USA > Virginia > The planting of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia : prior to the organization of Winchester Presbytery, December 4, 1794 > Part 9
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
Turkey Run is not specially named again in the Records; but it no doubt shared in the services which itinerating ministers rendered to many congregations east of the Blue Ridge. Rev. Mr. Waugh, e. g., spent the summer of 1779 " traveling and preaching in the lower parts of Maryland and in Virginia." In April, 1780, Rev. David Bard, whose home was in Loudoun County, " had leave to supply Virginia vacancies at discretion, both as to time and place." And in October of the same year the order was renewed to Messrs. Waugh and Bard to do further missionary work in Virginia. It is supposed that the church in Warrenton, Va., is the out- come of these early services at "Turkey Run in Fauquier County."
7. The Parish of Shelburn in Virginia.
This parish was in the southwest angle of Loudoun County, twelve miles southwest of Leesburg, and eight miles west of Middleburg, and is now known as "The Glebe." In October, 1780, requests for supplies were sent up to Presbytery from this parish, and "from the parish of Cameron in Loudoun County." These names are suggestive of Episco- pacy; but, of course, it is not to be understood that the requests came from Episcopalions. They came from Presbyterians residing in those parishes. In answer to them the Rev. Samuel Waugh was sent to supply the parish of Shelburn "and parts adjacent." From this parish the application does not seem to have been renewed; and we have no knowledge that any Presbyterian organization ever existed there.
-
This completes these fragmentary accounts, and we resume our Sketches of Churches.
79
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
XIII. ALEXANDRIA.
This church, which has since become so important, first appears in the Donegal Records April, 1772. From the manner in which it is intro- duced, it may be inferred that an organized church may have already ex- isted there. There is no request for a preacher to be sent, but the Rev. James Hunt is ordered to supply Alexandria one Sabbath at his discretion. At the same meeting appointments were also made for Rev. Amos Thomp- son and Rev. James Lang to preach at Alexandria. At the June meeting the same year the Rev. William Thom was ordered to supply the church. This last appointment led to a call for Mr. Thom from the Alexandria church, which he accepted, and the same year became its pastor.
Rev. William Thom was licensed by Donegal Presbytery October 10, 1771. The next year he received a call from the congregation in Sherman's Valley, Pa. But though " the call was made in the most unanimous man- ner, without one dissenting voice," Mr. Thom declined it, and accepted the call from Alexandria, where, on the third day of December of the same year (1772) he was ordained and installed. His ministry in this church was very brief, as he died before the close of the following year.
At the meeting of Presbytery next succeeding his death (April, 1774), the Alexandria church made special application for Rev. John Black, who had been licensed by Donegal Presbytery in October of the preceding year. They failed, however, to secure him as pastor, as he accepted a call from Gettysburg, Pa., where he was ordained and installed August, 1775.
This church remained vacant, though not unsupplied, for more than six years after the death of Mr. Thom. Its supplies during this period were obtained mainly from other sources than the Presbytery of Donegal, though Donegal was not neglectful of this vacancy. In October, 1774, Rev. Amos Thompson was commissioned to supply the Virginia vacancies and his labors were given chiefly to eastern Virginia. In June, 1775, the Rev. Messrs. Lang and Rhea were directed to spend some time in similar work in the same field. In October, 1776, Rev. James Hunt was sent as a special supply to Alexandria, and in April, 1777, Rev. John McKnight was sent; but no pastor was obtained until 1780, when the Rev. Isaac S. Keith, of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, was called.
Of Mr. Keith very little is known, aside from his pastorate in this church. He was licensed by the first Presbytery of Philadelphia some time between May, 1777, and May, 1779. In 1780 he was ordained by
80
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
the same Presbytery, and dismissed to the Presbytery of Donegal that he might accept the call to the church in Alexandria. He was received by that Presbytery October 18, 1780, and soon after was installed pastor of this church. In May, 1786, the Presbytery of Donegal was dissolved, and Mr. Keith and his church were assigned to the new Presbytery of Balti- more. In the report of that Presbytery to the General Assembly at its organization in 1789, Mr. Keith is reported as a member, and as pastor of the Alexandria church. After this his name disappears, but whether by death or otherwise we are not told.
