USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Ryegate > History of Ryegate, Vermont, from its settlement by the Scotch-American company of farmers to present time; > Part 15
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The part of the congregation which remained with Mr. Pringle con- tinued to hold regular services with fair attendance and success. In 1844 a number of persons from Greensborough joined the church and were with others formed into an Associate Presbyterian church, June 5, 1845. The new synod, which included those portions of the Ryegate and Barnet congregations which adhered to Rev. Dr. Bullions, assumed the name of the Associate Synod of North America and embraced four presbyteries containing in 1852, twenty-one congregations, eight of which were in New York, six in Illinois, three in Vermont, and one each in Ohio and Rhode Island, numbering 2658 communicants. Several over- tures to draw these dissidents into other branches of the Presbyterian church seem to have been made, notably one from the General Assembly which at the meeting of the synod in 1852 was declined in the following resolution .
"That we will not unite with any body who do not sing the psalms of inspiration, or who sing anything else than the psalms, or until we have examined it, who do not sing our version of psalms."
Mr. Pringle resigned in 1852. A further account of him and his fam- ily will appear later. After his resignation the divided forces of the church began to unite, and the breach was gradually healed, to the joy and relief of both parties, which had wearied of the long contest which brought no good to either side. The two Associate Synods were form- ally re-united at a joint session in Albany, N. Y., May 31, 1854. In 1858, the union between the Associate, and Associate Reformed Synods, was consummated, and the Associate Presbyterian church of Ryegate was thenceforth known as the United Presbyterian church.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
During the five years which followed Mr. McArthur's resignation the church was supplied by several ministers, whose names are not all remembered. Rev. Mr. Blaikie was here in 1859, during several months, and other ministers before and after him. Mr. George M. Wiley was the next pastor by installation. He came here in July, 1863, and was in- stalled Oct. 12th, and resigned in March 1868, to become pastor of a church at West Hebron, N. Y. Mr. Wiley married Miss Ella M. Gray, and a more complete record of his life will be among the annals of the Gray family. His successor was Rev. William Bruce, from the north of Ireland, who came here in May, 1868, was ordained and installed on the 1st of October. He resigned his charge August 10, 1870. Mr. Bruce died in 1888, having been blind many years. Rev. Hugh Brown, who sup- plied here a few weeks in 1860, returned in 1870, and occupied the pulpit till the spring of 1872.
Mr. Brown was followed by Rev. Alexander Young Houston, who began to preach here in the fall of 1873. Mr. Houston was born in Ohio in 1824, graduated from Franklin College in 1852, and studied theology two years in Canonsburg Seminary. He was installed here Feb. 13, 1873. In March, 1872, he was badly hurt by a tree falling on him in Hugh Gibson's woods. His health breaking, he resigned about a year later, and the pulpit was declared vacant. He died in New Wilmington, Pa., Aug. 20, 1891, having been in the ministry about 35 years, including some time in the Christian Commission during the civil war. Mr. Hous- ton's successor was Rev. James B. Clapperton, born in Delaware Co., N. Y., in 1836, and graduated at Westminster College and Alleghany Semi- nary. He was installed here June 9, 1876, and resigned June 20, 1881, returning to New York state. His successors have been Rev. G. T. Gal- braith, 1884-85; Daniel Harris, 1886-94; F. A. Collins, 1895-1904; Rev. J. A. McKirahan, the present pastor, installed January, 1906.
The first elders were Andrew Brock and John Gray. Their successors so far as can be ascertained have been : 1817, William Gibson and George Smith; 1820, Robert Gibson, John Gibson and Andrew Warden; 1830, Wmn. Henderson, Alexander Henderson; 1832, George Nelson, James Gib- son, Alexander Gibson; 1843, Andrew Laughlin, Nathan Batchelder; 1873, Wm. J. Gibson, A. B. Pringle, John F. Nelson, W. L. Somers; 1856, Robert Symes, Robert Gibson, Hugh G. Miller; 1867, Robert Dalrymple; 1888, W. T. McLam, R. J. Nelson, F. W. Whitehill, J. E. Crown.
The Associate Presbyterian congregations of Ryegate and Barnet belonged to the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania, from the time that these congregations applied to that Presbytery for a minister till May 21, 1801, when the Associate Synod of North America was organ- ized, and they were included in the Associate Presbytery of Cambridge, N. Y., then formed. On July 10, 1840, the Associate Presbytery of Ver-
REV. JAMES BEATTIE. (COVENANTER, RYEGATE AND BARNET )
L
REV. FRANK A. COLLINS.
