon her soil. Her sons spilt their own blood elsewhere in the defence of their country, at Point Pleasant, the Cowpens, Guilford, and Yorktown. There was lately living one, William McCutchan, who served three tours in the army. The first and longest was in the Jerseys, and at White Plains ; to this he was with difficulty admitted by the commander on account of his youth. The second was to meet Cornwallis in his approach to central Virginia ; and the last at Yorktown. His sim- ple narrative gives a deeper impression of the wrongs of the soldiers in the American army, in losing their wages by the paper currency, or continental money, than any page of history has ever done.

Dismissed to return home from the Jerseys, after his time of ser- vice was expired, he received his wages in this money. Soon after leaving camp, a landlord, supposed not to be favorable to the cause, refused him and his companion a meal of victuals for less than five dollars a-piece in paper currency. The next landlord demanded two and a half dollars. They determined to travel as far as possible in a day; and to eat but one meal. In all the places along the road where they called for refreshment, they were asked, " can you pay for it ?" and "in what can you pay for it?" In Winchester where they purchased their last meal, the landlord took but half price of them, as they were soldiers - the first time any allowance was made in their favor - and charged only a dollar and a half. A week's wages would not pay their expenses, travelling on foot, a single day.

As pastor of Bethel, Mr. Scott had in his charge some of the connections of his early teacher, Mr. Finley ; particularly the family of Mrs. Margaret Humphreys, who lived to an advanced age near Greenville, and for a long time the only female representative of Bethel during the Revolution. Her graphic descriptions were full of interest, and conveyed the liveliest impression of the times, when the valley was a frontier settlement. Where now may be seen the beautiful farms and substantial houses in Bethel, her active memory recalled the log cabins, the linsey woolsey, the short gowns, the hunting shirts, the moccasins, the pack horses, the simple living, the shoes and stockings for winter and uncommon occasions, the deer and the rifle, the fields of flax and the spinning wheel, and the wool and looms ; and with them, the strict attention to religious concerns,

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT.

the catechising of children, the regular going to church, the reading of the Bible, and keeping Sabbath from the beginning to the end, the singing of hymns and sacred songs, all blended, presenting a beautiful picture of enterprise, economy and religion in laying the foundation of society.

A sacred lyric that was said to have been composed by Samuel Davies, and in great repute in her young days, she repeated with animation in her declining years :

Active spark of heavenly fire, In a clod of earth confined, Ever fluttering to aspire, To the great paternal mind ; Death has broke thy prison of clay,

And given thee leave to soar away.

Now to thy native regions go,

There with etherial flames to glow. Hark ! th' angelic envoys say,

Sister spirit, come away !

Drop the cumber of thy clay ! And with thy kindred join !

Angels, I come ! conduct me on,

Instruct me in a world unknown ;

Teach me, inexperienced stranger,

How to act as the immortals do ;

To think and speak and move like you. Teach me the senses to supply,

To see without the organ of an eye ;

The music of your song to hear, Without the organ of an ear.

Yes ! now blessed angels now I find

The powers of an immortal mind,

How active and how strange!

And is this then Eternity ! And am I safely landed here !

No more to sin, no more to die,

No more to sigh, or shed a tear ! My soul, can this be I ?

I who just now in prison dark,

In yonder world of woe and guilt,

Just now shuddering, trembling, sighing,

Startled at the thought of dying,

Am I the same ?

Or is it all a pleasing dream ? O yes the very same ! Ye heavenly choirs ! cherubic, seraphic choirs !

Help a stranger to express His thanks to rich unbounded grace.

Jesus ! the unbounded grace was thine,

Who bled and groaned upon the tree,

And bore infinite pangs for me ; And do I see thy lovely face at last,

O my dear incarnate God ! And has thy love thy servant placed

In thy shining blest abode ? Enough ! enough ! thy bounty gives me more Than I could ask, or wish before.

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT.

