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THE PRESBYTERY
OF
THE LOG COLLEGE,
OR,
The Cradle of the Presbyterian Church
IN AMERICA.
BY
THOMAS MURPHY, D.D.,
PASTOR of THE FRANKFoRD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA ;
AUTHOR OF “ PASTORAL THEOLOGY,” “DUTIES OF CHURCH-
MEMBERs To THE CHURCH,” ETC.
PHILADELPHIA :
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION
AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK,
1334 CHESTNUT STREET.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT.
IN order to prevent misunderstanding, it is proper to state
that this valuable history is published by the Board for the
Presbytery through the author, the members of that body and
Dr. Murphy defraying the entire expense. For obvious rea-
sons the Board has acted on the rule that it is inexpedient
for it to publish local histories, however interesting and valu-
able they might be. But for the action of the Presbytery and
Dr. Murphy, this volume, notwithstanding that more than two-
thirds of it relates to the origin and general history of our
Church and contains much new and valuable information per-
taining thereto, could not have been published by this Board.
IE. R. CRAVEN, Secretary.
CoPYRIGHT, 1889,
BY THOMAS MURPHY.
All Rights Reserved.
WESTCOTT & THOMson,
Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada.
PREFA CE.
WHEN the preparation of this history was first contemplated
there was not a thought of such a volume as this has turned out
to be. The intention was simply to produce such a sketch of
the Presbytery as could be contained in a large pamphlet. My
researches, however, had not advanced very far before it was
clearly seen impossible to do this. The merest outline of a his-
tory covering almost two centuries and embracing about three-
score churches would necessarily require a more extended work.
The original plan was on the supposition that only the ordinary
surface events of history would be presented, but prolonged in-
vestigations soon revealed that this Presbytery had a more pro-
found mission than that which lay on the surface, and that a
volume at least would be needed to do it justice. It was found
that it had a leading part in founding our Presbyterian Church
in this country; that God had a sublime scheme in our history
during the early days; and that there was contained in it a
peculiar treasury of practical experience which there was now an
opportunity of exploring, and which if neglected would proba-
bly be lost for ever. No one of these points was foreseen when
the work was first contemplated, but each one of them was the
revealing of the events as they were scrutinized and studied
in their various relations.
As the subject revolved in my mind I discovered—or, at
least, believed I had discovered—a providential plan running
through the whole history which appeared so manifest and so
3
4 PREFA CE.
very remarkable, and which bound all the parts together in such
logical succession and so fully interpreted them, that I could
not but adopt it as real and as the central point around which I
have arranged all my work. That central point or idea is that
God was here, in his providence, preparing an American Presby-
terian Church for this country, and that this Presbytery was the
cradle of its earliest movements. The successive steps or stages
of this divine scheme could not be mistaken. The leading
events of the history arranged themselves so naturally around
one or other of them that the process seemed both logically and
chronologically perfect, and I could not escape from the convic-
tion that there was of a truth this divine plan underlying all.
The adoption of this theory of course makes it the central point
of our whole history. The preparatory movements looked for-
ward to its consummation ; the great culminating point was the
organization of the General Assembly and of the National Gov-
ernment side by side, and all subsequent developments took
their character from this. The exact stages of the process were:
(1) The gathering together of a people who had been prepared
by the fires of persecution ; (2) the assuring to them of a sound
Calvinistic faith; (3) the providing for them a supply of edu-
cated ministers; (4) the enduing them with an earnest piety by
a special baptism of the Holy Spirit; (5) the sending forth of
a band of apostolic men to disseminate the precious truths over
the entire land; (6) the annealing process of the Great Schism ;
(7) the generation of thirty years for the cause to settle down
firmly and take root; (8) the crowning event of the organization
of the National Government and the General Assembly of the
Church at the same time, in the same place, by men trained in
the same schools and on the same principles. *
When I became assured of the reality of this providential
plan, the work assumed a vastly higher aspect of importance, for
I could see it in no other light than that of an effort to trace
PREFA CE. 5
the progress of the divine plan in an ascertainable portion of it
which might be taken as a specimen of its whole scope in our
entire Church. While, therefore, I have followed the history in
its chronological order, I have also carried with me throughout
its entire development the leading idea of this providential
scheme, and shall point it out as its various stages present
themselves.
As to the fact of this locality being the cradle of our Church,
the scene of its formative movements, we have only to enumerate
some of the events to show that this is but the simple testimony
of history. Of the seven providential steps leading to the cul-
mination in the General Assembly, five had their focus here.
These were—(1) The aggregation of the people, consisting of the
Scotch-Irish, the Germans, the Welsh, the Hollanders and the
Swiss: more of some of them may have been found in other
parts of the land, but nowhere else was there such an aggrega-
tion of them all; (2) the first institution for the providing of
an educated ministry was the Log College here; (3) here was
the very centre of the field on which there was such an outpour-
ing of the reviving Spirit in the visits of Whitefield; (4) here
was the place where all the apostolic ten were trained for the
work of disseminating our cause over the land; (5) here, where
was located the leading portion of the original Presbytery of
New Brunswick, were the most exciting influences of the Old
and New Light schism—the annealing stage of the history. In
several of the other Presbyteries the same general work went
nobly forward toward its blessed results, but it was provi-
dentially ordered that the fundamental impulses should have
their birthplace here. .
In tracing the chronicles of the churches it has been my effort
to make this work a thesaurus of the Presbytery. So far as the
data could be obtained, I have given the names and dates of
every organization, every church-edifice and manse, every pastor
6 PREFACE.
and stated supply, every elder, every seminary, and every nota-
ble event connected with the Presbytery from the first. Some
of the data I could not obtain, for in every one of our older
churches some parts of the records had been lost. In order to
present all the names, dates and events I have had to classify,
almost tabulate, and compress to the utmost. I have dwelt at
length on some of the older churches, because the real history of
the Presbytery was bound up with them ; but little space has
been given to the more recent ones, because they have not yet
had time to make much history.
In such a multitude of names and dates it has been doubtless
inevitable that there should be some omissions and mistakes;
but very great care has been taken, relying on nothing but direct
information.
In the beginning of my researches it was discovered that here
was a rare opportunity for tracing the various aspects of church-
life, both good and bad, in the present day, for testing our Pres-
byterianism by its effects and for gathering up the teachings of
experience. Never, probably, in the whole history of the
Church, was there a better opportunity than was furnished here,
in the length of the time, in the extent of the territory—wide
enough for the experiment, and yet not too wide to be easily
comprehended—and in the character and surroundings of the
people. I have made no practical inferences during the progress
of the work, in order that there might be a riper testimony at
the close of all. Of course, I could not, within any reasonable
limits, adduce all such teachings as might be very easily gath-
ered, but I have all the most important of them. The lessons I
have presented have not been derived from the teachings of
Scripture, nor from the testimony of eminent believers, nor from
my own previous convictions, but purely from the facts of this
history. Not one of them but is based on many such character-
istic facts which I could very easily adduce. I have made this
PREFA CE. 7
the last, but, I am sure, not the least valuable, feature of my
work. I ask special attention to this closing chapter as one of
those which may be studied with the greatest profit. If we
could trace the experience of the whole Church, as we can to
such an unusual degree in this history, we would find that
God’s guiding providence and covenant mercy, his truth and
his care, are just as surely and as directly with his people
this present day as they were in the days of Moses.
This work could not have been accomplished without the very
abundant information which was kindly collected for me from
their records by the pastors of all the churches, nor without the
great aid I have reccived from the Rev. D. K. Turner, secretary
of the Presbyterian Historical Society and author of the history
of the Neshaminy Church ; from the Rev. Willard M. Rice,
D. D., Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, who,
in consequence of his long and intimate acquaintance with the
records, the churches and the men, is no doubt the best living
authority concerning the history of Presbyterianism in Philadel-
phia and vicinity; and from the Rev. Joseph Beggs, D.D.,
Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Philadelphia North, the Rev.
Charles Collins, D.D., and many others.
May the Church’s exalted Head take this humble effort to
delineate his footsteps through this portion of his kingdom and
bless it, so that it shall be effectual in awakening a greater love
to the cause and a more adoring wonder at his infinite great-
mess and goodness to his redeemed people !
PHILADELPHIA, December, 1888.
C O N TE N T S.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Srupx of THE HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CHAPTER II.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESBYTERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
CHAPTER III.
GERMS FROM WHICH IT GREW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
CHAPTER IV.
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL . . . . . © tº e º e º e º 'º e º º ſº tº tº 43
CHAPTER V.
FoRMATIVE PERIOD, 1705–1788 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
CHAPTER VI.
FORMATIVE PERIOD (Continued): THE LOG CoILEGE . . . . . . . 66
CHAPTER VII.
FoRMATIVE PERIOD (Continued) : VISIT of WHITEFIELD . . . . . . 132
CHAPTER VIII.
FoRMATIVE PERIOD (Continued): THE OLD AND NEW LIGHT SCHISM. 155
CHAPTER IX.
FORMATIVE PERIOD (Continued) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
CHAPTER X.
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300
CHAPTER XI.
PERIOD of THE SECOND PRESBYTERY, 1833–1838 . . . . . . . . . 340
10 CONTENTS,
CHAPTER XII.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION, 1838–1870 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
CHAPTER XIII.
Panion of Revsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
CHAPTER XIV.
PROGRESS IN THE PRESBYTERY's LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
CHAPTER XV.
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
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MAP OF THE TERR (TORY OF THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA NORTH,




T H E
PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
C H A PTE R. I.
STUDY OF THE HISTORY.
WHY WE WRITE IT.
WHY do we commemorate the ages of our Presby-
tery and write the history of the way in which God has
led us? Because great is the gratitude we owe him for
having continued so long this branch of his Zion and
for having favored it with such a measure of prosperity;
because the completion of nearly two centuries of the
history of a body of churches is a great event in itself;
because there is a wholesome curiosity that would carry
us back into the past and ask such questions as,
“Whence these institutions we enjoy which have
grown so venerable from age 7” “Who established
these churches 2° “Who and what were those godly
fathers of whom we hear so much 7” “Who awakened
those sanctifying influences which are such blessings to
us at the present day?” because we owe too much to
these men who have sent down to us the heritage we
now possess to forget them. We would save their hon-
ored names from sinking into oblivion. They prayed
and toiled and suffered for us, and we must not let their
memory perish from earth.
We would learn to prize more highly the blessings
11
12 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
which have been secured for us in our churches, with
their ordinances unimpaired, their doctrines uncor-
rupted and their testimony for the truth unbroken for
one hundred and eighty-three years. We would rise to
the appreciation of what has been done for us and given
to us. We would awake to the responsibility which
rests upon us to transmit to future ages this heritage,
now so goodly and flourishing. We would receive a
deeper impression of the solemn fact that no man, that
no association of men, does, or can, live to self alone.
We are component elements of the great chain of in-
fluences which stretches unbroken from eternity to eter-
nity. And we would trace the orderings of God’s
providence in the history of this Presbytery during
the almost two centuries which have passed. We would
follow God’s footsteps in his providence, in the ways of
his government and in the character of the ordinances
which he has appointed. We would mark the great
epochs which measure the past journey of the Pres-
bytery. We would dwell upon its progress from very
small beginnings to what it is to-day.
WHAT WIE WOULD COMMEMORATE.
In undertaking this work it is not our intention to
dwell upon the general history of the Presbyterian
Church, except at the single points where it touches
that of our Presbytery : to do so would open a field
far too wide for our present purpose. Neither can we
dwell very fully upon the history of each individual
church. The merest outline is all that we can attempt.
Not this do we undertake, but we would endeavor to
trace the chief elements which, commingling in its his-
tory, have made our Presbytery what it is to-day. We
would study the influences and impulses which have
STUDY OF THE HISTORY. 13
shaped its career and led to its present standing. We
would look upon its first great movements, and then
follow them to their ultimate results. We would recall
the names and blessed deeds of some of the many great
and good men, ministers, elders and families, which are
to be found on the roll of our churches. We would
enumerate the institutions of learning that have been
nurseries of our system of religion as well as of learn-
ing—institutions which have been pervaded by such
Christian influences as have made them inestimable
blessings to the children of our Presbytery. We would
dwell upon those momentous events which have meas-
ured and shaped its progress, and thus would we trace
that progress of our churches from the very small be-
ginnings of one hundred and eighty-three years ago
until we are permitted to rejoice in their present num-
ber and influence. Above all, would we gather up
into one comprehensive view the deeply important les-
sons of experience so abundantly taught by our history,
so fresh and so real. These lessons come to us as true
and as earnest as if they had been positively demon-
strated. To trace all these points, and to define their
relations and influences, will be a work that necessarily
must be profitable. They are all involved in our Pres-
bytery’s history. They must be touched if its study
shall be of any value. Though they are so many and
so diverse, none of them can be omitted.
HOW WIE WOULD WIRITE.
Such is the substance of what we would embrace in
the study upon which we have entered. The man-
ner in which we pursue that study is also a matter
of great importance in our work. Our treatment of
the various subjects which shall come under review
14 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
must necessarily be very brief. To enter fully into the
biographies of its many eminent men and into the an-
nals of all its churches would require many volumes
instead of the one to which we must necessarily be con-
fined. We can do little more than enumerate, connect
and explain the various points which must be included.
At the same time, our work would be of but little
value did we not make it so comprehensive as to em-
brace all the leading points of our history, all the
churches of which our Presbytery has been composed,
the eminent men associated with it and the great lessons
it teaches. Our aim is to make it a thesaurus to which
in the future there may be reference. In order to do
so we must verify every fact by reference to undoubted
authorities, and not indulge in mere conjectures or
speculations. This will require that we often quote
authorities, and that sometimes at considerable length.
But not facts alone must come under our review.
These facts must be considered in their relation to each
other, their connection and influence, so that they shall
work themselves into a sort of sacred philosophy of our
history. Otherwise they would be of but little interest
and their study of but little importance.
Then all must be looked upon as the gracious and
sublime movements of God’s providence with reference
to this portion of his divine kingdom. The ultimate
purposes to be wrought out by the whole history were
of his ordaining; he touched the secret springs which
produced each passing event; his glory was the great
consummation which was to be reached by all.
SOURCES OF OUR INFORMATION.
It will not be mere Ostentation in the author to name
some of the authorities from which he has gathered the
STUDY OF THE HISTORY. - 15
facts upon which this outline of our history is founded.
More confidence will be felt and its importance will be
more clearly seen when these are known and appre-
ciated. Besides, an important end will be gained if
others may be prompted to engage in the same study,
and then the list will be of great value as indicating the
sources from which such information may be gathered.
It would have relieved the writer from much trouble
could he have had such guidance in gathering the
material for this work. -
(1) The first and fullest treasury is, of course, the
Minutes of the Presbytery. These have been very care-
fully kept since the year 1833, when the “Second Pres-
bytery '' was formed, and are furnished with an admi-
rable index in the margin. In the four large volumes
all the most material facts are to be found. (2) The
second and an exceedingly valuable source of informa-
tion has been that furnished by all the pastors now in
the Presbytery, who, in response to the request of the
writer, collected from their various Sessional records
the leading facts and dates of their churches' histories.
Every one of them cheerfully—and in some cases with
much labor—prepared and sent him such outline.
The result is a mass of invaluable information which
will be carefully preserved, even though only the lead-
ing points of it can be used in our very brief sketch.
(3) The Minutes of the First Presbytery, Synods
and General Assembly, both Old School and New,
come next in fullness and authority. The volumes
containing these minutes, collected first by Dr. En-
gles, and afterward by Rev. Dr. Wm. E. Moore,
are an enduring treasure for all who love our Church.
(4) The Minutes of the Presbytery of Philadelphia
have furnished much valuable information which could
16 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
be found nowhere else. (5) In many of the older
churches there have been monographs prepared which
give almost all that is material in individual congrega-
tions. Every one of our churches should by all means
prepare and preserve such history, whether printed or
not. (6) The History of the Log College, by Dr.
Archibald Alexander, contains a most admirable ac-
count of that institution, which had the most potent
influence in giving character to our Presbytery. (7)
In the first volume of the exceedingly full and accurate
History of the College of New Jersey, by Rev. Dr. John
Maclean, who was so long its honored president, we have
a most satisfactory account of our early Presbyteries and
Synods, and of the influence of the Log College in the
establishment of Princeton College. (8) In the His-
tories of the Presbyterian Church, by Dr. Chas. Hodge,
Dr. Webster and Dr. Gillett, we have valuable infor-
mation concerning the Calvinistic Welsh element in
our early formation, and other points. (9) The excel-
lent book of Rev. Douglas K. Turner on the History
of Neshaminy Church is by far the most valuable work
we have seen on that element of our history which is
called the Scotch-Irish, and which held the first place
in our origin. (10) The Rev. Dr. Willard M. Rice
a few years ago prepared a paper for the press on
the Beginnings of Presbyterianism in Philadelphia,
which finely covers all that branch of our original his-
tory. (11) In The Tercentenary Book there are three
papers which have rendered us very great assistance—
one by Rev. Dr. McCosh, one by Rev. Dr. J. B. Dales,
and especially the one by Rev. Dr. R. M. Patterson
on “Presbyterianism in Philadelphia;” also its In-
troduction by Dr. McCosh. (12) Rev. Dr. Corwan,
pastor of the Reformed (Dutch) church of Somer-
STUDY OF THE HISTORY. 17
ville, New Jersey, has published a volume which con-
tains the best account with which we are acquainted
of the German Calvinistic preachers who planted some
of the churches which are now ours. (13) In the
Market Square church's old German registers of mar-
riages and baptisms are found names of ministers and
members and families that have given hints and opened
the way to trains of research which have been deeply
important. (14) We may also refer to a sketch of the
planting of the German Calvinistic Church in a portion
of our territory which the writer prepared recently for
the centennial celebration of his own Church, in connec-
tion with which there are also suggestive papers by Dr.
Hodge, Dr. McCosh and Judge Joseph Allison. (15)
In a very extensive correspondence with living represen-
tatives of many of our old families and with others we
have gained much information concerning the eminent
and godly men who have adorned our history. (16)
From traditions of the past and from the memories of
aged persons we have gathered much which has either
corroborated other statements or led to special investi-
gations which have proved fruitful of results. (17) In
the Schaff–Herzog Encyclopædia we have found articles
by Dr. Hatfield and by Dr. Gillett which have given
us much valuable information. From these and many
other unexpected sources the material has come which
we have wrought up into these pages.
In addition to the reasons already given, we enume-
rate these authorities so fully because in themselves
they constitute a part of our history. The very history
of these is itself instructive to those who would know
all that God has done for us.
C EIA PT E R II.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESB YTERY.
THE Presbytery of Philadelphia North is one whose
mission and history are very much more important
than even its own members have been wont to consider.
Certainly its historical importance has never been suf-
ficiently esteemed or written of. We are not sure that
there is another Presbytery in connection with our Gen-
eral Assembly that surpasses it in the influence it has
exerted. . It ranks with New Castle and Carlisle in the
great work they accomplished in the early days of our
country and Church, and it awakened some influences
peculiarly its own. There may be those which have a
more commanding influence at the present time, but we
must consider its past history and the influences it has
awakened during its course in making this estimate.
We have not used the motive furnished by that great
history of the past as an incitement to more earnest zeal
so much as we should. God has blessed us by enabling
us to accomplish a vast work amid the sisterhood of
our churches. We have a heritage the value of which
we have never suitably realized.
The age of our Presbytery is such as to clothe it
with great influence. That age is a power. It formed
the chief portion of the original Presbytery, and is
thus a principal branch of the first Presbytery that
was ever organized on this continent. If we fix upon
the year 1705, the year when it was organized, as our
starting-point, we have one hundred and eighty-three
18
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESBYTERY. 19
years over which to rejoice. What a splendid retro-
spect in this new country ! In this we stand absolutely
pre-eminent. The date of the formation of the Pres-
bytery was only about fifty years subsequent to the
Westminster Assembly. From its early formation it
was inspired by the spirit of the persecuted from other
lands who flocked hither, and it had wrought into it the
animating influences of the traditions of the purest
and best of the early days.
ITS LOCATION.
Its location is another peculiarity of the Presbytery
for which we should be most grateful. Of a truth, the
lines have fallen to us in pleasant places and we have
a goodly heritage. Being in the vicinity of what for
more than a century was the largest city of the land,
where our National Government and Constitution had
their birth—in the place where we may claim the dis-
tinction of being the mother-Presbytery—almost in the
geographic, and altogether in the civil, centre of the
country, our influence could and did spread out West,
South and North. From this position the Presbytery
has always had the advantage of being able to exert a
very great influence. In close proximity to the city
which was the centre of the population of the land, as
well as the centre of the vast immigration of Scotch-
Irish, Germans, Welsh and others, it was forced by its
very location into early and active evangelistic move-
ments. By the place it occupied it had unequaled ad-
vantages for the fulfillment of its holy mission. From
these things it came to pass that it had an influential
part in the formation of our Presbyterianism, which in
turn rendered much aid in shaping the Constitution of
the United States.
20 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ITs EMINENT MEN AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Our history is also an important one from the fact
that many of the prominent men of the early day,
godly ministers, elders and private members of our
Church, had their home and training for intelligent
piety and usefulness in this Presbytery. What pious,
earnest, learned and wise men were amongst those who
laid our foundations! Blessed servants of God from the
North of Ireland, from the land of Calvin, of Knox,
of Edwards, were many of them, and the cause of
Christ was uppermost in their hearts. The spirit of
devoted self-sacrifice which brought them here was such
as to carry them forward to the most blessed results.
The example and the toils of such men did much to
make our Church what it is.
There is also a great interest attaching to this Pres-
bytery from the institutions of Christian learning with-
in its borders, wherein thousands received that religious
training which made them honored and useful in their
day. Among such institutions were the Log College,
whose unostentatious work has never been fully written;
Lafayette College, Oakland Female Institute, and the
German schools of Pauli and Dubbendorf, the gradu-
ates of which, with their descendants, have overspread
the whole country.
MOTHER OF CHURCHES.
For still another and very important thing did our
Presbytery for many a year stand pre-eminent. In
the early spring-time of the year we have seen garden-
ers sowing in hot-beds seeds of flowers and vegetables,
and then, when the tender sprouts had grown sufficiently
strong and the weather had become sufficiently warm,
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRESBYTERY. 21
they would transfer the young plants to other local-
ities, where they would have room for full growth. So
has the great Husbandman dealt with this Presbytery.
As in a warm, rich bed he sowed the seeds of truth in
this section, peopled with the learned and godly from
other countries, and then in due time he transferred
the spiritual plants to broader fields throughout the
land. An important mission of this Presbytery has
been to prepare the people who would establish
churches in other regions of the country. Its sons and
daughters have gone out in every direction, and have
planted new congregations wherever they went. They
have gone into every region of Pennsylvania, into the
valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, into Virginia
and the Carolinas, and into many other regions West
and South, and have borne with them everywhere the
spirit of our Presbytery, its experiences and its insti-
tutions, and there they have planted them, and they
have flourished ever since.
THE DISCIPLINE IT HAS RECEIVED.
In all the way through which God has led this Pres-
bytery he was evidently preparing it for an important
work. In all its varied course, whether through the
sunshine and the showers of its many summers or
through the cold and tempests of its sad winters, he was
no doubt preparing it for a great mission of usefulness.
Not only by the ordinary vicissitudes of its more than
ninescore years, not only by the splendid array of
great and good men whom he raised up in its service,
not only by the influence of its many schools of sancti-
fied learning, and not only by the rich, ripe experiences
it accumulated through the generations of its course,
but also by a special training, he was preparing it for a
22 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
great work of his gracious ordaining. In blessed sea-
sons of great revivals which he granted, the Presbytery
grew rapidly in the strength of its ministers and in the
ardor and zeal of its members. Such times of rapid
growth and power were granted in the days of Edwards
and Whitefield, at the close of the sad Old and New
Light schism, after the dreadful financial crisis in 1857,
and at many other periods. God was thereby provid-
ing the numbers and the graces which were needed for
his appointed work.
But there was also a harsher discipline required : a
more stern and unyielding power was necessary for
the work of the kingdom. Hence sad strifes in sev-
eral of the churches and schisms and divisions in the
Presbytery were permitted to rage. At first we see in
these but the unyielding firmness of men who were
deeply in earnest about the interests of their souls and
the honor of their God. But the Master had a higher
purpose in permitting them. He was disciplining his
Church for a mightier work. Like the robust oak, her
roots were sinking deeper and her arms becoming
stronger and stronger by wrestling with the tempests.
This explains the mystery of the first great schism, the
subsequent disruption and the many melancholy con-
tentions in individual churches.
Add to all this the fresh rich lessons of experience
which our annals furnish, and it will be seen that there
is little danger of over-estimating the lot which has
been providentially assigned us and the work which
has been put into our hands
CHA PTE R. III.
GERMS FROM WPITCH IT GRE W.
THE first stage in God’s providential plan of prepar-
ing an American Presbyterian Church for America.
was the gathering together of the people who would
form it. The character of these had a very great influ-
ence on what this Church afterward became. There
are specialties of Christian life and character in every
religious association. No two of them are precisely
alike in their tone of piety, modes of worship and man-
ner of work, even when their principles and doc-
trines are the same. Then, all these are more or less
influenced by the bias they at first receive. The orig-
inal characteristics which marked them are never ut-
terly lost. Hence the great importance of ascertaining
the first impulses which entered into their formation.
In our Presbytery there were three distinct elements
which can be historically traced as having given it its
character:
(1) The first and most influential was the Scotch-
Irish, which sprung from the Log College and the
great and good men connected therewith, and from im-
migration. (2) The second was the German Calvinistic,
introduced by missionaries of the Classis of Amsterdam
and by devout immigrants from Switzerland. (3) The
third consisted of orthodox ministers and families who
at a later day removed into this region from New
England. There were still other elements, but of
23
24 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
minor influence, which it will devolve upon us to no-
tice and distinguish, such as the earnest Christians
who came to us from Wales, from Old England and
from the Quakers. All these can be distinctly traced.
Each of them contributed some element to the char-
acter of our Christian life. Each of them must there-
fore receive a separate consideration.
THE SCOTCH-IBISH.
The first and most important is the Scotch-Irish
element. This element entered into the original
composition of our Presbytery from two sources—
from the Forks of the Delaware and the Log College,
and from immigration into Philadelphia and its
neighborhood from the North of Ireland.
The influence of the Log College in planting our
Church throughout the neighborhood in which it was
located has never been even proximately appreciated.
On its general influence the testimony of Dr. Archibald
Alexander was: “This humble institution was not only
the germ of Princeton College, but of several other col-
leges which have risen to high estimation in this coun-
try—among them, Jefferson College, Hampden–Sidney
College and Washington College in Virginia. And
we need not stop here, for these in turn have given rise
to many other schools and colleges.” Then, how shall
we duly estimate the institution which educated such
men as the Tennents, the Blairs, the Smiths, the Rogers
and the Beatties? Chief among them were the learned,
pious and earnest sons of the Rev. William Tennent,
the founder—Gilbert, William, John and Charles—
great men and great preachers all. Through the
labors of these and others like them all our churches of
that region, such as Bensalem, Neshaminy, Deep Run,
GERMS FROM WEHICH IT GREW. 25
Newtown, Abington and others, constituting at first
more than half the Presbytery, were founded. We
give now this general fact, without entering into the
Question of priority among the churches themselves, for
which we have not space. All these were as sound in
faith and as solid in life and practice as Calvin himself.
Moreover, next to religion they placed a pure educa-
tion, and beside the church they always erected the
school and academy wherever they were providentially
led to take up their habitation. 3.
The other Scotch-Irish element in the origin of our
Presbytery was furnished by the immigration of Pres-
byterians from the North of Ireland into Philadelphia
and its neighborhood. These immigrants brought with
them their religion, their Church and their creed.
They had suffered too much for their faith to allow it
to be lost. Who they were is well described by Dr.
McCosh in his Tercentenary speech : “The Irish Pres-
byterian Church is the oldest and fairest of the daugh-
ters of the Church of Scotland. The American Presby-
terian Church will not forget that it is through the
Irish Church she claims descent from that Church
which is the mother of us all.”
The immigration of these Irish Presbyterians was
very great at the time when our Presbytery was crys-
talizing into its permanent form. In the year 1736
one thousand families sailed from Belfast, and on Sept.
9th in that year one hundred of these families, all Pres-
byterians, arrived in Philadelphia. Said the Rev. Sam-
uel Blair, in a letter of 1744, “All our congregations
in Pennsylvania except two or three chiefly are made
up of people from Ireland.” Such large numbers,
settling in and around Philadelphia, with which then
as now our Presbytery was intermingled, would greatly
26 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
strengthen existing churches as well as lay the founda-
tions of new ones.
This gave an important impulse to the cause at that
early day. These two branches of the Scotch-Irish—
that is, those who came at an earlier time, settling at
the Forks of the Delaware, and the multitudes who
came later and settled at New Castle, Philadelphia and
vicinity—necessarily formed the chief ingredient in the
infant Presbytery. Mingling in the whole community
and at both extremities of our territory, they gave tone
and character to the entire body. Then the chief char-
acteristics which they imparted were soundness of doc-
trine, intelligence of faith and steadfastness to their
convictions. These features they impressed so deeply
that they have never been effaced. We claim them
still, and rejoice with thankfulness that serious error
has never been permitted to intrude to deface the
glorious heritage with which we have been entrusted.
Only once in the forty years of the writer's connection
with the body can he recall one word of heresy as
coming from a preacher in all our bounds.
GERMAN CALVINISTIC ELEMENT.
The next ingredient which entered into the compo-
sition of our Presbytery came from the Palatinate of
Germany, from Switzerland and from Holland. The
name which they claimed for themselves was that of
German Calvinists. This ingredient has never re-
ceived that distinct and emphatic recognition which it
deserves. An important portion of our territory—
namely, Germantown, Frankford and the surrounding
country—was settled by this people. The names of
some of the families which have descended from them
will sufficiently indicate their origin. Among such
GERMS FROM WPHICH IT GREW. 27
names we find those of Zollinger, Bockius, Godfried,
Leist, Myer, Mowrer, Zebley, Neswinger, Sheetz,
Schmid, Mag, Bleek, Scheibly, Foulkrod, Ulric Neff,
Castor, Geisse, Froelich, Bender and many others.
Such were familiar and cherished names in the old
congregations wherein these truly devout people were
found.
Their ministers were learned, great and good men.
Most of them were missionaries who had been sent
out by the Dutch Reformed Classis of Amsterdam to
preach the gospel which they dearly loved. Having
learned and loved and suffered for the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus, at home in the land of Luther, of Calvin
and of William of Orange, they came to publish it in
this New World of the far West. From the fertile
fields of Holland, from the beautiful banks of the
Rhine and from old Basel in Switzerland they came
bearing with them the precious doctrines which had
been so clearly defined in Geneva, and they planted
them in some of the very churches which have been
committed to our care.
These devout missionaries have not been honored as
their invaluable services deserved. Because perhaps of
the name German attached to them, and because others
of more eminence using our own language have in
modern days taken their place, they have been per-
mitted almost to fall into oblivion. From that oblivion
we would rescue at least a few of their precious mem-
ories. Among their names—names of preachers who
ministered in the old Market Square church—we find
those of Wilhelm Stoy, George Abrentz, J. C. Faber,
Frederick Vandersloat, Casper Nach and John H.
Smaltz. Of others who preached in the churches of
both Market Square and Frankford we know still
28 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
more, and with feelings of veneration preserve a few
facts concerning them.
Taking them in the order of their ministry, from
1770 to 1824, the first name we find was that of Rev.
Christian Frederick Foehring, who preached in Ger-
mantown and Frankford, having laid the corner-stone
of the old Frankford church. His history was a very
eventful one. He was born in Hanover about the year
1736. His father died in the military service of that
country, and his mother knew that if he remained in
his native country he, her only child, would in due
time be compelled to enter the army. To avoid that,
when the lad was seven years old she bound him on
her back, and, skating across the Rhine, made her
escape with him to this country. Mother and son
finally reached the settlement of the Frankford Com-
pany in Germantown and vicinity. Afterward Mr.
Foehring entered the ministry and became eminent for
his piety, talents and success. He was accustomed to
preach in the German, Dutch or English language.
It was a singular fact that, after all, he lost his life
through the army. In 1779 he died from the effects
of a cold contracted in escaping from a party of
British soldiers sent to capture him because of his
zeal in behalf of liberty.
