USA > Virginia > The planting of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia : prior to the organization of Winchester Presbytery, December 4, 1794 > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
" After spending a week or two in Charlestown and vicinity, accord- ing to a promise made to Mr. Legrand, I returned to Frederick County and spent four weeks in supplying his place at Opekon, Winchester and Cedar Creek. x x In Opekon congregation a revival of religion had been in progress for some time. The good work extended also beyond the congregation to a populous but poor neighborhood called 'The Pines.' Here at a mill I held many meetings in the evening, where crowds of peo- ple, more than could be accommodated, came out. x X The weeks x which I spent at Opekon passed pleasantly. Besides the services of the Sabbath, we held a meeting every Tuesday afternoon at Major Gilkeson's, one of the elders at Opekon, and I must say that such meetings I never attended any where else; I mean that I never felt the Saviour's presence so sensibly ; and this seemed to be the general impression."
III. BULLSKIN.
Next in order, in the Records to which we have access, is the Bull- skin Church. The Bullskin is a tributary of the Shenandoah and a stream of considerable importance. The tradition is that this singular name had its origin in the fact that when the first settlers arrived there they found on the bank of the stream the hide of a buffalo bull of enormous size, stretched out to dry, the bull having been killed by a party of hunters, or possibly of Indians. The old church stood on the hill, about 150 yards north of the head spring of Bullskin, and on land now owned by Wm. M. Clements. Its ruins are still there, or were ar a recent date. This spring, which was jointly owned by the Reilys and Throckmorton's, is three- fourths of a mile south of Summit Point, in Jefferson County, W. Va., quite near the Summit Point and Berryville turnpike, and the same dis- tance from the old Charlestown and Winchester road; 5 1-2 miles south- west of Aldridge; 7 1-2 west of Charlestown, and 3 1-2 northwest of Beu- lah.
The first mention we find of Bullskin is in Donegal Records for April
1
40
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
2, 1740. There Mr. Caven is ordered "to visit Bullskin on the third Sab- bath of this inst." This minute would seem to indicate that the place was one with which the Presbytery was well acquainted. It is not spoken of as a new settlement, and there is nothing even to fix its location in Virginia save that Mr. Caven was directed to preach at "Upekin" the Friday be- fore going to Bullskin. It is mentioned as any other place already on their roll would be mentioned. There is reason to believe that Bullskin was not a new settlement in 1740, as Opecquon was in 1735-6. It was more than 20 miles nearer the fords of the Potomac, in a fertile and well- watered country ; and it is not reasonable to suppose that, if this country were still unoccupied, immigrants would have passed over it to settle on lands further away from civilization, and offering no superior advantages. It is difficult to resist the conviction that there were settlers on the Bullskin much earlier than these Records show.
And yet in the Records themselves there is a minute which may throw possible light on this matter. In April, 1737, Presbytery "appointed Messrs. Anderson and Bertram to visit Virginia." The minute does not say to what part of Virginia they were to go, but intimations in other min- utes seem to justify the belief that they were sent to the people of this Lower Valley ; and if so, it is not at all improbable that they visited the Bullskin, and that their report to Presbytery prepared the way for those appointments of supplies, of which we begin to read in April, 1740, and which were afterwards made with such frequency. Before the long gap of fourteen years occurs through the loss of the Donegal Records, during which we are entirely ignorant of its history, Mr. Hynman (Hindman) first, and Mr. Caven later, were appointed to supply this church. From 1759, through a period of more than twenty years, supplications for preaching "from various places in Virginia" were made at each meeting of Presbytery. Sometimes the name of the church supplicating is given, and that of Bullskin occurs quite as often as any other. And while Mr. Vance, Mr. Alexander and others were specially sent to supply it, we find that Mr. Hoge, while still pastor of Opecquon, etc., was several times charged with a kind of general oversight "of all vacancies adjacent" to him, and with the special duty of supplying Bullskin. It is particularly noted that in April, 1767, Bullskin and Tuscarora united, and made specific request for the services of Mr. McCreary and Mr. Craighead. These young men had just been licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle ; and it is quite probable that the specific request for them was made in the hope of secur- ing the permanent settlement of one of them. Many years later, when