In the spring of 1789 Rev. James Muir was called to this church, and continued its pastor until his death in 1820.
Dr. Muir was one of the most distinguished of the Presbyterian minis- ters of that period. He was born in Scotland April 12, 1757. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. He was graduated at the Univer- sity of Glasgow March, 1776, and prosecuted his theological studies at Edinburg. He was licensed in London May, 1779, by six clergymen, who styled themselves " dissenting ministers x x conforming to the doc- trines and practice of the Church of Scotland." On the tenth of August, 1781, the same body of ministers ordained him to go as an evangelist to the Island of Bermuda. He resided in Bermuda, teaching and .preaching until 1788, when he embarked for Scotland; but the vessel was driven back in distress, and finally landed him in New York. After preaching for sev- eral months in that city, he, in the spring of 1789, accepted a call to the Alexandria church, where the remainder of his ministry and of his life was spent. Dr. Muir was a man of unusual ability and learning; but, owing to a strong Scotch accent, and a slight defect in utterance, he could not be called a popular preacher, yet his sermons were rich in Divine truth, and were characterized by condensed thought, logical arrangement, and great simplicity and perspicuity of style." He is described as "a short, thick- set man, rather heavy in his movements, of a grave, but most attractive expression of countenance, and as gentle and guileless as any human being" could be. And yet in the closing years of his ministry his church " was rent with factions and divided. Nearly half his congregation, inflamed with bitterness and wrath, separated, and constituted a new church."
He died in perfect peace, August 8, 1820, and was buried in the church, just beneath the pulpit from which he had so faithfully preached for more than thirty-one years. By his own request, he was buried dressed in his gown and bands, and in a grave thirteen feet deep.
When the General Assembly, in 1792, made the Potomac River the
81
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
dividing line between the Synods of Philadelphia and Virginia, they made an exception in the case of the Alexandria church, leaving it where it had been for the last six years-in the Presbytery of Baltimore and Synod of Philadelphia; and in that connection it remained until 1853, when, at its own request, it was transferred to the Presbytery of Winchester and the Synod of Virginia.
XIV. HOPEWELL.
This is the original name of our church in Smithfield, Jefferson County, W. Va. As there was another, and much older, church of this name in Donegal, it is sometimes difficult to determine from the minutes, whether the reference is to the church in Pennsylvania, or to the one in Virginia. Yet, ordinarily, we are able to distinguish them. "Hopewell " has by some been confounded with " The Head of Bullskin." But the two names refer to different organizations. A careful examination makes it clear that the phrase "Head of . Bullskin," which is used in the later minutes, was intended to designate more definitely the location of what had long been known as the Old Bullskin Church. When Archibald Alexander preached there after his licensure in 1791, the church building stood very near the head spring of the stream, and the ruins of that old building were there within the memory of persons still living. In the organization of the Hopewell church some families from Bullskin may have been included; but it is beyond doubt, that when Bullskin ceased to exist as a church, it was Charlestown and not Smithfield that was its true successor.
The date of the organization of Hopewell church cannot be deter- mined. The name first appears in the Records of Donegal in October, 1773, when, with other places in this Valley, it sent up its supplication for ministerial supplies. We are not told who was sent; yet that some rather permanent arrangement was made to provide them with Gospel ordinances seems probable, from the fact that their application was not renewed for the next six years. In April, 1780, Rev. James Martin was ordered to supply Hopewell in May, and Rev. John Hoge in August. The next year, April, 1781, it again asks for supplies; and then for the next seven or eight years very little is known of its history. But during that time it must have been growing in strength and importance as in 1791, it was able, in con-
82
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
nection with Bullskin and Charlestown, to secure the services of Licentiate William Hill, who was in great demand in many parts of the Church be- cause of his reputation as a preacher of unusual ability and eloquence. In this interesting field, composed of Hopewell, Charlestown and Bullskin, Mr. Hill spent the first eight years of his ministry. When the Presbytery of Winchester was organized in 1794, Hopewell was one of the eleven churches composing it, which were reported as supplied with pastors.