The next of these greatly honored men was the
Rev. J. C. Albertus Helffenstein, who labored in these
churches fifteen years, with an interruption of four years
from 1775 to 1779, which he spent in Lancaster. Mr.
Helffenstein belonged to a family in which there has
been a succession of ministers since the Reformation.
He was born in the Palatinate. While on his way to
this country he was overtaken at sea by a dreadful
storm, and amidst its terrors he was led to consecrate
GERMS FROM WIEHICH IT GREW. 29
himself more entirely to the service of God. His ser-
mons were very pointed and stirring and his ministry
was greatly blessed. Often, it is said, was his congrega-
tion overwhelmed by the mighty power of truth as it
flowed with majesty and tenderness from his heart. He
died of consumption in the year 1789.
The next of these blessed men whose name we
would embalm in memory was the Rev. Samuel Dub-
bendorf. He came to this country as a chaplain with
the Hessian soldiers in the Revolutionary War. After-
ward, however, “through the plunderings of the Eng-
lish soldiers, he lost nearly all he had, and amid terror,
want and famine saw all his satisfaction and comfort in
temporal things carried away as by a storm.” On this
account he left his field in this region after a stay of
two or three years. Mr. Dubbendorf was a man tender
and refined in his feelings, of strong affections and
greatly devoted to the work of the ministry. He was
never married. Neither the date of his birth nor his
age is on record.
The Rev. Lebrecht Frederick Herman was the next
of this goodly array of German preachers who aided in
laying the foundations of our Presbytery. His minis-
try here commenced in 1789, and continued for about
twelve years. He was long remembered in the whole
region. He was a native of Germany, and the last of
the German missionaries sent out to this country by
the Classis of Amsterdam. After leaving his first
charge here he preached in various other places in
Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties. No less
than five of his sons entered the ministry, for which he
had himself prepared them all. During many of the
latest years of his life he was totally blind. He outlived
all his fellow-laborers and friends, and died in 1848, at
30 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the advanced age of about eighty-four years. Among
his last words were, “It is well with me; I am nearing
heaven. My body is very weak and will soon be dis-
solved, but Jesus my Redeemer will construct for me a
glorified body from this mass of corruption.”
The only other one we would name of these good
men was Rev. John William Runkle. He was pastor
of the Market Square church in Germantown, and at
the same time preached in Frankford for many years.
He also was a native of Germany. He came to this
country when he was about fifteen, and died in 1832 at
the age of eighty-four. He must have been a man of
very decided character. As he has been described,
“he was a man of strong physical constitution, tall
and rawboned in person. His powers of endurance
were very remarkable. He was venerable and patriar-
chal in appearance, excitable in temper, warm in preach-
ing; in short, ‘a son of thunder.’” He is said to have
been in advance of his time, and hence was regarded
as somewhat a fanatic. His preaching, however, was
evangelical, apt in illustration and affectionate in
appeal. He ever manifested much sympathy toward
the suffering, visiting also prisoners and those under
sentence of death.
Such was the goodly array of men of God, most of
them missionaries, sent from a distant land under the
care of the orthodox and pious Christians of Holland,
who for a long time ministered in this region. Their
influence in laying our foundations the records of earth
cannot fully describe, but it calls for gratitude from
us greater far than we have any language to express.
The leading characteristics of these German preach-
ers, as of the churches from which they came, were
their ardor, their stability, their adherence from age to
GERMS FROM WPIICH IT GREW. 31
age to the established customs of their church-life.
They were not liable to be carried about by every wind
of doctrine or to be influenced by every novelty of prac-
tice. From them this feature of church-life has come
down to us. With us there are no continual innova-
tions, no aping of forms and ritualisms, no thirst for
novelties. Our customs of church-life and the ele-
ments of our worship are stable. The good old ways
we have learned from the Bible and the fathers, which
have been established and which God has blessed, are
to be found in all our churches.
THE NEW ENGLAND ELEMENT.
The third element which was after a time incorpo-
rated in the life of the Presbytery was that which came
from New England. Many of our most faithful mem-
bers, especially in later days, came from that part of the
country. As we glance over our early and later years
we find a Jedediah Andrews, the first Presbyterian
minister of Philadelphia, who preached part of his time
in the loft of “the Barbadoes warehouse,” corner of
Second and Chestnut streets, and part of his time in
the old Pennypack Baptist church, a few miles north
of the city; a Green; a Treat; the Rev. Thomas Brad-
ford, for years a leading member of Presbytery; the
Rev. J. B. Davis, for a long time its Stated Clerk; and
several others. Then of private members from the same
region there rise up before our thoughts Alfred Jenks,
the great manufacturer; a Godfrey, and many others,
elders, trustees, Sabbath-school superintendents, and de-
voted women in Israel. These had imbibed the spirit
of the Pilgrim Fathers, had been trained in the Shorter
Catechism, and were amongst the most godly of men
and women. They brought with them their active
32 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
energy, their practical tact, their force and their enter-
prise, and they imparted these qualities to our whole
body, as has been seen in the continued formation of
new churches in our bounds in numbers far greater
than most of us are accustomed to consider.
ENGLISH, WELSH AND QUAKERS.
Besides these three leading ingredients in the original
formation of our church-life, there were still others
which were not so influential, but still were sufficiently
important to require a distinct notice. They were all to
be found amid our churches, and their influence may be
traced even to the present time.
(a) Of these perhaps the most noticeable was that
which had its origin in England. From England
there came to us numbers of the most excellent of men
and women. Of these, among ministers we may name
Rev. Dr. Thomas Biggs, friend of Dr. Charles Hodge,
for a long time pastor in Frankford, and subsequent-
ly professor in Lane Theological Seminary, and Rev.
Benjamin Stead, D. D., pastor of Bridesburg; and of
private members not a few who have been among our
elders, trustees and most earnest workers for Christ.
These have been found chiefly in our manufacturing
centres, such as Norristown, Manayunk and Frankford.
In the land from which they came they had gene-
rally been connected with the Congregational or Inde-
pendent Church, and, finding our doctrinal system the
same as that which they had at home, they had no dif-
ficulty in identifying themselves with us. Among this
element of our original church-life it is proper that
we should place Whitefield, one of the most eloquent
preachers of modern times, who visited some of our
churches, preached in the region of the Log College,
GERMS FROM WPHICH IT GREW. 33
and through his burning words aided in promoting the
great revival that gave such tone and impulse to our
cause in its earliest days. Deep piety and love of es-
tablished order were the leading peculiarities of the
system which these men represented and which they
insensibly infused into the Presbytery, so that the
spirit of change and agitation has seldom disturbed our
counsels or diverted our energies from the momentous
work of the gospel. •
(b) The Welsh Calvinistic influence upon our relig-
ious life is the next which we are led to notice. It
might be said in all soberness that a more mighty work
of the gospel there has not been in all modern times
than that in Wales, commencing in 1735 under the
preaching of Howell Harris, Daniel Rowlands, Howell
Davies and David Jones. It stirred the entire prin-
cipality to its very foundations. By it the whole con-
dition of the populace was changed from one of deepest
depravity, until it now stands amongst the foremost of
all peoples for true scriptural piety. More effective
preachers we believe the world has never seen than the
three great Welshmen, John Elias, Williams of Wales
and Christmas Evans. Under a single sermon of
Elias, the greatest of them all, preached at Carnarven,
it is affirmed that no less than two thousand five hun-
dred souls were converted.
The work was deep and abiding. Religion became
the life, the hearing of preaching the great enjoyment,
and the Bible the one Book of the whole people. A
more scriptural, sound and earnest body of Christians
there is not on earth than are the Calvinistic Method-
ists of Wales.
These faithful people were driven by thousands from
their homes by the most abominable and persistent
3
34 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
persecution. Coming out from the midst of glorious
revival scenes, with their hearts inflamed by love to
Christ and his cause, they settled in large numbers in
the territory of our Presbytery. Several townships on
the east of the Schuylkill River were given to them and
occupied by them. Welsh names are still found in
our towns, such as North Wales, Gwynedd and Pen-
llyn. Also, among the faithful men of our history who
sprung from them were the Rev. David Evans, the
Rev. Malachi Jones and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Davies.
These men and others like them contributed to our
religious character earnest Christian life, love of re-
ligious ordinances and strong attachment to the Bible
and Bible doctrines. -
(c) The remaining element which mingled in our
early history was that which came from the Quakers.
In much of our territory our churches were surrounded
by the families of influential Friends, and, as was nat-
ural, numbers of them from time to time became inter-
ested in our system, and finally embraced it, and were
found among our most faithful members. There has
been a movement of this kind much more extensive
than is imagined. The spirit of that people, so quiet
and undemonstrative, has prevented much display.
We could name eloquent preachers who have entered
our ranks from that source. In a quiet manner have
private members recruited our numbers by uniting
with our churches. In most of our congregations are
to be found those descended from old families of
Friends who have become earnest and intelligent
workers with us—who have given all their old fam-
ily influence to the upbuilding of our cause. The
characteristic of this element of our communion is
unostentatious but deep and true piety. On this very
GERMS FROM WPHICH IT GREW. 35
account their coming to us has been little displayed
or even noticed. It has not been paraded, though
going on steadily, constantly and influentially.
This element also has imparted its own feature to
the life of our churches. That life has been emi-
nently unostentatious and quiet, though very deep.
There has been little display, and yet there has been
progress. We have not crowded the daily papers
with our affairs. Perhaps we have not aroused as
much attention and sympathy as we should have done
in order to accomplish the utmost that we might.
THE OFFSPRING OF THE PERSECUTED.
With all truthfulness may it be said that the Pres-
bytery was originally made up of the descendants of
those who had suffered—suffered sorely, thousands of
them even dying for the truth as it is in Christ Jesus
—in other lands. We have not been mindful of this
and nerved by it, as undoubtedly we should have been.
Only when the facts are gathered together into one group
and contemplated in the mass can it be even proxi-
mately appreciated. It has been seen that the leading
germs from which our strength has grown were all
derived from immigration. But who and what were
these immigrants? In every case they were either
themselves fugitives from persecution or the descend-
ants of those who had suffered in the fires. When we
look at any special immigration which entered into our
upbuilding, we find that, without exception, it was occa-
sioned by the persecutions that were raging in the land
from which it came.
We may see this first in that chief ingredient which
originally constituted our Church—namely, the Scotch-
Irish. Who were those steadfast and noble men who
36 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
laid our foundations? They were the descendants of
the men who under the persecutions of Charles II.
were driven by Claverhouse and his remorseless dra-
goons out of Scotland into Ireland. The time of the
coming of this first immigration was significant. The
murderous persecution in Scotland ceased only in 1688,
but seventeen years, be it observed, before the Pres-
bytery was organized. What, again it may be asked,
was the character of that persecution by which those
faithful men were driven from their fatherland into
Ireland? According to the testimony of Dr. Blaikie,
“During the reigns of Charles II. and James II. the cases
of persecution were very numerous, and in innumerable
cases most harrowing. It was reckoned that in twenty-
eight years eighteen thousand persons were either ban-
ished or put to death.” Moreover, these victims of per-
secution, first driven from Scotland, thus becoming the
Scotch-Irish, and then so many of them driven again
to Pennsylvania, were the very flower of the land from
which they came. The same excellent authority as-
serts: “It is very certain that between 1580 and 1688
the friends and upholders of the Covenants embraced
nearly all of the most learned, devout and earnest min-
isters of the Church of Scotland and many laymen in
high places. The real lovers of the gospel were the
Presbyterians, and the revivals of earnest religion were
associated with them.” Dr. Blaikie adds: “The stand
for freedom, civil and religious, made by these people
was of the noblest character, and conferred incalculable
benefit upon both Church and State. Had they been
crushed, ecclesiastical liberty would have perished within
the Reformed churches.” .
As is well known, thousands of these Scotch Pres-
byterians fled from their remorseless persecutors to the
GERMS FROM WIHICH IT GREW. 37
North of Ireland. They settled there and changed the
religious character of the country. But what soon
befell them in Ireland? Persecution—persecution
again under the Stuart, James II. That persecution
arose to gigantic proportions at the siege of Derry in
1689, only sixteen years before the formation of the
Presbytery. In that siege the extremes of famine and
pestilence and death itself were endured. Another ter-
rible scene of that persecution was at the battle of the
Boyne in 1690, only fifteen years before the Presbytery.
Then six or seven hundred of the noble defenders of
our faith—among them the Rev. George Walker, who
So gallantly led at Londonderry—were slaughtered by
the forces of James, though that cruel monarch was at
last utterly routed by his own son-in-law, William III.
Could it be otherwise than that the descendants of
those whose fathers had fallen at Bothwell Bridge,
had endured the horrors of famine at the siege
of Derry, or been slaughtered at the Boyne, or been
plundered by Thurot at the sack of Carrickfergus, or
been hanged by the minions of James, would cling,
as for their very souls, to the tenets for which their
ancestors had suffered so much 7 Concerning the chil-
dren of these suffering people the impressive words
of Dr. John Hall are worthy of deep consideration:
“These Scotch-Irish were staunch to the truth they
had learned from their parents and their ministers, and
especially from their Bible; and well was it burnt into
them by the persecution they experienced; it was
wrought into their very nature; their minds were
stored with it.” The children and grandchildren of
these sufferers were the leading men in the Pres-
bytery when first formed. From them came the Ma-
kemies and the Tennents and the Finleys and the
38 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Blairs of our earliest history. It was also the per-
secuted and their descendants who formed the great
immigration into Pennsylvania after the sack of Car-
rickfergus in 1760.
A similar story of flight from bloody persecution
must be told of the Dutch or German element so prom-
inent in the founding of our Presbytery. Whence came
Our German fathers to this country and to this part of
our State? The “Frankfort Company,” which settled
Germantown and all this region, was organized in
Frankfort near the Rhine in the year 1682, only
twenty-three years before this Presbytery was organ-
ized. The refugees whom it aided in reaching a safer
land continued to come over even to the years of our
formation.
What brought them here? We must go over to the
other side of the ocean and enter the Palatinate, along
the beautiful Rhine, to see. That Palatinate was hor-
ribly ravaged by the French in a crusade against the
gospel in 1688, only seventeen years before the Pres-
bytery. At that time the sufferings of the people
whose children came here, were fearful. In an official
document in the British archives we have this record :
“About seven thousand of poor Protestants from the
banks of the Rhine, driven from their habitations by
the French, arrived in England, and were encamped at
Blackheath and Camberwell; a brief was granted to
collect alms for them. Five hundred families went
under the protection of the Government to Ireland,
and settled chiefly about Limerick, where Parliament
granted them twenty-four thousand pounds for their
support. Three thousand were sent to New York and
Hudson's Bay, but not having been received kindly, they
went to Pennsylvania, and, being there greatly en-
GERMS FROM WIHICH IT GREW. 39
couraged by the Quakers, they invited over some thou-
sands of German and Swiss Protestants, who soon made
this colony flourishing.” It should be remembered
that this is from an official document of the British
Government, and it tells beyond mistake of the perse-
cutions which sent our German fathers here. These
very men were the fathers and the grandfathers of
those who formed some of our churches.
But the whole story is not yet told. In the suffer-
ing days of those German Protestants of the Palatinate
they were aided by their brethren in Holland, who had
themselves passed through even more ferocious persecu-
tions a century before. When those heroic Hollanders
saw their companions burnt at the stake or buried alive
by the bloodthirsty Spaniard, the duke of Alva, multi-
tudes of them fled and found protection in the Palati-
nate under the humane shelter of “the houses under the
cross.” Then, when in turn the same sort of persecu-
tion was flaming in the Palatinate, the Dutch came for-
ward to aid their friends in their distress. Among other
things they sent their ministers to preach to them and
comfort them in their flight. These ministers or mis-
sionaries followed with their ministrations of kindness
even to foreign lands. This explains, what we other-
wise could not understand, why so many of the early
ministers of our German ancestors were sent hither by
the Classis of Amsterdam.
A similar history of suffering for the cause of Christ
is connected with the New England ingredient which
entered into the original formation of the Presbytery.
It is well known that the ancestors of these devoted
men were the Puritans who had fled from place to
place that they might find some spot where they could
be free from wrong, oppression and suffering in their
40 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
worship of God, and found it only when they reached
the then barbarous shores of this New World. They
too had been suffering fugitives from the persecu-
tion of the Stuarts. And when at length they settled
here in Pennsylvania they brought with them the spirit
of stern endurance for the cause of Christ. They too
had been purified in the fires. They were clinging
with a death-grasp to their bloodbought faith.
Still was it the same old story of escape from the
wrongs, the fury and the remorseless persecutions of the
enemies of Christ and his gospel that brought into
our territory the faithful Calvinists of Wales. The
glorious revival of that land under Howell Harris and
his friends, which changed the whole moral aspect of
Wales, prevailed from 1736 onward until a most ardent
piety filled the country. Very soon the usual result
followed, and those blessed men were persecuted with-
out shame, without remorse, and apparently without
one feeling of humanity. They were mobbed; they
were driven into dog-kennels; they were shut up in
dark, loathsome prisons; they were sent in chains
upon vessels of war; they were driven for refuge into
fearful caves of the earth; they were virtually sold into
slavery ; they were built up in the walls of houses;
hellish plots were matured against them ; the very in-
genuity of Satan was exerted to contrive afflictions and
tortures for them. From the midst of the rage of
this tempest of the powers of darkness thousands of
them fled, not in fear, but in faith, and at last found
safety and a home among the Quakers of Montgomery
county.
It is thus sadly yet gloriously true that all the leading
elements originally entering into the formation of the
Presbytery were either themselves fugitives from per-
GERMS FROM WIHICH IT GRE W. 41
secution or the descendants of fugitives. This seems
mysterious, but no doubt there were sublime providen-
tial purposes in view. There is not a question but that
it was one modern fulfillment of the great prophecy of
the Revelation, wherein the woman, the established em-
blem of the Church, had wings given to her, “that she
might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she
is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time from
the face of the serpent.” Do we not find in the history
every element of this prophecy 2—the Church as the
woman—the flight from persecution as the wings—this
then uncultivated region as the wilderness—and the
protection and friends found here as the earth helping
the woman. We do not assert nor do we believe that
this is the sole fulfillment of the revelation, but we do
indicate it as one of its many fulfillments, as it, with
very many other prophecies, was intended to point out
a series of future events.
All these persecutions seem to us dark and mysterious;
but while we would not attempt to scrutinize God's
higher ulterior purposes in them, we cannot but see
many immediate blessed results springing therefrom.
They scattered these godly people through other lands
bearing the precious gospel with them. Would they
have come here had they not been persecuted at home?
Then these suffering fugitives were by their persecu-
tions hardened for the great self-denying work which
lay before them. They had learned the value of that
gospel for which they and their fathers bled. They
knew the value of the truth for which they had suffered
so much, and clung to it with all their souls, and sent it
down uncorrupted to the generations that have come
after them. How much of our pure Presbyterianism
do we owe to them | It is no vain boast that ours has
42 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
been the martyr Church. It was terrible for those who
suffered, but it is glorious for us that all the elements
from which we sprung were planted in the blood of the
faithful.
Such were the elements which originally composed
the Presbytery, and which, all commingling in one
stream, while eachimparted its own characteristics, made
it what it is in its Christian life and worship and work.
From the Scotch-Irish has come that orthodoxy of faith
which has never admitted even the thought of error in
the word of God; from the German, that fixed manner
of life and worship which has been the same from age
to age; from the land of Edwards, that earnest enter-
prise and progress which have multiplied our churches
to a degree that is scarce surpassed; from England, that
adherence to established order and worship which saves
from all confusion and error; from the Welsh Calvin-
ists, that love of Scripture and scriptural truth which
preserves our foundations and secures an intelligent
devotion; and from the Quaker, that quiet but real
readiness to work for Christ in which we must ever
rejoice. These elements may not be very easily traced
to their origin, for they have been so long commingled
and blended into one that their distinction may seem
to be lost. Nevertheless, they still exist, and lend to
each other a harmony and power for which we should
render the most sincere gratitude to the Giver of all
good.
C H A PTER IV.
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL.
WE are now prepared to enter upon the history of
the Presbytery in the full details of its churches, its
important events and its progress. This is a work of
great difficulty, because of the length of time, the many
churches embraced, the complicated nature of the facts
and the subtile influences connecting them. Only by a
very exact system and classification may we escape a
tedious repetition of facts that are found in many different
connections, notice every item that should be mentioned
and present all in their proper relations and influences.
The general plan is to present (1) the seed from which
the Presbytery germinated and grew to such goodly
proportions; (2) the planting of that seed in the field
which God has given us; (3) the growth of the plant
from the most feeble life to its present dimensions; and
(4) the fruit which it has borne in the past and is still
bearing in the present.
The first of these leading divisions has already been
considered, and need not be further dwelt upon. Under
the second we make a division into two periods: (a)
the Antepresbyterial Period, up to 1705, and (b) the
Period of Formation, 1705–88. Under the third
division we make four periods: (a) Period of the Gen-
eral Assembly, 1788–1833; (b) Period of the Second
Presbytery, 1833–38; (c) Period of Separation, 1838–
71; (d) Period of Reunion, from 1871 to the present
time.
43
44 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
It will be seen, as we trace the history of the Presby-
tery, that the events fall of themselves into this natural
classification. *
According, therefore, to the arrangement which has
been announced, the first period of our history, which
we call the Antepresbyterial, is that which lies before
1705, the year of the organization of the original
Presbytery. That was the period of gathering up the
fragments and getting ready for united life and action.
The second we call the Period of Formation. It
extended from 1705 to the organization of the General
Assembly in 1788. This space of eighty-three years
was a time of laying foundations, consolidating and
defining positions, during which a few churches were
Organized.
The third period covered forty-five years. We call
it the Period of the General Assembly, for it began with
the formation of the General Assembly in 1788, and
extended to the formation of the old Second Presbytery,
which up to that time was a component part of the
general Presbytery of Philadelphia, and, although
known at different times by different names, still sub-
stantially exists as the Presbytery of Philadelphia
North. During these forty-five years the whole Church
was one, and its great work was to establish itself and
build up on the foundations which had been laid during
the eighty preceding years.
The fourth period was a very brief one of only five
years. We call it the Period of the Second Presbytery,
because it commenced with the organization of that
Presbytery in 1833, and extended to the great separation
of Old and New School in 1838. This was the most
unhappy time of our whole history—a time of misunder-
standings, of alienated feelings, of storms. It witnessed
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL. 45
that ordeal of fermentation which seems to be a neces-
sary formative process in all the institutions and his-
tories of men.
The fifth period was thirty-three years in length.
Its beginning was with the sad division into the Old and
New Schools in 1838, and its close with the healing of
that breach in the Reunion of 1871. The distinctive
name we give it is the Period of Separation. The
alienations resulting from the division were inevitable,
but each branch pursued its own work and prospered.
They had separated, but worked on ; the great principles
adopted were the same; the sores were gradually healed;
and at the end of a generation the two parties came to-
gether again.
The sixth period consisted of seventeen years. It
began in the Reunion of 1871, and has continued until
the present time, and may hence be called the Period
of Reunion. So far as the term is allowable to anything
that is earthly, this is the time of our Presbytery's
glory. Every breach healed, every alienation gone,
vast enterprises for the advancement of the kingdom in
progress, churches rapidly growing in number and
strength and influence,—everything calls upon us for
the most sincere gratitude to the King.
Such is a brief analysis of the one hundred and
eighty-three years of our history. The limits of the
periods are well defined by the events. A definite tab-
ulation of them will aid the memory in retaining them,
and show the great providential chains by which they
are connected. We may therefore take a bird’s-eye view
of them which will render the plan of God's gracious
working still more impressive:
(1) Antepresbyterial Period, up to 1705 (Chap. iv.).
46 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
(2) Period of Formation, 83 yrs., 1705–1788 (Chap. v.).
(3) Period of General Assembly, 45 years, 1788–1833
(Chap. vi.).
(4) Period of Second Presbytery, 5 years, 1833–1838
(Chap. vii.).
(5) Period of Separation, 33 years, 1838–1871 (Chap.
viii.).
(6) Period of Reunion, 17 years, 1871–1888 (Chap. ix.).
(7) Progress in the Life of the Presbytery (Chap. x.).
(8) Lessons of Ninescore Years . . . . . . (Chap. xi.).
By this scheme the whole plan of our work is laid
before us. -
ANTEPRESBYTERIAL PERIOD.
The treatment of this period will be brief, but it is
necessary as introductory to the annals which are to
be reviewed. The entire history of the Presbytery is
to be rehearsed, and whatever had a bearing upon that
body must receive our consideration. Whatever had an
influence on its character or on its first movements in
starting upon its eventful career is needed to explain
the story. We want all the preliminary facts, for they
all had an influence in shaping the life and character of
the body with which such interests have been connected.
We desire to place them all, so far as they are known,
on record, for the memory of them is fast passing away.
If not recorded now, they will soon be gone from the
memory of man. Many have gone already. We would
save what remain.
THE PLACE AND TIME OF THE ORIGIN OF THE PRES-
BYTERY.
It is important to have an understanding of the
nature of the country and of the state of the times in
which the Presbytery was first established. The ques-
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL. 47
tions will ever and anon come up, When, and where,
and what were the times and places with which it
was associated in the eventful days of its youth 2
What were its first surroundings, either in its imme-
diate vicinity or in the more distant parts of the land 2
Who were the ministers and people who first composed
it? What were the events that interested them and
contributed to make them what they were ? What
were their modes of life, the subjects which engaged
their conversation in leisure hours and the occupations
which took up their time? What were they doing
and thinking and living for 2 What was the state of
the country and government and society with which
they had to do? We cannot answer all these questions
fully, but the little information that is still within our
reach we would carefully preserve and almost sacredly
contemplate. -
The locality which the Presbytery at first covered
embraced not only the territory which it now occupies,
but also the whole of Philadelphia and the surrounding
country. What are now three Presbyteries was then
but one. At that time the country was covered over by
forests, with here and there a clearing where the few
inhabitants had erected their dwellings. Those dwellings
were generally what we would now regard as huts, con-
structed of logs rudely shaped with the hatchet, the in-
terstices filled with mud or mortar. The chief road,
forming the leading thoroughfare between Philadelphia
and New York, ran through the heart of the country,
and attracted to its borders the churches and other
institutions springing up in the region through which
it ran. That road as well as others was doubtless in a
wretched condition—sometimes almost impassable; in
some places, when running through swamps, constructed
48 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
of tree-trunks in corduroy fashion. Yet these miser-
able roads passed by log houses in which resided fam-
ilies the names of which have been wrought into our
history, and ministers among the most learned, eloquent
and devout of any that have graced our annals.
We are also interested in knowing the point in
the history of the country when the organization was
effected. It was but eighty-five years after the landing
of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock. It was
only twenty-four years after William Penn obtained
the grant of the whole land of Pennsylvania from the
Crown of England. The people were exposed to con-
stant attacks from swarms of savage Indians. It was
seventy-one years before our country, by its Declara-
tion of Independence, took its place as one of the
nations of the earth. At that time the great tides of
emigration had scarcely commenced to flow across the
sea from all the lands of Europe. To make an ocean
voyage in those days was a serious matter, as the ordi-
nary time of crossing the Atlantic was from seven or
eight weeks to three months. The whole country was
then under the government of Great Britain; all lead-
ing officers were appointed by the king, and every im-
portant law had to be sanctioned by the Crown.
Such was the period in the history of this country.
when the Presbytery had its birth, and we naturally
look abroad to see what were the events occurring in
the other nations, especially in Europe. What was
then the state of the world? At the time when the
five or six ministers, with elders whose names we do not
know, met in the one humble Presbyterian meeting-
house of Philadelphia to form this body as a branch of
Christ's kingdom, Peter the Great was reigning over
the half-savage hordes of Russia; Joseph I. was on the
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL. 49
throne of Germany, a country just beginning its career
of greatness; Innocent XII. was the pope of Rome,
wielding both temporal and spiritual power; Queen
Anne was reigning in England, even then one of the
greatest powers on the earth; Louis XIV., the Grand
Monarch of France, was in the zenith of his glory.
This was the general state of the world; but more
specially it may be noted that in France the splendors
of the great Louis, the magnificent operations of his
government and the wonders of his architecture were
ringing throughout the civilized world. It was, per-
haps, the most flourishing period of French literature.
Fénelon, Bossuet, Masillon and Boileau were penning
their great works which have lived through all the
centuries since. *
In Great Britain it was also a memorable period.
Queen Anne was in the midst of her prosperous reign;
John Locke and Isaac Newton had issued their im-
mortal works just before; Prior, Steele, De Foe and
Addison issued theirs just after; Swift, Isaac Watts,
Pope and Allen Ramsay were all living at the time.
The world-renowned Bank of England had been
opened twelve years before; the British East India
Company was chartered five years after this moment-
ous event in our history.
In this country there were several memorable events
which may serve to fix the time with more distinctness.
In New England the superstition concerning witchcraft
still existed in force: two so-called witches were exe-
cuted in Northampton in the very year the Presbytery
was organized. In 1704, the year before the organiza-
tion, the first newspaper ever issued on this continent,
The Boston News-Letter, was published. The first paper
money of the country was issued in New Jersey in 1709,
4
50 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the first post-office was opened in 1710—the former
four, the latter five, years after the Presbytery was
formed.
How different the state of society then from what it
is to-day ! How many advantages and comforts we
now have that were then unknown At that time there
were no post-offices, no paper money, no railroads,
no telegraphs, no temperance Societies, no Sabbath-
schools for the instruction of the young, no mission-
ary Societies to spread abroad the gospel.
RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS OF THE WORLD.
It is significant that the Westminster Assembly,
which had such a vast influence in formulating our
doctrinal system, had closed its sessions in 1652, and
that the last surviving member of that august body,
Rev. Dr. Anthony Tuckney, had died in 1703, only
two years before the organization. The siege of Derry
was sixteen years, and the battle of the Boyne fifteen
years, before; both of which events had great influence
in sending hither the men who constituted the first
Presbytery. In this country also there were other mo-
mentous ecclesiastical events. The Episcopal Church
was set up in New York City in 1698, seven years
before the Presbytery, and the Saybrook Platform,
with its half Presbyterianism, was adopted in Con-
necticut in 1708, but three years after.
At that time there was no institution in the whole
land for the special training of young men for the min-
istry of our Church. It is true that for above a hundred
years after the country was settled every institution of
learning above the common School, male and female, was
under the direction of Calvinists, but for the special
training of Presbyterian ministers there was none. A
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL. 51
change, however, was coming. Almost simultaneously
with the founding of the Presbytery there arose a school
where its candidates for the ministry could be educated.
PRESIBYTERIANISM AT THIS TIME.
Before 1705 there were many traces of our system to
be found in New England and New York, with prob-
ably a few churches. The church of Jamaica, Long Isl-
and, claims to have been organized as early as 1662.
According to Dr. Hatfield, “A considerable number
of Presbyterians, ministers and people, emigrated from
Great Britain and Ireland to New England during
the troubles of the seventeenth century, and were
absorbed in the Congregational churches, at that time
differing but very little from Presbyterian churches.”
The Hartford North Association in 1799 affirmed “that
the constitution of the churches in the State of Con-
necticut is not Congregational, but contains the essen-
tials of the government of the Church of Scotland.”
These were often spoken of as Presbyterian churches.
Dr. Hatfield adds: “Colonies from these Connecticut
churches planted themselves at an early day on Long
Island and in East Jersey, and the churches which
they organized—Southampton (1640), Southold (1641),
Elizabethtown (1666) and Newark (1667)—eventually
became Presbyterian almost as soon as they had the
opportunity.”
In Philadelphia and south of it there had been still
more direct efforts for setting up our churches. It
was a lamentable thing that the establishing of our
cause in Philadelphia encountered an opposition that
amounted almost to persecution. The officials of the
British Government, being connected with the English
Church, did what they could to prevent Presbyterian-
52 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ism from taking root. At one time they decried it; at
another they maligned it; at all times they put every
obstacle in its way. But in the face even of Govern-
ment opposition it continued to spread, and prosper.
The chief agent, under God, in its first movements
was the Rev. Jedediah Andrews, from New England.
This man held such a conspicuous place in our first his-
tory that he is worthy of special notice. He was born
at Hingham, Mass., July 7, 1674. Having been licensed
in New England, he came to Philadelphia and began
his life-work. His first preaching in this city was to a
congregation chiefly of New Englanders, and in a loft
of what was called “the Barbadoes warehouse,” at the
north-west corner of Second and Chestnut streets. It
is remarkable, as showing the weakness of the denomi-
nations at that time, that he preached alternately to
the Presbyterians in the Barbadoes warehouse and to
the Baptists in the Pennypack Baptist church, about
nine miles north of the city. In the year 1701 he
was installed as pastor of the First Presbyterian church,
Philadelphia, then just organized. Of this pioneer of our
Presbytery, so greatly favored of Providence, the Rev.