REV. J. A. MCKIRAHAN. PASTORS OF UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, RYEGATE.
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THE ASSOCIATE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
mont was constituted at Barnet by Rev. Thomas Goodwillie. Since May, 1858, the Vermont Presbytery has belonged to the General Assem- bly of the United Presbyterian church of North America.
Very little can be ascertained respecting the beginning of Sunday Schools connected with the church. The older people did not favor them, considering that parents should instruct their children, instead of leaving the duty to others, and it was not until Sunday Schools had been long established in other towns, that a few children were gathered for instruc- tion during the interval of Sabbath services. But the innovation soon became a fixed feature, yet Sunday Schools do not seem to have been con- sidered a part of the church work, as no allusion to them is made in the session records till about forty years ago, and the first mention of them is of a restrictive nature, in decreeing that the Sunday School papers should not be given out upon the Sabbath. In later years the school became an important part of church work, constantly increasing in scope and value. Societies for the study and support of missions, tem- perance and religious training of the young have shared its benevolent care.
We have mentioned that this church was by vote of the town, enti- tled to occupy the old meeting-house a certain number of Sabbathis in each year. In 1825, the congregation erected a church edifice, the first building in the town dedicated wholly to religious purposes. This house of worship served the society for 65 years, when the present church was built, and dedicated. It contains many features which are indications of the changes which have taken place as to the view which the church now takes of its mission in the community.
CHAPTER XIV.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY-(Continued ).
THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .- ORGANIZATION .- REV. ALEXANDER MC- LEOD .- REV. JAMES MCKINNEY .- WILLIAM GIBSON .- " REFORMED PRINCI- PLES EXHIBITED "-REV. JAMES MILLIGAN .- PUBLICATIONS .- REV. JAMES M. BEATTIE .- LATER MINISTERS .- THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT SOUTH RYEGATE -THE FIRST OR GENERAL ASSEMBLY CHURCH .- REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BARNET .- OBSERVATIONS .- TIIE RYEGATE AMELI- ORATING SOCIETY.
T HIS church, whose members are locally known as Covenanters, was, for nearly a century, very prosperous, and for much of its prosperity it was indebted to the remarkable ability and long service of its ministers. We have already traced the origin and growth of the Reformed Presbyterian church in Scotland, and shown that the Covenanters of Ryegate and Barnet hold as their inheritance the princi- ples for which their ancestors suffered in the times of the persecution. We have cited from the town records its relative strength in the votes cast for and against the settlement of Rev. William Gibson by the town. For some years before his coming those who held Covenanting views associated themselves in supplying the lack of gospel ordinances by mu- tual conversation and devotional meetings. Among the early Coven- anters who came here were Hugh Gardner, Alexander Miller and proba- bly others who gave their support for some years to preachers with whom they were not wholly in sympathy.
In 1798, James Whitehill, who has been spoken of as the father of the Covenanting churches in Ryegate and Barnet, came and settled on the Witherspoon tract, to which he was followed, two years later, by his brother Abraham. These brothers, who were men of good education and deep religious spirit, holding from their youth the principles of the Covenanters and able to defend then, were the nucleus of the society.
Near the end of 1797, Rev. William Gibson, who had been the pastor of a church in the north of Ireland, and who, being suspected of disloy- alty to the British government in the Irish rebellion, and compelled to flee to America to escape arrest and execution, came to Ryegate, and ministered to the Covenanting families of the vicinity through the win- ter. He was followed by Rev. Alexander McLeod, a native of Scotland,
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RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
and an early graduate of Union College, who was destined to considera- ble eminence in the ministry. Mr. Miller thinks that he was here during several months of 1798 and preached in both Ryegate and Barnet, but he seems to have had no intention of remaining. He appears to have won the hearts of the people, and Mr. Miller says that in both towns no fewer than twenty-four children were named for him. Dr. McLeod was long settled over a Reformed congregation in New York City, whose church occupied the site on which Stewart's great store was afterwards built.
