USA > Virginia > The planting of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia : prior to the organization of Winchester Presbytery, December 4, 1794 > Part 7
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Its name appears for the last time in the Donegal Records under date of April, 1781, and of its subsequent history we know really nothing. If, like some other churches once flourishing, it became so reduced by emigra- tion that it finally died out, we do not know when its existence ceased. Within the memory of persons now living, an old Presbyterian church stood in the Forks of Capon; and some of the descendants of the old members of that church are in that region still. The business interests of that sec- tion of Hampshire County, which a hundred years ago were centered at the Forks of Capon, gradually drifted eastward four miles to Bloomery Mills, where, in the early part of this century, our present church of Bloomery was organized, which is really the successor of the old church at the Forks.
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IX. FALLING WATERS.
This church at an early period was ranked, as it is today, among the stronger ones of this region ; and as its location was near one of the prin- cipal fords of the Potomac, we would naturally expect to find it named quite early in the history of the Valley churches. It is a little surprising,. then, that we do not meet with its name until April 28, 1762; and that, in the records to which we have access, the names of eight other congrega- tions precede it, some of them, then and now, of minor importance. Its comparatively late appearance is accounted for, as in several other cases, by the loss of the Records, in which we are quite certain the name of this church would have been found.
The accepted tradition is, that about the year 1745 a Presbyterian congregation, composed largely of Irish immigrants, was formed at Lower Falling Waters, in Berkeley County, and that towards the close of that century their house of worship was removed to a point about three miles east of where the Falling Waters church now stands. This was about seven miles north of Martinsburg, and not far from the ford by which so many of the early immigrants found their way into the Shenandoah Valley. Everything in the appearance of the country and in the quality of the land invited them to make their homes in that neighborhood ; and, true to their religious training, their own cabins were hardly built until a place was pro- vided in which God should be worshipped. That they had been organized for such worship sometime before they are introduced to us in the Presby- terial Records, and that they had already grown to some importance is in- dicated by the fact that at their first mention they are presented to us as dissatisfied with the prevailing methods of sending supplies to each church, for only one or two Sabbaths at a time, and these at long intervals. This church asks for supplies, but is explicit in the statement that it wants "la- borers," not for a Sabbath or two, but "for some time to come." And while it is not certain that they enjoyed the ministrations of the Word for any great length of time during the next twenty-five years, yet it is evident that they faithfully tried to have their pulpit supplied as frequently and for as long periods as possible during that time.
For nearly a decade after its name first appears, Falling Waters is a frequent and zealous applicant to Presbytery for supplies ; and Messrs.
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Hoge, Balch, Lewis, Lang, Thomas, Slemons, Vance, Rhea and others were sent them, and some of them were sent often.
In 1771 Mr. Hugh Vance, recently licensed, was settled as pastor of Tuscarora ; but as we have already stated (pp. 53 and 54) there is very great confusion in the Records as to the relations of Falling Waters to this pastorate. It is first stated, October, 1770, "Mr. Hugh Vance is called to be pastor of Falling Waters and Back Creek." Then, in August, 1771, the minute states Presbytery ordained Mr. Hugh Vance and installed him pastor of Tuscarora and Falling Waters ; but no mention is made of Back Creek. And yet in the history of Donegal and Carlisle Presbyteries by Dr. Norcross, Mr. Vance is named as pastor of Tuscarora and Back Creek from August 21, 1771, to December 31, 1791. That Mr. Vance had no pastoral relation to Falling Waters seems to be sustained by the fact, that but two months after his installation, Mr. Lang is ordered to supply Falling Waters the second Sabbath in November, and Mr. Rhea the fourth Sab- bath. The next year these two ministers were again appointed to supply this church; and in April, 1773, "Falling Waters and Elk Branch ask for a supply to be equally divided between them," and Mr. Lang is sent as a supply. Among the supplies which Presbytery continues to send, Mr. Vance himself is named in April, 1775. And yet at that same meeting Mr. Vance speaks of this church as his; he reports "that his congregations, Falling Water's and Tuscarora, had given £5 for the aid of candidates." And the pastoral claim, which he here seems to make, is in full agreement with the belief long current in Berkeley County. We are not able to offer any solution of the difficulty which these discrepancies present, unless it is found in the fact (if it be a fact) that names have gotten mixed, and that Falling Waters was written, when Back Creek was really intended. If this explanation is not accepted, it is very difficult to account for the fact that, in April, 1775, Falling Waters distinctly asks Presbytery for "a supply to reside among them and catechize;"-a request which was frequently made by these churches when requesting supplies.