Dr. Patterson writes in his valuable article in the Ter-
centenary Book: “Born in Massachusetts in 1674 and
graduated at Harvard in 1694, he came to Philadelphia
when he was twenty-four years of age. If Dr. Frank-
lin's opinion is to be depended upon, he was not an
attractive preacher. . . . But whatever may have been
the pulpit powers of the first Philadelphia pastor, he
was abundant in labors. In addition to the perform-
ance of the ministerial work in his own congregation,
he traveled freely as an evangelist through the sur-
rounding country. He was, moreover, until very near
his death, recording clerk both of the Presbytery and
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL. 53
of the Synod, of which latter body he was also the first
Moderator.”
Before the organization of the Presbytery the church
of Freehold, New Jersey, was organized, in 1692, and
the First church of Philadelphia in 1698.
We must here introduce the man who had more to do
than any other with laying the foundations of Presby-
terianism in this country—the Rev. Francis Makemie.
He was born near Rathmelton, Donegal county, Ire-
land, but the date of his birth is not known. He was
a student at one of the Scottish universities. He was
introduced to the Presbytery by his pastor, the Rev.
Thomas Drummond, in January, 1681, and was li-
censed by the same Presbytery some time before the
close of that year. In 1683 he was ordained, and on
the application of a settlement of Irish Presbyterians in
this country he was sent as a missionary to these scat-
tered sheep in the great American wilderness. He set-
tled at Rehoboth in Maryland, and gathered the people
there, and in other settlements round about, into Pres-
byterian churches. In the first year of his residence
there he organized the church of Snow Hill. As an
itinerant missionary he went from place to place on
the Eastern Shore of Maryland, extending his journeys
into Virginia and even as far as South Carolina. At his
solicitation, the Rev. John Hampton and Rev. George
MacNish were sent out by certain earnest Christians of
London to itinerate in this new missionary field. At the
same time there were laboring in Delaware the Rev.
Samuel Davis, from Ireland, and the Rev. John Wil-
son, from Scotland.
The state of the cause of Presbyterianism in the
whole country may be seen from a letter which was
sent by the Presbytery five years after its organization
54 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
to the Presbytery of Dublin, Ireland. It is dated Sep-
tember, 1710, and contains these words: “As to the
state of the Church in these parts, our interest truly is
very weak, and we cannot relate this matter without
Sorrow of heart, since it is too much owing to the neg-
lect of ministers at home. In all Virginia there is but
one small Presbyterian congregation, at Elizabeth River,
with some few families favoring our way in Rappahan-
nock and York; in Maryland there are only four, in
Pennsylvania five, and in the Jerseys two; which
bounds, with some places of New York, make up all
the places we have any members, and at present some
of these are vacant.”
Add to the foregoing the church of Jamaica, Long
Island, and we have thirteen as the sum-total of all the
Presbyterian churches in the country five years after
the Presbytery was established. As no doubt four or
five of these had been organized after 1705, there could
not have been more than six or seven at the start of the
Presbytery. Of these, the chief were Snow Hill, Free-
hold, Philadelphia, Bensalem, perhaps Norriton and Ja-
maica.
ORGANIZATION NIEEDED.
The cause was very weak, yet the good men of
the day began to feel that it was time the scattered
churches and ministers should be united into one body.
Hitherto they had been completely isolated, each min-
ister and congregation pursuing a separate course, with-
out the advantages of co-operation. The necessity for
organization was felt, because such was the example
of the apostolic believers; because of the sympathy
with each other it would concentrate and foster; be-
cause it would aid in the great missionary work to
which they were called in cultivating the wilderness
THE HISTORY IN DETAIL. 55
country; and because it would give the strength of
union in their peculiarly trying circumstances. Such
considerations as these must have pressed upon their
minds and caused them to yearn greatly for that
association in Presbytery to which most of them
had been accustomed in other lands. They doubtless
stood ready for the earliest day when the organiza-
tion could be formed.
ORGANIZATION EFFECTED.
The time to form a Presbytery seemed to have come.
Upon consultation and inquiry it was found that there
were enough ministers and churches for the purpose
within reach. It is true that the numbers were few
and widely scattered. But they were slowly increas-
ing, and were destined to increase in an unlimited
measure. As there were already seven ministers and
a few churches ready to unite in the much-desired
body, there was no need for any further delay. The
time for the Presbytery manifestly had come.
Then the Presbytery was constituted. It was the
first, and for eleven years the only, Presbytery on this
continent. Its formation was an ever-memorable epoch
in our Presbyterian Church. The names of the minis-
ters who composed it should be kept in lasting remem-
brance. They were—Francis Makemie, George Mac-
Nish, Samuel Davis and John Hampton from Ire-
land, and Nathaniel Taylor and John Wilson from
Scotland, and Jedediah Andrews from New England
—seven in all. º
It is important that we make a record of the respec-
tive localities whence these seven brethren came to
form the Presbytery. Francis Makemie, John Hamp-
ton, George MacNish and Samuel Davis were all
56 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
from the Eastern Shore of Maryland; Nathaniel Tay-
lor, from Upper Marlborough; John Wilson, from
New Castle; and Jedediah Andrews, of Philadelphia.
It does not appear that they were all at the time settled
pastors, and some of the churches were scarcely or-
ganized. &
The year 1705, in which this great event occurred,
should ever be remembered as the date of the birth of
our Church as an organized body. At that time our
history begins. That little band of seven ministers—
the names dr number of elders we do not know—with
four or five congregations, formed the germ from which
God has raised our Church, now the largest Presbyte-
rian body in the world. A new era dawned upon the
cause of Presbyterianism when the scattered churches
were united in one organization; a power had been
established to which each member was responsible, an
authority, recognized as such, instituted to direct the
reception, to superintend the work of each minister, and
to systematize and carry on the evangelization of the
whole territory with which the new Church had been
providentially entrusted. The Presbyterian Church of
America had now taken form and entered upon a career
of widely-extended power and usefulness. It was desti-
tute of patronage and feeble in resources. It was strong
only in faith and godliness.
CH A PTE R. V.
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 1705–1788.
THIS period of eighty-three years, extending from
the organization of the Presbytery in 1705 to the or-
ganization of the General Assembly in 1788, is the most
momentous period of our history in the tendencies it
awakened and the influences it produced. It may well
claim our earnest attention as we study the orderings
of God’s providence in the years through which he has
since led us. We must give much space to it, entering
minutely into the examination of events which had
an all-potent influence in moulding the history which
came after them. Not only is there an interest almost
romantic in those events themselves, but their bearing
upon the whole character and work of our Church can
scarcely be too highly estimated. Presbytery had been
started upon its career: What was that career to be?
How long should it last? How widely would it ex-
tend ? What would be its influence upon our country
and the world 2 What would be its character in loy-
alty to the King, in zeal for the redemption of human-
ity, in the manifestation and dissemination of truth and
righteousness? The Presbytery was then started upon
its career, and, guided and blessed by the good hand of
its Lord, that career has been magnificent.
We have already said that the subsequent character of
the Presbytery would be in accordance with the mould-
ing it should receive during this formative period. The
57
58 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
customs of work and worship which then should be
established in the churches would necessarily continue.
The first movements would materially influence all that
would come after. The spirit and the plans of those
early days would impress themselves so deeply that
future years could neither annul nor change them.
Every church then formed entered upon a career that,
prolonged, widening, deepening, would exert an ever-
increasing influence. An omniscient eye alone could
have seen in those first events what the Presbytery has
been, is now and will be until its earthly career is ended.
A synopsis of these formative events will define the
important eras of the period. The principal events
during the eighty-three years were—The founding of
the Log College in 1725; “the Adopting Act” in 1729;
the visit of Whitefield in 1739; the Old and New Light
schism in 1741; the healing of the schism in 1758.
Other events of great moment were, three great tides of
immigration—one of Scotch-Irish, about 1719; another
of Scotch-Irish, about 1736; and one of Germans, who
prepared churches for us, about 1765. It will be seen
that each of these immigration movements was associ-
ated with some special development of the Church—as
that of 1719 with the formation of the first Synod;
that of 1736 with the great revival following the la-
bors of Whitefield and the sons of the Log College;
and that of 1765 with the establishment of the German
churches of Germantown, Frankford and vicinity. To
investigate these leading epochs of the history, with the
intervening periods, will now be our effort.
SYNOD CONSTITUTED.
The Presbytery started on its career as an organ-
ized body in 1705, and pursued a quiet and but little-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 59
known course for twenty-four years. Its records dur-
ing that period were but very meagre. Two or three
churches were organized, which will be noticed in an-
other place. In the year following the organization, or
in 1706, John Boyd was carefully examined and then
ordained—the first Presbyterian minister ordained on
this continent. The first eleven years rolled on without
any event which calls for special notice.
At the end of that time, however, in 1716, there oc-
curred an event of very great moment—the constitution
of the first Synod. In this we see the progress of the
cause, find a marked event in the history and one of
the footprints of God's providence. The act establishing
the Synod was passed at a meeting of the Presbytery,
held in Philadelphia, September 19, 1716, at three
o'clock in the afternoon. The Moderator was the
Rev. John Hampton, and there were present eight
ministers and four elders—twelve members in all.
Nine ministers of the Presbytery were absent. From
this it will be seen that the seven ministers original-
ly constituting the Presbytery had, in eleven years, in-
creased to seventeen. The act establishing the Synod
is so full and explicit that we shall give it in the origi-
nal words:
“It having pleased Divine Providence so to increase
our number, as that, after much deliberation, we judge
it may be more serviceable to the interest of religion,
to divide ourselves into subordinate meetings or Presby-
teries, constituting one annually as a Synod, to meet at
Philadelphia or elsewhere, to consist of all the members
of each subordinate Presbytery or meeting for this year
at least: Therefore it is agreed by the Presbytery, after
serious deliberation, that the first subordinate meeting
or Presbytery, to meet at Philadelphia or elsewhere, as
60 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
they shall see fit, do consist of these following members,
—viz.: Masters Andrews, Jones, Powell, Orr, Bradner,
and Morgan. And the second to meet at New Castle
or elsewhere, as they shall see fit, to consist of these,
viz.: Masters Anderson, McGill, Gillespie, Wotherspoon,
Evans, and Conn. The third to meet at Snow Hill or else-
where, to consist of these—viz.: Masters Davis, Hampton,
and Henry. And in consideration that only our breth-
ren Mr. McNish and Mr. Pumry, are of our number
upon Long Island at present, we earnestly recommend
it to them to use their best endeavors with the neighbor-
ing brethren that are settled there, which as yet join not
with us, to join with them in erecting a fourth Presby-
tery. And as to the time of the meeting of the respect-
ive Presbyteries, it is ordered that that be left to their
own discretion.”*
Such was the action which established the first Synod,
and, accordingly, that Synod held its first meeting in
Philadelphia, commencing its sittings September 17,
1717, with Rev. Jedediah Andrews as its Moderator,
and thirteen ministers and six elders as members.
After this, thirteen years pass away, leaving records
chiefly of ordinary work and progress. One noticeable
event is found among such records—namely, the recep-
tion of the Rev. William Tennent. Mr. Tennent came
from Ireland, where he had been connected with the
Episcopal Church. He appeared before Synod, and,
applying to be received as one of its members, and
giving satisfactory evidence of his qualifications for
the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, with his rea-
sons for leaving the Episcopal Church, he was received
into the full discharge of the sacred office in the Pres-
byterian Church. The subsequent invaluable services
* Records of the Presbyterian Church, pp. 45 and 46.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 61
of this great and good man make his reception into the
Presbyterian Church an epoch in its history.
THE ADOPTING ACT.
Twenty-four years' life of the organized body had now
elapsed, and slow but steady progress had been made.
The seven ministers of the original organization had
increased to twenty-seven. A new step in the perfect-
ing of the organization became a necessity. The Church
had no authorized Creed. It is probable that—most of
them having come from Ireland and a few from Scot-
land—the ministers had followed the Westminster Con-
fession and Catechisms, with which they were familiar.
At any rate, there had been no action defining the
Church's standards. Thoughtful men began to reflect
and to feel that something must be done in this matter
for the Church's influence and safety. Error at the time
was beginning to prevail, both at home and abroad.
“The alarming prevalence of Arminianism, Pelagian-
ism, Arianism and Socinianism among some of the
Reformed churches of Europe, and even in Scotland
and Ireland, as also the boldness with which deistical
opinions were avowed and disseminated among educated
circles at home and abroad, called for the erection of a
barrier against the spread of those errors among their
ministers and people.”
The churches, moreover, were beginning to become
so numerous and to be composed of such diverse ele-
ments that it was necessary something should be done
to give them homogeneity, so that they might not be-
come discordant in faith, as they already were in local-
ity and nationality. Perhaps tendencies to error and
discord were already appearing. All these things
being considered, it was manifest that the formal
62 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
adoption of some standard of faith and practice could
be delayed no longer.
Accordingly, the important action was taken by the
Synod of passing “the Adopting Act,” September 18,
1729. In that memorable meeting of Synod there
were present twenty ministers, among them Jedediah
Andrews, Thomas Craighead, Gilbert Tennent, Adam
Boyd, Jonathan Dickinson, William Tennent and John
Willson. There were also thirteen elders, among them
William Blair, John Allen, James Galbreath, Jonathan
Fithian and John Cross. The Moderator was the Rev.
James Anderson.
The body met at nine o'clock in the morning of that
18th of September, 1729. The following is a copy of
their important action :
“The committee” (appointed the previous year)
“brought in an overture upon the affair of the Con-
fession, which, after long debating upon it, was agreed
upon in haec verba.
“Although the Synod do not claim or pretend to any
authority of imposing our faith upon other men's con-
sciences, but do profess our just dissatisfaction with and
abhorrence of such impositions, and do utterly disclaim
all legislative power and authority in the Church, being
willing to receive one another as Christ has received us
to the glory of God, and admit to fellowship in sacred
ordinances, all such as we have grounds to believe Christ
will at last admit to the kingdom of heaven, yet we are
undoubtedly obliged to take care that the faith once de-
livered to the Saints be kept pure and uncorrupt among
us, and so handed down to our posterity; and do there-
fore agree that all the ministers of this Synod, or that
shall hereafter be admitted into this Synod, shall declare
their agreement in, and approbation of, the Confession of
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 63
Faith, with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the
Assembly of Divines at Westminster, as being in all the
essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound
words and systems of Christian doctrine, and do also
adopt the said Confession and Catechisms as the con-
fession of our faith. And we do also agree, that all the
Presbyteries within our bounds shall always take care
not to admit any candidate of the ministry into the
exercise of the sacred function but what declares his
agreement in opinion with all the essential and neces-
sary articles of said Confession, either by subscribing
the said Confession of Faith and Catechisms, or by a
verbal declaration of their assent thereto, as such min-
ister or candidate shall think best. And in case any
minister of this Synod, or any candidate for the minis-
try, shall have any scruple with respect to any article
or articles of said Confession or Catechisms, he shall
at the time of his making said declaration declare
his sentiments to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall,
notwithstanding, admit him to the exercise of the min-
istry within our bounds, and to ministerial communion,
if the Presbytery or Synod shall judge his scruple or
mistake to be only about articles not essential and nec-
essary in doctrine, worship, or government. But if the
Synod or Presbytery shall judge such ministers or can-
didates erroneous in essential and necessary articles of
faith, the Synod or Presbytery shall declare them un-
capable of communion with them. And the Synod do
solemnly agree, that none of us shall traduce or use any
opprobrious terms of those that differ from us in these
extra-essential and not necessary points of doctrine, but
treat them with the same friendship, kindness, and
brotherly love as if they had not differed from us in
such sentiments.”—Records, p. 94.
64 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Such was the “Adopting Act” as passed on the fore-
noon of that memorable 18th of September. On the
afternoon of the same day there was other action of
the Synod which shows the spirit in which it was
passed, and which its history demands that we recite:
“All the ministers of this Synod now present, except
one that declared himself not prepared—viz. Masters
Jedediah Andrews, Thomas Craighead, John Thomson,
James Anderson, John Pierson, Samuel Gelston, Joseph
Houston, Gilbert Tennent, Adam Boyd, Jonathan Dick-
inson, John Bradner, Alexander Hutchinson, Thomas
Evans, Hugh Stevenson, William Tennent, Hugh Conn,
George Gillespie, and John Willson, after proposing all
the scruples that any of them had to make against any
articles and expressions in the Confession of Faith and
Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of
Divines at Westminster, have unanimously agreed in
the solution of those scruples, and in declaring the said
Confession and Catechisms to be the confession of their
faith, excepting only some clauses in the twentieth and
twenty-third chapters, concerning which clauses the
Synod do unanimously declare, that they do not receive
those articles in any such sense as to suppose the civil
magistrate hath a controlling power over Synods with
respect to the exercise of their ministerial authority;
or power to persecute any for their religion, or in any
sense contrary to the Protestant succession to the throne
of Great Britain.
“The Synod observing that unanimity, peace, and
unity, which appeared in all their consultations and
determinations relating to the affair of the Confession,
did unanimously agree in giving thanks to God in Sol-
emn prayer and praises.”—Records, pp. 94, 95.
Such is the history of the adoption of those doctrinal
jFORMATIVE PERIOD, 65
standards of our Church to which we still adhere. They
have now remained as our standards for one hundred
and fifty-nine years. They have continued unchanged
as to essential articles, and almost unassailed, as some
rock against which all winds and waves break in vain
rage.
5.
CHA PTER VI.
FORMATIVE PERIOD (Continued): THE LOG COLLEGE,
NOT DULY APPRECIATED.
THE agency of the Log College in the establishing
of our Presbytery, and indeed of the Church, has
never been properly appreciated. It had a much
greater influence than anything we have seen written
on the subject would indicate. A fuller history than
any with which we are acquainted not only would
be interesting, but would also, no doubt, bring to light
many important facts of those early days. Yet no
monument of it has ever been erected, nothing exists
to indicate the place where it stood—even the spot it
occupied is known to but few. Why is this?
Assuredly the great work which, in its time, the Log
College did for the whole Church ought never to be for-
gotten. There is nothing that stands out more clearly
in our early annals than does the conspicuous part that
was taken by it in every leading movement. In it were
collected the great and good men whose influence was
felt in exalting the piety of the whole body. By it were
educated those excellent ministers who founded and
built up so many of our churches. It was the centre
from which radiated the learning, the piety and the zeal
which gave to the Presbytery the best elements that
have always marked its character. The early history
of the Presbytery must ever stand associated with the
Log College. It was the first institution in the whole
66
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 67
land intended for the education of Presbyterian minis-
ters. Nearly all the ministers who were first ordained
in our Church, and many of the greatest preachers we
have ever had, were educated there.
If it was the first educational institution of the kind
in the land, the training-school of so many of our most
eminent preachers, the mother of many other similar
institutions, and intimately associated with some of the
most important movements of our Church in its first
years, why is it not held in higher esteem by all who
love our cause ? Its value has been recognized by a few
who have studied it, as by Dr. Archibald Alexander,
who wrote of it: “If I were fond of projects I would
propose that a monument be erected to the founder
of the Log College on the very site where the building
stood, if the land could be purchased ; but, at any rate,
a stone with an inscription might be permanently fixed
on or near the ground.” But why is it so little known 2
Why has there been so little written concerning it?
The Log College was located within the bounds of
the Presbytery, and consequently, if its history is to
be preserved by any part of the Church, it should be
by us. Its founder was one of our members during
his ministerial life, his family was connected with one
of our churches, and his four sons were among the first
preachers of our Synod. We therefore should tell the
story of its almost romantic history. Moreover, the
influence of this institution is so inwrought with all the
early movements of our Presbytery that its history be-
comes necessary in order to understand these move-
ments. Questions of vital import to the cause, which
were earnestly discussed in the early days, either orig-
inated among the adherents of the college or were
warmly advocated by them. The college was the centre
68 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
of certain principles which have conspired to make our
Church what it is. It was a power, a name, a rallying-
point which had great influence there.
We would therefore strive to rescue it from that
neglect or oblivion which undeservedly has befallen it,
and attempt to bring it forth into that prominence in
history which of right belongs to it. It was not the
Church, but it was so closely connected with it, and
had such an influence on its destiny, that the College
and the Church must both go together.
THE FOUNDER.
William Tennent is the man who is all in all in
the history of this institution. By him it was founded,
by him it was conducted and by him it was made to rise
to all its importance. His name must ever stand with
the names of those most worthy of honor in the Church
—with the names of Makemie and Andrews and Alex-
ander and Hodge and Barnes and Hatfield—as a foun-
der of an institution the first of them all.
Briefly does Mr. Turner give his first record:
“William Tennent was born in or about 1673. He
was in middle life, or about forty-four years of age,
when he first reached our shores. It is probable that
he received his education in Trinity College, Dublin,
as he was originally a clergyman of the Episcopal
Church of Ireland, in which he was ordained a deacon
July 1, 1704, and a priest September 22, 1706. He
was married to Catharine Kennedy, a daughter of the
Rev. Mr. Kennedy, May, 1702, in the county Down, in
the North of Ireland. This Mr. Kennedy was an able
and eloquent Presbyterian minister, who, having suf-
fered persecution in his own country, fled to Holland.
. . . His daughter, who became Mrs. Tennent, was
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 69
doubtless a woman of unusual talent, as she was the
mother of four sons, born in Ireland, who were sub-
sequently distinguished preachers of the gospel in
America. Perhaps it was through her influence in
part, as well as through the influence of his father-
in-law, that Mr. Tennent withdrew from the Episcopal
Church and entered the Presbyterian. He acted in
Ireland as chaplain to a nobleman, but there is no evi-
dence that he ever had charge of a parish in that coun-
try.” This brief paragraph gives all that is known of
the early life of Mr. Tennent.
In 1716 he came to this country, and his reception
by our Church, which had then grown to be a Synod,
we will give in the words of Mr. Turner: “On the 16th
of September, 1718, he applied to the Synod of Phila-
delphia for admission as a member, having previous
to that time been an Episcopalian. The Synod were
well satisfied with the credentials he presented, and with
the testimony of members present to his character, stand-
ing and history, and, approving the reasons which he
submitted in writing for leaving the Established Church
of Ireland, they ordered that they should be put on
record ‘ad futuram rei memoriam.’ By direction of
Synod, the Moderator,” the Rev. Daniel McGill, “gave
him a serious exhortation to continue steadfast in his
now holy profession.”
During the three years which followed his reception
we know very little of Mr. Tennent. He spent them
in the neighborhood of New York, but how employed
we are not informed—probably in no permanent work.
However, there was on the highway to Philadelphia,
in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, a small settlement of
Presbyterians, most of them Mr. Tennent's countrymen,
possibly some of them his old friends. They had a little
70 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
church at Bensalem, and at least a preaching-place at
Norrington (now Norriton). Attracted thither, he was
invited to supply the Bensalem church, and, small and
feeble though it was and surrounded on every side by
vast forests, he removed there with his wife and four
sons in the year 1721. His great life-work really be-
gan at this time.
In that new field he continued for five years, or until
he was fifty-three years old. We say that his great
work then commenced, for there is scarce a question
but that he then engaged in the teaching of his four
Sons, and so in fact set up a school. These sons were,
respectively, Gilbert, eighteen; William, sixteen ; John,
fourteen; and Charles, twelve years of age. At these
ages five years could not with propriety be taken out
of their course of schooling, and there was no school
to which they could go. The chief part of their educa-
tion must therefore have been received while they lived
at Bensalem, and their father must have been their
teacher—aided, possibly, by their mother. But one
other removal awaited the family. A few miles from
Bensalem there was the better organized church of
Neshaminy. To the pastorate of that Mr. Tennent
was called in 1726, when he was fifty-nine years old.
That call he accepted, and removed there with his fam-
ily, and thenceforth Neshaminy became the field of his
labors, so continuing during the rest of his life.
We must glance for a moment at the man. Mr.
Tennent must have been a man of very deep and earn-
est piety, as well as of great soundness in the faith of
his adopted Church. Much of this, there can hardly
be a question, was owing to his intercourse with his
father-in-law, Mr. Kennedy, who was evidently a very
godly man. His wife also probably had a great influ-
PORMATIVE PERIOD. 71
ence in establishing him in his belief and aiding him
in his work. He was a superior Scholar and an en-
thusiast in teaching. He could write Latin with ease
and speak it with fluency. An address made by him
to the Synod in that language shows that he was at
home in its use.
Mr. Tennent was a child of Providence, raised up
by the great Head of the Church, disciplined by him
and led to the performance of a work in the formation
of our Church the importance of which we cannot
overestimate. He should be considered as one of the
chief of the founders of our Presbyterian Church in
this land.
DESIGN OF THE COLLEGE.
The first aim of Mr. Tennent in the establishment
of the school undoubtedly was the education of his own
four sons. With them it is likely that other boys of the
neighborhood were soon associated under his instruction.
There can hardly be a question that this was the state of
affairs during the five years at Bensalem. When, how-
ever, he settled permanently at Neshaminy, a wider field
of influence opened before him. God was leading him
along in the great work of his life.
The spiritual wants of the country must have pressed
heavily upon his heart. All that boundless territory
around him was beginning to fill up with inhabitants,
and scarcely any ministers of the gospel were there to
preach to them the words of life. And from whence
were properly qualified ministers to come? The only
ministers of whom he would think were such as were
properly trained for the interpretation of the Sacred
Scriptures. Only such as were well educated for the
work would he desire. Dr. Alexander well presented
72 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the case: “The first Presbyterian ministers in this
country were nearly all men of liberal education.
Some had received their education in the universities
of Scotland, some in Ireland, and others at one of the
New England colleges. And though there existed
such a destitution of ministers in this new country,
they never thought of introducing any man into the
ministry who had not received a college or university
education, except in very extraordinary cases; of which,
I believe, we have but one instance in the early history
of the Presbyterian Church. This was the case of a
Welshman by the name of Evans, who, while living in
a place called the Welsh Tract, where the people had
no public means of grace, began to speak to them of
the things of God on the Sabbath and at other times;
and his labors were so acceptable and useful that the
Presbytery, after a full trial of his abilities, licensed
him to preach, and afterward ordained him to the
whole work of the ministry. They required him, how-
ever, to go through a course of study under the direc-
tion of certain members of the Presbytery.”
As himself an educated, zealous and wise minister,
Mr. Tennent felt deeply the want of such ministers.
Why might not the want be met by his enlarging his
own school, increasing its facilities and making it an
institution for the general training of young men for the
ministry 2 To meet this want was, without a doubt, the
object of the school. Hence the beginning of the college.
How much our Church owes to this wise, good and
far-sighted man l Concerning such as he it was wisely
said by Judge Joseph Allison: “The North of Ireland
sent us large stores of treasures—more valuable far than
gold or silver or precious stones; she sent her men, em-
inent for their piety and learning, to minister in our
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 73
pulpits; and with them came a tide of immigration
that bore upon its waves the people who have always
stood firm in their faith in God, adhering with un-
flinching tenacity to their stern and rigid Calvinism,
by which sign they conquered. One name among the
leaders of those hosts is worthy of special mention.
If he were alive to-day our country could not repay
to William Tennent the debt it would owe to him
who single-handed established in the county of Bucks
his humble Log College. His object was to provide an
educated ministry for the Presbyterian Church of this
Country; and how fully his purpose has been attained
you will understand when I mention the fact, known
to many of you, that the Log College, founded in what
was then almost a wilderness, bloomed into Princeton
College. Four of the sons of the founder of the Log
College followed in the footsteps of their father; trained
in his school, they preached the gospel to the people,
generally to the Presbyterians of this region, round
about where we are now assembled. One of those
brothers, Gilbert, was pre-eminent in his day as a man
of power, whose ministry was greatly blessed in the
conversion of many souls.” -
For this purpose, of educating ministers, William
Tennent diligently preached, taught the young men,
and planned and wrought to put up the needed build-
ing. This was the great mission of that blessed man
as he contrived and prayed and struggled all the rest
of his life; his effort was to raise up an educated min-
istry for the natural and moral wilderness into which
God had led him.
THE FOUNDING OF THE COLLEGE.
We have already said that while Mr. Tennent was
74 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
still in Bensalem he had established probably a school
for his own boys, and possibly for a few of the neigh-
bors' children. When, in 1726, he settled permanently
in Neshaminy it would soon become manifest that some-
thing more extensive must be undertaken. New stu-
dents would certainly seek admission to his institution.
Where else were those who were desirous of entering
the ministry to obtain a suitable education ? Short of
New England, to which it was then a long journey, or
of Ireland or Scotland, there was no college to furnish
such training.
Why should not he, now that he was permanently
settled, erect such an educational institution ? His resi-
dence lay between the two leading cities of Philadelphia
and New York, and on the great highway connecting
them. He was eminently qualified by his superior
learning and love of teaching; his heart was in the
work; he felt the want most deeply; he was willing
to undertake the hard, self-denying labor. And how
much would he be encouraged and strengthened and
probably aided in his noble work by his devoted and
brave wife Catharine !
The first and indispensable requisite was a building
in which the school could be held. To work, then, he
went in that enterprise which, in that time and place
and with Mr. Tennent's scanty means, must have been
a very serious undertaking. The dwellings in the
neighborhood were constructed of logs, the usual mode
of building in those days. Let this house for the school
be of the same material. Great trees in abundance were
growing all round the spot selected as its site. Down
iet them be cut and hewed by the axe for posts and
walls and roof.
No doubt Mr. Tennent took part in the work with his
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 75
own hands, guided by a skilled workman, and the boys
too lent their frolicsome aid. The woods rang with the
sound of the blows and with gleesome shouts; the oxen
hauled the timbers, which were quickly elevated to their
proper place in the rising building. It was soon erected,
for it was not an elaborate structure or of large dimen-
sions, being only twenty feet by eighteen—not larger
than many a modern parlor.
It was ready—the neighbors nicknamed it the Log
College—and it was opened for the school in 1727.
Probably Mr. Tennent himself never thought of its as-
piring to the dignity of a college. But, whether he did
or not, a college it became, and one whose influence for
good was wider and more permanent than that of mul-
titudes of others which have borne the name.
THE COLLEGE DESCRIBED.
It is a very remarkable fact that the description, and
the only one, of this celebrated seminary which has come
down to us is not from the pen of any one connected
with it or of any other writer this side of the Atlantic,
but comes from England. It appears in the writings
of the eloquent evangelist, the Rev. George Whitefield,
who visited it when it was in the prime of its usefulness
and who was in full sympathy with its spirit. Its loca-
tion was a matter of much significance. It was situated
in the centre of the Presbyterian settlements then in
the land. North of it lay the infant churches of East
Jersey, New York, Long Island and a few in New Eng-
land; south of it were those of Philadelphia, West Jer-
sey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia; and west of it
those of Chester county and the Cumberland Valley.
Whether this was the result of the wise planning of
the founder or whether it was simply the ordering of
76 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
God’s providence, it was certainly the fact. The site
and immediate surroundings are thus described by Dr.
Alexander: “The site of the Log College is about a
mile from that part of Neshaminy Creek where the
Presbyterian church has long stood. The ground near
and around it lies handsomely to the eye, and the more
distant prospect is very beautiful; for while there is
a considerable extent of fertile, well-cultivated land,
nearly level, the view is bounded on the north and
west by a range of hills which have a very pleasing ap-
pearance.” The location is described more minutely by
the Rev. D. K. Turner, who, living on the spot, can well
describe it all: “It was about a mile south of the present
village of Hartsville, on the main road to Philadelphia,
eighteen miles north of that city. This road was called
the ‘York Road,” because at that time and for half a
century or more afterward it was the principal route
of travel between Philadelphia and New York. Over
that road and past the college Benjamin Franklin and
many others whose names are found in the early rec-
ords of the country passed to and fro between these
cities.”
In his journal, to which we have already referred, Mr.
Whitefield gives the dimensions of the building which
we know from no other source: “It is a log house
about twenty feet long and nearly as many broad; and
to me it seemed to resemble the School of the old proph-
ets, for their habitations were mean ; and that they
sought not great things for themselves is plain from
those passages of Scripture wherein we are told that
each of them took them a beam to build them a house,
and that at the feast of the sons of the prophets one of
them put on the pot whilst the others went to fetch
some herbs out of the field. All that we can say of
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 77
most of our universities is that they are glorious with-
out. From this despised place seven or eight worthy
ministers of Jesus have lately been sent forth; more
are ready to be sent, and the foundations are now lay-
ing for the instruction of many others.” Certainly it
was a very insignificant structure to have done such a
great work and to have sent out such immeasurable in-
fluences.
