USA > Virginia > The planting of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia : prior to the organization of Winchester Presbytery, December 4, 1794 > Part 3
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south of the Potomac. In December, 1740, we find him again at Opec- quon, where he seems to have remained for a considerable time, and to have performed important work.
About this time we find the name of a Mr. Lyn in connection with Opecquon Church. On September 3, 1740, Presbytery "received a sup- plication from Opecquon in Virginia, after the manner of a call for Mr. Lyn." But "finding it impossible to gratify such a request at present, they appointed Mr. Craig to supply them one Sabbath as he goes to Vir- ginia (i. e., to Augusta County) and to moderate a call for Mr. Lyn." At the same time "Mr. Lyn was ordered to supply several places in Pennsylvania and Opecquon by turns till the next meeting." Mr. Craig moderated the call, and it was in the hands of Mr. Lyn December 11, 1740. Meanwhile, Mr. Caven, while at Opecquon, was directed " to in- quire into the grounds of Mr. Gillespie's information relating to Mr. Lyn, and make report of it to the next meeting." And with this minute the name of Mr. Lyn disappears from the records.
Mr. Caven was followed late in 1742 by Rev. William Robinson, an eminently devout and benevolent man, and one of the most vigorous and effective preachers of his day. Born in England and coming to this country in early manhood, he was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1741. In the winter of the next year, at the earnest request of the peo- ple, he was sent to visit the Presbyterian settlements in the Shenandoah Valley and further South. The results of his mission in the Valley could not have been very great, for soon after his arrival he was seized, near Win- chester, by the sheriff, who started with him to Williamsburg, where he must answer to the Governor for preaching without a license from him. But before reaching his destination the officer became so impressed with the good sense and piety of his prisoner, that he released him and allowed him to continue his mission unmolested. His work, thus rudely interrupted in the Valley, was pursued with remarkable success in Eastern Virginia. His brilliant ministry, of less than five years, was suddenly terminated by death, in April, 1746. Dr. Archibald Alexander says of him, that " dur- ing the short period of his life he was probably the instrument in the con- version of as many souls as any minister who ever lived in this country." It was through his instrumentality that Rev. Samuel Davies was brought to Virginia.
Mr. Robinson, who made but a passing visit to Opecquon, and to other points in this region, was succeeded by Rev. John Hindman, of whose la- bors we have no very definite knowledge. He was licensed by Donegal
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July 2, 1741; and the next year, June 16, 1742, " upon a motion that Mr. Hynman (Hindman) be ordained sine titulo, as a missionary to the back part of Virginia, in order to baptize, etc., the Presbytery agreed thereto and ordered that he shall, at our next session, deliver a common head, viz: whether preparatory or common convictions be necessary to conversion; and an homily on Psalm 37. Also that he supply in Virginia till our next; in his way thither he is to preach at Opekon and a week day at Bullskin." He was ordained November 11, 1742, and was sent at once as an evangel- ist to Virginia-probably to the Upper Valley. But the next year June 21, 1743, he was appointed to supply Opecquon during a part of July. There is reason to believe that, until the spring of 1745, his labors were given to Opecquon, Bullskin and other points in this region.
Rev. Samuel Caven, whose visits to this Lower Valley have already been so frequent, appears once more as a missionary here; and it is in con- nection with this visit that the name Potomack first occurs. On June 11, 1745, Mr. Caven is appointed to supply Potomack, Opecquon and Bullskin "at his conveniency," until the next meeting of Presbytery.
And now to go back a little. The year 1740 marks a period of new interest in the history of the church within our bounds. Before that time the attention of Presbytery and Synod had been given, south of the Poto- mac, to the Shenandoah Valley. But in December, 1740, Mr. Caven, then at Opecquon, was ordered to Supply at South Branch at his discretion; and within six months (May 30, 1741) a supplication was brought in for supplies "from the South Branch of the Potomac." This, we have reason to believe, was from Presbyterians in the Moorefield Valley. As early as 1734 or 1735, a settlement began there on lands for which John and Isaac Vanmeter had obtained a "warrant" from Governor Gooch, and in five or six years the settlers had become so numerous as to justify the effort to obtain a Christian minister. These early settlers were largely of Dutch origin, though many of Scotch-Irish descent were mingled with them. Their first supplies came from Donegal Presbytery; and yet very early in their history measures were taken to supply them by the Reformed Dutch Classis of New Jersey, from which colony many of them came.