41
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
Mr. McKnight had resigned the pastoral charge of Elk Branch, "Bullskin and Cool Spring (Gerardstown) made supplication for Mr. McKnight as a stated supply till the next meeting of Presbytery with a view to calling him as pastor." This was in April, 1783, and while the application was not successful, for Mr. McKnight accepted a call from a church in Penn- sylvania, the minute is interesting as containing the last mention of Bullskin in our Ecclesiastical Records. Before this, for a dozen years or so, in- stead of the simple name of Bullskin, the expression "Head of Bullskin," or "Head Waters of Bullskin" is used when this church is referred to. The reason for this is not clear ; and, in fact, the whole history of the church is involved in a good deal of obscurity. Whether there ever was a properly organized church there is itself somewhat uncertain. The name does not appear upon any roll that I have seen, either of Donegal or Car- lisle Presbytery. But if the people on the Bullskin were never organized as a church, they certainly were organized for worship; and whatever may have been the character of their organization, it was efficient in procur- ing for them, with great frequency, through a period of fifty years, the ordinances of the Gospel. It does not appear that a minister was ever set- tled among them, though on more than one accasion they made an effort to secure a pastor; yet they displayed such zeal in asking for supplies that they seem not to have been for any long time without the ministry of the Word.
That such a church should cease to exist is accounted for by the fact, that services began to be held at other more central points, which gradually drew away the members from the old place of worship. Charlestown, Smithfield, and perhaps Berryville, as growing villages, required stated preaching; and at length-we do not know at what date-the old place of worship at the head of Bullskin was abandoned, and the house crumbled into ruins.
Before this occurred, however, an event of great importance to the interests of our church in that whole region took place. This was the call and settlement, in 1791, of Rev. William Hill as pastor of Charles- town and Smithfield churches ; who, during a part, if not the whole of his ministry in Jefferson County, continued to hold stated meetings at Bullskin. The history of Mr. Hill's ministry in the field will be given later in connection with our sketch of Charlestown church.
It is a fact of no little interest, that it was at Bullskin that the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander began his authorized ministry and preached his first sermon after his licensure in Winchester, October 1, 1791. As he
42
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
told the writer of this sketch, in his last interview with him only six weeks before his death, he had engaged to fill Mr. Hill's appointments for a few weeks; and on Monday, October 3, he left Winchester in company with Rev. Mr. Legrand, and late that afternoon reached the house of old Mr. Reily at the head Spring of Bullskin. He had been a guest there a few months before on his way both to and from the General Assembly in Philadelphia, of which Assembly he was a member as a Ruling Elder from Lexington Presbytery. At that time he had been treated with mark- ed kindness by this family. They supplied him with a horse, when his own was foundered, and so enabled him to continue his journey. Though his coming now was unannounced, both he and Mr. Legrand were heartily welcomed ; and Mrs. Reily at once insisted that they must have preaching that night. Notice was sent out and at the hour appointed the house was filled. To the utter surprise and consternation of the young licentiate who. was then but nineteen years of age, when the services began, Mr. Legrand, without previous intimation, required Mr. Alexander to conduct them and to preach. At first he was overwhelmed with alarm and confusion ; but when he recovered his composure he was enabled to preach with a great deal of comfort to himself, and, we can readily imagine, to the great delight of his hearers. The deep impression that incident made upon him was evi- dent from the manner in which the old man related it to the writer sixty years after its occurrence.