Soon after the institution was started and the build-
ing erected there became connected with it a number
of Irish boys and others who were destined to become
great in fame as well as in piety and usefulness. These
should be named here in order, that we may obtain a
more vivid view of its daily life. Among them were the
four sons of Mr. Tennent, already mentioned—namely,
Gilbert, William, John and Charles; the two brothers,
Samuel and John Blair; Samuel Finley, William Rob-
inson, John Rowland and Charles Beatty. It is doubt-
ful whether ever before or since ten lads were collected
in the same school who were afterward to accomplish so
much good in their own day, and to send down such
streams of blessings to unborn generations, as were they.
What a gratification it had been had one of them kept
a diary of the daily life in that strange seminary !
Would we not then have seen the four Tennent youths
coming in from their father's house across the road,
and probably others with them; others, again, from
the farm-homes in the neighborhood, where they were
boarded; the patriarch taking his chair, opening the
Bible and reverently leading in the devotions of the
morning ; the classes in succession coming up, reciting
the studied lessons, and listening with brightened atten-
tion to the stores of instruction enthusiastically im-
parted by their beloved teacher; the eldest son, Gilbert,
78 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
just licensed as a preacher, aiding his father in the in-
creasing work; the keen competition in the classes
where there were so many acute intellects; the sweet
spirit of piety that pervaded every exercise; the inti-
macies forming among these youths who were one day
to be amongst the greatest preachers and the holiest
men our Church has ever seen ; and the kindly piety,
learning and eloquence which left abiding impressions
upon all our early history 2
BMINIENT MINISTERS FIROM THE COLLEGE.
It is absolutely startling to glance at the list of the
eminent ministers—great preachers, the greatest in the
early annals of our Church—who obtained their train-
ing for the ministry either in this humble institution
or in other schools which sprung from it. There rises
before us a galaxy of those who were without doubt
among the most famous in our history. Look at some
of their names: Gilbert Tennent, D. D., William Ten-
nent, Jr., John Tennent, Charles Tennent, Samuel
Blair, John Blair, Samuel Finley, D. D., William
Robinson, John Rowland, Charles Beatty and Samuel
Davis, D. D. To these we might add many other great
names, such as John Rodgers, D. T)., Alexander Mc-
Whorter, D.D., Alexander Cumming and James Wad-
del, D. D. God seems to have raised up these wonder-
ful men that they might be his instruments in laying
deep and broad the foundations of our Church. No
one can help being surprised at this honored list of
men of far more than ordinary eminence, who in the
formative ages of our Church filled the first places of
usefulness, led in precious revival seasons, became the-
ologians of the highest rank, thrilled the multitude
wherever they went with their eloquence, swept like
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 79
flaming torches bearing the gospel over the land, as
missionaries planted the gospel in every quarter, and
left names which were themselves a power and which
shall live while the Church herself is alive.
Probably there is no view of the Log College which
will show its inestimable value to the Church and the
country so well as this. If anything can impress us
with a sense of its value, surely this must. Was not
the raising up of these men through its instrumentality
a special work of God’s providence?
What thorough training there must have been in it !
What a spirit of devoted piety What inspiration of
holy zeal to have produced such men as these ! The
surpassing excellence of the men who were educated
in it justifies the high eulogium pronounced upon it by
Dr. Alexander: “One advantage which they possessed
who were educated in the Log College was, that the
spirit of piety seems to have been nourished in that
institution with assiduous care. All those, as far as we
can learn, who proceeded from this school were men
of sound orthodoxy, evangelical spirit, glowing zeal and
in labors very abundant. They had the teaching of the
Holy Spirit, and, without the advantages which many
others enjoyed, they became burning and shining
lights. . . . I cannot express how much the Presby-
terian Church in these United States is indebted to the
labors of this very corps, who studied successfully the
sacred oracles in the Log College, or, more probably,
under the beautiful groves which shaded the banks of
the Neshaminy. There they studied, and there they
prayed, and there they were taught of God.”
The writer must confess that he has been aroused to
great wonder at the thought of so many men such as
these coming from that one unpretending school. One
|
80 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
or two there might have been, as exceptions, towering
up far above the rest, but there were so many of them
How can we account for it otherwise than on the sup-
position that the instruction must have been of an ex-
traordinary character? He is constrained to linger
reverently over the honored names. He cannot pass
them by with merely naming them. Would that he
might be able to awaken in the reader's heart but a
tithe of the veneration he feels, even in these far dis-
tant years. In attempting to portray a few of these
blessed men he will have little more to do than compile
the testimonies concerning them of those who lived in
their day or who have deeply studied their honored
lives.
REV. GILBERT TENNENT, D.D.
We begin a brief account of these godly men, as a
matter of course, with Gilbert Tennent, eldest son of the
founder of the college, and, as we truly believe, the
greatest preacher of this land in any age. He was like
the apostle John, both in the sweetness of his private
life and in his fervid eloquence.
He was born in county Armagh, Ireland, in the year
1703, and was therefore a lad of fourteen when brought
by his father to this country in 1717. His whole prep-
aration for the ministry must have been under the
instruction of his father. He was licensed to preach
by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in the very year
when the Log College was established—that is, in 1726
—and was unquestionably the second Presbyterian min-.
ister licensed in this country. At the time of his li-
censure he was most likely aiding his father by teach-
ing in the college. In the course of the next year he
became the first pastor of the church of New Bruns-
wick, N. J., and continued in it for seventeen years.
-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º:
R. E. W. ºn I Lº E. R. T. T. E. N. N. E. N.T.
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FORMATIVE PERIOD. 81
At the end of that time, or in 1743, he became the first
pastor of the Second church of Philadelphia, and re-
mained there for twenty-one years, when he died, July
23, 1764.
Such is an outline of the life of this probably the
greatest preacher who ever adorned the American pul-
pit. No name stood so high as his in the exciting ec-
clesiastical events of that day, when our Church was
crystallizing into its permanent form. Our high esteem
of his preaching is justified by the testimony of Dr.
Alexander, who quotes from Whitefield: “Here’” (at
New Brunswick) “we were much refreshed with the
company of Mr. Gilbert Tennent, an eminent dissenting
minister, about forty years of age, son to that good old
man who came to see me at Philadelphia. God, I find,
has been pleased greatly to bless his labors. He and
his associates are now the burning and shining lights
of this part of America. He recounted to me many
remarkable effusions of the Spirit which have been
sent down among them. And any one may judge of
their being true and faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ
because they are everywhere spoken evil of by natural
men. The devil and carnal men rage horribly against
them. Several pious souls came to see me at his house,
with whom I took sweet counsel. . . . We set out
early from Brunswick with my dear fellow-travelers and
my worthy brother and fellow-laborer, Mr. Tennent.
As we passed along we spent our time most agreeably
in telling what God had done for our souls.”
Upon their arrival at New York, Mr. Whitefield
goes on to say, “I went to the meeting-house to hear
Mr. Gilbert Tennent preach, and never before heard I
such a searching sermon. He went to the bottom in-
deed, and did not daub with untempered mortar. He
6
82 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
convinced me more and more that we can preach the
gospel of Christ no farther than we have experienced
the power of it in our own hearts. Being deeply con-
victed of sin, and being from time to time driven from
his false bottom and dependencies by God's Holy Spirit
at his first conversion, he had learned experimentally
to dissect the heart of the natural man. Hypocrites
must either soon be converted or enraged at his preach-
ing. He is a son of thunder, and does not regard the
face of man. He is deeply sensible of the deadness
and formality of the Christian Church in these parts,
and has given noble testimonies against it.”
Concerning this, Dr. Alexander remarks: “A higher
testimony and from higher authority could not be given
upon earth. It is doubtful whether Mr. Whitefield has
ever expressed so high an opinion of any other preacher
of any denomination. Indeed, it is probable that he
never met with a man of a more perfectly congenial
spirit with his own. As Mr. Whitefield was doubtless
honored to be the instrument of the conversion of more
souls than any other preacher of his age, or of any age
perhaps since that of the apostle Paul, so Mr. Tennent
among orthodox preachers undoubtedly deserves to be
placed next to him, both in the abundance of his la-
bors and the wonderful success which attended his
ministry.”
It is impossible to over-estimate the weight of this
testimony as coming from two such men as Mr. White-
field and Dr. Alexander. In fact, it is manifest that as
a preacher Gilbert Tennent was second only to Mr.
Whitefield himself. This strong assertion we make not
simply upon our own conviction, but also as the opinion
of men more competent to judge. Dr. Gillett affirms:
“Like his father, he was an ardent admirer of White-
FORMATIVE PERIO D. 83
field, and, like that great evangelist, he made a preach-
ing-tour through West Jersey, Pennsylvania and Mary-
land, and in 1740, at Whitefield's solicitation, through
New England as far as Boston. By his fiery zeal, deep
moral earnestness, spirituality, no less than by his logic
and argumentative ability’—in which he surpassed
Whitefield himself—“he produced everywhere a pro-
found impression. His popularity was second only to
Whitefield’s.” In private life he was as sweet and
gentle as in public he was brilliant and instructive and
impetuous. From the pen of one who lived at the same
time with him, and knew him well, we have this record
of his private life: “What he preached in the pulpit
his life preached out of it. His disposition, naturally
calm, was still more sweetened by that holy temper
which the gospel of Christ inspires. A genuine seren-
ity and cheerfulness dwelt upon his countenance, which
he never failed to diffuse on all around him. He was
charitable to the poor, kind to all men, a lover of all
that loved the Lord Jesus, whatever mode of worship
they professed, and much beloved in all the tender en-
dearments of domestic life as a husband, a father, a
master and a friend.”
REV. WILLIAM TENNENT, JR.
The second of these four remarkable brothers was
William. He also was born in Ireland, in county Ar-
magh, and in the year 1705, and was therefore about
twelve years of age when brought over with the rest of
the family to this country. All the studies of his lite-
rary course he pursued under his father, first at Bensa-
lem, and then at the Log College. He studied theology
under his brother Gilbert, who was then pastor of the
church of New Brunswick. When he was twenty-
84 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
eight years old the church of Freehold, New Jersey,
became vacant by the death of his younger brother,
John, who had been its pastor for only seventeen
months. To that vacant pulpit he was called; he ac-
cepted the call, and was there ordained and installed
October 25, 1733. He continued to be pastor of that
church for forty-four years, when on March 5, 1777,
he died among his people, and was buried in the old
graveyard of the church. -
Several very singular incidents are recorded on un-
doubted authority as having occurred to this man of
God during his very remarkable life. Some of them
were so strange that we feel constrained to give them
a brief notice. Two of them at least must not be
omitted : “While preparing for his examination for
licensure he fell sick, and had a trance which lasted
three days, during which time he was, as he believed
and declared, in heaven, and heard ‘unutterable
things.’ His friends thought he was dead, and were on
the point of burying him, notwithstanding the protesta-
tions of his physician, when he revived. He regained
his health in a year, but had lost all his knowledge of
reading and writing—much more, all his previous learn-
ing. After a time, however, he experienced ‘a severe
shock in the head,” and his knowledge from that mo-
ment began rapidly to return, until all was regained.
‘For three years,’ he said, ‘the sense of divine things
continued so great, and everything else appeared so
completely vain when compared to heaven, that could I
have had the world for stooping down for it I be-
lieve I should not have thought of doing it.' No
autobiographic record of his experiences during his
trance is believed to be extant, although his intention
to prepare one is known.”
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 85
The other incident is this: “One night, while Mr.
Tennent was asleep in his own bed, he was waked by a
sharp pain in the region of the toes of one of his feet,
and upon getting a light and examining the foot it was
discovered that several of his toes had been cut entirely
off, as if by some sharp instrument. But, though the
wounded part was bleeding, nothing could be found of
the excised members, nor any means by which such
a dismemberment could have been effected.”
Mr. Tennent was a remarkable character, full of re-
sources, indefatigable in Christian labors, wise to win
souls and to guide them to heaven. By his earnest-
ness, eloquence, simplicity and, above all, ardent piety,
he made such impressions upon his neighborhood that
he is vividly remembered until this day.
REV. JOHN TENNENT.
The least eventful life of the four eminent brothers
was that of John, the third of them. He too was born
in Ireland, in Armagh county, in the year 1707, and
was therefore a child of about ten years when brought
to this country. He was educated at the Log College,
licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia
September 18, 1729, and ordained and installed pastor
of the church of Freehold, New Jersey, November 19,
1730, when he was but twenty-two years old. In that
charge he was spared only seventeen months, for he
died April 23, 1732, being then only twenty-four years
of age. He left a sweet and most blessed. memory.
He was a young man of great modesty, deep experience
and most tender and devoted piety. It was said of him
that “his labors were attended by these three notice-
able qualities—prudence, diligence and success.”
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this one of
86 PRESBY'I'ERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the four brothers was his wonderfully blessed death. A
few moments before he expired, holding his brother
William by the hand, he broke out into the following
rapturous expressions: “Farewell, my brethren; fare-
well, father and mother; farewell, world, with all thy
vain delights. Welcome, God and Father; welcome,
sweet Lord Jesus; welcome, death ; welcome, eternity.
Amen ſ” Then with a low voice he said, “Lord Jesus,
come, Lord Jesus.” And so he fell asleep in Jesus,
and thus early went from his conflict to his crown.
REV. CHARLES TENNENT.
Charles was the youngest of the four brothers. The
brief record of his life, as given in the Log College by
Dr. Alexander, is this: “From an original document,
a small memorandum-book, kept by the Rev. William
Tennent, Sr., we learn that his fourth son, Charles, was
born at Colerain, in the county of Antrim, on the 3d
day of May, in the year 1711, and was baptized by the
Rev. Richard Donnell. At the time of his father’s em-
igration from Ireland he was therefore a boy of seven
years of age. He, as well as his older brothers, re-
ceived his education under the paternal roof, or rath-
er in the Log College. He appears, however, to have
been less distinguished than either of his brothers, but
seems to have been a respectable minister of the gospel,
and was early settled in the Presbyterian congregation
of Whiteclay Creek in the State of Delaware. Soon
after his settlement in this place the great revival under
the preaching of Whitefield commenced, and was very
powerful in this congregation. During this remark-
able season of divine influence Mr. Whitefield spent
some days with Mr. Charles Tennent, and assisted him
in the administering of the Lord's Supper, preaching to
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 87
large multitudes of people every day of the solemnity,
which continued four days, according to custom.”
Mr. Tennent commenced his ministry in Whiteclay
Creek in 1738, when he was twenty-seven years old,
and remained there for twenty-four years. In 1762 he
removed to Buckingham, in Maryland, taking charge
of the church there; he continued its pastor for nine
years, when he died at the age of sixty years. Less
distinguished than his brothers, yet he is said to have
been a good man and most excellent pastor.
REV. SAMUEL BLAIR.
After the Tennents the most distinguished family
originally connected with the Log College was that of
the Blairs, consisting of the two brothers, Samuel and
John, and of sisters also, concerning whom we do not
hear so much, but who must have exerted great influ-
ence in the early days of our Church. Of the brothers,
Samuel was the elder. Like the four Tennent boys, all
the children of this family also were born in Ireland.
They must have had very godly and faithful parents,
inasmuch as they all proved such devoted Christians.
Samuel, the eldest, was born in 1712. He seems to
have been a child of God from his infancy. At an
early age he came to this country—probably with
the whole family—and at eighteen entered the Log
College four years after it was opened. He remained
in the college five years, taking there, as was custom-
ary, both his literary and theological courses. He was
licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia November
9, 1733, and in 1735, when he was twenty-three, was
installed as pastor of the church of Shrewsbury, New
Jersey. In 1739 he was called from Shrewsbury to
the church of Fagg’s Manor in Pennsylvania. He
88 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
became the first pastor of that church, though it had
been organized a few years before, and continued there
until 1751, when he died, at the age of thirty-nine.
In Fagg’s Manor was the great life-work of Mr. Blair.
Almost immediately after his settlement there began
one of the most wonderful revivals of that age of ex-
traordinary religious interest. In a letter which Mr.
Dlair wrote to a friend in Boston he thus described
that remarkable awakening: “Our Sabbath assem-
blies soon became very large, many people from all
parts around inclining very much to come where there
were such appearances of the divine presence and power.
I think there was scarcely a sermon or lecture preached
here through that whole summer but there were mani-
fest evidences of impressions on the hearers and many
times the impressions were very great and general:
several would be overcome and fainting; others deeply
sobbing, hardly able to contain themselves; others cry-
ing in a most dolorous manner; many others were
silently weeping; and a solemn concern appeared in
the countenances of many others. And sometimes the
soul-exercises of some (though comparatively but very
few) would so far affect their bodies as to occasion some
strange, unusual bodily motions.”
Mr. Blair was not long in Fagg’s Manor before he
was led to take charge of a classical and theological
seminary similar to that of the Log College. In it
were taught not only the classics and other scientific
branches, but theology also. It grew rapidly under
him, and became a source of indescribable blessings
at that time, and also sent forward influences that
extended very widely, and have not ceased even yet.
That the school at Fagg’s Manor—or New Londonderry,
as it was then called—was greatly famed at that time
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 89
we see on the pages of our early history. “Some of the
ablest men of the Presbyterian Church received either
the whole or the more substantial parts of their edu-
cation there. Among them were the Rev. Samuel
Davies, the Rev. Alexander Cumming, the Rev. John
Rodgers, D. D., the Rev. James Finley and the Rev.
Hugh Henry.” The institution which had the honor
of educating such a man as the eloquent Dr. Davies,
President of Princeton College, was well worthy of
being famed. -
Still another very important institution that sprung
from the labors of Dr. Samuel Blair was the Pequa
Academy, for the facts concerning which the author
is indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Calvin W.
Stewart, D. D., of the Presbytery of Westminster.
One of the most eminent of the graduates of the
Fagg’s Manor Seminary was the Rev. Robert Smith,
D. D., born in Ireland, who married the sister of Dr.
Blair. He was led to establish another school similar to
that of Fagg’s Manor—and both on the model of the Log
College—at Pequa, which became a source of great influ-
ence and usefulness in that day. Among those trained
at this latter institution were the celebrated Rev. John
Caldwell, who settled in North Carolina, became so
prominent in the Mecklenburgh convention and took
such an active part in the Revolutionary War; and the
Rev. John McMillan, D. D., the great Western mis-
sionary and founder of a school which was the nucleus
of Jefferson College; also the Rev. Samuel Martin, D.D.,
who prepared so many young men for the ministry in
York County, Pennsylvania. All these and many oth-
ers were graduates of Pequa Academy, which was the
child of Fagg’s Manor Seminary, which was the child
of the Log College.
90 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
A more interesting record of a Christian household
than that which we find in the family of the Blairs we
cannot imagine. Not only were there the two cele-
brated brothers, Samuel and John, but there was also a
sister whose record was just as remarkable. As we have
just said, she became the wife of the Rev. Dr. Smith,
founder of the Pequa Academy. She was the mother of
the Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, D. D., LL.D., who
was first president of Hampden–Sidney College, Vir-
ginia, and afterward president of Princeton College.
She was also the mother of the Rev. John Blair Smith,
D. D., who succeeded his brother Stanhope as president
of Hampden-Sidney College, and afterward became
president of Union College, Schenectady, New York.
Where shall we find a similar record 2 Still further,
not only had Dr. Samuel Blair such an illustrious
record through his sister, but one almost equally illus-
trious through his daughters. Four of them married,
respectively, the Rev. George Duffield, D. D., of Phil-
adelphia, the Rev. David Rice, D. D., of Kentucky,
the Rev. John Carmichael of the Forks of Brandy-
wine, and the Rev. William Foster of Octorara—all
very eminent divines of the Presbyterian Church.
A tribute was paid to I)r. Blair by his pupil, Dr.
Davies, which is so full of the men of the Log College
and of this school which was the offspring of the col-
lege, that we ought not to withhold it:
“Surviving remnant of the sacred tribe,
Who knew the worth these plaintive lays describe:
Tennents, those worthies of immortal fame,
Brethren by office, birth, in heart and name;
Finley, who full enjoyed the unbosomed friend;
Bodgers, whose soul he like his own refined,
When, all attention, eager to admit
The flowing knowledge, at his reverend feet
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 91
Raptured we sat; and thou above the rest,
Brother and image of the dear deceased,
Surviving Blair / oh, let spontaneous flow
The floods of tributary grief we owe.
And in your number—if so mean a name
May the sad honor of chief mourner claim—
Oh I may my filial tears more copious flow
And swell the tide of universal woe I
Oh, Blairl whom all the tenderest names commend—
My father, tutor, pastor, brother, friend l—
While distance and sad privilege denies
O'er thy dear tomb to vent my bursting eyes,
The Muse erects—the sole return allowed—
This humble monument of gratitude.”
As a preacher Dr. Samuel Blair was exceedingly
eloquent. There was a solemnity in his very appear-
ance which struck his hearers with awe before he
opened his mouth. And his manner of preaching,
while it was truly evangelical and instructive, was
exceedingly impressive. He spoke as in the view of
eternity, as in the immediate presence of God. The
opinion which Dr. Davies, who knew him better than
any other man, entertained of Dr. Blair as a preacher
may be learned from an anecdote received from Dr.
Rodgers by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller of Prince-
ton Theological Seminary: “When the Rev. Samuel
Davies returned from Europe his friends were curious
to learn his opinion of the celebrated preachers whom
he had heard in England and Scotland. After dealing
out liberal commendations on such as he had most ad-
mired, he concluded by saying that he had heard no
one who, in his judgment, was superior to his former
teacher, the Rev. Samuel Blair.”
His death occurred at Fagg’s Manor July 5, 1751,
while he was yet a young man, at the age of
thirty-nine years. As might have been anticipated, it
was without a doubt or a cloud, and in that perfect
92 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
peace of God which passeth all understanding. His
remains lie in the burying-ground of Fagg’s Manor,
where his tomb may yet be seen. On his tombstone
are engraved the appropriate lines:
“In yonder sacred house I spent my breath:
Now silent, mouldering, here I lie in death:
These lips shall wake again, and yet declare
A dread amen to truths they published there.”
IREV. JOHN BLAIR.
John, the younger of the Blair brothers, was also
born in Ireland, in the year 1720, and came to this
country while quite young. He soon after entered the
Log College, where he obtained all his preparatory
training for the ministry, both classical and theological.
We have no record of the date at which he was licensed
to preach. In the year 1742, when he was twenty-two
years of age, he was ordained and installed as the pastor
of the Big Spring church and one or two other small
churches in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania.
This was the church—now called Newville—of which
Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Erskine has long been the pastor.
Mr. Blair continued in this his first charge for about
thirteen years, but the neighborhood being then in con-
stant danger from Savage Indians, many of his people re-
moved to where they could find safer residences, and it
became necessary for him to seek another field of labor.
His brother Samuel having recently died amid the
scenes of his great usefulness at Fagg’s Manor, John was
at once invited to become his successor in both church
and school. He accepted, and in 1757, at the age of
thirty-seven, entered upon the great work which his
brother had left. With a scholarship and knowledge
of theology greater than almost any other man of his
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 93
age, and with a burning zeal for the cause, his work
both in church and school was greatly blessed. The
church became yet stronger, and the school grew more
thorough and more attractive.
After nine years of much prosperity in Fagg’s Manor,
another field of greater influence and usefulness opened
—a field for which he was peculiarly fitted by his splen-
did scholarly attainments and theological skill. A pro-
fessorship had just been endowed in Princeton College
for the special teaching of theology. Mr. Blair was
the man for such a position; he was elected, and, ac-
cepting, entered upon his duties there in 1766, when
he was forty-six years old. The presidency of the col-
lege having become vacant, he, having been previously
elected as its vice-president, performed the duties of
president until the inauguration of Dr. John Wither-
spoon, who had been called from Scotland. Soon after
that, Dr. Witherspoon being himself an excellent the-
ologian and the finances of the college being in a strait-
ened condition, Mr. Blair retired after a service of be-
tween two and three years.
Leaving Princeton in 1768, he removed to Walkill,
Orange county, New York, having received a call from
a church in that place. He remained there, however,
only a few months, for his earthly work was almost over.
Soon after his settlement, while on a trip to Boston by
sea, he was shipwrecked, and, being very much exposed,
his health received so severe a shock that he never after-
ward entirely recovered. And worse than the shock
to his body was that to his mind, which was greatly
affected by the loss of all his carefully elaborated manu-
scripts.
In consequence of this disaster he immediately re-
turned from Boston to Pennsylvania, and took up his
94 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
residence at the house of his father-in-law, Dr. Shippen,
in Germantown. Dr. Alexander relates that he often
visited him during the sad months that followed,
and thus describes him: “The writer, having spent
several summers in Germantown before Dr. Blair's de-
cease, had the opportunity of becoming well acquainted
with him, and found him to be a man of great refine-
ment of mind, mild and amiable in disposition, and
friendly to evangelical doctrine and practical piety.”
Mr. Blair must have been a highly cultivated and
most lovely man. “He was a sound and learned theo-
logian, and, though less eloquent in the pulpit than
his brother Samuel, yet he was an able and convincing
preacher and the instrument of the conversion of many
souls. He made high attainments in scholarship, and
at the same time labored much in the pulpit, for the
most part using, not a fully-written manuscript, but
brief notes.” “As a theologian he was not inferior to
any man in the Presbyterian Church in his day.” “His
disposition was uncommonly patient, placid, benevolent,
disinterested and cheerful. He was too mild to indulge
bitterness or severity, and he thought that the truth re-
quired little else but to be fairly stated and properly
understood. Those who could not relish the savor of
his piety loved him as amiable and revered him as a
great man. Though no bigot, he firmly believed that
the Presbyterian form of government is the most script-
ural and the most favorable to religion and happiness.”
His death occurred in 1771, when he was fifty-two
years of age. His end was peaceful, and he calmly
contemplated death when near at hand, uttering coun-
sels for his friends. A few days before his departure he
exclaimed, “Directly I am going to glory: my Master
calls me; I must go.” On his tombstone may be seen
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 95
the following inscription: “Here lie interred the re-
mains of the Rev. John Blair, A.M., who departed this
life December 6, 1771, in the 52d year of his age. He
was a gentleman of masterly genius, a good scholar, an
excellent divine. A very judicious, instructive, and
solemn preacher. A laborious and successful minister
of Christ. An eminent Christian. A man of great
prudence, and a bright example of every social virtue.
He was sometime vice-president of Nassau Hall and
professor of divinity in the College of New Jersey,
which place he filled with fidelity and reputation. He
lived greatly beloved and died universally lamented.”
REv. SAMUEL FINLEY, D.D.
As in David's band of loyal friends and followers in
the time of his exile, though all were brave and worthy,
there were three who stood first of all, the greatest of
the great, and as of the twelve apostles there were three,
Peter, James and John, who were the chief, so of the
ten eminent men, all sprung from the Log College, who
laid the foundations of our Presbyterian Church in this
country, there were three who were pre-eminently great
—Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Blair and Samuel Finley.
Dr. Finley was born in the North of Ireland. The
date of his birth was 1715, and the place, county
Armagh, in Ulster. His family was one of Scottish
descent, and must have been eminently devoted. He
had no fewer than seven brothers, all of whom became
men of very earnest piety. He was no doubt a child
of God even in his infancy, as, among other evidences,
he could remember a sermon, text and all, that made a
most lasting impression on his mind, which he heard
when he was but six years old. At even that early
age his purpose was formed to study for the ministry.
96 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
In accordance with this purpose, all his youth was
spent in the pursuit of classical and other appropriate
studies with a view to the sacred office.
He came to this country in his nineteenth year, en-
tered the Log College, and spent six years there in
the completion of his theological studies. He was
licensed in the year 1740, at the age of twenty-five.
After that he spent four years chiefly in preaching-
tours through various parts of the country, among
other places in West Jersey, spending some time in
Greenwich, Deerfield and Cape May. Meantime, he
was ordained, probably as an evangelist, in 1742, after
which he spent six months preaching with great
acceptance in the Second church of Philadelphia.
Among other regions which at this period he visited
on his preaching-excursions was the State of Con-
necticut. While there the laws were of such a rigid
character that he was arrested as a vagrant and igno-
miniously banished from the territory.
As yet he had taken no permanent charge, but now,
in 1744, at the age of twenty-nine, he entered upon
what proved to be the great work of his life—a work
which but few men are ever so highly favored as to
have granted them. He assumed the pastoral charge
of the church of Nottingham, Maryland—a church to
which the Rev. A. A. Hodge, D. D., afterward minis-
tered for a while, and of which the Rev. Samuel A.
Gayley, D. D., has been, for many years, the very effi-
cient pastor. In that pastoral charge he continued
seventeen years.
But a greater work than even that of an ordinary
pastoral charge was awaiting him when he was called
to that place. It was that of establishing the famous
Nottingham Academy. As Dr. Alexander gives a
------
ºn U NLEY D.D.

JFORMATI VE PERIO D. 97
description of this work full and comprehensive, we
will quote his language: “In this place he insti-
tuted an academy, with the view, chiefly, of prepar-
ing young men for the gospel ministry. This school
was conducted with admirable wisdom and success,
and acquired a higher reputation than any other
in the Middle States, so that students from a distance
were attracted to it. Some of the most distinguished
men in our country laid the foundation of their emi-
nence and usefulness in this academy. At one time
there was a cluster of such young men who all were
afterward distinguished, and some of them among the
very first men in the country, as the following names
will show : Governor Martin of North Carolina; Dr.
Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, and his brother, Jacob
Rush, an eminent and pious judge; Ebenezer Hazard,
Esq., of Philadelphia; the Rev. James Waddel, D. D.,
of Virginia; Governor Henry of Maryland; and the
Rev. William M. Tennent of Abington, Pennsylva-
nia. It would not be easy in any country to find such
a constellation in one school at the same time.”
After serving that church and at the same time
building up that institution so successfully for seven-
teen years, his fame had become so great that in 1761
he was elected to the presidency of Princeton College.
Removing to that place, he assumed the responsible
duties to which he had been called, and performed
them with the utmost acceptance for five years. Under
his wise and able administration the college prospered
greatly. From his experience in the Nottingham Acad-
emy he was enabled to introduce several great improve-
ments in the modes of teaching, especially in the classics.
At that time his fame as scholar and teacher, as well
as preacher, had extended so far that it even reached
7
98 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Europe, and from a college in Scotland he received the
honorary degree of D. D., the first that was ever be-
stowed on any Presbyterian minister of this country.
Dr. Finley must have been emphatically both a good
and a great man. It was truthfully said of him and
of the school he established: “He was an accomplished
scholar and a skillful teacher, as was universally admit-
ted. Perhaps this country has not had better classical
scholars formed anywhere than in that school.” An
interesting description of him is given in The Log
College: “Dr. Finley was a person of low stature and
of a round and ruddy countenance. In the pulpit he
was solemn, sensible and sententious, and sometimes
glowed with fervid animation. He was remarkable for
sweetness of temper, politeness and generosity. He was
always distinguished for diligence and punctuality in
the performance of all his duties. His sermons were
rather solid than brilliant—not hasty productions, but
composed with care, and, while they were in a style
pleasing to the cultivated mind, they were at the same
time intelligible to the illiterate.”
Five years after becoming president of the college, in
consequence of declining health he visited Philadelphia,
that he might secure medical advice. But soon his dis-
ease, which was an affection of the liver, assumed an
alarming aspect, of which he was warned by his physi-
cian, when with devout acquiescence in the divine will
he replied: “If my work is done I am ready. I do
not desire to live a day longer than I can work for
God.” He grew rapidly worse, until it became proper
to inform him that he had but a few days to live,
when, in the very glory of triumphant faith, he ex-
claimed, “Then, welcome, Lord Jesus!” He died on
the 16th of July, 1761, at the age of fifty-one years.