From the year 1745 to 1759, we are cut off from our most important - source of information concerning the progress of Presbyterianism in this Lower Valley, by the loss of the Second Volume of the Records of Donegal Presbytery, covering that period of fourteen years. This loss there is nothing to supply. The Records of the Synods of Philadelphia and of New York contain, it is true, a great deal of information, which is valuable
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as showing the activity and enlargement of the church, but, save in one or two instances, the minutes are so general in their statements as to give no definite information as to the particular places in Virginia that seek to re- ceive, or that obtain supplies.
It was during this period-perhaps, in some cases, a little earlier-that settlements were made, and churches of our order were started at Falling Waters, and on Tuscarora, Back Creek, Sleepy Creek, "Cape Capon," and Patterson's Creek. While the name of " Tuscarora in Virginia " does not appear in any existing Ecclesiastical Records until April, 1760, it is the uniform and undisputed tradition, that one of the earliest settlements in this Valley was made on that stream; and that a Presbyterian congregation of considerable importance was established there as early, some allege, as 1740. Very nearly the same is true of Falling Waters. Although in the Records to which we have access the name does not occur until April, 1762, there is scarcely a doubt there was a church at that place prior to 1750. Local tradition, with some probability, fixes the date of the organization at 1745.
Of the other places named, no authentic dates for their organization for worship can be given; nor can it be determined by whose ministry they were supplied. But in the beginning of the Third Volume of the Donegal Records, these names appear as of places with which the Presbytery was familiar; and provision is made for their supply, as if it were an established custom.
The extensive and unhappy Schism of 1741, and which lasted for seventeen years, was seriously felt by the churches in this Valley, as well as elsewhere. Of the controversies which finally resulted in the division of the Synod, and which were attended with so much ill-feeling and un- brotherly conduct, it is not our purpose here to treat. Without stating the questions at issue, or attempting to discuss their merits, it is sufficient for the purposes of this history to say, that after four or five years of bitter contention and recrimination, the Presbyteries of New Brunswick, New York and part of New Castle withdrew and formed themselves into a Synod under the style of "The Synod of New York," holding their first
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meeting at Elizabethtown, N. J., in September, 1745. These seceding Presbyteries were called the "New Side," while those which adhered to the Synod of Philadelphia, viz., Philadelphia, Donegal and part of New Castle, were known as the "Old Side."
The Presbytery of Donegal was thoroughly identified with the Old Side, and yet some of its congregations south of the Potomac were in sym- pathy with the New Side. This was especially true of Opecquon and Cedar Creek. So far, however, as we can learn, nearly all the other Pres- byterians in this Valley espoused, and with no little warmth, the cause of the Old Side. Without deciding whether their views of the questions in controversy were right or wrong, it must be admitted that it would have contributed more to their growth at that time, if their sympathies had led them the other way. The Old Side, while not weaker at first, failed to grow with the rapidity of their rivals, and in a short time found them- selves unable to send supplies to the more distant churches that were ask- ing for them. They were dependent largely for the increase of their min- isters upon emigration from the old country. But at that time a sudden check was given to this emigration. During the whole period of the divi- sion very few ministers came to them from either Scotland or Ireland; the supply from New England was almost entirely cut off, and as their own churches did not furnish them with many Licentiates it was found at the time of the reunion, that more ministers had been lost by death and removal than had been gained by additions.
The New Side, on the other hand, had larger facilities for obtaining preachers, especially from New England, and so were in a much better condition to look after the outposts and new settlements; and as they were less scrupulous about intruding, they did not wait for an invitation from Presbytery or congregation before sending their missionaries. Virginia, in particular, engaged a large share of their attentions, and many of their ablest ministers visited this Valley on missionary tours of larger or shorter continuance. While that Schism lasted, the churches here, particularly Opecquon and Cedar Creek, enjoyed, at different times, the services of such men as Drs. John and Samuel Blair, John Roan, Samuel Finley and the two Tennents, Gilbert and William, whose fervent zeal brought them on evangelistic journeys to this distant region. Men, too, less distinguished than these, as Rev. Eliab Byram, Rev. William Dean and others, visited the Valley and preached for some time with acceptance and success.