XV. CULPEPER COURT HOUSE.
The name " Culpeper" appears in the Donegal Records as early as April, 1771, when the Rev. Hugh Vance was appointed a supply for the third and fourth Sabbaths in November; but this appointment is to the County, without the designation of any particular place. The next spring (1792) Rev. Messrs. Thompson, Slemons, and Craighead were sent to supply several places in the county specially named, as " Gourdvine," "Rappahannock," and "The North Branch of the Rappahannock." Two months later Mr. Thom was directed to visit "Gourdvine." These were all different places, but all of them in Culpeper County.
In October, 1775, Rev. Hugh Vance is directed to "supply Capt. Conn's at Culpeper C. H." This is the first distinct reference to the place where a Presbyterian church was afterward established. The other points in the county, which seem to have been supplied only tentatively, are now dropped from the Records; and Culpeper C. H. is the place henceforth named. In October, 1776, Mr. Vance is again sent to "Conn's at Cul- peper C. H.," and again to " Culpeper C. H." in April, 1777. One year later (April, 1778) Culpeper C. H. makes supplication for supplies; and in answer, different ministers are sent into Virginia to spend several months in evengelistic work, and presumably to supply specially at this point. Under this appointment Rev. James McConnell and Samuel Waugh ren- dered efficient service. In the fall of 1779 Rev. Joseph Henderson was appointed to supply Culpeper, with permission to extend his labors into Hanover Presbytery. In October, 1780, Rev. Hezekiah Balch was directed to give a month's service to this congregation.
The name of this minister occurs so often in connection with the evan-
83
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
gelistic work in this region, that a more extended account of him may properly be given; and the more properly because of the distinction he afterward attained.
Rev. Hezekiah James Balch, D.D., was born in Harford County, Md., in 1741, but most of his early years were spent in Mecklenburg County, N. C., to which place his parents removed when he was a child. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1762, and then taught for several years in Fauquier County, Va. He was licensed by Donegal Presbytery April 20, 1768, and in the fall of that year was granted permission to preach in the vacancies of Virginia and North Carolina. In August, 1769, he ac- cepted calls from Rocky River and Poplar Tent, N. C. He was ordained by Donegal Presbytery November 16, 1769, and furnished by the modera- tor with credentials to Hanover Presbytery, and to the churches in North Carolina, he returned South. While on his first visit to North Carolina he was married to Miss Hannah Lewis, a young lady of fine intellect and great personal attractions. But, as already related, when he met his Pres- bytery soon after, he had to face the serious charge that was tabled against him, of having been "married by a clergymen of the English Established Church." When summoned to answer, he owned his fault before Presby- tery, and received the solemn censure of the court, through its moderator, Rev. Mr. Roan.
Mr. Balch was dismissed to the Presbytery of Orange, May 24, 1770; but in less than five years he returned again to Donegal, and, October 17, 1775, was settled as pastor of Thom's Creek (Emmitsburg), Md. Dur- ing his pastorate there of seven or eight years, he did a great deal of mis- sionary work south of the Potomac, and principally east of the Blue Ridge. While serving this church he became involved in a rather characteristic altercation with his Presbytery. At the April meeting of 1778, when called upon to give his reasons for absence from the last stated meeting, he re- fused to giveany, save that he "was at camp." Finding that he had set out for the camp the very week of the meeting, he was ordered to lay be- fore Presbytery his reasons for going to camp at that time. This he abso- lutely refused to do. For his contumacy Presbytery judged it proper that he should be admonished from the chair, and that he instantly comply. But Mr. Balch appealed to the Synod. Some years afterward (1782) he withdrew the appeal, and submitted to the admonition.
In June, 1782, he was dismissed to the Presbytery of Hanover; but after laboring within its bounds for two years, he crossed the Alleghanies and settled in eastern Tennessee, in the Valley of the Holston. Here, in
84
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
1785, he, with Rev. Samuel Doak and Rev. Charles Cummings, assisted in organizing the Presbytery of Abingdon-the first on our western waters. In that vast wilderness the remainder, and by far the most important and useful and yet turburlent period, of his singularly active and eventful life was passed. But of the incidents of that life-of his political troubles in connection with the formation of the State of "Franklin "-of his labors and sacrifices in the interests of education and religion-of his many theo- logical and ecclesiastical controversies, we have not room here to speak. Dr. Balch died after a brief, but most distressing illness, in April, 1810.