FORMATIVE PERIO D. 99
The death of Dr. Finley was one of the most tri-
umphant to be found in all the records of the Church
of God. We cannot give its glorious scenes in full, as
they have been described to us, but we will give a few
of his wonderfully blessed utterances in sentences or
broken exclamations. The Church cannot spare such
testimony from a dying man of God. He was told
that his end was very near. “Then,” said he, “may
the Lord bring me nearer himself! I have been wait-
ing with a Canaan hunger for the promised land. I
have often wondered that God suffered me to live. I
have more wondered that he ever called me to be a
minister of his word. He has often afforded me much
strength, which, though I have often abused, he re-
turned in mercy. Oh, faithful are the promises of
God! Oh, that I could see him as I have seen him
in the sanctuary ! Although I have earnestly desired
death as the hireling pants for the evening shade, yet
will I wait all the days of my appointed time. I have
often struggled with principalities and powers, and have
been brought almost to despair: Lord, let it suffice.”—
“I know not in what language to speak of my own un-
worthiness.”—“A Christian's death is the best part of
his experience. The Lord has made provision for the
whole way—provision for the soul and for the body.
Oh, that I could recollect Sabbath blessings! The
Lord has given me many souls as crowns of my re-
joicing. Blessed be God, eternal rest is at handl
Eternity is but long enough to enjoy my God. This
has animated me in my secret studies. I was ashamed
to take rest here.” Being asked whether he would
choose to live or die, he replied, “To die, though I
cannot but say I feel the same strait that Paul did,
that he did not know which to choose.”—“I rise
100 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
or fall as eternal life runs nearer or farther off.”
Said one, “You will soon be joined to the blessed
society of heaven; you will for ever hold intercourse
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and with the spirits of
the just made perfect.”—“Yes, sir,” he replied with
a smile, “but they are a most polite people now.”
Turning to his wife, he said, “I expect, my dear, to
see you shortly in glory.”—“The doctrines that I have
preached are now my support, and, blessed be God!
they are without a flaw.” He would sometimes cry
out, “The Lord Jesus will take care of his cause in
this world.” Upon awakening one morning he ex-
claimed, “Oh, what a disappointment I have met with !
I expected this morning to be in heaven.”—“Oh, I
shall triumph over every foe. The Lord hath given
me the victory. I exult, I triumph. Oh, that I could
see untainted purity | Now I know that it is impossible
that faith should not triumph over earth and hell.”
—“I think I have nothing to do but to die.”—“Lord
Jesus, into thy hands I commend my spirit: I do it
with confidence, I do it with full assurance.” He was
asked, “How do you feel?” and answered, “Full of
triumph ; I triumph through Christ. Nothing clips
my wings but the thoughts of my dissolution being pro-
longed. Oh, that it were to-night! My very soul thirsts
for eternal rest.” Asked what he saw in eternity to
excite such vehement desires, he answered, “I see the
eternal love and goodness of God; I see the full-
ness of the Mediator. I see the love of Jesus. . . .
Oh to be dissolved and to be with him I long to
be clothed with the complete righteousness of Christ.”
After one had prayed with him he exclaimed, “I have
gained the victory over the devil. Pray God to pre-
serve me from evil, to keep me from dishonoring his
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 101
great name in this critical hour, and to support me with
his presence in my passage through the valley of the
shadow of death.”
If there be many sacrifices and sore self-denials con-
nected with any Christian life, would it not compensate
for them all a thousand times over to be permitted to
die such a death as that?
BEV. WILLIAM ROBINSON.
No mortal mind can contemplate the great move-
ments which we are considering of the spirit and work
of the Log College, the great influence it disseminated
and the wonderful revival scenes of the times without
coming to the conviction that the almighty Head of the
Church was thereby effecting some special and sublime
purpose. Nor is it very difficult to interpret what that
purpose must have been. A great Church was to be
founded and in a new and great country—a Church of
the most scriptural faith and the richest history—a
country predestined to take the leading part in the
world's culminating events; and this was the laying
of the foundation of that Church, and so moulding its
character and shaping its whole future history.
That formative work required two kinds of work-
men—one to found institutions, define and establish
principles and awaken impulses. For this the Lord
raised up men with admirable qualifications in the Ten-
nents, the Blairs and Finley. But another class of
men also was needed—men of action, men who would
carry the truth among the masses, men who, with an
ardor like that of the angel of the everlasting gospel,
would fly hither and thither planting the truth in every
quarter, and then filling the whole land with gospel
movements and gospel people. For this work he had
102 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
also the chosen instruments in the Rev. William Rob-
inson, the Rev. John Rowland and the Rev. Charles C.
Beatty. These also, by the providence of God, had been
trained in the Log College, that one earnest spirit might
pervade both classes, and that the soundness in faith and
the ardent piety there nourished might, through them,
pervade the Church and the land.
The first of these latter three whose work we are now
called to trace was the Rev. William Robinson. All
that is known of his early life is contained in one
precious record in a note in the Life of the Rev. Dr.
Rogers, by the Rev. Dr. Miller of Princeton Theologi-
cal Seminary. It is there stated “that Mr. Robinson
was the son of a wealthy Quaker in England. Being
permitted to pay a visit of a few weeks to an aunt in
the city of London, from whom he had considerable
expectations, he greatly overstayed the time which had
been allowed him, and, becoming deeply involved in
the dissipations of the town, he incurred large debts,
which he knew his father would never pay and which
his aunt refused to discharge. In this situation, fearing
to return home and unable to remain longer in London,
he determined to quit his native country and seek his
fortune in America. In this determination his aunt
reluctantly acquiesced and furnished him with a small
sum of money for the purpose. Soon after his arrival
in America he had recourse for subsistence to teaching
a school in New Jersey in the bounds of the Presbytery
of New Brunswick. He had been for some time en-
gaged in this business without any practical knowledge
of religion, when it pleased God to bring him to a sense
of himself and the way of salvation in a remarkable
manner. He was riding at a late hour one evening
when the moon and stars shone with unusual bright-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 103
ness, and when everything around him was calculated
to excite reflection. While he was meditating on the
beauty and grandeur of the scene which the firmament
presented, and was saying to himself, ‘How transcend-
ently glorious must be the Author of all this beauty
and grandeur !' the thought struck him with the Sud-
denness and force of lightning, “But what do I know
of this God? Have I ever sought his favor or made
him my friend ?’ This happy impression, which
proved by its permanency and its effect to have come
from the best of all sources, never left him until he
took refuge in Christ as the hope and life of his
soul.”
After Mr. Robinson's conversion, he determined to
devote his life to the service of God in the work of the
holy ministry, and, having fallen in with the Presby-
terians, he connected himself with that Church, and
the uncontradicted tradition is that he pursued a course
of preparation for the ministry in the Log College;
that after the usual trials he was licensed to preach the
gospel by the Presbytery of New Brunswick; and that
after some probation he was ordained by the same Pres-
bytery as an evangelist.
He determined to go to the distressed, the ignorant
and the lost. To trace his brilliant career in detail
would occupy too much of our limited space, and we
shall therefore confine ourselves to a few comprehensive
facts and characteristics of his work which may serve
to convey an impression of the marvelous things which
God wrought through this extraordinary man.
The amount of tact, perseverance, hardships, suffer-
ings and success which attended the ministry of Mr.
Robinson seems almost to surpass belief, and but for the
abundant testimony of undoubted authorities would not
104 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
be credited. He threw his whole heart and soul and
life into the work, and received divine help in every
one of his undertakings. Like a bright meteor he swept
over the land, blazing in the light of God wherever
he º the sparsely-settled regions of Penn-
/sylvania, away to its western forests, through the whole
# of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, down the great
Valley of Virginia, over and over the Blue Ridge region,
through Albemarle and Augusta and other counties of
the same State, through many of the larger towns of
North Carolina, and back again through parts of New
York, he hastened. To the Indians wherever he could
find them, to terrified settlers flying from the butchery
of the Savages, to noisy gatherings of the negroes, he
! pressed with the tidings of salvation.
He traveled day and night; he preached every day
of the week; he instructed individuals as ignorant as
the heathen ; he rebuked the backsliding; he comforted
the neglected and sorrowing; he listened to every call
to go and address multitudes wherever they would
gather to hear him; he never thought of toil or sac-
rifice or self-denial when he could find an opportunity
of proclaiming redemption for the lost. Like the great
apostle of the Gentiles, he feared no danger and never
cared for weariness. Love to God and souls as an
irresistible impulse bore him on over every possible in-
firmity and obstacle. His zeal impelled, his eloquence
attracted and his loving story convinced. Suffering
had no power to keep him back. Hardships might
await him, and ignorance misunderstand, and blas-
phemy persecute; the authorities might refuse to hear,
and governments oppose; he might even be arrested
and carried to prison, yet through all his ardor could
not be abated nor his labors relaxed.

IFORMATIVE PERIOD. 105
He was sent for far and near to preach to anxious
thousands; immense assemblies would gather to hear
him; and sobs would break out, cries would rend the
air and hearts seem breaking as he poured forth the
story of sin and guilt and danger, and at the same
time spoke of the bleeding love of Jesus as a remedy
for all. Hundreds of true converts were to be found
in the track over which he had passed; the most de-
vout and reliable of men would tell of the results of
his ministry; and God set his seal wherever he went.
The amount of work he performed and the success
which attended it no tongue can tell; not until eter-
nity will all be seen and the results appreciated.
This all, be it remembered, was accomplished in only
four or five years. Wonderful is the power of God as
it was displayed in this blessed man. Our investigations
into this amazing record were prompted by a casual
notice concerning him by Dr. Alexander: “Probably,
Mr. Robinson during the short period of his life was the
instrument in the conversion of as many souls as any
minister who ever lived in this country.” Could this
be so 2 When the writer read the accounts of his labors
given by Dr. Samuel Davis of Virginia, Dr. Belamy of
New England, Mr. Samuel Morris of Virginia, himself
converted under Mr. Robinson’s ministry, and others,
then he could not doubt; yea, he was sure that the half
had not been told.
REV. JOHN ROWLAND.
In laying the foundations of the Church it became
important that not only the truth should be dissemi-
nated generally among the masses throughout the land,
but that there should be at least one centre where the
gospel should secure a hold on the entire community;
\
106 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
where its sanctifying influence on society should be wit-
nessed; where the churches should be fully organized
as a model for all other churches; where families tho-
roughly imbued with the Spirit of Christ should be pre-
pared as bulwarks of the faith for many ages to come;
and where many faithful believers should be prepared
to issue forth into distant settlements and there build
up new congregations. For this special work a man
imbued with the fervent spirit of the Log College was
needed; and the great Head of the Church had that
man ready in the person of the Rev. John Rowland.
Of the early days of this eminent man of God we
know absolutely nothing, excepting that he was a boy
or young man of the Log College. His history becomes
definitely known to us only when, in 1738, he was
licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of
New Brunswick. On the very day of his licensure he
received an urgent invitation to take immediate charge
of the two then small churches of Maidenhead (now
Lawrenceville) and of Hopewell (now Pennington) in
the State of New Jersey. That call he accepted, and
at once entered upon his work with burning zeal and
marvelous success. In a very short time his influence
was felt throughout the whole neighborhood, which was
stirred to its depths. Great awakenings were experi-
enced in the churches and in the whole vicinity, in
which hundreds were converted, by their subsequent
lives proving that the work was from God; religion
became a vital power in the whole community, and
many families dated their unwavering loyalty to Christ
from that blessed season of refreshing. -
All this was the result of the earnest services of this
devoted man, whom God's Spirit strengthened almost
as if he were inspired. Four years afterward, in 1742,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 107
he removed to another field of almost superhuman toil
and marvelous success. This new field was in the same
region of country, but in the State of Pennsylvania, in
what is called the Great Valley church, of which the
Rev. R. M. Patterson, D.D., editor of the Presbyterian
Journal, is now the pastor, and of the Norriton and
Providence churches, of which the Rev. Henry L. Ro-
denbaugh has been the pastor for more than forty-five
years. Scenes of reviving were awaiting Mr. Rowland
in this new field similar to those with which he had
been blessed in the churches of Maidenhead and Hope-
well. The whole community became deeply stirred
about the vast concerns of eternity. The burning words
of the man of God touched many hearts wherever he
preached, and he preached every day somewhere in the
region. He denounced the prevailing sins, warned of
the coming wrath and proclaimed the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus. Men were alarmed in their inmost souls;
they cried out in the agony of conscious guilt; their
very bodies were convulsed by the distress of their
minds; and multitudes of them received from their
gracious Lord the gift of eternal life. The churches
were largely increased in their membership, the tone of
piety was greatly elevated, principles of godliness were
established, deep and solid foundations were laid and
the cause of Christ was confirmed for many generations
to come. Some of the results of this great work under
the preaching of Mr. Rowland may be appreciated when
it is stated that among his converts was the grandfather
of the Rev. Archibald Alexander, then living close by
the Providence church, and that in the same neighbor-
hood and under the same influence resided the ancestors
of the three eminently useful and beloved brothers, the
Rev. Samuel M. Hamill, D.D., the Rev. Hugh Hamill, -
108 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
D.D., and the Rev. Robert Hamill, D.D., of the Henrys
and of many others well known in the Church in after-
days.
The scenes of that revival season must have been
intensely interesting. The most hardened were melted
and brought to the feet of Christ. Marvelous effects
were produced. The whole region was changed in its
religious character. Mr. Rowland did not confine his la-
bors to the mere vicinity of his churches, but as a faithful
and earnest messenger of God, he swept over the whole
region around for many miles, with the same blessed
effect following him wherever he went. His preaching
must have been of the most arousing character. So
forcibly did he present the terms of the law in order to
bring men to Christ that the opposers and the thought-
less were in the habit of nicknaming him “Hell-fire
Rowland.”
Here, too, the work of Mr. Rowland, though mighty
in results, was very brief, for it ended with his life, not
later than 1745, when he could not have been much, if
any, over thirty years of age. Like the time of his
birth and circumstances of his youth, the time, place
and manner of his death are all unknown. But what
a glorious life it was l Not more than seven years
could his public ministry have lasted, and yet in that
short time the churches of Lawrenceville and Penning-
ton, from which came the Greens and other eminently
godly families, sprung into new life and greatness, as
did also the churches of Great Valley, of Providence
and of Norriton, from which came the Alexanders, the
Hamills and many another of honored name.
Two events in the life of this remarkable man were
so peculiarly interesting that we may not pass them
over without special notice. One was, that the licens-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 109
ing of Mr. Rowland by the Presbytery of New Bruns-
wick was under its peculiar circumstances the occasion
of bringing the alienation between the members of that
Presbytery to a crisis which resulted in the Great Schism
of the Church of that early day. As, however, this was
not through any personal agency of Mr. Rowland, and
as the whole subject will come up in another connection,
we shall not dwell on it farther in this place.
The other event was so very singular in itself, so
curious and full of interest, and so connected with other
men from the Log College, that it must be related at
some length.
It seems that immediately after Mr. Rowland was
located in Maidenhead and Hopewell there was prowl-
ing around the country a certain noted villain called
Tom Bell. He appears to have been an artful thief,
counterfeiter, gambler, and especially a horse-thief. At
one time, while lurking in Princeton and watching for
victims, he accidentally discovered that there was a
remarkable resemblance between himself and Mr. Row-
land, then becoming known as a great evangelist. This
fact the scoundrel was adroit enough to determine to
turn to his advantage. Accordingly, he hastened at
once to a distant part of the State, and under the name
of Rowland ingratiated himself with a certain farmer
whom he knew to be an elder in a neighboring Presby-
terian church, then without a pastor. He engaged with
the elder to preach for this church on the next Sab-
bath; and then he managed, while on the way to
church, to return to the house, pretending to have for-
gotten his manuscript, and then robbed the house of
such valuables as he could find and escaped with the
farmer's horse, on which he rode.
Mr. Rowland, whom the wretch personated so well,
110 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
was, of course, generally believed to have been the horse-
thief, and so in due time he was arrested, imprisoned and
tried. Upon the testimony, however, of the Rev. Wil-
liam Tennent of Freehold and two other friends, who
swore that they knew him to be elsewhere on that day,
an alibi was proved and Mr. Rowland was acquitted.
Iłut the enemies of religion, one of whom was the
judge of the court where the trial occurred, were not
satisfied that Mr. Rowland and his friends should thus
escape. They wanted to wound the cause of Christ
through them. They managed to bring a charge of
perjury against Mr. Tennent and the two friends for
false swearing on the trial, had them arrested, the
friends tried, and one of them convicted and subjected
to the shameful punishment of the pillory. The trial
of Mr. Tennent was yet to come on. The day came,
and when on his way to the court-house, refusing all
legal aid, as he maintained that God, who knew of his
perfect innocence, would be his defender, he was met
by an aged man and wife, who asserted that they had
both had the same dream in one night, and were so
impressed by it that they had come all the way from
Maryland to assist him in some way. According to
their dreams, Mr. Tennent was in some great trouble
in Trenton, and they alone could help him out of it.
Here they were for that purpose, whatever it might be.
A legal friend interrogated them, and found that the
couple could both testify that at the time of the stealing
of the horse Mr. Rowland was certainly at their home
in the State of Maryland, and so could not possibly
have been connected with the theft. The alibi to which
Mr. Tennent had sworn was thus established, and he
was thereby acquitted and saved from the shame and
suffering of conviction. • *
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 111
Now, how are we to regard these three strange inci-
dents in the lives of these remarkable men of God—
this event and the trance of William Tennent and the
loss of his toes in sleep? They all seem utterly inex-
plicable on any ordinary grounds. No merely natural
explanation of them that is at all satisfactory has ever
been suggested. Even supposing the trance to have
been a case of catalepsy, what explanation can be given
of the sight of the inexpressible glory which Tennent
afterward declared that he had beheld 2 Why may
not all of them be accounted for as the result of divine
agency or divine permission ? In the case of that ex-
traordinary man, at that time of extraordinary religious
awakening, and in that crisis of the laying of the foun-
dations of a great Church of God in this new country,
why may we not say that these miracles were granted to
awaken deeper religious thought among the people, and
to establish faith more firmly 2 It is admitted that as
miracles were wrought once to establish the truth, so
they might be again if there came a crisis in which
they were required. And surely that was a crisis of
the gravest importance. Yea, would not the admis-
sion that these were miracles of undoubted occurrence,
and that in recent days, tend greatly to confirm our
belief in the other miracles, those of the Scripture?
At any rate, it is believed that this explanation of
these strange events is much more satisfactory than
any other that has ever been attempted.
THE REV. CHARLES C. BEATTY.
There was yet another kind of work that needed to
be done in connection with the Log College—a work
which required more activity and zeal, if possible,
than either of the others which have been described.
112 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
The college had been established as a fountain of learn-
ing and piety and fervent zeal, and its sons were defin-
ing principles and building churches and disseminat-
ing truth and righteousness. Mr. Rowland was laying
deeper foundations in its immediate neighborhood, and
Mr. Robinson was seeking the salvation of the more
remote masses. But were these localities the only ones
that were to participate in the benefits of the college?
Were not the tidings of what God was doing in that
institution to spread much farther to the glory of his
grace? Were not its sound principles, its intelligent
piety and its zealous spirit to be made known, and
in some measure partaken of, in distant regions of our
land, and even in distant parts of the world? Truly,
they were, and God had another man ready to whom
this work should be entrusted.
That man was the Rev. Charles Clinton Beatty, an-
other of the sons of the Log College. Who but one
trained in that college could carry abroad its spirit, tell
fully of its work and disseminate its peculiarly script-
ural and fervent piety ? And even of the men who
had been trained in the college, Mr. Beatty had the
qualifications which were the best adapted for such
work. He had been educated in that school; he had
had the experience of a long pastorate in applying the
truth to individual souls; he had a well-cultured mind,
which made him at home in any circle; he had a
bright, adventurous spirit, which kept him always act-
ive and called him forward to new enterprises; and,
above all, he had a fervent piety and love which never
cooled or tired.
Such was the man who was God’s chosen instrument
for this peculiar work. In saying this we do not as-
sume the power of reading God’s great designs, but we
2 *
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 113
may reverently interpret his purposes as they have been
made plain to us by their results.
We assume, then, that Mr. Beatty's specially ap-
pointed mission was to make the spirit and the work
of the Log College (meaning by the Log College it and
the institutions that sprung from it) known and felt in
distant regions of this country as well as in other lands.
Let us see how he was led of Providence in the per-
formance of that work; and in following him we shall
not take his movements in their chronological order,
but in the way that may enable us the best to appre-
ciate their importance. In no instance did he aim
directly and of fixed purpose at that which was his
divinely-appointed mission; in the providence of
God he was sent apparently on far different errands,
but that great end was always the final result. We
can discern this ultimate aim of the great Head of
the Church in every scene through which his servant
was led. •
One day, while Mr. Tennent was busily engaged in
the ordinary duties of his school, a young peddler bear-
ing his pack of goods entered the door, and at once
engaged in conversation with the teacher, and, much
to the latter's astonishment, spoke in correct Latin lan-
guage and on subjects which revealed in him good sense
ând learning and earnest piety. No wonder that Mr.
Tennent was amazed, and continued in the conversation
for a long time. Then, seeing what was in the young
man, he promptly and wisely charged him : “Go and
sell the contents of your pack and return immediately
and study with me. It would be a sin for you to continue
a peddler when you can be so much more useful in an-
other profession.” The young man had the good sense
and the piety to take the advice, and became a student
8
114 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
in the Log College with a view to entering upon the
sacred ministry. -
That new student was Charles Clinton Beatty. He
was a young Irishman, at this time of about fifteen
years of age, having been born about the year 1715
in county Antrim. That day he commenced in the
cause of the gospel a career which was singularly faith-
ful and almost wildly romantic. God was leading him
in the first step toward preparation for a life of extra-
ordinary usefulness.
He finished his studies in due time, and was licensed
to preach October 13, 1742. He was ordained and in-
stalled as pastor of the church of Neshaminy, December
14, 1743. It was an evidence of the attractiveness of
his preaching that he should be called to the church
in which all must have been familiar with him from
his boyhood.
And now began the work of his great mission, which
was afterward carried on even while he continued pas-
tor of Neshaminy, which was for no less than twenty-
nine years.
He was chosen (providentially) as a trustee of Prince-
ton College, where, year after year, he associated with men
of culture and piety and great influence, and thereby
had an opportunity of informing and interesting that
class of the community in the grand results of the work
of the humble school on the banks of the Neshaminy.
He was sent out on two different expeditions to col-
lect money for the Widows’ Fund for the relief of poor
and aged ministers and the widows and children of de-
ceased ministers. This was his immediate mission, but
beyond it the ultimate object was to carry with him the
spirit he had learned at home, and to tell throughout all
the churches of the great and good work of God with
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 115
which he was so intimately connected in the heart of
his own Presbytery.
He was sent, in company with others, throughout the
regions of Virginia and North Carolina to preach the
glorious gospel of the grace of God, but with the still
higher purpose of imparting the spirit and showing the
example and telling the story of God's mighty energy as
seen in his favored home, where there had been opened
such a spring of blessings intended to enrich the whole
land.
He was sent again and again to the army as chaplain
to minister to the spiritual wants of the brave men who
were defending their homes against the savage attacks
of the French and Indians, but with the ulterior purpose
of imbuing by means of his own glowing spirit of piety
the officers and men who in due time would return
to their residences throughout the country with new
thoughts concerning God and the soul. A specimen
of Mr. Beatty's Christian patriotism was brought to
light by this army experience. In a speech to his
own people, intended to stir them up on behalf of
the cause, he exclaimed, at the close of a Sabbath
service, “The savages have attacked the frontier set-
tlements and are murdering our fellow-citizens. The
Government has made a call for volunteers to march
with a view to attack and drive them back, but I
regret to learn that the call is not very promptly
met. It is certainly somebody's duty to go, and I
have determined, if the Synod allow me, to offer my
services as chaplain, and thus do my part. Of course
it will be very pleasant for me to have the company
of any of the congregation or my neighbors who
may feel it their duty to go.” The result of the ap-
peal was that during the next week a hundred men
116 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
joined the company and went in defence of their
country. &
He was sent, providentially, on a mission to the In-
dians to teach them the way of life, and at the same
time to make known, even in their distant wilds, the
wondrous scenes of deep spiritual life that were wit-
nessed in that hallowed building of logs almost as hum-
those they had erected within their own borders.
h: was sent to the West Indies to collect from the
British settlers there funds for a needed charity at
home; but the higher purpose of God was that he
might tell these people the blessed things that were
attending the preaching of the gospel in the favored
spot where his own lot was cast.
He was sent to Great Britain twice—once to collect
money for the same charitable purpose, and once to
obtain medical advice for his suffering wife; but beyond
these first purposes, was the better one of spreading
before many a congregation, before the great and the
humble, before princes and nobles, the knowledge and
the spirit of the Log College, so that they would be
known in the lands of England and Ireland and Scot-
land, and even Holland, and a faint impress of that
\spirit be left in those countries.
Thus was he led of Providence, and whether in the
Board of Trustees of Princeton College, or on the mis-
sionary journey, or in the tents of the army, or among
the Indian wigwams, or in the groves of Barbadoes, or
on the ocean vessel, or in the churches or courts of
Europe, his story was still the same—the evangelical
spirit, the blessed awakening, the fervent piety and the
intelligent zeal of that school of the prophets where
God was preparing influences that were to mould the
destiny of a future great empire.
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 117
Nor was this the only disseminating influence that
sprung from this most blessed man. To him it was
also granted to transmit his own ardent spirit of godli-
ness even to the present time. No family in the whole;
land has spread out so widely into other families of evan-
gelical spirit and deep piety as has that of Mr. Beatty.
His eleven children, all but two of whom lived to be-
come men and women, with their children and remoter
descendants, have been dispersed throughout the whole
Church and all the succeeding generations as ministers,
teachers, physicians, army officers, wives of ministers,
students, elders of churches, prominent citizens and
holders of public trusts innumerable—among them the
wife of the Rev. Mr. Boyd of Newtown, the wife of the
Rev. Robert Steel, D. D., of Arlington, Charles Beatty,
M. D., of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and very
many others, forming a marvelous instance of God's
faithfulness to his covenant. One striking example is
found in that, ninety years after the death of this Mr.
Beatty, his grandson, the Rev. C. C. Beatty, D. D., was
in 1862 the Moderator of the General Assembly of that
Church whose foundations his grandfather had taken i
such a prominent part in laying. --~ . . .
Mr. Beatty entered the Log College a lad of about
seventeen years, and died in Barbadoes, while still en-
gaged in the Master's work, August 3, 1772, at the age
of about fifty-seven. A more stirring and eventful life
than his there was not among the ten eminent ministers
whose lives we have traced from the Log College through
their grand and varied work in laying the foundations
of the Presbyterian Church.
Two other names we might also have added to this
noble array of the sons of the Log College—one the
Rev. William M. Tennent, D. D., long pastor of the
118 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
Abington church, son of Charles Tennent and grand-
son of William Tennent, founder of the Log College;
and the other the Rev. Samuel Davies, D.D., one of
the greatest preachers of this country and president of
Princeton College. Though they did not receive their
education at the Log College, they did receive it at the
Fagg’s Manor school, which sprang from the college.
It is true that if we took the name of Rev. Dr. Wil-
liam M. Tennent, who was of the Tennent family, and
might well be held up to view as the model pastor, and
added it, as well as that of his grandfather, to the hon-
ored roll, we should have the significant number of the
twelve. Twelve! We cannot name it without thoughts
of the apostolic band. Nor can we trace the corre-
spondence a little more closely without thinking of
the chosen three, Peter, John and James, and then
of the other three of our early Church, Gilbert Ten-
nent, Samuel Boyd and Samuel Finley.
CATHAIRINE KENNEDY.
Another name—that of a woman—we place the last
on the glorious list of all that we have named as con-
nected with the Log College, not because we consider
her the least in importance, but because, on account of
her position, usefulness and excellence, we consider that
she deserves to stand the highest of all. We place her
name at the close because until the whole field was laid
open we could not appreciate what she was and what
she did. Her name, which will no doubt be held in
everlasting remembrance, was Catharine Kennedy—the
real founder of the Log College.
Unseen, unheralded, almost unknown, her influence
was deeper, stronger, wider and more lasting than that
of any other of the group. An Irish girl, brought up
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 119
in a Presbyterian manse in an atmosphere of religion,
her mind stored with sacred truth, she could not re-
member the time when she did not supremely love her
Lord. God was preparing her for a life second prob-
ably to that of no other human being in influence for
weal on this land. A finer instance the world has
hardly ever beheld of unconscious influence.
She was married in 1702 to a young Episcopal cler-
gyman of fine mental endowments and culture. How
much had she to do by her godly example and refined
tact in leading him to leave the Church of his fathers
and enter that of the Presbyterian faith, attracted by
such beautiful specimens as those of her father and her-
self? How much in establishing him in the doctrines
and order of his adopted faith ?
A few years are passed in their native country, part
of the time in county Armagh and part in Colerain,
county Antrim. Four sons are born to them, with
no permanent settlement for them at home, an increas-
ing family to be educated, an earnest call for missiona-
ries in America. Shall they go? Who can tell how
much the wife's devotion to the cause of Christ, her
maternal care for the future of her boys and her strong,
earnest, sanctified good sense had to do with bringing
her husband, the Rev. William Tennent, to this land 7
They reach it, but find it only a little removed from
an absolute wilderness. How much had her patient
endurance and comforting words to do with cheering
her sometimes desponding husband in those trying
days?
The Log College is founded. Where was she then?
Would it ever have been built without her counsel,
her cheer and her self-sacrifices? And now we see her
in her best estate—her husband to encourage, her
120 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
family to sustain by her careful economy, new boys to
receive into her own household or provide for in the
neighborhood. We fancy all those boys coming to her
as to a mother, telling her their doubts and fears and
looking to her for advice in their troubles. She receives
them, too, into her motherly confidence, cheers them in
their home-sickness, nurses them in their ailments, coun-
sels them in difficulties.
Brave Catharine ! thy name is not heralded, but God
knows how much thy tender wisdom contributed to-
ward making the Log College the unspeakable bless-
ing it became to the Church and the country.
But the effects of her influence were only beginning
to be seen there. Would those boys ever have been
the great and good men which they afterward became
had it not been for her agency in forming their charac-
ter? Her daily care over them, her yearning love for
their souls, the charming power of her godly example,
her affectionate lessons of piety, her exalted Christian
principles and her self-control and self-sacrifice,—these
were unseen influences which she could impart, and
which she did impart, with all the tenderness of the
woman and the mother. Thus she aided in establish-
ing their deepest and purest principles and rendered the
most important assistance in forming their character.
Afterward they went forth preaching the gospel in
every quarter, bringing thousands of souls to Christ,
building up churches in many regions, establishing
schools and academies, some of them almost as influ-
ential as the one in which they had received their own
training for the ministry, and starting streams of godly
influences that flowed over the whole land, the currents
of which have not subsided even to this present day.
Nottingham, Fagg’s Manor, Pequa, Jefferson College,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 121
Hampden-Sidney College of Virginia, Princeton Col-
lege and many other institutions are monuments to
the power and perseverance of this most blessed wo-
man, whom God raised up and graciously led all her
days to leave a sanctifying impress upon our whole
history.
Where is there another woman who has originated
such chains of godly influences as these? After what
she did who shall claim that they occupy positions too
obscure for them ever to accomplish anything in the
great cause of Christ for the redemption of the lost
world 2 Whoever at any time attempts to write the
history of the Presbyterian Church in these United
States of America, let him give to the name of Cath-
arine Kennedy a place of honor that shall be second to
no other, or, rather, let him place it above all the rest.
WAS THE LOG COLLEGE THE GERM OF PRINCETON
COLLEGE 2
Was the Log College the germ of Princeton College?
is a question that will be answered either in the affirma-
tive or negative according to what it is understood to
mean. Does it mean, Was the Log College, with its
organization, its plans and its property, its principles and
its spirit, transferred to Princeton, where it could have
a fuller scope and a wider curriculum ? To this there
must be an emphatic No! No such historical event
ever occurred in connection with the institutions. But
does the question mean, Did the Log College prepare
the way for Princeton College, make its necessity to be
felt, fill the place into which it afterward entered, de-
velop the idea which it embraced, and so lead to its
establishment? Then we say without hesitation, and
with very little fear of contradiction, It contained the
•ºf
4.
122 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
germ first imbedded in the one and then more fully
developed in the other.
In asserting this very decided opinion we do not rest
upon mere queries or conjectures or reports or traditions,
but on facts well known and admitted. Some of these
facts we shall give as distinct propositions, so that they
may be separately weighed and their importance appre-
ciated. -
(1) The first fact, admitted by all, is that Princeton
College had its origin amid the controversies which led
to the Old and New Measures schism in 1741. It is also
known that the most disturbing element in those contro-
versies was that which pertained to the inadequacy of
the training for the ministry which was to be found in
the Log College. Hence it was that, after the schism,
that question was put out of the way of all farther agi-
tation by the setting up of another college, even that
at Princeton, where the training would be of so much
wider and more thorough character that thereafter all
would be satisfied.