Meanwhile, the Old Side did not relinquish its claim upon this field. The Presbytery of Donegal, whose jurisdiction extended over this Lower
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THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
Valley, continued, as far as circumstances would permit, its oversight of the churches here. But the growing demand for increased labor in the older settlements, and the embarrassing scarcity of ministers, prevented the Presbytery from meeting, in any adequate measure, the growing wants of the newer fields. And as it soon became evident that the visits of its ministers were not specially desired in some of these churches, they grad- ually became less frequent, and before the division was healed their visits seem almost entirely to have ceased. With the loss of the Presbyterial Records, the last faint trace of them disappears until the new Volume of Records is opened.
The preponderance not only of numbers, but of zeal, too, was un- doubtedly with the New Side; and for several years the missionary work done both in this Valley and throughout Virginia, was carried on mainly, though not exclusively, by the Synod of New York and the Presbyteries composing it. It seems, however, that while their ministers were zealous they were not always wise in their zeal. Some of them, in their heated discussions with, or about, their old Old Side brethren, had allowed them- selves to use language of the most unchristian and abusive character. They did not scruple to denounce those whose views touching questions in dis- pute differed from their own, as "babbling, ignorant priests," "dry, sap- less unconverted ministers," "the devil's advocates," "ministers of Satan and enemies of all righteousness." And in their labors in Virginia, some of them, in their condemnation of the formality and worldliness then pre- vailing in the established Church, were so intemperate in their expressions as to expose themselves to the censure of the civil authorities. Informa- tion was laid before the Synod of Philadelphia in 1745, that Governor Gooch had arraigned before a grand jury at Williamsburg certain Presby- terian preachers who had visited his colony. In his charge to this jury he accused them of being "false teachers, who had crept into his government without orders, or license, or any testimonial of their education or sect; professing themselves ministers under the pretended influence of new light, extraordinary impulse, and such like fanatical and enthusiastical knowledge, they were leading the innocent and ignorant people into all kinds of delu- sions; and in this frantic and profane disguise they treat all other modes of worship with the utmost scorn and contempt," even saying of the Gov- ernor himself, and of his fellow churchmen, that they "worshipped the devil and were damned;" all which offences, he concludes, constitute "an iniquity to be punished by the judges."
When these facts were brought to the knowledge of the Synod of
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Philadelphia, it promptly disclaimed all connection with the parties accused and all responsibility for "the conduct of some of the new party which had so highly provoked the government of that colony;" and they "judged it necessary to send an address to Governor Gooch, informing him of the distinction between this Synod and that separated party, that so their conduct might not be imputed to us, nor provoke that government to deny us the liberties and favors we have enjoyed under it." [Minutes of Synod of Philadelphia, pp. 181-2.]
While treating of this Schism, which produced such alination and bit- ter controversy, we should not overlook the fact, that it was during its con- tinuance, that the church was visited with a revival, the most remarkable, perhaps, in the history of this country. It swept over all the provinces from Massachusetts to Georgia, and lasted through many years. The inter- est awakened everywhere was most intense. It reached all classes and conditions of people, and was confined to no church. Numbers of all denominations, and many who had no connection with any, were found among the penitent inquirers. And yet, outside of New England, it was in Presbyterian churches that the work prevailed most extensively; and Presbyterian preachers were the most active in promoting it.
But while this " Great Awakening " was so extended in its sweep, and so profound in its operations, and (as all agree) so gracious in many of its results, it is to be lamented that in many, if not in most, places it was attended with circumstances which exposed it to serious suspicion in the judgment of not a few of the wise and good of that time ; and which now, in the historical review of the facts, will admit of. no excuse. It was marred almost everywhere, by scenes of the most extravagant excitement. Loud outcries, and faintings, and violent and unseemly bodily agitations, and al- most every possible form in which religious fanaticism can express itself, were indulged in; and with the approval of many of the eminent ministers by whom the meetings were conducted. It must be said, however, that very many of these friends and promoters of the Revival, who, during its early stages, fell, like Edwards, into the error of countenancing its delusions, afterwards severely condemned them, as Edwards himself did.