Toil and simplicity of living, with industry, were commingled with devotion. Hearts that could relish Davies' Sentiments, could not be rude or vulgar or coarse. Minds of the finest mould, and hearts of the purest sympathies, were found clad in homespun, and often at labor not so well fitted to the strength and condition of women. But in a frontier life what hardships will not women bear ! Said a man in Bethel, somewhat advanced in years -" The hardest day's work I ever did, when a young man, in the harvest field, was. in keeping up with a stout Dutch girl, that came to help us for a day or two; on she went, singing and laughing, till night; and I was glad to see sundown come.", The lighter frames and fairer forms would spin and weave, and clothe their fathers and their brothers, and make becoming fabrics for themselves.

For above twenty years Mr. Scott fulfilled the duties of pastor to these churches. His residence was on the east side of the Middle- brook road, near the sixth mile post from Staunton, a log house, still standing, in the hollow, a short distance from the more sightly habitation of its present owner. Here he was often seen sweating at the plough, gaining for his children a livelihood, as he had gained his own, in his youth ; for during the war, and for a time afterwards, the salaries of the clergy were small and indifferently paid. He was tall, of a large frame, but not fleshy; his features prominent and pitted with the small-pox, by which one eye had been affected, requiring frequent wiping to prevent a tear-drop. In his preaching he was doctrinal, always instructive, and often deeply impressive and powerful. His modesty sometimes became diffidence, and his self-respect was often overshadowed by his shrinking from notoriety. He took no prominent part in Presbytery or Synod, but waited for those whose opinion he valued to take the lead. He held his own abilities and acquirements in low estimation, and was seldom satisfied with his pulpit performances.

The people of his charge, capable, many of them at least, of judg- ing with great accuracy, held him in high estimation. He was sound in doctrine, and if blessed with less powers of mind than Graham, he exhibited a greater fund of tenderness ; with less of eloquence that takes every soul by storm, he could mingle more with the mass of people, and make them feel he was bone of their bone. His use- fulness was increasing, and his hold on his people growing stronger and stronger till the day of his death. He did justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly with God., Having preached from a text, from which while a student with Mr. Finley he had heard a warm- hearted minister discourse affectingly -" Comfort ye, comfort ye my people " - he expressed himself as having preached badly, and bemeaned the text ; while his hearers thought he had preached ex- ceedingly well. Mr. Graham heard the same man in Pennsylvania - and when he afterwards poured out his excited heart in a discourse on the same words, with an impression never forgotten, he calmly replied to an impertinent inquiry -"Mr. Graham, how long were you getting that sermon ready you preached the other day ?"

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REV. ARCHIBALD SCOTT.

" How long was I in getting it ready ? - why, about twenty years." and probably thought as little of that sermon as Scott did of his.

Greatly devoted to catechising the children of the congregation,_ he devoted some time in the week to meeting different neighbor- hoods for that purpose. Besides the shorter catechism, he used another called The Mother's Catechism, of which he procured a re- print in Staunton, in thirty-two full octavo pages ; the last two and a half pages formed an appendix on election, drawn up by himself. Judging from that, almost the only remaining specimen of the pro- ductions of his pen, his mind was discriminating, his views of theologi- cal subjects sound and in accordance with the principles of the Reformation ; and if he preached as he wrote, his people were well instructed in divine things. If the present generation know little · of him, it is because no written memorial was made of his labors and his worth. He still lives, however, in the Lord's vineyard, if a man may live in his descendants ; and the covenant of mercy has been a rich inheritance to his children and grand-children ; many of whom are in the church, and a number in the ministry, whose labors God has condescended to bless.

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Sketches of Virginia : historical and biographical, Part 24

Author: Foote, William Henry, 1794-1869. 4n Publication date: 1856 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott Number of Pages: 614

Author: Foote, William Henry, 1794-1869. 4n
Publication date: 1856
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott
Number of Pages: 614