(2) The second fact is that both institutions had pre-
cisely the same object in view—the suitable education
of young men for the work of the gospel ministry.
That was the first and all-pervading purpose of Tennent
in the establishment and subsequent conducting of his
school. It was also the design, as we have it most fully
attested, of those men who founded the college of Prince-
ton. Precisely the same radical idea ran through both
institutions. In the Log College that idea was to be found
in its most feeble germ ; in Princeton College it became
more fully developed, but it was still the same in prin-
ciple, and this it was which bound the two institutions
together, and made their true identity.
(3) A third fact of very great weight is the coinci-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 123
dence in the time of closing the one institution with the
opening of the other. True, this fact of itself does not
prove our proposition, but taken in connection with the
many other facts of similar bearing it is almost decisive.
Princeton College opened in the year 1746; the Log
College was drawing its career to a close about the same
date. Mr. Tennent died in 1746, and we have no trace
of the continuance of the college after that time. Not
only the Log College, but also the Nottingham, Fagg’s
Manor and Pequa academies—all of which had sprung
from it, and were one with it in aim and spirit—began
to decline from the time in which Princeton was opened.
In fact, this supposition of the perpetuation of the life
of the Log College in another institution is necessary in
order to account for the sudden disappearance of that
seminary. It was in the high tide of its prosperity and
usefulness when, suddenly, we cease to hear of it. How
shall we account for this except on the theory that its
life passed over into Princeton 2 The same was true of
the academies which sprung from it. We have wondered
to find them in a flourishing condition and then sud-
denly passing into oblivion. That they were all merged
into the higher institution which was intended to take
their place is the only explanation that can be given.
These incontrovertible facts have a great significance.
Do they not show very satisfactorily that the life and
purpose of the two institutions were one and the same?
The localities of the two schools were also significant.
The Log College had been planted near the centre of
the Church, so that it might reach out its benefits
equally in all directions. Its location was on the
highway between the two great cities. The location
of Princeton was selected for a similar reason. Does
not this show, so far, the identity of their purpose?
124 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Had they had different aims or been competitors, is it
likely they both would have had their locations so near
to each other? If Princeton was intended merely as
an improvement on the Log College, then it was neces-
sarily placed near to it, in the centre of the region that
it had previously benefitted.
(4) A fourth fact which has a most important bearing
upon the question we are considering is that the friends
of the Log College took a most influential part in the
founding of the college at Princeton. It is true that
both Dickinson and Burr, who were so prominent in
organizing the College of New Jersey, were graduates
of Yale, but both of them had lost sympathy with that
institution in consequence of the unjust treatment they
considered that Brainerd had received from its Board of
Trustees, and they therefore co-operated fully with the
men of the Log College. And besides these, “the active
friends and founders of Nassau Hall were the Tennents,
Blairs, Finley, Smith, Rogerses, Davies and others who
had received their education in the Log College or in
schools instituted by those who had been instructed
there.” Even Dr. Maclean acknowledges that “the
former friends of the Neshaminy school became the
earnest and devoted friends of the College of New
Jersey.” -
These were the men whose names appear on every page
of the history of Princeton's first struggles into being.
As instances we find Gilbert Tennent conducting the
correspondence with the colonial governor, Belcher,
concerning the very difficult matter, as it appeared, of
obtaining the charter for the College of New Jersey.
Moreover, of the corporate members of that institution
we find that at least eight or ten were Log-College men,
among them Gilbert Tennent, William Tennent, Samuel
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 125
Blair and Edward Shippen. Still further, the two men
selected to visit Great Britain on the vitally important
mission of collecting funds for the new college were Gil-
bert Tennent and Samuel Davies, both sons of the Log
College. Concerning that mission Mr. Tennent wrote:
“We have had most surprising success in our mission;
which, notwithstanding the languor of my nature, I
cannot review without passionate emotions. From the
best information of our friends and our own observation
on our arrival here, we could not raise our hopes above
three hundred pounds ($1500), but we have already got
about twelve hundred pounds ($6000). Our friends in
America cannot hear the news with the same surprise,
as they do not know the difficulties we had to encounter;
but to me it seems the most singular interposition of
Providence I ever saw.” Further, again, of the early
presidents of Princeton College two were Log–College
men—namely, Samuel Finley and Samuel Davies; a
third, John Blair, was acting president for a short time;
and a fourth, Samuel Stanhope Smith, was educated at
Nottingham, which sprung from the Log College.
Now, putting together all these instances of the active
part taken by Log–College men in the New Jersey insti-
tution, we cannot but conclude that they were design-
edly preparing a college of a higher grade to take
the place of the one in which they had themselves
been educated.
(5) A fifth proof of our theory is that the spirit,
principles, modes of instruction and work, as well as the
essential idea of both institutions, were precisely alike.
In both the spirit of earnest piety was that which held
the uppermost place; in both the Bible was used not
only in the daily devotions, but also as a text-book for
study; in both religion and learning went side by side;
126 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
in both the study of theology as preparatory for the
ministry of the gospel was a branch of the established
course; and in both the thorough study of mathematics
for the training of the reasoning powers and of the
classics for the cultivation of the taste and of the power
of utterance were required. In every other respect the
course of studies in the two institutions was the same,
though in Princeton greatly enlarged and improved.
(6) A sixth evidence that the Neshaminy institution
was but the germ of Princeton is found in that all the
authorities acquainted with the subject, with a solitary
exception, agree in the most emphatic testimony that
this relation did exist. - º
Our first authority is that of the Rev. Douglass K.
Turner, who has studied the whole subject more tho-
roughly than any other person of whom we know, and
who, having long resided in the vicinity of the Log Col-
lege, has been led to make himself very familiar with
its history. His remarks are: “The germ of this dis-
tinguished seat of learning” (Princeton College)
“which has been honored by a long list of eminent men
in the office of president, and which has trained many
of the first men of the country, is to be found in Mr.
Tennent's seminary. One of the principal objects of
them both was to fit pious young men for the sacred
ministry by imparting a sound and thorough educa-
tion. There was but a slight interval of time between
the close of the one and the commencement of the
other, and they were both conducted by men of a simi-
lar spirit and kindred principles.”
Our next testimony is that of Dr. Maclean himself,
who, though strongly fixed in his opposition to the idea
of the Log-College origin of Nassau Hall, is forced by
the records to admit: “The former friends of the Ne-
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 127
shaminy school became the earnest and devoted friends
of the College of New Jersey.” -
The next testimony we cite is of exceedingly great
importance, especially as it comes from one who lived at
the time and who no doubt received his information from
the very men engaged. Dr. Stearns, in his history of
the First church of Newark, New Jersey, states: “The
Log College was the germ of the College of New Jer-
sey, and Whitefield speaks of the Neshaminy school as
having grown into a large college now erecting in the
Jerseys.”
The next authority we present consists of the testi-
mony of two venerable men, whose words must carry
full conviction with them. Dr. Alexander writes: “A
venerable friend” (the Rev. Matthew Brown, D. D.),
“in conversing with the writer on the subject of the
Log College, observed that this humble institution was
not only the germ of New Jersey College, but of several
other colleges which have been useful to the Church
and State and have risen to high estimation in the
country; and mentioned Jefferson College’’ (of which
he was the president), “Hampden-Sidney and Wash-
ington College in Virginia, all of which were founded
and taught originally by students from Princeton.
And we need not stop here, for these in their turn gave
rise to many other schools and colleges where the same
system of education and the same principles of religion
are adopted. Thus we see how much good may arise
from a small beginning. As the stately Oak Originates
in a small acorn, so an obscure School in the midst of
the forest becomes a nursery from which proceed not
only eminent men, but other and higher schools of
learning by which our country is enlightened and
adorned.” In addition to this, Dr. Alexander's confi-
128 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
dent belief that the Log College was the germ of Nassau
Hall may be seen in that he devotes a whole chapter in
his work on the Log College to the substantiation of
that fact.
The declarations of all these, and of all other writers
capable of giving an opinion that we have read, are
unanimous, and are surely decisive of the question—so
completely that we cannot understand why it should be
made a question at all.
There is, as we have already said, one exception—
namely, the Rev. John Maclean, D. D. In his History
of the College of New Jersey, he repeatedly and with
great emphasis repudiates the thought of any such
relation between the two institutions. The one fact
which he gives in support of his opinion is that the
elder Tennent, the founder of the Log College, was un-
friendly to the instituting of the College of New Jersey
from the very beginning. But, considering the cir-
cumstances, was that to be wondered at 2 He was an
old man when the subject was agitated. He died the
very year it was started. Was it strange that at the
age of seventy-three and enfeebled by sickness he
should dislike to see another institution arising that
would supplant his own 2 The upbuilding of the Log
College had been his life-work, and one of the noblest
works that man ever accomplished ; and now, in the
feebleness of his approaching end, was it natural that
Mr. Tennent should look kindly upon the establish-
ment of another college that would take the place of
his own 2 And yet this alleged opposition of the elder
Tennent, an old and dying man, is all that Dr. Mac-
lean urges in support of his hostility to the theory that
Princeton College had its germ in the Log College.
On the other side we have the unanimous testimony
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 129
of all others who have studied the subject as to the facts
that the same animating idea was the life of both insti-
tutions; that the same system, principles, modes of edu-
cation and spirit reigned in both ; that at the time of
the coming of Princeton into existence the Log Col-
lege with its affiliated academies began to pass away;
that the two institutions were placed in nearly the
same locality; that the Log–College men were the most
efficient workers in building up the College of New
Jersey; and that the discussions of that day concern-
ing the Log College were the moving cause which led
to the founding of Princeton. From all this it is clear
that the question is answered, and answered in the
affirmative—the Log College was the germ of Princeton
College. Several of these facts are of themselves suf-
ficient to make out the case, but together they must
satisfy any mind and put the case beyond all contro-
versy. Princeton was the Log College enlarged, ad-
vanced in its course of study and made to cover a
wider field of usefulness.
We have entered so fully into this question from the
conviction that the cause of truth and justice to the Log
College demanded it, and we have felt also that it was
necessary to explain why the Log College, blessed as it
was in such a wonderful manner and pursuing such
a wonderful career of usefulness, should have come to
such a sudden halt and then utterly disappear. In
fact, it did not halt, but its germ went out into another
institution, and its life is still going on in the College
of New Jersey, which in our day is one of the grand-
est of the fountains of blessing that are enriching our
country.
Moreover, the question is one of vital importance to
Princeton College itself. The nature and history of
9
130 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the Log College and its blooming out into Princeton
form a subject of much greater significance to the latter
institution than at first appears or than has ever been
considered. There are vital interests of Princeton at
stake, and to which its friends will do well to give good
heed. Its calling as well as its true interest is to follow
in substantially the same course that was clearly pointed
out by the providence of God in the founding of that
institution from which it sprang. The germ of the
Log College, its idea, is living in Princeton, and,
though the germ was at first very small, it being in
that like all other germs, mighty possibilities were en-
folded in it. Nor are these vital interests confined to
Princeton College alone, but they pertain to every
other Presbyterian college in the whole land; for there
is not one such institution in the bounds of the Church
but has been more or less modeled after Princeton,
which, with the Log College, is the oldest of them all
—not one of them but patterns more or less after that
general character which passed from the Log College
into Princeton, and thence into them all. As Notting-
ham and Fagg’s Manor and Pequa stood related to the
Log College, so do all our colleges, on a far wider
scale, stand related to Princeton. The men from
Princeton formed the first of them, and then others,
and so onward; even though the children sometimes
became greater than the parent, still the relation was the
Same and the progress went on.
Important considerations have led us to dwell thus
fully on this subject. We have done so because we be-
lieve that God directed his servants especially in the
formation of that institution for the crisis in which the
foundations of our Church and country were to be laid;
because it was vitally interwoven with all the great
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 131
movements of our early history; because it had a very
great influence in forming all the succeeding character
of our Church ; because, the essential principles being
still the same, the strictly carrying out of the system
and spirit of the Log College would have the most ben-
eficial influence upon Princeton, as on all our Presby-
terian colleges even at the present time; because these
eminently great and good men have never been as fully
appreciated as their wonderful work deserves; because
the position, work and relations of the Log College
have never been fully delineated in order to the full
profiting which might be received from these examples;
and because if there has been neglect here, it is chiefly
to be laid at our door as a Presbytery, since the insti-
tution was located within our bounds and we received
its first benefits. For these reasons the writer, to the
best of his ability, has endeavored to search out these
things and then “to set them in order.”
CH A PTE R W II.
FORMATIVE PERIOD (Continued). VISIT OF WHITEFIELD.
“THE GREAT AWAKENING.”
IT was a deeply significant fact, and one for which
we have reason for much thankfulness to the great
Head of the Church, that if not the very infancy, the
early youth, of our Presbytery was spent in the atmo-
sphere of one of the greatest revivals by which the world
has ever been blessed. This fact must be appreciated
if we would either understand the spirit of our early
history, comprehend many of the subsequent move-
ments or get at the secret of the long life and prosperity
of our old churches. At the beginning the Lord sent
down a special baptism of his Holy Spirit upon our
Presbytery, and hence the scriptural faith, the per-
manent life and the steady, healthy growth through the
ages, notwithstanding the many storms and adversities
through which it has passed. The body has been torn by
schisms and divisions; it has been divided and subdi-
vided; personal animosities have threatened it; blight-
ing blasts have swept over it; desolating wars, “with
their confused noise and garments rolled in blood,”
have darkened the country's prospects; and the wear
of ages has done its worst; but still our church-life has
moved onward and upward, widening, deepening and
increasing with almost even progress for over a century
and a half. Much, very much, of this wonderful his-
tory was, without a question, owing to that deep rooting
132
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 133
of its germs under the gracious showers of the Holy
Ghost.
We could not, therefore, comprehend our history with-
out understanding something of “the Great Awaken-
ing” in the midst of which its early years were spent.
It is almost vain for us to attempt to seek for the
Origin of that awakening. It seemed to be an outpour-
ing of the Spirit over the Christian world. Its blessings
were vouchsafed to Scotland, and that people, already
sound in the faith and ready for the life, awoke to a
power and an activity that could scarcely be realized.
The gracious shower descended upon Wales, and there,
under the leadership of Howell Harris and his de-
voted compeers, was begun that wonderful work which
changed the whole principality from a condition of
the most wretched ignorance and wickedness into one
wherein the gospel has more general influence than in
any other land. It fell in blessed reviving upon Ire-
land, and there the veterans of the truth experienced
a new life and power in that faith which blessed their
own souls and became the means of preparing many of
the sons of that land to go forth as standard-bearers of
the gospel even to this country. The heavenly bless-
ings came down richly upon New England, and who
of us is not familiar with the story of the glorious re-
vival scenes which were so well delineated by Edwards,
and in which he was such a mighty instrument by the
hand of God? The blessed influence was felt in this
very region where our Presbytery is located, and in the
men of the Log College. God had the truth ready, and
the agents also ready to receive it and then to spread it
abroad in every quarter. It descended upon England
in wonderful power. Lady Huntingdon became the
centre around which many of its most important move-
134 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ments gathered, and from which blessed influences were
diffused. Hers was the great name connected with its
activity, its catholicity and its devout godliness. That
wonderful man, John Wesley, also was made the mov-
ing power of a work which accomplished a moral revo-
lution throughout all England.
That remarkable religious movement called “the
Great Awakening” has been so well summed up by Dr.
Hatfield that we quote his words: “A period of great
degeneracy, profligacy and corruption succeeded the
restoration of the monarchy in England, extending
into the next century. At length, in 1730, an era of
spiritual revival was ushered in under the preaching
of the Wesleys, Whitefield and a host of like-minded
men of God, during which the churches of England,
Scotland and Ireland were visited with a wonderful re-
freshing from the presence of the Lord. The wave of
divine grace extended to the British colonies in Amer-
ica, where, under the preaching of Edwards and Bel-
lamy and the Tennents and others of kindred spirit,
the churches everywhere, in and out of New England,
were so graciously and powerfully revived that the
period has ever since been known as the Great Awa-
kening, so many were the revivals of religion among
the Christian people of the Western World.”
Thus far in our account of this great reviving season
we have used in connection therewith the names of the
Tennents in this region of the country, of Edwards in
New England, of Howell Harris in Wales, and of the
countess of Huntingdon in England. But there is an-
other name more influential than either of them which
we have not yet named, because it was that of a man
confined to no land, but who swept over them all, as if
bearing an angel’s commission from the throne of God.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 135
It was the name of George Whitefield. He was the
human agent for connecting together and binding into
one and keeping in harmony the blessed movements in
the various regions and countries. Passing with in-
credible rapidity from place to place, he received new
impulses and imparted new ardor to each. He caught
the spirit of all as he passed, and added fresh momen-
tum to each revival scene wherever he was providen-
tially led, and thus became a bond of union throughout
all the countries. It was his to gather up and then to
intensify and impart the revival spirit.
We can now read the results of the Great Awakening
in the light of history. It was sent to counteract the
blighting effects of the skepticism that was then prev-
alent—to awaken the churches from the torpor which
had settled down upon them—to impart life where there
were but dead forms and creeds—and to break up the
sad worldliness that was paralyzing all. All these ends
were effected by it. New and blessed life was imparted.
The Church was raised to a higher plane of truth and
love and active zeal. The country was prepared for
the better performance of its worldwide mission in the
kingdom of God.
GEORGE WHITEFIELD.
The history of this Presbytery can never be fully
written without at least some knowledge of the life and
work of George Whitefield, who had so much to do
with imparting some of its first and best influences.
A memoir of him we would not attempt, but a few
things concerning him should be set forth.
His grandfather and great-grandfather were both
ministers of the Established Church of England. Al-
though his father was the keeper of a public-house in
136 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Gloucester, where he was born in 1714, his mother was
a wise and pious woman, and by her influence no doubt
his character was formed. His youth was somewhat
wayward, and certainly gave no promise of what he
was to become, other than an extraordinary ability in
public declamation. Indeed, it was to him a source
of much after-grief that for years he indulged in many
youthful follies.
In due time, however, after the necessary prepar-
atory studies, he entered the University of Oxford, and
from that time forward he became a new man. Under
the guidance of God’s good providence he was led to
associate with some of the members of, and then to
connect himself with, what was in ridicule called the
Holy Club. He was the very first of that celebrated
band of students who experienced sincere conversion.
Then as one of the world-renowned company of the
“Oxford Methodists,” of which the Wesleys were
conspicuous members, he became most strict in the
observance of all its rules for the cultivation of per-
Sonal holiness.
He finished his university course, and at the age of
twenty-three was ordained in the Episcopal Church.
At once his earnest piety, his zeal and his wonderful
eloquence burst forth to the amazement of all. Much
of his time was then given, in connection with the
Moravians and certain other benevolent Societies, to the
visiting of prisoners and preaching to the poor and
suffering. His preaching electrified the whole com-
munity. During the first year of his ministry nine
or ten of his sermons were published, which are still
read.
But persecution soon arose against him, and that
chiefly in the Church with which he was connected.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 137
He was regarded as wild and fanatical. By the per-
suasion of his dear bosom friend, John Wesley, he was
induced to cross the Atlantic, visit Georgia in America
and there preach the glorious gospel. But his perse-
cutors sent hostile reports before him, and most of the
pulpits of the Established Church were closed against
him. Soon he returned, but again found that scarce
any church would admit him to proclaim in it his
beloved story of the cross.
He left London and went to Bristol, but still could
find no pulpit that would open to him. This became
the crisis of his work and his fame. He would preach
the gospel, and, every church being closed against him,
he took to the open air, and at once he had thousands
of half-wild colliers as his hearers. A new era opened
before him and before the Wesleys. He was the first,
and was driven to it by persecution, to engage in open-
air preaching. He led the way; John and Charles Wes-
ley followed him. Whitefield's popularity as a preacher
became absolutely unbounded. Scarcely an open field
or meadow could be found that was wide enough to
contain the vast multitudes that came from every
Quarter to hear him. On one occasion, at a place
called Rose Green, there was an audience of over
twenty thousand.
He was now one of the most effective preachers that
the world had ever seen, and continued so as long as
he lived. But we can follow his work in detail no
farther, and must confine ourselves to only some of its
leading points and characteristics. After a while he
made his second visit to this country, and reached New
England at a time when there was a little waning in
the great revival of which Edwards was the central
figure. Edwards's description of his coming will tell
138 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
its own story: “On his second visit to the colonies
some of the Episcopal churches refused him their pul-
pits, but other churches were all open to him. He
preached in Philadelphia and New York and on his
way to Georgia, drawing delighted multitudes every-
where. Visiting New England, the revival which had
begun in Northampton in 1736 broke out again, and
perhaps Boston never saw a greater awakening. He
paid several visits to America; and the results of his
evangelistic tours were shared by the Congregational,
the Presbyterian and the Baptist churches from Massa-
chusetts to Georgia.”
Mr. Whitefield had wonderful powers of eloquence, but
the real secret of its overwhelming effects was his deep,
ardent piety, which absorbed and inflamed his whole
soul. He had such love to God that when he touched
on the divine glory he was himself swept away as by a
whirlwind. He felt such deep compassion for the lost
souls of men that he could cry to them out of the
anguish of his heart. The affection of his soul toward
his fellow-Christians of any name was strong as death.
For instance, he could not bear that there should be an
evil word or an evil thought against that dearest of his
friends, John Wesley, and he trembled when he knew
that that beloved man was about to publish his sermon
against the doctrine of Predestination. He wrote to
him; he begged him to desist. With very anguish of
soul he tried to dissuade him. He appealed, “For God's
sake, reflect! It will make you enemies. It will cur-
tail your usefulness. It will alienate good men from
you. It will do no good. It can but make the contro-
versy more bitter.” Thus with scalding tears he pleaded
with him. -
From this deep piety arose that vehement zeal that was
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 139
absolutely amazing. It left him no time or heart for
controversy. He made no attempt to organize churches.
He could not rest, Sabbath-day or week-day. His ser-
vices were equally ready for any denomination, at any
time, at any place. Desire for the glory of God, the
Salvation of men, the edification of believers as an irre-
sistible torrent swept him onward and onward, and
strained his every power to its utmost possible tension.
It must not be inferred that he was indifferent to
doctrines or that he had no decided creed. On the
contrary, he was a decided Calvinist. This was the
more significant considering that his earliest and warm-
est associates and friends were the Wesleys and others
of the Oxford Methodists, who were generally Armin-
ians. But his own studies and convictions had led him
to adopt the opposite system. His Calvinistic views be-
came clearer and stronger from his visits to Edwards,
the Tennents and others in this country. The ecclesias-
tical position which was assigned him by general consent
was that of leader among the Calvinistic Methodists of
Great Britain, including Lady Huntingdon and others
of kindred spirit, now chiefly known as the Welsh body
of that name.
For the sublime mission of acting as God's instrument
in awakening the Christian world to a new and deeper in-
terest in the cause of Christ, it is very striking how many
of the requisite qualifications were bestowed upon White-
field, as if God had prepared him for that very work.
He was sound and intelligent in the faith, so that the
truth, and the truth alone, dropped from his lips; he
had the spirit and zeal of Wesley, and was able to
arouse the sleeping churches; he had a burning elo-
Quence, so that men would listen to him, become im-
pressed, and would heed his glowing appeals; and he
t
140 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
had a zeal and industry that never tired, but impelled
him on and on over lands and nations.
His powers of eloquence were perfectly overwhelming,
as the following extracts will illustrate: “In person
Whitefield, as described by Dr. Gillies of Scotland, was
graceful, well-proportioned, above the middle size in
stature. His eyes were dark blue, small and sprightly.
His complexion was fair, his countenance manly. Both
his face and his voice were softened with an uncommon
degree of sweetness, and he was neat, easy in deport-
ment and without affectation. He had a strong, musical
voice, under wonderful command. Twenty thousand
people could hear him. “Every accent of his voice
spoke to the ear; every feature of his face and every
motion of his hand spoke to the eye.” His preaching
melted Jonathan Edwards to tears. Benjamin Frank-
lin went to hear him in Philadelphia, and was com-
pletely won. He perceived, he wrote, that Whitefield
would finish with a collection, and although he had gold,
silver and copper in his pocket, he resolved to give
nothing. But as the preacher proceeded, “I began to
soften, and concluded to give the copper. Another
stroke of his oratory determined me to give the silver,
and he finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket
wholly into the collector's dish—gold and all.” White-
field was once asked for a copy of a sermon to publish.
‘I have no objection,’ said he, “if you will print the
lightning, thunder and rainbow with it.’
“The Franklin incident exhibits his great persuasive
powers. A scene described by Dr. James Hamilton
shows how vivid were some of his pictures. Lord Ches-
terfield was listening while the orator described the sinner
as a blind beggar led by a dog. The dog leaving him,
he was forced to grope his way, guided only by his staff.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 141
“Unconsciously he wanders to the edge of a precipice;
his staff drops from his hand down the abyss, too far to
send back an echo; he reaches forward cautiously to
recover it; for a moment, he poises on vacancy, and '-
“Good God!' shouted Chesterfield, “he is gone!’ as he
sprung from his seat to prevent the catastrophe.”
Opposition or persecution had no power to restrain
him. Says Tyerman in his history of the Wesleys:
“In a certain place of England the town-crier was em-
ployed to give notice of a bear-baiting, it being under-
stood that Whitefield was the bear; and accordingly
when he began to preach a mob surrounded him and a
row ensued. In Cumberland his enemies injured his
chaise and cut off the tails of his horses. At Ulverstone
a clergyman charged a constable to arrest him. But
none of these things checked his triumphal march.
People by thousands flocked to hear him. At a single
sacramental service a church at Haworth was thrice
filled with communicants. From his leaving London
to his reaching Edinburgh he preached ninety times to
about a hundred and forty thousand people.” At Lady
Huntingdon's he seemed to think himself at the gates
of Paradise. He writes: “For a day or two Her Lady-
ship has had five clergymen under her roof. Her home
is a Bethel indeed. To us in the ministry it looks like
a college. We have the Sacrament every morning, heav-
enly conversation all day and preach at night. This is
to live at court indeed.” -
In spite of all that the enemy could do to hinder
him, his popularity was wonderful and the audiences
that gathered to hear him were immense. Wherever he
went his presence was the signal for enthusiasm. This
is admirably described by the Rev. R. M. Patterson,
D. D., in the Tercentenary Book: “His progress in
142 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the colonies was a triumphal march. Processions of
horsemen escorted him. Judges suspended their courts
when he preached. Immense crowds in churches and in
fields hung upon his lips. Dr. Stevens in his History of
Methodism calls him “the greatest preacher, it is prob-
able, in popular eloquence of all the Christian ages.’
He was in this city” (Philadelphia) “on his first visit
less than a month, but he shook it to its foundations and
agitated the surrounding country. The population of this
city was less than fifteen thousand. Congregations of ten
thousand, of course drawn from the country as well as from
the city, gathered around the preacher on ‘Society Hill.’
It is Benjamin Franklin's testimony that ‘from being
thoughtless or indifferent about religion it seemed as if
all the world were growing religious, so that one could
not walk through the streets of an evening without hear-
ing psalms sung in different families in every street.’
No books were sold but the religious, and such was the
general conversation. Dancing-schools were discontin-
ued, balls and concerts were given up. For a year after
there continued to be a daily public religious service
and three services on the Sabbath. Twenty-six asso-
ciations for prayer were formed.
“The moral and religious improvement which ac-
companied Whitefield was admitted, but the Latitudi-
narians of the day censured him for his affinity with
‘the hot-headed Predestinarians.” Kalm, a contemporary
Swedish traveler, says that the genuine Calvinism of
Whitefield and Tennent, and their ardent zeal for vital,
practical godliness, was called ‘New Light.” The de-
cided Calvinism of the flying evangelist brought him
into fervent sympathy with the Presbyterians, who had
already been quickened, and they were further quick-
ened through him. Kalm said in 1751, “The prose-
!
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 143
lytes of this man, or the “New Lights,” are at present
merely a sect of Presbyterians.’”
His activity was such that we can but wonder how
any man could endure it. “Though he was married
in 1741, he never saw much of home-life. His activi-
ties were incessant, all-absorbing. He never spared
himself, preaching every day in the week, and often
three or four times a day. His last sermon was
preached the day before his death. He visited Wales
again and again, and gave an impulse to the revival
movement already begun by Howell Harris. He vis-
ited Scotland and great results followed. He traveled
through England in every quarter, attracting extraor-
dinary attention wherever he went. As we have al-
ready said, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean thirteen times
on the seven visits which he made to this country. He
flew from place to place, from land to land, as if he
could not rest while there was one human being any-
where who had not heard the story of the cross.
It would seem as if he could not even take time to
die. The last sermon on the last whole day he ever
lived was preached in Exeter, Massachusetts. He was
ill, and a friend remarked that he was more fit to go to
bed than to preach. “Yes,” said he ; then pausing he
added, “Lord Jesus, I am weary in thy work, but not
of it.” An immense audience gathered to hear him.
At first he labored, but soon all his faculties responded
for a last great effort, and he held the multitude spell-
bound for two hours. He proceeded to Newburyport
the same day. In the evening, as he took his candle
to go to bed, many who were gathered in the hall
tempted him to an exhortation, which he continued
till the candle burned out in the socket. The next
morning, September 30, 1770, he was dead.
144 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG OOLLEGE,
We are well aware that, so very high is our appre-
ciation of this wonderful man, and of the grand mission
for which God raised him up, we are in danger of
exaggeration in our language concerning him, and so,
though exaggeration in the case is scarcely possible, we
will use the language of two other writers, neither of
whom held with the creed of Whitefield. One extract
is from the pen of Tyerman, the eminent historian of the
Wesleys and their times. He says of him: “Whitefield
was nominally the leader of the Calvinistic Methodists,
but he left to others the work of organization. The re-
sult, however, of his embracing Calvinism was a wide
field of usefulness which, without it, neither he nor
Wesley could have occupied. At the same time, his
services to Methodism were greater than Methodists
have ever yet acknowledged, and it is impossible to
estimate the value of the work he and his female prel-
ate, the grand, stately, strong-minded, godly and self-
sacrificing countess of Huntingdon, performed for the
Church of England. In a true cosmopolitan spirit
he divided his time between Great Britain and Amer-
ica; with a catholicity as broad as the gospel he gave
his wonderful labors to all denominations.”
As is meet, we finish our imperfect sketch with the
tender words of the other witness, his lifelong friend
and co-worker, John Wesley. In a sermon preached
after Whitefield's death, Mr. Wesley spoke of his
“unparalleled zeal,” “indefatigable activity,” “tender-
heartedness,” “charitableness toward the poor,” “his
deep gratitude,” “tender friendship” (which he him-
self had tested), his “frankness and openness,” “cour-
age and intrepidity,” “great plainness of speech,”
“steadiness,” “integrity.” “Have we,” said Wesley,
“read or heard of any person since the apostles who
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 145
testified the gospel of the grace of God through so
widely extended a space, through so large a part of
the world? Have ‘we heard or read of any person
who called so many thousands, so many myriads, of
sinners to repentance?”
WHITEFIELD's VISITS IN THIS REGION.
Twice during the course of his wonderfully brilliant
career in the work of the Lord did Mr. Whitefield visit
this region of country, and he left an impress that can
never be effaced. Under the extraordinary attendant
circumstances, these visits to the Log College and the
field of the old Neshaminy church formed an epoch in
our history which we must put on record to the glory
of the grace of God.
The great evangelist was preaching in Philadelphia;
thousands upon thousands were crowding to receive the
words which dropped from his lips; the community
was startled from its spiritual slumber; religion was
the one theme that was agitating the whole of society.
Old Mr. Tennent was twenty miles away in what was
almost a forest still, busy with the daily duties of teach-
ing his boys in the Log College. Still, he was well
informed concerning the wonderful preacher lately
arrived from England, and heartily did he sympathize
with him in his earnest gospel work. And now that
he is so near he must go and see him and hear him,
and imbibe that flaming gospel spirit that is stirring
the whole Christian world.
Taking two kindred spirits with him, he sets out on
the journey of twenty miles through the forests, most
likely on horseback, but possibly on foot. They reach
the city, find out the place where the man of God is
sojourning, and hasten thither. Rustic, old, not very
10
146 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
attractive in appearance, but most deeply in earnest and
bearing with him momentous interests both for that and
subsequent ages, he arrives at what was the home of
Whitefield for the time being.