It was in the spring of 1775 that Mr. Fithian and Mr. Andrew Hunter visited this church. They spent the night of May 18th at Hagerstown, Md. The next morning, when leaving the hotel, and about to pay their bill, the landlord, Mr. Van Lear, surprised them by saying that " a clergy- man's money would not pass with him." Having crossed the Potomac, he writes, " May 19. We are now in Berkeley County, eighty miles above Alexandria and eighty-seven from Baltimore. We arrived among Mr. Hunter's relatives. He introduced me to his mother, sister and brothers."
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On Saturday they visited Rev. Hugh Vance, who gave them "liberty to visit and preach in the neighboring vacancies." Availing themselves of this liberty the day after, he writes in his diary as follows:
"Sunday, May 21. Mr. Hunter and I preached at Falling Waters Meeting House. It stands on the Potowmack, is well situated, and I am told is a numerous society. The people gave good attention, sang the Scotch, or, as they called them, 'David's Psalms.' The congregation is chiefly made up of country Irish and half Scotch, most of them Presbyterians. We dined at one Bowland's. Two wagons fully loaded went past, going with families to back settlements."
As Mr. Hunter was at home, the Presbytery the next month (June, 1775) appointed him to preach for several Sabbaths at Falling Waters.
At almost every meeting of Presbytery until 1788, Falling Waters is asking for supplies and great numbers of them are sent. In October of that year this church unites with Williamsport and Hagerstown in Mary- land in a request for Mr. Joseph Caldwell, a licentiate of a Presbytery in Ireland, "as a constant supply for one year." This request was granted. In April, 1791, Falling Waters unites with Williamsport in a call for the ministerial services of Rev. David Bard, accompanied by subscription papers promising an annual salary of £77, 18s., 16d. This call does not seem to have been accepted by Mr. Bard. In April, 1793, Falling Waters and Tuscarora united in a call for the Rev. John Boyd. He was ordered to supply them for six months, and in October of that year accepted the call; and April 9, 1794, was installed their pastor.
Of this minister very little is known, beyond the fact that he was licensed December 21, 1791, by Donegal Presbytery, and that he was pas- tor of Falling Waters and Tuscarora churches from April 9, 1794, to April 17, 1801, a period of seven years. What was the character of the man, or of his ministry, we have not been able to learn. Of his subsequent life and labors we know nothing, except that he was dismissed to the Presby- tery of New Brunswick in April, 1803, and was without any pastoral charge for several years. We are ignorant of the date and place of his death.
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X. PATTERSON'S CREEK.
Our knowledge of this church, prior to the organization of Winchester Presbytery, is rather limited. The name first appears in the Presbyterial Records for April, 1768, when Mr. Roan is appointed to preach on Patter- son's Creek, and on the South Branch of the Potomac, and at Cape Capon. And yet, at the very next mention of it, the people on that creek not only ask for supplies, but "especially for an ordained minister to assist them in forming themselves into a congregation, and ordaining elders." This is in October, 1781, which we may reasonably assume is very near the date of their organization as a church. Eighteen months later, viz: April, 1783, the Patterson's Creek and South Branch churches unite in a call for the pas- toral services of Rev. John McKnight, who had recently resigned from Elk Branch. This call Mr. McKnight declined.
But besides these minutes, in which this church is distinctly mentioned, there is a minute for October, 1768, of such a general character, that it may include Patterson's Creek-" a number of places in Hampshire sup- plicate for supplies." And there is another minute, nearly ten years later (April, 1777) which tells in general terms that "Mr. Waugh was appointed to supply in Hampshire." Each of these minutes may refer to service that was rendered on Patterson's Creek, as well as to other places in that county.