We learn from the testimony of Samuel Davies that the Revival was , powerfully felt in Virginia; and that our churches in this Lower Valley were in an especial manner brought under its influence and shared in its blessings ; while to a large extent they were exempt from its errors and its pernicious consequences. Dr. Hodge writes that "in no part of our coun- try was the revival more interesting, and in very few was it so pure as in Virginia."
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But giving our attention now to matters that more immediately con- cern us, it will be observed that until 1754 the churches within our Presby- terial limits were dependent for public worship upon such occasional sup- plies as they could obtain. In not a single instance had the pastoral rela- tion been constituted, and so far as the Records inform us the supplies were in no case of very long continuance. Many attempts were made to secure the settlement of a minister at Opecquon and Cedar Creek, and also at Bullskin, but without success.
In the year 1754, however, Rev. John Hoge was called to the Opec- quon field and remained there as pastor for eighteen years. Mr. Hoge, though not a resident of Virginia, until he took charge of the Opecquon Church, was yet closely related to that congregation by family ties. He was the son of John Hoge, who was the eldest son of William Hoge, who, in 1735, settled on Upper Opecquon and gave the land on which the meet- ing house is built. John Hoge, sr., was the only one of his father's im- mediate children who failed to remove with him to Virginia. He settled in Pennsylvania at a place afterwards called Hogetown, a few miles distant from Harrisburg, and where some of his descendants are still found. In all the old records the name is spelled "Hogg" or "Hogge;" but in using the name here we will conform to the modern spelling "Hoge," which the family seems now generally to prefer.
The Rev. John Hoge, jr., was probably born at South Amboy, N. J., but the date of his birth is not known. He was graduated from Nassau Hall in 1749, and was taken under the care of New Castle Presbytery (New Side) as a candidate for the ministry. After some time his Presbytery discouraged him from entering on his trials for licensure, "lest his genius should not be fit for the ministry." Persevering in his purpose, however, he stood his trials, and was licensed October 10, 1753. For a few months after licensure he preached in Pennsylvania, and then came to Virginia and began his long ministry in Frederick County. In 1755 he was ordained and "settled" over Opecquon and Cedar Creek. It would be interesting to know just how he was settled. In that early day there seems to have been no rigid observance of ecclesiastical forms. The organization of a church was a rather loose and informal act, and the installation of a pastor does not seem to have been attended with much ceremony. One of the Tennents went through the form of installing himself.
At the time of Mr. Hoge's settlement, Opecquon was the most impor- tant church in the Valley, and remained so for many years. For a number of years it was the only place of public worship within a large district.
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The nearest Episcopal Church was at Bunker Hill. There was probably no church of any faith in Winchester until 1753, when a Lutheran Church was organized. George Washington, while in command at Fort Loudoun, often rode out to Opecquon to worship.
Mr. Hoge's ministry was not without many discouragements. The churches grew in numbers, but the condition of things around them was unsettled and often alarming. His meagre salary was poorly paid, and on this ground he began, within six years of his settlement, to plead for re- lease from his charge. He was promised £70 from the entire field, and yet in a few years his churches were in arrears to him more than a year's salary. Notwithstanding earnest efforts to remedy this evil, it continued. In 1759 his Presbyterial relations were transferred to Donegal. The next year (1760) Tuscarora was added to his charge. And here the Records become somewhat confused. It looks as if he had been at least tempo- rarily released from his charge, for on April 6, 1760, Mr. Hoge is ordered by his Presbytery to "supply Tuscarora, Opecquon and Back Creek three Sabbaths at his discretion." At the same meeting Mr. Hoge requests the Presbytery to "send some member to assist him in some congregational affairs," and Mr. Duffield is sent to his assistance. In October of that year supplies are asked for Opecquon, Back Creek and Tuscarora, and in reply, Mr. Hoge is ordered to "supply three Sabbaths at adjacent va- cancies." The next spring, 1761, supplications are made to Presbytery from Opecquon and other places, and he is appointed to supply at discre- tion.