Toward the end of the year 1798, Rev. James McKinney, of whom we have before spoken, came, and preached for some months. He was, like Mr. Gibson, a refugee from the north of Ireland, and encouraged the people to settle a pastor. A call, signed by eight communicants and moderated probably by Mr. Mckinney, was extended to Mr. Gibson and accepted by him. He was installed July 10, 1799, as pastor of the "Re- formed Presbyterian Congregation of Vermont." Mr. Gibson's settle- ment was by the town, and as the first settled minister, he drew the "Minister's lot," indicated in the charter of the town by Governor Went- worth.
About the beginning of the century there came to Ryegate several persons and families who had been compelled to leave the north of Ire- land on account of complicity, or suspected complicity with the rebellion of 1798, and who were connected with Reformed congregations in the old country. These proved a valuable accession to the Ryegate church to which they contributed influential members during many years.
"For some years after Mr. Gibson's settlement there were no carriages in town. The only means of locomotion was on foot or on horseback. It was not uncommon on a Sabbath morning to see the worshippers some on foot and some on horseback, flocking to the house of God. A man and his wife, each holding a child, frequently rode one horse. Not- withstanding these difficulties many who lived four to six miles distant from the place of worship were seldom absent on the Sabbath."
Mr. Gibson lived one year in the family of James Whitehill, and then bought the farm on which John Ritchie, who came from Scotland in 1784, had settled, and had partly cleared. He was a very strong muscular man, who usually worked on his farm during the week, and much of the heavy wall on that farm was laid by him, while he studied his sermons as he worked. His discourses were carefully prepared, he
AUTHORITIES. Sketch by Rev. H. W. Reed .- History of Presbyterianism in America .- Mr. Miller's notes and abstracts .- The Covenanter .- Life of Col. David Jameson .- Mr. Milligan's published Works .- Letters from Rev. J. S. T. Milligan .- Letters of Revs. Gibson and Milligan to Gen. Whitelaw .- Personal information.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
excelled in logic, and as a public speaker was thought to have had no superior in this vicinity. He was a good classical scholar, and had pupils during his residence here.
An event of some importance during his ministry was the ordination in the Ryegate meeting-house, June 25, 1800, of Rev. Samuel B. Wylie, which was, as we have stated, the first ordination of a covenanting minister in North America. Unfortunately no record account of this interesting and historic event has come down to us. Mr. Wylie became very prominent in the church.
Rev. Mr. Mckinney, " who was certainly present, was also from the north of Ireland, seems to have been a classmate at college with Mr. Gibson, and they married sisters. He came to this country in 1793, and in 1804 was installed over a church in Chester Co., S. C., where he died suddenly in September of that year. Rev. Joseph Beattie, a half-brother of Rev. J. M. Beattie, and long a missionary in Syria, was a grandson of Rev. William McKinney.
So far as is known, Mr. Gibson issued but one publication while living in Ryegate, which is entitled :
The substance of a sermon preached at Barnet, designed to expose some dangerous Errors contained in a Sermon lately preached and published in this Neighborhood-"When the Enemy shall come in like a Flood," etc.
In 1806, Mr. Gibson and Mr. McLeod were appointed by the Re- formed Presbytery as a committee to publish an historical sketch of the Reformed Presbyterian church, together with a declaration of its prin- ciples. The result was a volume of 240 pages entitled, "Reformed Principles Exhibited." The last part of the work is called a " Declaration and Testimony," and consists of thirty-one chapters, in each of which a doctrinal point is stated and fortified by arguments and scripture cita- tions, while certain errors under each point are condemned, and testified against severally. It is, practically, two volumes bound in one, and we have no means of knowing what portion of either was written by Mr. McLeod, or Mr. Gibson. The full title of the first part of the work is as follows :
"A Brief Historical View of the Church as a Visible Covenant with God, in two books, the first exhibiting the Church Universal, and the second the Reformed Presbyterian Church."
The title of the last part is :
The Declaration and Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America. f
* Life of Col. Jameson.
¡ A revised edition was published in 1863.
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RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
Mr. Gibson demitted the charge April 13, 1815. His last years in Ryegate were not altogether peaceful, and in some letters which remain he expressed himself with much bitterness against some who had been at first his warmest friends. He appointed Robert Whitelaw as his agent who sold his farm to Rev. James Milligan, by whom it was sold in 1819 to John Hall. Of Mr. Gibson's later career, and of his remarkable family, a full account is given in this volume.
Mr. Gibson's successor was Rev. James Milligan, probably the most talented and eloquent minister Ryegate ever had. He came here in the fall of 1816, and received a call, being installed September 26, 1817.