Returning now to the history of the church at Culpeper C. H. After the labors there of Mr. Balch in 1780, the name of Culpeper silently drops out of the Donegal Records. As the church was on the border of Hanover Presbytery, it is possible that, with a view to more frequent service than it was able to get from Donegal, its Presbyterial relations may have been transferred for the time to the south side of the Rappahannock; or that, without a transfer, the church was supplied by association with some church on the northern border of Hanover. In any case, the fact is pretty well settled, that from about the period when this name disappears, until now, there has been a living and active Presbyterian church at Culpeper C. H.
XVI. KITTOCKTIN.
There are two very interesting facts in the history of this church. The first is, that while we are not able to determine the date of its organization, it is certainly one of the oldest, and with the possible exception of Alex- andria, and the certain exception of Lancaster and Northumberland, abso- lutely the oldest church in our former territory east of the Blue Ridge. When we first meet with the name, in 1776, it is that of, apparently, a fully equipped church, not only organized for worship, but with a settled minister already in charge. The other interesting fact is that the earliest missionary work in that eastern territory was not undertaken by the Pres- bytery of Donegal. Important and successful work had been done there before this Presbytery, which had done so much for the evangelizing of the region west of the Ridge, had begun to send its missionaries into East- ern Virginia. What Presbytery it was that first entered this field-whether
85
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
New Castle from north of the Potomac, or Hanover from south of the Rappahannock-we do not know, though the probabilities are that the field was at first worked by both Presbyteries.
Kittocktin, or as it is now written, " Catoctin," is the present Presby- terian church in Waterford, Loudoun County. The original house of wor- ship stood on the road between Leesburg and Waterford, one mile and a half south of its present site, and five miles north of Leesburg. It is claim- ed that this was the first church building erected in Loudoun County. No vestige of it remains now. It has not been used as a place of worship since about 1825. The old graveyard, in which the remains of so many of the early settlers were buried, is enclosed by a solid stone wall ; and it has received but few interments for many years.
The name of this church first appears in the Donegal Records, Octo- ber, 1776. When "supplications (for ministerial service) were received from Kittocktin and Gum Spring, in Loudoun County, Va.," and, as en- forcing the supplication, the fact is stated that "Rev. Amos Thompson, the pastor of these churches, was absent as chaplain in the Continental Army." When Mr. Thompson was settled over these churches we are not informed, but that his relation was regarded as a permanent one is evi- dent from the fact that his absence in the army had not dissolved it. How long he continued in his post as chaplain does not appear, but as he was fond of adventure, and life in the army was not uncongenial, and as these churches were vacant for several years, it is not improbable that his chap- laincy continued until the close of the war.
This Rev. Amos Thompson was a man of considerable note, though the church historians have written almost nothing about him. It is believed he was a native of Connecticut, born about 1735. He was a graduate of Princeton College in 1760 while Samuel Davies was president. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1761, and or- dained by the same Presbytery in 1763 or '64. Of his work between licen- sure and ordination we have no account. After his ordination his Presby- tery sent him to labor for some time in Loudoun County, Va. This ap- pointment seems to fix the time when his work in that county began. The Synod at its meeting in 1764 directed that, after his Presbyterial appoint- ment was fulfilled, he be recommended to supply under direction of Han- over Presbytery until the next meeting of Synod. Of his labors for the next six years we find no record. But in its report to Synod, May, 1770, his name appears as a member of Donegal Presbytery. The suggestion is a plausible one, that as the result of his labors in Loudoun County, which
86
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
were undertaken by direction of New Brunswick Presbytery, he had ef- fected an organization of the churches of Kittocktin and Gum Spring and had become their settled minister ; but as Donegal had now assumed the supervision of the missionary work in Northern Virginia, it became proper that Mr. Thompson, laboring in that region, should have his Presbyterial relations transferred to the controlling Presbytery. And from that time until 1786 his membership continued in that Presbytery. In 1786 the Pres- bytery of Donegal was divided, and its name dropped. In the distribution of the members composing the two new Presbyteries, his name does not appear in connection with either. Nor is he mentioned at all when the several Presbyteries report their membership to the first General Assembly in 1789. His name is not found after 1786 in any Presbyterial Record until September 25, 1799, when he is received into the Presbytery of Winches- ter -the first member added to that Presbytery after its organization in 1794. The record of his reception throws light upon this period of his history. It reads: "The Rev. Amos Thompson, formerly a member of Donegal Presbytery, and afterwards of Litchfield Association, having be- come a resident within the bounds of our Presbytery, was, upon applica- tion, admitted as a member." From this it seems probable that soon after the war closed he went back to his native State and joined the Congrega- tional Body, and then, after twelve or fifteen years, he returned to his old home in Loudoun County and spent his last years among the people to whom he formerly ministered. His death occurred very suddenly and unexpectedly in October, 1804, and on the 27th day of that month his fune- ral sermon was preached by Dr. Moses Hoge from John 11:26. These funeral services were held in Leesburg, the county seat of Loudoun.