But that memorable interview, fraught with such sol-
emn interests, we must relate in Whitefield's own words,
which his journal, happily, has preserved to us. He
says: “On my return home from a visit to a friend I
was much comforted by the coming of one Mr. Tennent,
an old gray-headed disciple and soldier of Jesus Christ.
He keeps an academy about twenty miles from Phila-
delphia, and has been blessed with four gracious sons,
three of which have been, and still continue to be, emi-
nently useful in the Church of God. He brought two
pious souls along with him, and rejoiced me by letting
me know how they had been spoken evil of for their
Master's sake. He is a great friend of Mr. Erskine of
Scotland.”
Soon after this visit of Mr. Tennent, no doubt accord-
ing to agreement at that time, Mr. Whitefield in return
visited his friend at his home on the Neshaminy. Very
fortunately, we have also an account of this trip to the
Log College in Whitefield's own words: “November
22, 1739, I set out for Neshaminy, twenty miles dis-
tant from Trent Town, where old Mr. Tennent lives,
and where I was to preach to-day, according to appoint-
ment. About twelve o'clock we came thither, and found
about three thousand people gathered together in the
meeting-house yard. Mr. William Tendent, Jr., an
eminent servant of Jesus Christ, because we stayed
beyond the time appointed, was preaching to them.
When I came up, he soon stopt, sung a psalm, and then
I began to speak as the Lord gave me utterance. At
first the people seemed unaffected, but in the midst of
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 147
my discourse the power of the Lord Jesus came upon me,
and I felt such a struggling within myself for the people
as I scarce ever felt before. The hearers began to be
melted down immediately, and to cry much, and we had
good reason to hope the Lord intended good for many.
“After I had finished Mr. Gilbert Tennent gave a
word of exhortation to confirm what had been delivered.
At the end of his discourse we sung a psalm, and dis-
missed the people with a blessing. Oh, that the people
may say Amen to it! -
“After the exercises were over we went to old Mr.
Tennent's, who entertained us like one of the ancient
patriarchs. His wife to me seemed like Elizabeth, and
he like Zachary; both, as far as I can learn, walk in all
the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blame-
less. Though God was pleased to humble my soul, so
that I was obliged to retire for a while, yet we had sweet
communion with each other, and spent the evening in
ascertaining what measures had best be taken for pro-
moting our dear Lord's kingdom. It happened very
providentially that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are
appointed to be a Presbytery by the Synod, so that they
intend bringing up gracious youths and sending them
out from time to time into the Lord's vineyard. The
place where the young men study now is, in contempt,
called ‘the college.’ Friday, November 23, parted from
dear Mr. Tennent, and his other worthy fellow-laborers,
but promised to remember each other publicly in our
prayers.”
Mr. Whitefield made this visit to Mr. Tennent on his
way to New York, and after spending a short time in
that city he returned again, and then enjoyed several
days with his friends at the college. It is not difficult
to imagine how blessed those days must have been.
148 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG, COLLEGE,
They gave him a short period of rest from his labors.
It was a season of the refreshment of love among friends
of kindred spirit—friends who entered into full sym-
pathy with him in his glorious mission. How exhilar-
ating for them to hear from him of the blessed scenes
through which he had passed and of the quickening in
the kingdom of God throughout the world! Moreover,
how profitable to him to mingle in soul with these
simple, earnest, God-fearing people, and to learn from
them of the depths of the Holy Scriptures in which their
studies had made them even more skilled than he was
How many and warm their prayers must have been
How earnest their consultations about the work of the
kingdom, which had been at that time so largely com-
mitted to the trust of that little company It is more
than probable that no period in the lives of either of
these men had more effects than did that one.
There were other events connected with that visit of
Whitefield which must have been most astonishing. He
preached in the adjacent regions of country, and his ser-
mons must have been overwhelming in effect beyond
what we can now imagine. One instance will illustrate
this. He addressed immense gatherings in the neigh-
boring province of New Jersey in the vicinity of Pen-
nington, and his words were such as to impress the
thousands in a manner of which we can scarcely con-
ceive. Well-established tradition describes scenes in
which the audience as they separated would kneel down
along the fences in little groups and agonize with God
in prayer that he would save them from the wrath to
come. If we compel our minds to dwell on such scenes,
and conceive of the intense anxiety which forced them
to such public manifestation of concern, in spite of in-
convenience, ridicule and opposition, we must see that
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 149
the power of God's Spirit was with him, and that in a
wonderful manner.
EFFECTS OF WHITEFIELD's VISIT.
We have dwelt so fully upon these visits of Whitefield
to the Log College and his preaching in that neighbor-
hood because they had most important effects in the
history of our Presbytery and of our whole Church, and
were followed by consequences of unspeakable import-
ance. In fact, the spirit of our early history, or even
the peculiar character of our church-life, could not be
fully understood without knowledge of them. We will
do well to study them thoroughly. If their spirit be
revived, the result would be glorious even now. That
they formed a most important epoch is evident. Far,
far, beyond what such a small occurrence might have
been expected to effect was the influence of that gracious
providence. The event was insignificant in the eyes of
man, but the results were glorious at that time, and
its influence has been extending ever since.
To understand its importance we must not only con-
sider that wonderful man as a special instrument in the
hands of God at that time, but we must also look atten-
tively at these men to whom he was sent on his mission.
Mr. Tennent, the youth connected with the school and
the people of the surrounding country were peculiarly
prepared for the message which he brought them from
God. They were educated men; their deep interest did
not arise from ignorance or superstition. They were
prepared to judge of the message by the word of God,
and then receive it. Already were they mighty in the
Scriptures, loving them and ready to receive them in
their power. They were thoroughly orthodox in faith,
and so were ready to receive light on the truth. More-
150 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
over, they were at that very time rejoicing in revival
and were quickened in the life of Christ and his gospel.
They believed in refreshings from on high, felt some of
them in their own souls, and were ready for still more.
They were, in fact, awaiting the downpouring of the
Spirit of God in refreshing showers.
Such subjects for the specially reviving influences of
the Spirit of God could scarcely be found in any other
quarter. The old patriarch, Mr. Tennent, warm of
heart and longing for the conversion of the multi-
tude, skilled in the word of God, conscientious in
heart; those ardent and educated young men, with
Souls keenly awake with aspirations for the glory of
God; the surrounding population, of sound common
sense, versed in the Bible and Catechism and loving
the Church of their fathers, these were the people
who were waiting for God and ready for the message
he had now sent them. It was a community that in
religious knowledge and principles and hopes was far
beyond an ordinary one, and that might be expected to
extend the influences brought them by the great evan-
gelist with all readiness of mind.
To that community, so prepared, did this chosen serv-
ant of God come that they might be awakened by their
Lord to the great mission which he had ready for them
in the Church and the country. He came in the power
of the Holy Ghost and with burning eloquence, and
what could resist him 2 By the leading of an all-wise and
all-mighty Providence he applied the torch to the ma-
terial already prepared, and then there could but follow
a heavenly flame. These bright and cultured souls
were stirred to their very depths, and blessings untold
were involved therein. They awoke to a life not new
in kind, but new in degree, and in all truth and sober-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 151
ness a new prospect opened before our Church and
country.
We might be staggered at the thought that White-
field's visits were so very brief, and that assuredly the
effects could not have been very lasting in their influ-
ence. But it did not require a long time to inflame
with a holy zeal that material which God had so well
prepared. It was like the prepared plate of the pho-
tograph, which has to be but touched by the sun's
light and the impression is fixed for all time. Or,
rather, it was like the blessed instant of conversion
when the soul is touched by the regenerating Spirit,
and passes from death into life eternal. Or, again, it
was like that future time predicted by prophecy when
nations shall be born in a day. In a single moment, as
it were, did that new life spring up, and it was for ever-
IQ Ore.
The transforming power of the Holy Ghost, accom-
panying the words of the almost inspired man of God,
aroused the patriarch of the college to make his school
a new fountain of light and truth and zeal; it touched
the young men, and they consecrated themselves to a
more earnest life of toil for the glory of Christ in
building up his kingdom ; it touched those already
well-grounded neighbors, and still deeper foundations
were laid for that Christian stability which for so many
generations has preserved our Presbytery. That pecu-
liar company in the Log College had but to be animated
with the new zeal, and they then went out to the conse-
cration of many another spot which afterward became
a new fountain of piety as well as of learning.
By that new baptism of the Holy Ghost accompany-
ing the message of his servant the Log College soon
became a great centre of religious activity, of revived
152 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
Christian life and of piety as well as of learning. A
most gracious work prevailed in it, and sent out from it
a power to pervade not only that particular region, but
also the whole Church and land. The great revival
influences which were then prevailing throughout so
much of the Church in this country did henceforth
have this as one of its chief strongholds.
There was one feature of this extensive work of
grace under the preaching of Whitefield in this region
which is worthy of very special attention. He had
come directly out of the midst of the most wonderful
movement of the kingdom in modern times—namely,
that movement which, commencing with those earnest
young men, “the Oxford Methodists,” became stronger
and deeper and more widely extended until it eventua-
ted in the great Methodist Church of the present day.
He had come out of the heart of the most stirring scenes
of that work. He had been one of the most devoted of
those young men—one of the leaders in that celebrated
movement in company with the brothers John and
Charles Wesley. He was the most brilliant and effect-
ive preacher of them all, was the first of them to take
the open air, and was imbued with their intense spirit of
zeal and love to God and for souls. He had also taken
an active part in that most wonderful revival in Wales,
whose leaders were the staunch Calvinists Howell Har-
ris, Jones, Rowland and others.
This was the spirit in which he came here, and by
his surprising eloquence stirred the whole country. By
so doing he brought those early days of our Presby-
terianism into harmony with the work of Wesley and
Harris and Edwards. But for us his mission was bet-
ter still, for, while he was fully in sympathy with that
great revival movement, he was yet sound in the Cal-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 153
vinistic faith. His was the grand mission of leading in
those most earnest revival movements, and that in har-
mony with the old doctrines of Augustine and Calvin.
This spirit, having been brought with him, was received
by all well-established fathers of our Church, wrought
into their quickened life by his glowing eloquence, and
raised up our Church to an earnest zeal she had never
known before and has never lost. The Church was
orthodox before; she now became imbued with a life
and energy that were irresistible. The extent and power
of the work in which he was the leader may be seen in
that the Second church in Philadelphia was made up
of those who partook of his spirit, as many of them had
been converted under his preaching.
Nor was that all in that Great Awakening in which
we were most deeply concerned. It was not alone at
the Log College nor in this whole region that the effects
were felt. They were dispersed far and near as indi-
viduals removed to more distant places or new cen-
tres of population were established or other Presbyte-
ries were formed. Those devoted men, the Blairs, the
Robinsons, the Beattys and others, carried these effects
into every quarter, until it became the very life and
power of religion in the whole country.
THE CHILD OF PROVIDENCE.
Is it any wonder that, having gone so far as to be-
come satisfied that there was a special design by the
God of providence and of his Church in raising up this
wonderful man and graciously guiding him, we have
been constrained to go much farther and to trace with
some minuteness his most sublime mission ? There is
no other so real and satisfactory explanation that can be
given of his extraordinary talents and career than this
154 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
that his mission was specially ordered of Providence.
This is the light in which we must regard him. It
was the light in which Tennent and the men of his
day regarded him. Their opinion was that “he was
a messenger from God sent to accomplish great good
among the people.” They knew him as we cannot
know him, and such was their mature judgment.
And the crisis of the Church and country at that
time was such as to call for such an instrument as a
gift from God. The foundations of our Church were to
be laid for all time to come; how important that it
should receive a character for vital godliness in its
very beginning ! And how deeply significant that its
foundations were laid amid the revival scenes in which
Whitefield was the leader How vastly momentous
that those earnest, godly men at the beginning went
forth in his spirit and in that of Wesley and Howell
Harris and Lady Huntingdon | Did it not preintimate
what God intended our Church to be that theirs was the
spirit in which he caused it to be moulded ? Neither was
it our Church only that was to be influenced in its whole
future life, but there was also an influence that was in-
tended to go out over the whole land. The fortunes of
Church and country were bound up in one. God alone
knows or can know how greatly the religious life of
our whole land was influenced by those first move-
ments of quickening power which it has thus been our
unspeakable privilege to trace.
CHAPTER VIII.
FORMATIVE PERIOD (Continued): THE OLD AND NEW
I, IGHT SCHISM,
WHAT WAS IT 2
No event of those early days made so deep a sensa-
tion or became so memorable as what was called the
New Light Schism. It excited the community, es-
tranged brethren, agitated all classes, and finally rent
the Church. It has ever been regarded as an epoch in
our history, the one sadly memorable point in our an-
nals previous to the formation of the General Assem-
bly and the great experience which as a warning
should never be forgotten.
The agitation from which this schism sprung had
much of its origin within our bounds; much of the
cause of the contention was here, and some of the lead-
ing spirits either lived here or had sprung from this
region. Nowhere were the effects of its convulsions
felt more deeply than in some of our old churches.
The obligation, therefore, rests on us to recall its
stirring scenes and to depict its causes, its subjects
of controversy, its sad climax—its beginning and its
end. We shall endeavor to trace its incidents with as
much distinctness, and yet with as much brevity, as
is possible. We would portray its leading events so
that they may be clearly seen. When was it? How did
it originate? What were the subjects in controversy %
What was the great crisis? Who were the champions in
155
156 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
its debates? Into what parts was the Church torn ?
What was their condition during the period of separa-
tion ? How long did they continue apart? All these are
questions which we must strive to answer.
CONDITION OF THE CHURCH AT THE TIME.
The time of schism was midway between the forma-
tion of the Presbytery and the organization of the
General Assembly. This was remarkable—at any rate,
the statement of it will be of aid in remembering the
period. The schism began thirty-six years after our
commencement as an organized body, and ended thirty
years before the formation of our General Assembly.
It began in 1741, and was healed in 1758, making
the period of its continuance seventeen years. Then,
taking the middle of that period of seventeen years, or
1750, as the point from which to make our estimate,
we find it about the centre of the period between 1705,
when the Presbytery was formed, and 1788, when the
General Assembly was organized. We note this as a
remarkable coincidence, whether there is any provi-
dential significance in it or not.
Another coincidence of time cannot but be noticed.
The schism occurred in 1741, but that was thirty-six
years after the organization of the Presbytery, or about
the length of a generation. Had that generation in
time brought about such changes in the composition
of the Church or in the state of feelings and opinions
as opened the way for the misunderstandings and aliena-
tions which resulted in division ?
Still another painfully significant thing about the
time was that the schism commenced only two years
after Whitefield’s last visit and five after his first visit
to the Log College. Hence only two or three years
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 157
before it the great outpouring of the Spirit had been
enjoyed, the churches had been refreshed and their
membership largely increased in number. Was there
any connection between the two events? We shall
have occasion to answer this question in another place.
Meantime, the churches had grown rapidly in mem-
bers—much more rapidly, in proportion, than had the
population of the country. Be it still remembered that
the length of time was only that of a generation, and
that therefore the great increase was the more remark-
able. When the Presbytery was formed, or rather
when the Church was begun in an organized con-
dition, in 1705, there was but one Presbytery and
about seven churches or ministers. Thirty-six years
have rolled away, and what do we find to mark the
progress of the generation ? Instead of a single Pres-
...bytery, a Synod consisting of four Presbyteries had
been constituted in 1716; two other Presbyteries had
afterward been added; the members of the Presbyteries
were dispersed over the country from New England to
Virginia—New Castle, with seven ministers; Lewes,
with five; Philadelphia, with six; New Brunswick, with
four; Donegal, with eleven; and New York, with twelve.
The Presbyteries had therefore increased sixfold. In
these Presbyteries the number of ministers—there
were probably as many churches—amounted in all to
fifty-one. As there were but six in the beginning, the
increase in the number of ministers—and probably of
churches also——was about eightfold. No doubt the
great revival influences of the period accounted, at
least in part, for this increase. The fact to carry with
us, in endeavoring to estimate the schism, is that at
that time the Church contained one Synod, six Pres-
byteries and fifty-one ministers,
158 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Whence came these ministers? or where had they
been prepared for the sacred office? The answer to
this will be found to have a bearing on the agitations of
the day. Some of them had been educated in the col-
leges of New England, many of them had come from
Ireland and Scotland, but the greater part of them had
doubtless been trained at the Log College and the in-
stitutions that had sprung out of it. The Log Col-
lege was the only institution bearing the name of col-
lege in the whole Presbyterian Church for the educa-
tion of candidates for the ministry, but out of it had
grown the other seminaries—at Nottingham, Fagg’s
Manor and Pequa. These were literally all, as Prince-
ton College was not yet in existence. These few facts
will serve to describe the condition of the Church at
the time of the schism.
TENDENCIES IN THE CHURCH LEADING TO IT.
Three points which we are now to name did not
formally enter into the controversies as subjects of dis-
cussion, but they existed as tendencies, and finally
took shape in the matters on which the Church was
rent in twain.
In the beginning it should be distinctly stated and
understood that there were no doctrinal differences.
This should be made the more emphatic from the dis-
position sometimes found to connect this first great di-
vision of the Church with the subsequent one of the
Old and New Schools. There was, in fact, no relation
or connection whatever between the two, as many of
those who sympathized with the New Light side in
the first controversy were just as strong in their sym-
pathy with the Old School side of the latter contro-
versy, and the contrary. We therefore repeat that
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 159
there were no contentions about doctrines connected
with the schism. We read of no such debates. The
differences which afterward agitated the Church had
not then been broached. Even on the subject of the
“new birth,” one brought prominently forward then
by the revivals, there were no theoretical disputes, the
only differences being concerning the manner of its
manifestations.
That doctrines did not enter into the discussions of
the time may be seen in the “Adopting Act” of only
twelve years before. According to that act, the Synod
agreed, with only one dissenting voice, and that after
diligently inquiring whether any one had any scruples,
that the Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter
Catechisms of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster
was the confession of faith of the body. And so cordial
were they in this, so unanimous and so clear, that im-
mediately after taking the vote on it “the Synod, ob-
serving that unanimity, peace and unity which appeared
in all their consultations and determinations relating to
the affair of the Confession, did unanimously agree to
give thanks to God in solemn prayer and praise.” This
makes it positive that there were no doctrinal differences
in the body twelve years before.
The Adopting Act itself shows that no such divisions
had crept in in the mean time—“That every member
of this Synod, whether minister or elder, do sincerely
and heartily receive, own, acknowledge or subscribe the
Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter
Catechisms, as the confession of his faith, and the Direct-
ory, as far as circumstances will admit in this infant
Church, for the rule of church order.” This is the best
proof we could have that there were no such disputes.
Doctrines, then, had nothing whatever to do with the
160 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Schism, as then there existed no diversity of opinion
in the denomination. What, then, were the matters
agitating the Church which led to it?
(1) One of the things which became the occasion
of great trouble in the Church was the precious quick-
ening by the Holy Ghost of which Whitefield was so
instrumental, through which so many of the churches
had been visited and blessed. We say the occasion, not
the cause, for the fruits of the Spirit are anything but
such as lead to strifes. Whitefield's visits and the great
revivals had been only two or three years before, and
their extraordinary influences were still lingering in
the churches. Believers had been warmed and edified,
multitudes converted and the churches greatly strength-
ened. These blessings had been enjoyed by some of
the churches more than by others.
But it is an old device of Satan to make such seasons
of rapid growth in the kingdom a time for putting forth
his greatest efforts in sowing discord and producing trou-
bles among God’s people. It is as if he then “came down
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time.” So was it even when Christ was here
among men : then the Evil One would counteract the
work of the Son of God by those strange afflictions of
the demoniacal possessions. So was it in the great Ref-
ormation of the sixteenth century: then the device of
Satan was to prompt the counteracting influence of the
system of the Jesuits. So has it been in every general
revival that we have ever carefully studied: frequently
some error or strife has immediately been awakened.
Our observation tells us that so it is in revivals in par-
ticular churches: the time of danger is immediately
afterward, when great care is needed to watch against
some such snares as Satan will most probably set. We
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 161
can hardly question but that it was so with the season
of refreshing of our early history: the production of
the great schism was an aim of Satan to render the
blessing of less effect against the kingdom of darkness.
(2) A second subject of very grave agitation through-
out the whole Church was that of a college of the first
class for the education of young men for the ministry
of the Presbyterian Church. At that time there was no
such institution in the whole country. It was acknowl-
edged on almost all hands that the Log College had not
that full and thorough course which ultimately must be
established. It was founded simply to meet an emer-
gency: in its classical course it has probably never been
surpassed; in mathematics it was of a high grade; but
to meet the increasing wants of Church and country an
institution with a more complete course of Sciences, more
serviceable buildings and more perfect organization must
be established. The matter was revolving in thoughtful
minds all over the Church. The subject was fermenting.
It was inevitable that there should be great diversity of
views. Could not the Log College be so greatly im-
proved as to meet the acknowledged want? Where
should such a college be located? How were the funds
to be secured for its construction ? Of what character
precisely should it be? All was then without precedent,
and these were at that time burning questions. No won-
der that the Church became more and more excited.
(3) A third source of trouble was that which sprung
from the two different nationalities, habits and casts of
mind of which the Church was largely composed. The
one was the Scotch-Irish, with their thorough training,
their fixedness of principles and their love of established
order. The other element was that which sprung from
New England, with its ardent life, its intense energy
11
162 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
and its habits of adventure. These two elements had
not yet so fully coalesced as perfectly to merge their
peculiarities in each other. They had different customs,
different views of things, different casts of mind. They
looked at things in different lights. They did not fully
understand each other. It would take a long time for
them completely to assimilate. All the traces of that
diversity of thought and bent of mind have not even
yet wholly disappeared. It was inevitable that in those
early days these opposite tendencies should sometimes
come in collision and produce results that must be
unhappy.
(4) A fourth cause of constant irritation was the
fact that the relations, rights and duties of the various
branches of the ecclesiastical system were not yet clearly
defined. The felt need had not yet operated long enough
to lead to the adoption of such rules of intercommuni-
cation as would prevent friction and interference. The
duties of Presbyteries to Presbyteries were not under-
stood. The proper relations of Presbyteries to Synods,
and even to churches, had not yet been learned. Simi-
lar duties had been familiar in other lands, but the new
Church was made up of dissimilar elements, and was
in untried circumstances, so that everything had to be
more or less modified, and experience alone could teach
the proper modifications. Wants and customs had to
settle them. Experience could be the only teacher, and
for that there had not yet been time enough, or, rather,
bitter divisions were a part of such experience.
None of these causes perhaps took such definite shape
as to become a subject of formal controversy. But they
all existed as general grounds of fermentation and of
increasing irritation. No one of them by itself, it is
likely, would have brought about the ultimate disastrous
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 163
result. But it was inevitable that combined they
should finally lead to the crisis.
SPECIFIC CAUSES OF THE DISRUPTION.
When such general discontent was lurking it was
certain soon to take on a definite shape. For two
or three years the dissatisfaction went on fermenting
and growing worse and worse. At length it took form.
That form may be described under three different heads.
There were others not so easily defined, and perhaps not
acknowledged, but they all may be classed under one or
other of these three:
1. The first subject of what became a source of in-
tensely excited controversy was that which was called
the New Lights. What these new lights were in detail
we are not distinctly informed. Their prevailing char-
acter, however, has been clearly enough recorded.
Under the awakening preaching of Whitefield, Gil-
bert Tennent, Samuel Blair and others, and under the
intense feelings of the religious quickening of the
period, certain courses were taken which a cooler judg-
ment afterward could hardly approve. These courses
were probably not wrong in themselves, but they were
of a dangerous tendency when carried to excess. As
a matter of fact, both Whitefield and Tennent, after
more mature experience, acknowledged that they could
scarcely be approved.
One of these courses was connected with the sub-
ject of the new birth and conversion. The Church
had run into sad formality and practical error on the
subject. It had become customary, as a matter of
course, that at a certain age nearly all who had been
baptized should be received to the Lord's Supper with-
out giving any evidence of a change of heart. The
I64 JPRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
matter of personal acceptance with God received but
little attention. It was considered as almost too sacred
a subject to be conversed about.
The opposite extreme was run into by the other side.
It was affirmed that the instant of conversion must be
known, tangible, very apparent and accompanied by
certain established manifestations in every case; also,
that certain means should always be used to produce
those impressive manifestations of the change. These
means, generally extraordinary, became fruitful sources
of controversy. Always in danger of going to extrav-
agant lengths and often carried to excess, those who
employed them were called the New Lights.
(2) The second cause which, conspiring with the
others, ultimately produced the division, was the intru-
sion of the ardent friends of the revival into other con-
gregations and other Presbyteries than their own, and
preaching in them with their utmost zeal. They felt
impelled to go anywhere, irrespective of ecclesiastical
boundaries, to awaken the backsliding and the careless.
Such burning souls as Gilbert Tennent and Samuel
Blair would not by any rules be restrained from preach-
ing to the perishing. On the other side, those into
whose special charge such intrusions were made not un-
naturally felt sorely aggrieved thereby. It was usurp-
ing their work and reflecting upon their fidelity. The
ardent revivalists would not be restrained, and the
others became more and more exasperated.
The whole matter, which became such a grave source
of trouble at the time, is so clearly presented by Dr.
Alexander that we shall make use of his description :
“One of the greatest causes of complaint against Mr.
Tennent and his ‘New-Light’ brethren was that, in
violation of order and propriety, they passed beyond
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 165
the bounds of their own Presbytery and intruded into
congregations under the care of other ministers. This
these brethren attempted to justify by the sound
maxim employed by the apostles when forbidden to
preach by the Jewish rulers, ‘that we should obey God
rather than man.' But it may well be doubted
whether, in the circumstances in which they were
placed, the maxim was applicable. The ministers into
whose congregations they intruded belonged to the
same Synod with themselves, and had as good a right
to judge what was right and expedient as the ‘New-
Side’ ministers.”
In another place Dr. Alexander more fully describes:
“Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Blair were men of in-
vincible firmness. They were the leaders in this war-
fare. They saw a great harvest before them, and the
Lord seemed to attend their labors everywhere with a
blessing; and they were led to think that mere forms
of order and regulations of ecclesiastical bodies were of
trivial importance compared with the advancement of
the Redeemer's kingdom and the salvation of souls.
They felt, as did the apostles and first Reformers, that
they were called to go everywhere preaching the gospel,
without regard to prescribed limits of Presbyteries or
congregations, especially as they observed that many
pastors neglected to inculcate on their hearers the ne-
cessity of a change of heart, and that the people were
as really perishing for lack of knowledge as they were
under Jewish or popish instructors. They felt them-
selves bound, therefore, to preach far and wide wher-
ever the people would hear them.” But this became
a fruitful source of alienation.
(3) A third matter which led to the schism was the
debates concerning the education of young men for the
166 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
ministry. This became a burning question through
the exigencies of the time, when ministers must be had
for the rapidly increasing wants of the Church, and yet
no satisfactory method of obtaining them was in exist-
ence. There were only two ways in which anything
like a suitable training could be obtained: One was at
the colleges of Great Britain or at those then established
in New England; but either of these involved long
journeys and an amount of expense which the young
men, most of them poor, could not afford. The other
method open to those preparing for the ministry was
the training of the Log College, which was inexpensive
and was in the very heart of the Synod.
Neither of these methods was satisfactory to all. On
the one side were those who had been graduated at the
Log College. These, it was granted, were well trained
in the classics and kindred studies. Moreover, it was
a theological seminary as well as a college, the young
men being taught theology also ; and it was especially
valuable on account of the deep tone of piety which
prevailed and was cultivated there. Vital godliness
was its reigning spirit. Then the men who had come
from it were among the best men and greatest preach-
ers our Church had ever seen. As Dr. Alexander em-
phatically wrote: “If we compare Gilbert Tennent,
Samuel Blair, Samuel Finley, William Tennent, Jr.,
and John Blair with an equal number of their opposers,
they certainly will not suffer in public opinion by the
comparison.” In another place his careful and well-
weighed testimony was: “I cannot express how much
the Presbyterian Church in these United States is in-
debted to this very corps who studied successfully the
sacred oracles in the Log College, or, more probably,
under the beautiful groves which shaded the banks of
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 167
the Neshaminy. There they studied, and there they
prayed, and there they were taught of God.”
But, on the other side, the majority of the Synod, as-
suming that that humble institution on the Neshaminy,
taught chiefly by one man, could not possibly meet the
want, insisted that a diploma from some established col-
lege should be required of every candidate. This soon
arrayed on opposite sides the friends and the opposers of
Mr. Tennent's school. The opposers, who were then the
majority of the Synod, objected to receiving young men
into the ministry without giving proof, upon examina-
tion, of a fuller preparation than the course at the Log
College could afford.
Finally, the determination was reached that all
students, before they should be licensed, must submit
to an examination by the entire Synod, through its
appointed committees. Such a rule was accordingly
adopted, in response to an overture from one of the
Presbyteries, the essential point of which was, “The
Synod agree and determine that every person who pro-
poses himself to trial as a candidate for the ministry,
and who has not a diploma or the usual certificate from
a European or New England University, shall be ex-
amined by the whole Synod or its commission as to these
preparatory studies which we generally pass through at
the college; and if they find him qualified they shall
give him a certificate, which shall be received by our
respective Presbyteries as equivalent to a diploma or
certificate from the college.” And then, to carry the
rule into execution, two committees were appointed for
the purpose, one from the northern and the other from
the southern portion of the Synod.
Against this rule the Log College men and the friends
of the revival most earnestly protested. They maintained
168 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
that it was subversive of the most sacred function of the
Presbytery, to which alone it pertained to ordain, and
of course to license to the ministry, and that it was
directly aimed at the Log College, its course and its
friends. This brought on a contest that was definite
and well understood. According to the one side, the
leading thing to be required in candidates for the minis-
try was vital godliness; on the other side, it was a thor-
ough course of learning. The friends of the revival and
of the Log College did not maintain that devoted piety
was all that should be required, for they strenuously
insisted that there should also be an adequate educa-
tion, but that earnest godliness was to hold the first
place. Nor did the opponents ignore piety; they held
it to be indispensable, but laid the greater stress on
thorough training. The controversy waxed warmer
and warmer, until separation became inevitable.
These three points—the controversies about the “New
Lights,” about intrusions into others' charges and about
education for the ministry—were those upon which the
Synod divided. The advocates of these points were all
ranged on the same side, and the united weight of the
questions involved was overwhelming. They were all
of vital importance, and are so even to the present time,
for the principles at stake are always of vital moment.
Those good brethren fought their battles for all time,
and this makes the subject ours as well as theirs. It
was not, therefore, a contest of mere local or temporary
import.
As a matter of course, in the progress of the discus-
sions, very deep and often lamentable feelings would be
awakened. Such men as Gilbert Tennent and Samuel
Finley could not be moderate. The sad thing was that
strong personal antagonisms would and did arise, and
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 169
helped on the painful result. The heat of feeling led
to excesses on both sides. It was greatly to be lamented
that attacks should be made and prejudices aroused
against the Log College, an institution which had ac-
complished such noble things for both Church and
country. But such deplorable feelings seem to mark
the outworking of all human progress.
TEIF CRISIS.
In all such fermenting and ripening complications
of human controversies there generally comes an inci-
dent or an accident which brings them to a head. It is
like applying a match to a mass of combustible material
which has long been preparing. So was it in this case.
In 1741 there came before the Presbytery of New
Brunswick, applying for examination and licensure, a
student of the Log College, named John Rowland. He
was the young man of whom we have already spoken
as the great evangelist. The decisive issue had now
come. What was the Presbytery to do? It was un-
doubtedly its constitutional right and duty as a Pres-
bytery to examine and license him, and, if it saw fit,
to ordain him. But the rule of the Synod, the superior
body, required that he should first obtain Synod's cer-
tificate—a course the Presbytery regarded as a usurpa-
tion. The issue was square and unavoidable. Such
men as Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Blair were not
likely to hesitate long. They promptly proceeded to
examine Mr. Rowland, and, being satisfied, licensed
him on the 1st day of June, 1741. The division was
made, a serious wound on the cause was inflicted, the
separation of seventeen years was accomplished: the
great schism had become an historical event.
The Synod would not, of course, recognize the act of
170 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the Presbytery in licensing Mr. Rowland. Those of
its members who were in the majority had no charge
to bring against him, and did not deny his ecclesias-
tical standing, but they would not allow him to be re-
ceived into their pulpits. Nor did they stop there, but
also excluded from their number what they called “the
contumacious Presbytery.” The record of the event
was in this form. A test question was presented
whether the Presbytery of New Brunswick or their
opposers were the Synod. The question was put.