IV. SOUTH BRANCH (Concrete).
Among the many surprises we meet in our inquiries touching the Plant- ing of Presbyterianism within our bounds, none, perhaps, is greater than its early date in the Valley of the South Branch. In the Records of Done- gal for December 11, 1740, mention is made of a congregation of our faith and order already waiting there to receive the ordinances of the Gospel. The minute reads, " Mr. Caven is ordered to supply at Marsh Creek (i. e., Gettysburg) and South Branch, at his discretion, till our next." The dis- tance from each other of the two places here named is so great as to sug- gest at first that among the rivers of Pennsylvania was a stream called the "South Branch;" but all doubt on this score is dismissed, when we find in the minutes of the next meeting of Presbytery (May 30, 1741), that "a
43
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
supplication " for supplies was brought in and read from "the South Branch of the Potomac." From what particular part of the South Branch this "sup- plication" came is not specified, but the subsequent history clearly identifies it with that section above the "Trough," now known as the Moorefield Valley. That there should have been a Presbyterian settlement there large enough to claim the attention of Presbytery as early as 1740 is a little remarkable. That Valley is so secluded, and was so far removed at that time from other white settlements and, therefore, so peculiarly exposed to attacks from the savages, that it seems like an act of recklessness for peo- ple voluntarily to place themselves in such peril. An explanation is prob- ably found in the fact that many of these settlers sustained specially friendly relations to such Indians as were in a position to molest them.
There is an old and undisputed tradition, now accepted as history, that long before settlers had gathered in any large numbers in the Shenandoah Valley, John Howard and his son penetrated these mountain solitudes and discovered the charming South Branch Valley; then, crossing the moun- tains, they descended the Ohio and Mississippi, in a skiff of their own construction, and at last, after a thrilling series of adventures, they found themselves in London, and reported their discoveries to Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck. Sometime after Howard's visit, the tra- dition (or history) continues, John Van Meter, of New Jersey, who, as a trader, had ingratiated himself with the Indians, accompanied a war party of the Delawares on an expedition to the South, against the Catawbas. Their march was up the South Branch Valley, giving Van Meter a fine opportunity to acquaint himself with that wonderfully rich and attractive country. Returning home, he described that Valley as "the finest body of land he had ever seen," and advised his sons to settle there. One of them took his advice. Visiting the country about 1736, he obtained a "toma- hawk title " to the land immediately above the Trough, where Fort Pleas- ant was afterwards built, and returned to New Jersey for his family. When, after a year or two, he, with several of his friends and their fami- lies, came again to the South Branch, he found that its value had become known to others, probable through Howard's report, and that a consider- able body of emigrants had already settled there. The name of Van Meter proved a protection to them all, and the increase in population was rapid.
The Van Meters were of Dutch origin, as were probable all who came to the South Branch under their auspices. Their church affiliations were naturally with the Dutch Reformed; and very early in the settlement of that Valley the Dutch Reformed Classis of New Jersey sent its missionaries
44
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
to them, and to others of their faith and order in the adjacent vallies, par- ticularly to Patterson's Creek. It seems, however, that those who pre- ceded the Van Meters, as well as those who joined them soon afterward, were chiefly of Scotch-Irish stock and, therefore, Presbyterians. And either because these were superior to their Dutch neighbors in numbers and zeal; or, which is most likely, because Donegal Presbytery possessed supe- rior facilities for reaching them and supplying their spiritual wants, the Presbyterian Church was the one which obtained the earlier and firmer foothold in that Valley. We have no continuous history of its growth, yet some interesting data are at hand.
When, at the meeting of the Presbytery, May 30, 1741, supplies were asked for from the South Branch of the Potomac, we are not told who was sent; but at the next meeting, in October, we read that the appointments were fulfilled.
At that same meeting, October 9, 1741, we find this suggestive min- ute: "Pursuant to several supplications from several places of the back parts of Virginia, requesting supplies during the winter and, if possible, for an ordained minister, Presbytery agreed that Mr. Alexander McDowell should be ordained sine titulo, in order to itinerate sine tempore in Virginia." Now, while the expression "the back parts of Virginia," as found in our Ecclesiastical Records, undoubtedly means the Upper Valley as distin- guished from the Lower, it is not improbable that in this case it is meant to include the South Branch, which was far to the west and south of those points, near the familiar fords of the Potomac, which the Presbytery was accustomed to supply; and as the itinerancy of Mr. McDowell was without limitation of time, he might very well have visited that congregation on his way to or from Augusta.
Here the unfortunate gap, from the loss of the Donegal Records, occurs. But in the Records of the Old-Side Synod of Philadelphia, for May 23, 1751, this important minute is found: "Ordered, that Mr. Craig [of Augusta County, Va.] supply x x x the South Branch, and places adjacent, three Sabbaths before our next." This minute is inter- esting, not only as showing (as just suggested) that the South Branch may have been reckoned as in "the back parts of Virginia," because it was those "parts " especially that the Synod was arranging to supply; but also because it informs us that there were then other places "adjacent " to the South Branch that were becoming Presbyterian centers.