We learn, however, from other sources, that the people of this Valley were sometimes in the enjoyment of Gospel ordinances, other than those furnished by members of Donegal Presbytery. Some of the early settlers were of Dutch origin; and missionaries of the Reformed Dutch Classis were sometimes sent to preach to them.
But they were specially blessed for two years or more with the servi- ces of a preacher of their own church, who was afterwards known as one of the distinguished ministers of his day-Rev. Thaddeus Dod.
Mr. Dod was born near Newark, N. J., in 1740, and belonged to a family that, for several generations, has been remarkable for mathemati- cal taste and talent. The Rev. Dr. Albert B. Dod, of Princeton, was his great nephew. Thaddeus Dod was graduated at Princeton in 1773, studied theology under Dr. Alexander McWhorten, was licensed by the Presbytery of New York in 1775, and ordained by the same Presbytery, sine titulo, in October; 1777. After his licensure he undertook a journey to western Pennsylvania, where several families from his own neighborhood had gone.
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On his way he stopped at Patterson's Creek, and preached to those people for a few weeks; and then continued his journey to the vicinity of what is now Washington, Pa., where he yielded to the importunities of his old friends, to become their pastor. With this end in view he returned home, received ordination, and about November 1, 1777, set out with his wife and two children for their distant home. Reaching Patterson's Creek again, he learned of the depredations the' Indians were committing in the West. Leaving his family in the care of friends, he crossed the mountains alone, and was advised that the risk of bringing his family there at that time was too great; so he returned to Patterson's Creek, where, in the providence of God, his stay was prolonged for about two years (1777-1779), during which time he preached unremittingly, and with great acceptance and effect to the people on the creek and places adjacent. His labors here were so richly blessed, and his faithfulness had so endeared him to that people, that when the way was open for him to leave, a vigorous effort was made to retain him, and a much larger salary was offered than had been prom- ised at Tenmile. But his word had been given, and he must abide by it. During his sojourn on Patterson's Creek, he buried a child. Mr. Dod was the second minister who settled west of the Monongahela River, and he penetrated farther into the wilderness than any before him. And there he" labored in great peril from the savages until his early death-May 20, 1793.
XI. SHEPHERDSTOWN.
Shepherdstown is on the south bank of the Potomac River, twelve miles above Harpers Ferry, and is one of the oldest towns in the Shenandoah Valley; and for a long time was one of the most important. It entertained the Synod of Virginia in 1799. It has, moreover, the remarkable distinc- tion of being "the place where the first steamboat was constructed and navigated." This town has not always been called by its present name. There is reliable evidence that it was first called "Potomac," a name that it had not altogether lost at the beginning of the last century. When it was established by law in 1762, it was named " Mecklenburg." But this name seems never to have been received with much favor; and very soon it began to be called "Shepherdstown," in honor of Capt. Thomas Shep-
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herd, who laid it off on his own land, and that name it has retained ever since.
The name of Shepherdstown appears for the first time in Ecclesiasti- cal Records in October, 1768. As there was certainly a settlement at that point at least a third of a century earlier; and as among the early settlers are many names that were afterwards closely identified with the Presbyte- rian Church, it may be asked if there was no church there until the date that has been mentioned? This question has already been considered (pp. 10 et seq., and 32, 33), and the answer given, that a church had existed there for some time under the name of "Potomac," or, as at first written, "Poto- moke;" and when the town began to be called by its new name, "Shepherds- town," the name of the church also was changed. Such changes, we know, were made in several other instances, and for a like reason; e.g., South Branch was changed to Moorefield; Bullskin to Charlestown; South River to Front Royal; Middletown to Gerrardstown; Stoverstown to Strasburg, etc. The location of that village; the evidence we have of the very early settlement of that region; the almost absolute certainty that the Potomac church was situated there, or in that immediate vicinity; together with the marks of maturity and strength which the Shepherdstown church exhibits, as soon as it is brought to our notice under that name; lead surely to the conclu- sion, that it was the successor of that church whose name disappears when that of Shepherdstown is introduced; or, more properly, that it is the same church under another and more appropriate name.