Under him the church was very prosperous. He held, also, the over- sight of the societies in Topsham and Craftsbury, which increased so rapidly that they were organized into separate congregations in 1818, and 1820, respectively. His congregations in Ryegate and Barnet doubled within a few years; his eloquence, and the high quality of his sermons made him widely known. In frame he was large and his com- plexion was dark, so that he was said much to resemble Daniel Webster. His eloquence was of the sledge hammer variety, says Mr Miller, and his sentences were ponderous and weighty. He was one of the earliest abolitionists, and his utterances upon the subject of slavery were of no uncertain kind. Mr. Milligan was a fine classical scholar, and taught school while in Ryegate, also had private pupils. In his teaching he was severe and exacting, but thorough. In the pulpit he was at his best, and he often held his audience for hours. He introduced the order of Deacons, and attempted to substitute singing of the psalms by rote, for the time honored practice of "lining out." In this old way the precentor read one line of the psalm, which the congregation sang after him, then another line, and so on. This custom originated in old days, when books were few. Later, the precentor read two lines instead of one. Mr. Milligan's attempted innovation created an opposition which led, it is said, to his resignation.
At a congregational meeting held about that time to discuss the pro- posed change, an old Scotchman took the floor and said, " that he could stand some things which had been done in the church as they would soon be forgotten, but when it came to singing the psalms out of a book he drew the line." "If," said he, "we begin to sing the sawms out of the book, next thing we shall have Watt's hymns and after that the devil!"
This controversy lasted during many years, as the Barnet Session records contain the following :
Jan., 1827.
A paper being presented with a number of signatures praying that the Session would sanction the mode of singing the psalms in the congre-
History of Presbyterianism in America.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
gation without reading the line, a motion being made that it was not expedient at present to grant that request, and that opportunity be given to those who are opposed to the above mode, to give in their reasons.
Mr. Milligan, however, persisted in the innovation, but made enemies by doing so. During his ministry the Walter Harvey Meeting-house was built in Barnet. Before that time they had worshipped in private houses, and in a barn in the Roy neighborhood.
Mr. Milligan was a frequent contributor to the religious press of his time, but only two publications have come down to 11s.
"A Narrative of the Late Controversy Between the Associate and Reformed Presbyterians of Ryegate and Barnet,
By James Milligan. Danville, Ebenezer Eaton, Printer, 1819, p. p. 136."
In the following year he published, from the same press, " A Plea for Infant Baptism." He resigned his pastorate, May 17, 1839. His extraordinary ability has been transmitted to a brilliant coterie of sons and grandsons.
After Mr. Milligan left Ryegate, the congregation was supplied a part of the time by several ministers whose names have not come down to us. Mr. Milligan's logical successor was his namesake, Rev. James Milligan Beattie, who came here late in 1843. He was a graduate of Union College, completing his theological studies in Scotland. He was ordained at Coldenham, N. Y., by the New York Presbytery, May 28, 1844, and installed in the Barnet meeting-house, over the congregations of Ryegate and Barnet, on the 20th of the next month, by a com- mission of Presbytery consisting of Revs. S. M. Willson of Craftsbury, J. M. Willson of Philadelphia, and Andrew Stevenson of New York, with ruling elders, William McLaren, Josiah Divoll, and Jonathan Coburn. "Mr. Beattie was considered as of more than usual ability as a preacher, pre-eminent in prayer, and an excellent manager of his people. He was a very close student, writing out his sermons in full, and com- mitting them to memory. He preached one Sabbath in Ryegate and the next in Barnet, and did not miss a Sabbath in 38 years, a wonderful record. He was, for many years, a trustee of Peacham Academy."
Mr. Beattie was identified with Ryegate for forty years, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the entire community, and the adjoining towns. He contributed largely to the press, but left no published work, except an historical sketch of the town for Miss Hemenway's Gazetteer. His delivery was attractive, his discourses scholarly and clear, and in the preparation of funeral sermons had few superiors .*
*Mr. Miller.
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RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
He was stricken with paralysis in the pulpit on the Sabbath, Jan. 29, 1882, and failed steadily till his death, March 9, 1883, having resigned his charge several months before.