Our next minute is of more interest, as showing growth and zeal among these people: "April, 1768, supplications were received from the South
45
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
Branch of the Potomac; and for an ordained minister to assist in forming them into a regular congregation." In answer to this request Rev. John Roan was sent. While we have no report from him, it is safe to assume that his mission was fulfilled, and that we may date from this period (1768) the first regular organization of a church in that Valley; to which the singu- lar name of " Concrete" was given.
From a minute dated October, 1768, it would appear that Presbyte- rianism was beginning to take root nearer the mouth of the South Branch, as "a number of places in Hampshire County supplicated for supplies;" and the next spring, April, 1769, " supplies were called for from various places on the South Branch of the Potomac."
From this time for more than a dozen years there is no mention of the South Branch in the Donegal Records. But this does not mean that the church had ceased to exist, or had lost its zeal for Gospel ordinances. For apart from the fact that during the stormy period that led up to and em- braced the War of the Revolution, a general commission to look after and supply vacancies had been given to some of the ministers, particularly to Mr. Hoge after his release from the Opecquon field ; it must be remem- bered that when Hanover Presbytery was erected by the Synod of New York in 1755, it was given jurisdiction over all the territory south and west of Mr. Hoge's charge. This included the Moorefield Valley, to which, however, Donegal, a warm adherent of the Old-Side Synod, never surren- dered its claim. Hanover sometimes sent its missionaries to the South Branch, but its Records throw very little light upon its relations to that field. When the Presbytery of Lexington was constituted by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1786, this church with its pastor, Rev. Moses Hoge, was assigned to it.
A new era in the history of this church began when Moses Hoge was providentially led to settle among them. He had been licensed in 1781, and the next year, before going to Kentucky, or on his way there, he was induced to delay his journey for a time in order to preach for the people of this Val- ley. They were so much pleased with his services and importuned him so earnestly to remain with them, that after long hesitation he relinquished his purpose of going West, and concluded to remain with the South Branch people to whom he had become so strongly attached.
Having decided to stay with the people of Hardy County, Mr. Hoge remained in that field until the autumn of 1787; when, because of the effect of the climate upon his health and to the great sorrow of his people, he removed to Shepherdstown. He was devoted to his church and gave to the
·
46
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
people of South Branch a ministry of surpassing ability and value, the power of which was long felt in all that region. His home was in Moorefield, and the log house in which he resided was standing within the memory of some now living. During his residence there he taught a school, which not only contributed to his support, otherwise inadequate, but secured to the youth of South Branch educational advantages of a very superior character.
After the removal of Mr. Hoge, this church was supplied for a time by the Rev. Mr. Jennings. Just when his ministry here began and how long it continued, we have no means of determining. While Rev. William Hill was engaged in the service of the "Missionary Commission" of the Virginia Synod, he visited "Moorefield, in Hardy County, and preached a few sermons there in the absence of Dr. Jennings, the successor of Mr. Hoge." This was in September, 1791, and this extract from Mr. Hill's Journal is all that we know of the ministry of Mr. Jennings on the South Branch. He was, we suppose, the Rev. Jacob Jennings, father of the distin- guished Obadiah Jennings, D. D., who was pastor in Nashville, Tenn., and died there January 12, 1832. He (the father) was born in New Jer- sey in 1744, studied medicine and practiced his profession until about 40 years of age, when he turned his attention to theology. It is believed that he entered the ministry in connection with the Reformed Dutch Church. And this suggests the probability that he came to Virginia in the interests of that church to look after those of their own lineage, who were scattered in considerable numbers through these valleys, and not a few of whom were to be found on the South Branch. He resided for several years in Virginia, and we are inclined to believe that a large part of that time was passed at Moorefield. Some months after Mr. Hill's visit he removed to Western Pennsylvania, and in April, 1792, was received "from the Low Dutch Church" as a member of Redstone Presbytery, and died in its service February 17, 1813.