The Shepherdstown church is first presented (October, 1768) as "supplicating for supplies;" and in response two men, Messrs. Slemons aud Balch, are ordered to supply them. The next spring, April 11, 1769, supplies are again asked for; and while there is no record that any particu- lar minister was sent, there is a general order by Presbytery that Mr. Hoge should " supply the vacancies in Virginia," in which order, of course, this church was included. From this time until April, 1783, a period of four- teen years, there is no mention of supplies being either asked for or sent. In some cases a long interval of this kind, in which the name of a church without a pastor does not appear at all in the Presbyterial minutes, might be interpreted as indicating a very feeble condition of church life, or a guilty indifference to church ordinances. But the cases of Mr. Jennings at Moorefield, and of Mr. Dod at Patterson's Creek, are proof that the work and worship of a church may be carried on very efficiently for a consider- able period, when there is nothing whatever in the minutes of the Presby- tery to show it. And, in this case, the silence of the Records touching
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supplies for Shepherdstown may mean that the church was supplying its own pulpit, either by temporary arrangement with the minister of a neigh- boring church, or by having obtained a " stated supply" of its own. It would be interesting to know the true explanation of this silence, but as the Sessional Records are not now extant, we must be content to remain in ignorance.
The next minute we find touching this church is for April, 1783, when Presbytery is asked for "supplies to be divided equally between Shep- herdstown and Elk Branch." As this application is made at the first meet- ing after Rev. John McKnight had resigned from Elk Branch, it suggests that 'during his pastorate of six or seven years, Shepherdstown, which is but a few miles distant, may have shared the services of this distinguished minister .. If so, it will account very satisfactorily for about half the inter- val between 1769 and 1783.
Four years later, viz: in 1787, Shepherdstown again appears asking for supplies, and this time from the new Presbytery of Carlisle. We are not · told who was sent.
This year, 1787, is an important one in the history of the Shepherds- town church, as it was in the autumn of that year that Moses Hoge settled there, and began a ministry of twenty years as the distinguished and suc- cessful pastor of that church.
Of this eminent theologian and preacher much deserves to be said, as he stood among the foremost in the ministry of his day; and his memory has been kept alive through many generations by the succession of learned and eloquent preachers who have descended from him, shedding additional luster upon his name.
Moses Hoge was born near Middletown, in Frederick County, Va., February 15, 1752; and was the only one of the five ministers by whom this Presbytery was organized who was born within its bounds. His grand- parents were William and Barbara (Hume) Hoge, who migrated from Scotland in the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, and after residing first in New Jersey, then in Delaware, and afterwards in Pennsylvania, finally settled, in 1735, near the head of Opecquon Creek, and gave the land on which the Opecquon Church is built. William Hoge had several sons. The eldest did not come with his father to Virginia, but settled at what is now Hogestown, nine miles west of Harrisburg, Pa., and was the father of the Rev. John Hoge, for twenty years pastor of the churches of Opecquon and Cedar Creek. James, the fourth son of William Hoge, was the father of Moses. He was born in Pennsylvania, and was "a man of
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robust intellect and a self-taught theologian," the vigor of whose mind, and the clearness of whose views, even in old age, awakened the wonder, and inspired the admiration of Archibald Alexander, who visited him in 1791, four years before his death (see p. 50). Moses was the ninth son of James Hoge. His early advantages of education were limited; but he was eager to learn, and seized every moment that could be spared from the labors of the farm in the improvement of his mind. He was sent for a brief period to a classical school in Culpeper County, and in 1778 to Liberty Hall, where, under Dr. William Graham, he pursued his studies, both classical and theological, in preparation for the ministry. He was received as a candidate by Hanover Presbytery October 25, 1780; was licensed to preach November, 1781; and, December 13, 1782, at " Brown's Meeting House" in Augusta County, was ordained to the full work of the ministry. The ordination sermon from Acts 20:28 was preached by Rev. Archibald Scott, himself the ancestor of a distinguished line of Presbyterian preachers, and whose son, William N. Scott, was the successor of Dr. Hoge in the minis- try in Hardy County.
Of the ministry of Moses Hoge in Hardy County we have already spoken (pp. 45-46). After a few years' service there, finding the climate of the South Branch injurious to his health, he listened to the overtures that came from Shepherdstown and, in the autumn of 1787, he reluctantly left the people to whom he had become devotedly attached, and established his home in this village on the Potomac. His distinguished ability as a preacher and theologian were at once recognized, and the Shepherdstown church grew rapidly in influence and numbers.