Whatever may be the explanation of these rather confusing facts, Mr. Hoge, November 11, 1761, asked leave of Presbytery to resign his charge, and Presbytery ordered Mr. Roan to write to these congregations touching the salary in arrears. And now it appears that he was still in legal charge of the churches of Opecquon and Cedar Creek, for these churches, in con- sequence of Mr. Roan's letter, asked for the continuance of Mr. Hoge as their pastor, and promised to pay him what was due. He remained in his field. But in October, 1764, he complained to Presbytery that he would have to resign on account of the non-payment of salary, and Presbytery ordered that unless the churches reported payment to its next meeting it would release Mr. Hoge. The churches must have made a satisfactory re- port, as he continued his pastoral labors for several years without further complaint. In October, 1767, Presbytery assigned all its vacancies in Vir- ginia to him. The next year he was accused before Presbytery by Joseph Colvil, a member of his church, for having fraudulently obtained a judg-
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ment in Lord Fairfax's office for a tract of land, but upon a full hearing of the case he was acquitted of all charges. In June, 1771, the old trouble about the salary again came up. The churches begged to retain their pas- tor; but the Presbytery, wearied with their delinquency, sternly ordered that the matter be satisfactorily arranged by the next meeting, or they should no longer have the services of Mr. Hoge. At the next meeting, October, 1771, the arrearages had not been paid; but on representation of the commissioners from Cedar Creek and Opecquon, the Presbytery con- sented to defer the removal of Mr. Hoge; but when it next met (April, 1772) he was finally released from his pastoral charge on account of non- payment of salary.
Mr. Hoge enjoyed the distinction of having been the first pastor within our Presbyterial bounds. As such, we have thought him entitled to the extended notice here given him. After his pastoral relation was dissolved he continued for a few years to reside in Frederick County, and served as supply to various churches in the Valley. When he removed to Pennsyl- vania he was appointed in 1775 to serve the Paxton and Derry churches, or rather those portions of these churches which, on account of their New Side sympathies, had separated themselves from the mother churches. Rev. John Elder, from whose churches these had seceded, and who was a rigid Old Side man, still claimed the entire field, and resented this encroachment on his rights. It is not known whether Mr. Hoge had been guilty of any indiscretion in fulfilling the appointment of Presbytery; but Mr. Elder did not approve of his presence in his territory, and at the next meeting of Presbytery complained of having been "annoyed by the rooting around of a Hog that had been turned into the field."
When the Presbytery of Donegal was divided, in 1786, into the Pres- byteries of Carlisle and Baltimore, the Presbyterial relations of Mr. Hoge were thrown with Carlisle. And when the Presbytery of Huntingdon was erected out of Carlisle, April, 1795, he, as one of the oldest members of the new Presbytery, was appointed to preach the opening sermon and to preside at the organization, and was chosen its first moderator. Of his labors after this we have no definite account. He died February 11, 1807. It is said of him that he "was always highly esteemed as a minister and had an unquestioned character for piety." Through his whole life he was. largely engaged in evangelistic work, for which he seems to have been peculiarly adapted. His grandchildren still reside at Watsontown, North- umberland County, Pa.
Of the other churches within our Presbyterial bounds, the authentic
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facts now ascertainable, are too few and vague to enable us to give a satis- factor history of any one of them prior to about 1770. That several churches had already been formed in this territory, and that some of them had attained a considerable importance, are well-known facts; but none of them had yet been able to secure a pastor, and few of them could obtain supplies of any permanence. Potomac, Bullskin, Tuscarora, Falling Water, South Branch, ,Capon, and others had been in existence for a considerable time, and were continually sending their "supplications" to Presbytery and Synod; and in the bodies appealed to, commendable interest and zeal had been manifested in furnishing them with supplies; but, so far as the Records inform us, not one of them had reached that numerical or financial strength that could secure them the services of a settled minister. It seems to be true, that not only was Mr. Hoge the first pastor within our bounds, but that up to the period of his settlement there was no minister of our faith and order whose residence was here. · As we have seen, our people were dependent for preaching not merely, but for all ministerial services, as marriages, bap- tisms, funerals, etc., upon such "supplies" as were sent them, or upon the occasional visits of those ministers who were passing through on their evangelistic tours. In those days the date of a marriage was fixed ordi- narily, not by the wishes or convenience of the parties engaged, but by the expected coming of a "supply," or the providential arrival of an evan- gelist. And to this difficulty of obtaining ministerial service when needed may be traced that custom which prevails here still, to some extent, of having the funeral sermon preached at some convenient day subsequent to -and sometimes long subsequent to-the burial of the deceased.
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