Dr. A. Alexander, on his journey from Hampden-Sidney to the Gen- eral Assembly in Philadelphia in 1801, met Mr. Thompson and traveled with him several days, and relates some interesting facts concerning him. Hearing of the new theological views which Dr. Samuel Hopkins had es- poused, Mr. Thompson made him a visit, after his own licensure, to con- vince the Doctor of his errors, and pursuade him to abandon them; but returned from his visit a thorough convert to the Hopkinsian system, to which he adhered tenaciously to his dying day, preaching it to the aston- ishment, and, often to the displeasure, of his Virginia audiences.
Mr. Thompson was a man of gigantic frame and prodigious strength, and utterly fearless, as the following incident will show : When he came to Northern Virginia, about 17,65, the Baptists were the only dissenters there. Soon after his coming one of their leading preachers, an old man,
87
IN THE NORTHERN NECK OF VIRGINIA.
had been threatened with personal violence by a set of profane and law- less men if he should ever appear again in a certain pulpit. Hearing of the prowess of Mr. Thompson, the old preacher made a long journey to obtain his presence at his next appointment. He at once agreed to go. When they arrived at the place a great multitude had assembled, for the threat was widely known and an exciting scene was expected. While Mr. Thompson was at prayer the hostile party entered and took their seats near the pulpit. The stalwart appearance of the preacher so intimidated the ruffians that they were afraid to carry out their purpose and left the house quietly at the close of the service. Before dismissing them, however, Mr. Thompson addressed himself directly to these men, told them that he was accquainted with their threats, warned them of the consequences of their lawlessness, and assured them that he would himself prosecute them in the civil courts if a finger was raised against the preacher. As for himself, though a man of peace, he was fully able to protect himself if attacked, and would certainly do so. When the meeting closed he inquired for the captain of this band, and asked him to go aside with him, and walked off with him toward the woods, but on reaching it this leader, a stout, bold- looking man, showed alarm, stopped and raised his club as if to strike. Thompson said quietly, "Fie, man, what can you do with that?" and in an instant wrested the club from his hand, adding that he intended no vio- lence, but that if so disposed he could hurl him to the earth in a moment. The ruffian was completely cowed and was glad to escape from one whose mastery he was compelled to acknowledge. The old preacher received no further molestation.
But to return to the Kittocktin church; when in the absence of Mr. Thompson it first asked for supplies, the Presbytery sent them Rev. James Lang and Licentiate John McKnight. In December, 1776, Rev. Samuel Waugh, and in April, 1777, Rev. Hugh Vance, were ordered to supply them. The next year, 1778, Mr. Waugh was allowed to spend the entire summer in evangelistic labor in Eastern Virginia; and again in the sum- mer of 1779 he itinerated for three months, chiefly in that region, and there is little doubt that this church enjoyed a full share of his labors.
After four years of dependence upon supplies, the churches of Kit- tocktin and Gum Spring, despairing of the return of their pastor, in April, 1780, laid before Presbytery a joint call for the services of Rev. David Bard, which he accepted, and was settled in that field. In June, 1782, he tendered his resignation and was dismissed.
Of the further history of this church until after the organization of
88
THE PLANTING OF PRESBYTERIANISM
Winchester Presbytery we have no detailed information. But the strength it had attained and the commendable zeal for church privileges which it had always displayed, warrant the conclusion that it would not be long without a minister. The return of Mr. Thompson to his old home may mean that he served them again. This is a church that has maintained an uninterrupted existence for about 140 years. Its present condition is very flourishing under the faithful ministry of Rev. E. L. Wilson, himself a son of Winchester Presbytery.
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.