It is not known whether Dr. Hoge was ever properly installed as pas- tor at Shepherdstown. The probability is that he was not. The fact is that his relations to that church for a time were somewhat anomalous. He was a member of Lexington Presbytery, which had been set off from Hanover in 1786; and his church was under the jurisdiction of Carlisle Presbytery, which had been erected out of Donegal the same year. This condition of things continued for several years, and was the occasion of some unpleasant complications-Mr. Hoge owing allegiance to one Presby- tery and the church he was serving to another.
In October, 1789, Col. Matthew Dill, an officer of the Revolutionary Army, and a ruling elder, " sent a letter to Carlisle Presbytery, charging Mr. Hoge with irregular rites in celebrating marriages; and Presbytery ap- pointed Dr. Davidson to write to Mr. Hoge, and caution him," etc. The reply of Mr. Hoge to this letter was laid before. Presbytery the next April.
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Of the nature of the irregularity charged, and the character of the corre- spondence, we are not informed; but it appears that the explanation of Mr. Hoge was satisfactory to Presbytery, and the matter was allowed to drop. At the next meeting of Carlisle Presbytery, October, 1790, Mr. Hoge was present, and was invited to sit as a corresponding member from Lexington Presbytery. His troubles, however, were not yet ended. Com- plaint was lodged against him before the Presbytery of Carlisle for intru- sion, in that he was preaching in one of the churches of that Presbytery without its authority. This complaint, it seems, induced him to make another visit to that Presbytery (April, 1791), in which he "explained his reasons for officiating in the congregation of Shepherdstown, and requested permission to continue his labors there, while retaining his membership in Lexington Presbytery," and his request was granted. It should be men- tioned here, that after Dr. Hoge had served the Shepherdstown church with remarkable fidelity for nearly two years, and expected to continue in that service, the Carlise Presbytery, in its first report to the General Assem- bly in 1789, ignores the presence of Mr. Hoge and reports the Shepherds- town church as " vacant."
The eminent ability of Dr. Hoge as a profound, attractive, and safe expounder of the Word of God, came to be recognized at an early period in his ministry. His varied learning, mature judgment, and vigorous intel- lect enabled him to wield an influence in his church that proved both pow- erful and salutary. Of his ability as a preacher there was among his con- temporaries but one opinion. He ranked easily with the ablest of his times. And yet a volume of his sermons, published after his death, fails to sustain this high estimate of his pulpit power. These published sermons would never suggest that they had been prepared and preached by one, to whose discourses the profoundest thinkers of that day were accustomed to listen with admiration and delight. And his friends have reason to regret that sermons, which he had not himself prepared for publication, should ever have been committed to print. While sound in doctrine and evangelical in sentiment, they give no idea of his power as one of the really great preachers of his day.
It was in the winter of 1791-2 that Archibald Alexander, after his licensure in Winchester, and while filling the appointments of William Hill, in Jefferson County, made frequent visits to Mr. Hoge at Shepherdstown. His conversation was found very instructive to the young licentiate, and his books very attractive; and he was cheerfully accorded the free enjoy- ment of both. Many years afterward he put on record his great indebted-
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ness to Dr. Hoge during that period for many and various acts of kindness.
When the General Assembly was organized in 1789, Moses Hoge was sent by Lexington Presbytery as its first commissioner. He represented the same Presbytery in the Assemblies of 1791 and 1793. When the Presbytery of Winchester was organized, he and his elder, John Kearsley, were sent as its first commissioners to the Assembly of 1795.
The Presbytery of Winchester was organized at Winchester, Va., December 4, 1794. By appointment of the Synod of Virginia, Mr. Hoge presided and preached the opening sermon. He was chosen the first moderator, and also the first stated clerk of the Presbytery. In 1807 he was elected president of Hampden-Sidney College, to succeed Dr. Archi- bald Alexander. In connection with this office he was made, in 1812, Professor of Divinity, under the appointment of the Synod. In 1810 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the College of New Jersey.
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