In his pastorate the old meeting-house on the hill was abandoned for a new and more modern edifice, built in 1850, jointly with the Gibson or Synod party of the Associate church, and which, in 1862, became the entire property of the Reformed congregation. It contained fifty-two pews, and made a Sabbath home for the church until destroyed by fire.
Mr. Miller computes that at Mr. Beattie's accession, there were 113 members, and that 346 members were connected with the church during his pastorate, in which he solemnized 102 marriages.
Mr. Beattie's successor was Rev. Hugh W. Reed, who was ordained and installed, Jan. 19, 1883, resigning Sept. 21, 1886, to become prin- cipal of an Academy in Alabama. Mr. Reed married his wife in Ryegate. and a more complete account is given elsewhere of his labors and family. He was succeeded in December, 1888, by Rev. W. A. Pinkerton, who demitted the charge two years later, and the church has since been attached to the Barnet congregation, under the charge of Rev. D. C. Faris. On the 16th of August, 1890, the church edifice, which had been the home of the congregation for nearly fifty years, was destroyed by fire. The church has been greatly reduced by deaths, removals, and transfers to other congregations, and there now remain but seventeen members, a small but faithful remnant of what was once an active and successful congregation.
Mr. Gibson and Mr. Milligan acted as session clerks during their pas- torates, but the earliest records disappeared many years ago. It is believed that James Whitehill and Hugh Gardner were the first elders. Alexander Miller has been mentioned as an elder, but Edward Miller does not speak of him as one. John Hyndman and James Caldwell, with Mr. Whitehill are named as elders in 1824, with Samuel Allen " Assistant Elder." This is the first entry in the earliest existing records. Later, James Buchanan is mentioned as a "ruling elder." In a notice of Jona- than Coburn, Rev. Mr. Beattie stated that he had been an elder about forty years at his death in 1860. John McLam was chosen an elder about 1835, and William McLaren is mentioned as holding the office about that time, and for many years afterwards. Robert Dickson was also an elder, but the date of his ordination does not appear. Robert Dickson, Jr., and James McLam were ordained Nov. 26, 1867, and John McLam, Jr., ordained deacon. On Sept. 18, 1886, John H. Welch and Robert H. Gates were ordained as ruling elders, and at the same time James M. Doe and James W. Eastman were ordained deacons.
Mr. Miller gives as session clerks after Mr. Milligan: William Mc- Laren, William Bone, Duncan Ritchie and Robert H. Gates.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
THE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT SOUTH RYEGATE.
During the pastorate of Rev. James Milligan over the Reformed Pres- byterian congregation of Ryegate, a division arose in that branch of the Presbyterian church with which the Ryegate congregation was, and is still connected, respecting the use of the elective franchise. One party maintained that those who took oaths, under the constitution of the United States, contrary to the expressed principles of the Covenanters, and voted at town, state, and national elections, ought to be subjected to the discipline of the church, while the other party maintained that such exercise should be a matter of forbearance. Those who held the latter view increased in numbers, and the ultimate result was the formation of two separate synods, each claiming to be the synod of the Reformed Presbyterian church. This division occurred in the year 1833. The influence was soon felt in Ryegate, and there were those in Mr. Milligan's congregation who dissented from his views regarding the federal government under the constitution, and after his removal the division increased, till, in 1843, the congregation was divided, those who held the more advanced views being called New School Presbyterians, and, locally, as the "New Lights." This division, like most religious divisions, was accompanied with some bitterness of feeling and ex- pression.
The new congregation was recognized as the Reformed Presbyterian Congregation of Ryegate, in connection with the General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America.
As nearly as can now be ascertained, the first meeting of the new session was at Dr. Perry's house at the Corner, Aug. 11, 1843. Dr. Perry, who was one of the leaders in the new movement, had been more than once under censure for having been present at an election, using his influence in favor of a particular candidate, although it does not appear that he actually voted. The members present were Dr. Perry, Robert Symes, John McClure, and William Buchanan. Rev. Dr. Wylie, who was present, took the chair as moderator. Dr. Perry was chosen clerk. Rev. Dr. McLeod was present, and took part. Jean Buchanan, James McClure, Thomas Smith and Martha Jane Donaldson were admitted to membership in the church. The session was adjourned with prayer by Dr. McLeod. The second meeting of the session was held Feb. 8, 1944, with Rev. S. C. Beattie as moderator. On the 5th of January following, a meeting was held, with Rev. Gifford Wylie in the chair.
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