Of this church we know nothing more until after the organization of Winchester Presbytery, save that at that organization the "Concrete Church" was reported "vacant, but able to support a pastor."
47
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
V. CEDAR CREEK.
This, by universal consent, is one of our oldest churches, though its name does not appear in existing records until May 18, 1768. In the Rec- ords of the Synod of New York of that date is this minute: "A supplication for supplies, and particularly for the opportunity of a probationer, from Cedar Creek and Opecquon was brought into Synod." There is a much earlier minute in the Records of Donegal for 1736, which says that appli- cation for the services of Rev. Samuel Gelston was laid before Presbytery "from both sides of the Opecquon." If this expression means, as we believe it does, Opecquon proper, and Cedar Creek, then, without the mention of the name, we have here a distinct reference to the Cedar Creek Church. Opecquon and Cedar Creek were closely associated for nearly a hundred years, and as they are situated on different sides of the Opecquon Creek, the two, when spoken of together, may properly be designated as "both sides of the Opecquon."
The location of this church, as the name indicates, is on Cedar Creek, an important tributary of the Shenandoah. It is nine or ten miles south- west .of the Opecquon Church, and about seven miles west of Stephens- burg, now called " Stephens City." Its earliest settlement was by some families that came to this Valley with Joist Hite in 1732, who were re-en- forced after two or three years by others who came with Samuel Glass. Hite himself was probably not a Presbyterian, but several of those who came with him probably were, as their names indicate a Scotch-Irish origin. True to their religious and ecclesiastical instincts, one of their first efforts was to provide a church of their own faith and order. And as these set- tlers on Cedar Creek had intimate relations with those who settled on the Opecquon, they naturally joined forces 'n their efforts to secure for them- selves the ordinances of the Gospel. Up to the time of the organization of Winchester Presbytery, and for many years after, these two settlements are invariably united in their church relations; so that the history of Opec- quon, as we have given it, is substantially the history of Cedar Creek. They were the same race of people; had the same tastes; held to the same views, and the preacher that pleased the one was entirely satisfactory to the other. The "supplication " that was intended to obtain a supply for the one, always included in it a supply for the other. Their history runs parellel from their origin to the close of Mr. Legrand's pastorate; and for the details of that history, during the period covered by this sketch, the
48
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
reader is referred to what has been more fully written about Opecquon.
Of the Sessional Records of the Cedar Creek Church for nearly a cen- tury not a scrap can be found. There is, however, a deed given by Lord Fairfax in 1762, during the pastora'e of Rev. John Hoge, " conveying 100 acres of land to William Vance, William Evans, James Colville, James Hogg, and Andrew Blackburn, elders of the Presbyterian congregation [of Cedar Creek] and their successors, for building a meeting house thereon," etc. The House of Worship subsequently built on that land, we may assume, was the second one erected; and that it was afterward replaced by the stone edifice in which the church worships now. This old deed is of special interest as preserving the names of the members of the Session at that date.
The first mention we find of this church in the Records of Donegal, is in connection with its failure to meet its obligations to its pastor-a failure which was shared by Opecquon. In their united call to Mr. Hoge he was promised an annual salary of £70; of which amount Opecquon was to pay £45 and Cedar Creek £25. These sums, we suppose, indicate the com- parative financial ability, as well as the membership, of the two congrega- tions. In November, 1761, Mr. Roan was directed to write to both churches, calling attention to the deficiency, and urging that it be paid. At the next meeting, April, 1762, we have a statement of their arrearages. That of Cedar Creek amounted to £41, 15s., 6d., while that of Opecquon amounted to £41, 19s. The churches promised to pay what was due, and yet their indebtedness to Mr. Hoge continued to be a matter of complaint in Presbytery for ten years ; and at last, in 1772, his pastoral relation was dissolved because of their failure to pay his salary. And yet, as these people manifested the greatest reluctance to part with their pastor, and as Mr. Hoge retained his home among them for several years and frequently preached for both churches, we must assume that their long indebtedness to him was the result of their own straitened circumstances, rather than of their unwillingness to meet their obligation.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.