The men of New Brunswick were found in the minor
party, and then they withdrew.
But it could not be expected that the schism would
stop there. The Presbytery of New Brunswick was a
small body of only four or five ministerial members,
but it soon proved that many others of the Synod were
with these in heart. A very wide feeling extended
throughout the Church that the Presbytery had been
unjustly dealt with. That feeling soon manifested itself
in a tangible form. In the very same year a new Pres-
bytery, the second that was named New Castle, was
formed of certain members who sympathized with the
New Brunswick brethren and united with them in sepa-
ration from the Synod. The breach still widened, and
was rendered complete four years afterward, or in 1745,
by the formation and withdrawal of the whole Synod
of New York, composed of the Presbyteries of New
York, New Castle and New Brunswick. The schism
was thus complete, with a whole Synod on either side—
New York on the New Side, and Philadelphia on the
Old Side.
THE SEVENTEEN YEARS OF SEPARATION.
This lamentable and humiliating separation contin-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 171
ued for seventeen years from the first decisive act of the
schism, or thirteen years from its full consummation.
The two Synods were entirely separated in counsel and
in work. There was no official correspondence what-
ever between them.
It does not appear, however, that the original bitter-
ness of the controversy continued. There was no of—
ficial intercourse between the Synods which served to
keep up its fervor, and so that fervor soon began to cool.
There was a lull in the painful strife which had raged.
Both sides seemed to have been appalled at the shock-
ing, and probably unanticipated, calamity which had
come. The Church was small and could not afford
such a division of its forces. There were no doc-
trinal differences between the parties, and therefore
they should not be separated. Good men must have
felt the evil most deeply.
For a while there were no official movements look-
ing toward reunion. It required some years to bring
them so far as that. The heat of controversy had to
die out, and that required time. But it was passing
away. Though not official, there were many overtures
in the air.
The Presbytery of New York, not having been
much involved in the original controversy, was be-
coming active for peace. After a while even Gilbert
Tennent, the most ardent and mighty spirit of all,
became zealous in his efforts for reconciliation. He
issued a publication in the interests of peace and re-
union. Other interests, such as the projected College
of New Jersey, called upon the faithful to lay shoulder
to shoulder in the cause which they all loved above
everything else. Those who were brethren in heart
must soon be united in form and in action.
172 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
PRESBYTERY OF ABINGTON.
There was one event during the seventeen years of
great historic importance to us as a Presbytery. It was
the constituting of the “Presbytery of Abington.”
This possesses such interest to us because this was in
reality the Presbytery from which we trace our lineal
descent. It was organized one hundred and thirty-
seven years ago in the very field we now occupy; it
passed through many vicissitudes, sometimes the streams
running into it and sometimes out from it; sometimes
bearing one name and sometimes another; sometimes
merged in another body for a time, then rising up again
after years with another name; but still flowing on
with such elements of identity as make it ever the
S8,1016.
The Presbytery was organized September 26, 1751,
by the Synod of New York, the record of the act being
as follows: “The consideration of the petition of some
members of the Presbytery of New Brunswick was
resumed, and after hearing what they had to offer in
support thereof the Synod agree to grant said petition
and to erect that part of the Presbytery of New Bruns-
wick that live in Pennsylvania, together with those
who live in New Jersey to the southward of Philadel-
phia, bordering upon the Delaware, into a distinct Pres-
bytery by the name of the Presbytery of Abington;
and also appoint their first meeting to be at Phila-
delphia the third Wednesday of May next.” The
ministerial members composing it were—Messrs. Gil-
bert Tennent, Richard Treat, Charles Beatty, Andrew
Hunter, Daniel Lawrence and Benjamin Chesnut.
This Presbytery was not formed because of differences
of views on doctrine or order, or because of existing
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 173
strifes, or because of alienations in feeling. The
reasons for erecting it were purely local or territorial.
The Presbytery of New Brunswick had become too
large: part of it lay in the middle portion of New
Jersey, and part of it in Pennsylvania in the ter-
ritory we now cover. The Presbytery of Abington
was therefore constituted of this portion of Pennsylva-
nia and for the convenience of the few churches along
the Delaware in South Jersey. sº
The vicissitudes of this Presbytery have been very
many. Organized first in 1751, during the period of
separation, it continued for seven years, and was then,
at the healing of the breach in 1758, merged in the
general Presbytery of Philadelphia. Thus it contin-
ued for four years until 1762, and was then revived
again as a separate body, but under the name of
the First Presbytery of Philadelphia—First in name,
though it covered the same territory now occupied
by the Presbytery of Philadelphia North. So it
continued to exist for twenty-six years until 1788,
when, at the organization of the General Assembly, it
was again merged in the general Presbytery of Phila-
delphia. In that connection it continued during the
vicissitudes of forty-four years, until 1832, when it was
erected into a distinct body as the Second Presbytery of
Philadelphia. Under that name and distinct organiza-
tion it continued for thirty-eight years, or until the
reunion after the Old and New School division. At
that time, or in 1870, under the general arrangement
of Synods and Presbyteries it retained its old territory,
but received the name of the Presbytery of Philadel-
phia North.
Such have been the changes of names and fortunes of
our Presbytery, but still it has remained substantially
174 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
the same. Its names and relations have changed, but
not its identity. The stream of its history through
outside changes, through storms and through years, has
been substantially this, which we repeat in a more dis-
tinct form: it constituted a part of the first Presbytery
on this continent from 1705 for forty-six years, or to
1751; then it became and continued the Presbytery
of Abington for seven years, until 1758; then it was
merged in the general Presbytery of Philadelphia for
four years, or until 1762; then it was the separate First
Presbytery of Philadelphia for twenty-six years, or
until 1788; then it was absorbed in the general Presby-
tery of Philadelphia for forty-five years, or until 1833;
then it was the separate Second Presbytery of Phila-
delphia for thirty-seven years, or until 1870; then it
has been the Presbytery of Philadelphia North for the
last eighteen years. Such has been its history for the
one hundred and eighty-three years of our Presby-
terian Church. The name which it should have borne
because of its history, because of its connection with
the great men and days of old, and because of its
location, the very heart of which is occupied by the
old church of Abington, is the Presbytery of Abington.
REUNION.
The schism between the Synods of Philadelphia and
New York was healed in the year 1758. How was that
event brought about? In the minds of reflecting and
godly men there was from the beginning a conviction
that the separation should never have occurred. That
conviction manifested itself at first in unofficial propo-
sitions for reunion, afterward in formal overtures for
reunion. The Presbytery of New York, which was
not present in the Synod at the time of the disrup-
FORMATIVE PERIO D. 175
tion, was particularly active in these negotiations for rec-
onciliation. But Gilbert Tennent, the leading spirit of
the disruption and the strongest man in the Church, be-
came the chief agent in healing the breach. In fact, he
had never intended that there should be a separation,
but only that what he considered a wrong should be
rectified. At length he became the champion for bring-
ing the body together again. “He was among the first
to seek a reconciliation and reunion of the parties. To
promote this object he wrote and published a pam-
phlet” (as was before stated) “entitled The Pacifica-
tor, in which he reasons strongly in favor of peace and
union.” These various efforts were successful, and the
happy end was accomplished.
The terms on which the two parties were reunited
were simply on the basis of the Westminster Confession
and Catechisms. The words of the agreement between
them were: “Both Synods having always approved
and received the Westminster Confession of Faith, and
Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as an orthodox and
excellent system of Christian doctrine, founded on the
Word of God, we do still receive the same as the con-
fession of our faith, and also adhere to the plan of
worship, government, and discipline, contained in the
Westminster Directory, strictly enjoining it on all our
members and probationers for the ministry that they
preach and teach according to the form of sound words
in said Confession and Catechisms, and avoid and oppose
all errors contrary thereto.”—Records, p. 286.
The spirit in which they came together is worthy of
lasting remembrance. It is seen in this agreement:
“All complaints and differences shall be mutually for-
given and buried in perpetual oblivion; the Synods
shall unite as two contiguous bodies of Christians agreed
176 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
in principle as though they had never been concerned
with one another before, nor had any differences; and
now join the Synods and Presbyteries upon such script-
ural and rational terms as may secure peace and good
order, tend to heal our broken churches and advance
religion hereafter.”
Equally memorable were the piety and brotherly love
by which they were actuated, as seen in the formal
agreements into which they entered with each other:
“We judge that this is a proper occasion to manifest
our sincere intention, unitedly to exert ourselves to fulfill
the ministry we have received of the Lord Jesus. Ac-
cordingly, we unanimously declare our serious and fixed
resolution, by divine aid, to take heed to ourselves that
our hearts be upright, our discourse edifying, and our
lives exemplary for purity and godliness; to take heed
to our doctrine, that it be not only Orthodox but evan-
gelical and spiritual, tending to awaken the secure to a
suitable concern for their salvation, and to instruct and
encourage sincere Christians; thus commending our-
selves to every man's conscience in the sight of God;
to cultivate peace and harmony among ourselves, and
strengthen each other's hands in promoting the knowl-
edge of divine truth and diffusing the savor of piety
among our people.”—Records, p. 288. Such men must
have been very deeply imbued with the Spirit of Christ.
What had been the effect of the schism upon the
churches during the period of its continuance? Had
the commotions, strifes and alienations caused religion
to decline? So we should have anticipated. Two facts,
however, lead us to a different conclusion. One was
the marvelous spirit of brotherly kindness and earnest
piety that was shown in the transactions connected with
the reunion. The other was the astonishing progress
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 177
of the Church even during the seventeen years of the
separation. At the beginning of that period there
were forty-three ministers, and probably about as many
churches, but at the close of the period of seventeen
years there were about one hundred ministers and as
many churches. These figures we get from the records
of the meetings of the Synods, at each of which there
was a roll preserved of the ministers present, as well as
of those absent.
What shall we say of the inherent vitality of that
Church which even during seventeen years of excite-
ment and sad disunion more than doubled its numbers
and its strength? Did it not possess a zeal which even
disunion could not quench?
ESTIMATE OF THE MEN AND THEIR WORK.
How do these men and this work appear to us now
when we look back upon them in the light and experi-
ence of one hundred and thirty years? What aspect
do they bear as we contemplate them through the sub-
duing influence of history when all the local and tem-
porary excitements of passion have passed away?
That the men were truly godly and devoted appears
from the spirit in which they came together, as well as
from many other facts in the records. They were in-
tensely earnest. They were made up of as sincere and
earnest Christians as the Church has ever seen. They
were ready to make any sacrifices for the truth, to which
they clung with their whole souls. They were the men
whose grandfathers and fathers had come out of the
hottest furnaces of persecution, and they felt that even
the forms of the truth were so dear to them as to be
worth their very lives.
We must also keep in mind the great work which lay
12
178 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
before them, and of whose momentous character they
could not but be conscious. A new national branch of
the Church of Jesus Christ was to be built up in a
new country, and for a destiny of unknown importance.
They could not but believe that much of the future
character and destiny of that Church were to be what
they should make them. It was therefore a grand and
a responsible work to which they felt called.
They were surrounded, however, by great difficulties.
Their course was not smooth and unmistakable, as it
would be now. The new Church for this new country
was to be moulded out of many diverse elements, nation-
alities and drifts of thought. In doing this there could
not but be friction. Indeed, it would seem that the new-
ness of the Church and country, as well as other diffi-
cult problems with which they had to deal, would make
it almost inevitable that there would be schism among
them. Such difficulties as these they did have to encoun-
ter, while at the same time they were without the guid-
ance of such principles as experience would have taught
them. It could hardly be otherwise than that they
would often misunderstand each other concerning prin-
ciples and motives as well as actions.
The very earnestness of the men and their intense love
for the truth led them to contend diligently for the truth.
The interests at stake would not let them be indifferent
about those things concerning which they contended.
The strifes of the day, the controversies and the hard
speeches, were but as the noise of the saws and the axes
on the cedars of Lebanon, the blows of the hammers in
the quarries of the mountains, and the confusion in the
clay-grounds of Succoth and Zarthaim as the material
was prepared for the temple that was to adorn the
mount of the Lord.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 179
PERMAN ENT EFFECTS OF THE SCHISM.
We pass from these temporary and personal effects
and influences of the schism to those which were per-
manent and which had a lasting influence on the cha-
racter and destiny of the Church. What were some of
them 2 Was the great schism an unmixed evil in its
permanent results? Was there not an important train-
ing in it, through which it was necessary the Church
should pass in order to its full development? Did not
the wonder-working providence of God allow these great
and good men to fall into these Sore contentions that the
cause might be perfected thereby ? Has not that Prov-
idence turned the curse into a blessing?
In certain chemical operations there must be an effer-
vescing process in order that the substance may be
purified. The seaman's charts receive much of their
value as indicators of dangerous rocks and reefs from
the wrecking of vessels, by which the points of peril
were discovered. Precisely thus has it been with our
Church : this scene of evil has resulted in working out
more permanent safety and success. Misunderstandings
were removed. Dangerous practices were done away;
signals were erected where disasters would have been
ever occurring.
And still more positively-enduring good was effected.
Every practical point of our system was examined, tested
and settled on a sure basis. Nothing was taken for
granted or received merely on tradition; each point was
tried, its agreement with truth determined, and so well
established.
We name as samples a few of the more prominent
points. The rights and duties of churches and Presby-
teries in relation to each other were defined and they
180 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
were guarded against intrusions. The conditions of ,
admittance to the Lord's Supper were settled—namely,
credible evidence of a change of heart and personal faith
in Christ. Qualifications for the gospel ministry were
definitely fixed—not devoted piety alone, nor suitable
education alone, but both these, as well as a call from
God carefully ascertained. These points were tested with
intense care and settled for all time. There has never
since been serious controversy concerning them. It is
doubtful whether these and other similar points could
have been settled on such immovable foundations short
of such a costly process. They had never been estab-
lished before. And they are matters of prime import-
ance in the practical working of the Church.
After the perfect healing of the schism thirty years
of our history passed on in a quiet, steady progress until
the organization of the General Assembly in 1788.
Perhaps there has been no period of equal length so
unruffled or uneventful as this. As usual, however, with
such periods, when there is so little for the historian, it
was a period of great spiritual prosperity, of peace and
of growth in grace and in numbers. Little more have
we to write concerning it. Only one event of interest to
our Presbytery would we put on record, for it marks one
of our great epochs. It was the first separation made
into the First and Second Presbyteries of Philadelphia.
FIRST PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA.
One of the great surprises which have been forced
upon us by our prolonged investigation of the facts of
our history has been that the territory of our Presby-
tery, that territory which has constituted our identity
from the beginning, has been the real focus of the early
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 181
... movements of our Church, and that consequently ours
was for a long time the true Presbytery of Philadelphia.
We are perfectly aware, of course, that this has not
been the usual understanding of the matter. The name
of the Presbytery has been that of Philadelphia, and
therefore the city proper has been considered its centre
and kernel. This has been the name, but what have
been the facts? In the first place, for thirty-eight
years after the founding of the Presbytery the city had
but a single church, while this corner of ours in its
vicinity had eight.
In the next place, here lay the chief centre of our
Church's learning and religious activity for a long
series of years. From this also the men and the in-
fluences went out and established the other educa-
tional institutions of Nottingham, Fagg’s Manor and
Pequa. Most of those who were educated for the minis-
try of our Church for nearly two score years received
their training here.
Here, too, as is well known, was the focus of the
great awakening which had such an important influence
in moulding the early piety of our whole Presbyterian
Church.
Moreover, all the most eminent ministers of the early
day, such as the six Tennents, the Blairs, the Finleys,
the Beattys, and even the Davieses, who laid the founda-
tions of our Presbyterian Church, sprang from this
centre of piety and learning.
If any claim can be laid for being the first Presby-
tery, not only of Philadelphia, but even of the country,
surely all this would give it; and the name, Philadel-
phia, could come only from our general vicinity to the
city and our first connection therewith.
Neither is the claim original with the writer, for it is
182 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
older than all the writings whose influence has gone to
establish the custom of regarding the First Presbytery
as belonging to the city proper. ‘Our claim is neither
assuming nor modern. This was the opinion held by
the men of that early day themselves. And this opin-
ion of theirs was what first aroused our attention to
it. In the first separation that was made into First
and Second Presbyteries of Philadelphia this portion of
ours was the First and the city proper the Second.
Concerning this there can be neither doubt nor contro-
versy. Its history is found in the compilation of the
records of our church by the Rev. Dr. Engles. Ours
was the First Presbytery of Philadelphia when a First
and Second were first established according to the men
of that day, who certainly knew the best. For almost
thirty of the most prosperous years of the Presbyterian
Church, and when that distinction was first made, ours
was the First Presbytery of Philadelphia. A position
so novel as this, at least in appearance, needs to be for-
tified by very clear proofs. For that reason we shall
give them separately and distinctly.
1. The records of the formation of the two Presby-
teries show this: “In compliance with a request from
some members of Philadelphia Presbytery, the Synod
appoint that the members of that Presbytery be erected
into two Presbyteries for one year at least” (it continued,
in fact, for nearly thirty years); “and that the new Pres-
bytery be called by the name of the Second Presbytery of
Philadelphia ; and that Messrs. Robert Cross, Francis
Alison, John Ewing, John Simonton, and James Latta,
be members thereof; and that their first meeting be at
the First Presbyterian Church in this city, the second
Tuesday in August” (1762).-Records, p. 321. Here
are the two facts: that the Second Presbytery was to be
JFORMATIVE PERIOD. 183
composed of men all of whom were members of what
has ordinarily been considered the First Presbytery;
and that its first meeting was to be held in the city—
both facts showing that this new, or Second, Presbytery
was to have the city as its centre.
2. The rolls of both Presbyteries, as they are found
in the minutes of the Synod afterward, show that the
composition of the Presbyteries was as we have asserted
—namely, that the second Presbytery contained the
names we have already given, while the First Presby-
tery comprised the names of Gilbert Tennent, Treat,
Beatty, Chesnut, Lawrence, Hunter and Griffith—all
well-known pastors of this region or associated with it.
This makes our position positive.
3. We have already shown that the Presbytery of
Abington was formed in 1751 of the churches and
ministers living in this territory of ours; but the First
Presbytery of Philadelphia was substantially identical
with that of Abington. We place the two lists together
to show that they were composed of the same men. In
the minutes of the Synod in 1764, two years after the
Second Presbytery was formed, the roll of the members
of the First Presbytery was composed of Gilbert Ten-
nent, Richard Treat, Charles Beatty, Benjamin Chesnut,
Andrew Hunter, Daniel Lawrence, John Brainerd, Wil-
liam Ramsey, John Clark and John Griffith.-Records,
p. 334. But the Presbytery of Abington, according
to the minutes of 1755 and 1757, contained the names
of Gilbert Tennent, Richard Treat, Charles Beatty, Ben-
jamin Chesnut, Andrew Hunter, Daniel Lawrence and
William Ramsey.—Records, pp. 263, 277. Thus it
will be seen that the two lists are precisely identical,
with the addition of the three names, John Brainerd,
John Clark and John Griffith, which had no doubt
184 PRESBYTERY OF THE Log college.
been afterward made to the Philadelphia Presbytery.
This shows, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the First
Presbytery of Philadelphia was simply the old Presby-
tery of Abington revived and enlarged.
4. Our theory stands out as an historical fact in an
incidental way in the following action of the Synod in
1770: “The First Presbytery of Philadelphia reported,
that in compliance with an order of Synod last year,
they had, in conjunction with the Presbytery of New
Brunswick, inquired particularly into the state and
connections of the congregation of Allentown, in the
Forks of Delaware, and it is the unanimous opinion of
both Presbyteries, that it is at present most subservient
to the interests of religion in those parts, for the Presby-
tery of New Brunswick to take under their care, not
only the congregation of Allentown, but also the con-
gregation of Mount Bethel, both of which are in the
Forks of Delaware, and both which have been under the
care of the First Presbytery of Philadelphia.” From
this it appears that these two churches on the boundary-
lines between ours and the Presbytery of New Bruns-
wick, and in the fmost distant point from the city of
Philadelphia, were both nevertheless connected with the
First Presbytery, which must consequently have been
ours. They lay in the territory bordering on both New
Brunswick and Abington Presbyteries, which were orig-
inally united, and both belonged to us.
5. Still another similar proof have we—a proof that
is without a flaw. In the Synod’s minutes of 1777 we
find: “A Petition from the congregation of Deep Run,
in Bucks county, requesting that they may be set off
from the Second Presbytery, and put under the care of
the First Presbytery of Philadelphia, was brought before .
the Synod, through the hands of the Committee of
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 185
Overtures, and read. The Synod, having conversed
upon it, do grant the prayer of said petition, and the
First Philadelphia Presbytery is ordered to take the
care of that congregation for the future.” Deep Run,
then a part of Doylestown, in the very heart of our
Presbytery, which for some reason had been in connec-
tion with the city or Second Presbytery, was committed
to the care of the Presbytery in the midst of which it
was located, which is here declared to be the First Pres-
bytery of Philadelphia. º
6. Another fact is singularly confirmatory of our
position. In all the lists of our Presbytery which we
find in the records of the Synod at that time are the
names of ministers of churches in West Jersey—namely,
Nehemiah Greenman of Pittsgrove, Daniel Lawrence
of Cape May, Andrew Hunter of Cohansey, Jacob
Green of Deerfield, William Ramsey of Fairfield, New
Jersey, and John Brainerd, missionary to the Indians
in New Jersey. Now, how came the churches of West
Jersey to be connected with our Presbytery, and not
with the city Presbytery, which was nearer to them?
How came they to leap over that Presbytery, and unite
with ours, which was more remote 7 How but that ours
being the old, the First Presbytery, and retaining the
succession, and these Jersey churches, being long be-
fore connected with it, still retained their old relation ?
In no other way possible can this very significant fact
be accounted for.
7. Still another evidence that this was the leading
Presbytery during those early days is that when, at the
organization of the General Assembly, the two bodies
were merged into one, and termed the Presbytery of
Philadelphia, our branch contained three-fourths of the
churches which entered into the united body. The actual
186 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
numbers were—the city portion, or old Second Presby-
tery, furnished four churches, one of which was that of
“Great Valley;” and our portion, or that of the orig-
inal First Presbytery, furnished seventeen churches,
ten of which were located in our present territory and
the rest in West Jersey.
The fact, then, is absolutely demonstrated. By all the
records it is shown that in those days we were the First
Presbytery; and appropriately so, inasmuch as, up to
that time at least, this was the focus of the leading
movements of the Church. We were surprised when in
our researches through the history of the Church this
fact came to our view, but the most careful investigation
has taken away all hesitation in announcing it.
Ours was therefore the first so-called First Presbytery
of Philadelphia, and so continued until 1787, when all
the Presbyteries were rearranged preparatory to the
formation of the General Assembly. To us belonged
the chief activities of the Presbytery until we were
formed into the Presbytery of Abington in 1751; we
remained under that name nearly up to 1762, when we
were formed into the First Presbytery of Philadelphia,
by which name we were designated until absorbed in
the General Assembly in 1788.
CURIOUS IXELIVERANCES OF THE SYNOD.
As we have read through the annals of the Presby-
tery and Synod we have met with certain things, some
of them instructive, some amusing, and all interesting
and curious. We cannot present them all, but they
should not be lost; as specimens we give the following:
1st. Our fathers were always keenly alive to the im-
portance of increasing the numbers of the ministry, but
never unless the men were duly qualified. Accordingly,
JFORMATIVE PERIO D. 187
in 1761 they adopted the following rules: “It is enjoined
that every preacher, for the first year after his licensure,
shall show all his sermons to some minister in our Pres-
byteries on whose friendship and candor he depends,
written fairly to have them corrected and amended. . . . .
It is also enjoined that they preach as often as they can
before stated ministers, that they may correct their gest-
ure, pronunciation, delivery, and the like. And it is
farther enjoined that all our ministers and probationers
forbear reading their sermons from the pulpit, if they
can conveniently.”
2d. In those early days, when everything was new
and unsettled, the Presbytery was very careful as to
who should be permitted to preach; and so we find it
taking this action in 1710: “Upon information that
David Evans, a lay person, had taken upon him pub-
licly to teach or preach among the Welsh in the Great
Valley, Chester county, it was unanimously agreed that
the said Evans had done very ill, and acted irregularly
in thus invading the work of the ministry, and was
thereupon censured.”
3d. It was never imagined, at that time, that pas-
tors could be justified in restricting their labors to their
own particular charges, but it was expected that they all
would reach out beyond; and so in 1707 the following
rule was adopted, a rule which ought to be in force at the
present day: “That every minister of the Presbytery
supply neighboring desolate places where a minister is
wanting and opportunity of doing good offers.”
4th. The practice of deciding important questions by
the casting of lots after prayer was not uncommon in
those early days, nor did the Church wholly condemn
it, as appears from several deliverances. In 1733 it
was enacted, “That the Synod look upon the practice
188 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
of submitting of congregational affairs to the decision
of a lot, though accompanied with sacred solemnity, to
be unwarrantable, inasmuch as lots are only warrant-
ably used to decide matters that can’t be otherwise
determined in a rational way; particularly by ap-
plying to higher judicatories.” In 1734 also it was
determined, “That the Synod look upon the obligation
of a determination of a difference by a lot, to be sacred
and binding upon the conscience, if the matter so deter-
mined be lawful and practicable, and consequently to
act contrary thereunto must be a very great sin.” But
the most singular case of all arose in Tinicum, one of
our own churches, in 1750. After a very protracted
discussion a decision was given, of which the following
was a part: “The Synod came into the following con-
clusion—viz. That whereas the congregation of Tehicken
is sadly divided about the fairness and obligation of a
lot made use of by them for the determining the place
for their meeting-house, the Synod, after a full hearing
the case, came unanimously into this judgment—viz. that
though they do by no means discountenance the method
of ending such matters of controversy by lottery, yet
as to the lot under debate, the Synod is of the opinion,
that it was fairly cast, and consequently binding upon
the parties concerned, as also other former agreements
said people have solemnly obliged themselves to ; and
the Synod doth judge, that they have acted very sinfully
who have broken through these repeated Solemn obli-
gations, and that a solemn admonition be given unto
them by Mr. Pemberton in the name of the Synod;
which was accordingly done.”—Records, pp. 241, 242.
5th. The simplicity and purity of early days may be
seen in the decision of 1729 concerning lawsuits between
Christian brethren: “That the Synod do bear their tes-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 189
timony against, and declare their great dissatisfaction at,
the religious lawsuits that are maintained among pro-
fessors of religion, so contrary to that peace and love
which the gospel requires and the express direction of the
Holy Ghost, and consequently very much to the scandal
of our holy profession. And that, therefore, the Synod
do recommend to all the ministers within our bounds
to use their utmost endeavor to bring their several and
respective congregations into a just agreement to avoid to
their utmost all unnecessary lawsuits for the future, and
to refer such differences as cannot be easily accommo-
dated between the parties themselves to some prudent,
religious and indifferent friends, if it may be, of our
own profession, mutually chosen by the contending par-
ties, or otherwise as such society shall think best, to
decide and determine such differences. Approved ne-
mine contradicente.”—Records, pp. 95, 96.
6th. Occasionally we find a decision that would star-
tle some in modern times, as the following, in 1708:
“Ordered by the Presbytery that there be a letter sent
to the people of Snow Hill, requiring their faithfulness
and care in collecting the tobacco promised by subscrip-
tion to Mr. Hampton.”—Records, p. 11.
7th. A good rule for the present day would be this
of 1756: “That they who obstinately refuse to pay
their pew-rents are to be esteemed as not walking
orderly, and do in fact forfeit their pews; nor is it
an injury done them by the congregation if they are
deprived of them.”—Records, p. 275. e
8th. The trying state of the country in Revolutionary
times was manifested in the minutes of 1778, as follows:
“The Synod of New York and Philadelphia met at Bed-
minster, Somerset Co., New Jersey, in consequence of
an advertisement in the newspapers, by the Moderator,
190 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
agreeably to the advice of a number of the members,
it not being practicable to meet in Philadelphia accord-
ing to the adjournment of last year, as that city is now
in the possession of the enemy.”—Records, p. 479.
9th. In those days they were keenly alive to the state
of piety in the churches, as was shown by a deliver-
ance of the Synod of 1733: “Ordered to use some
proper means to revive the declining power of godli-
ness, the Synod do earnestly recommend it to all our
ministers and members, to take particular care about
ministerial visiting of families, and press family and
secret worship, according to the Westminster Direct-
ory, and that they also recommend it to every Presby-
tery, at proper seasons, to inquire concerning the dili-
gence of each of their members in such particulars.”
10th. But the most significant of all, as revealing the
deep spirituality and fidelity of the fathers, is found in
the following action prepared by Gilbert Tennent, the
friend of Whitefield, and heartily and unanimously
adopted in 1734: “The Synod does also seriously and
solemnly admonish all the ministers within our bounds
to make it their awful, constant, and diligent care to
approve themselves to God, and to their consciences,
and to their hearers, serious, faithful stewards of the
mysteries of God, and of holy and exemplary conver-
sations.
“And the Synod does further recommend, unani-
mously, to all our Presbyteries, to take effectual care
that each of their ministers are faithful in the dis-
charge of their awful trust. And in particular, that
they frequently examine, with respect to each of their
members, in their life and conversation, their diligence
in their work, and their methods of discharging their
ministerial calling. Particularly that each Presbytery
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 191
do, at least once a year, examine into the manner of
each minister's preaching, whether he insist in his min-
istry on the great articles of Christianity, and in the
course of his preaching recommend a crucified Saviour
to his hearers as the only foundation of hope, and the
absolute necessity of the omnipotent influences of the
divine grace to enable them to accept of this Saviour;
whether he do in the most solemn and affecting man-
ner he can, endeavor to convince his hearers of their
lost and miserable state whilst unconverted, and put
them upon the diligent use of those means necessary in
order to obtaining the sanctifying influences of the Spirit
of God; whether he do, and how he doth, discharge
his duty toward the young people and children of his
congregation, in a way of catechizing and familiar in-
struction; whether he do, and in what manner he doth,
visit his flock and instruct them from house to house.
“And the Synod hereby orders that a copy of this
minute be inserted into the books of each of our Pres-
byteries, and be read at every of their Presbyterial
meetings, and a record of its being read minuted in said
books at the beginning of every session; and that there
be also an annual record in each Presbytery-book of a
correspondence with this minute.”—Records, p. 111.
11th. It is in place here to testify concerning the loy-
alty of our Presbyterian Church to the cause of Ameri-
can independence in the Revolutionary days, when the
country was gasping for existence—when loyalty cost
something more than words—when it was worth some-
thing—when one at least of the large denominations
sympathized with the enemy—and when great suffer-
ings had to be endured in order that our land might
be free. We have not space to give even specimens of
the patriotic deliverances of our Synods, and of the
192 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
sacrifices that were made by our fathers. Instead
thereof we give the substance of the story, of which
we may well be proud, in the language of Dr. Hatfield,
than whom no man was more familiar with the subject
or better qualified to testify: “In the political agita-
tions that convulsed the British colonies in America at
that time, resulting in the War of the Revolution and
in the independence of the United States, the Presby-
terian Church was a unit in the assertion and defence
of the principles of civil and religious liberty, and
contributed largely toward the triumph of the patriots.”
CH A P T E R IX.
FORMATIVE PERIOD (Continued).
CHERONICLES OF THE CHURCHES.
IN entering upon the annals of the churches a few
explanatory words are necessary. The writer fears
that he may disappoint his readers in presenting the
records of some of the churches—they may not be as
full or as favorable as expected. A single glance, how-
ever, will satisfy any one that not much space can pos-
sibly be devoted to each one of our sixty churches. No
more than such salient points as may convey an outline
of each church's history can be attempted. But all such
points shall be presented so far as the facts can be ob-
tained. The leading events of the life of each church,
with the names of the persons taking part in those
events, shall be given.
Each church has an individuality of its own—a
something by which it may be distinguished from all
others, for which we will search and which we will pre-
sent when in our power. We shall strive to make the
history a thesaurus of whatever is most important in
the churches. We shall dwell very much more fully
on such general subjects as were of equal importance to
all churches and all individuals.
We cannot but anticipate with sad certainty that,
after all our honest care, a future revision will be needed
if anything like perfection in narration should be looked
13 193
194 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
for. We can affirm only that no omission or exaggera-
tions or distortion of facts will be intentional.
IBENSAILEMI CHURCH.
Most appropriately do we begin our journey through
the annals of the churches of this old Presbytery with
Bensalem, which is without a doubt the oldest of them
all. The first years of most of those early churches
are more or less obscure on the page of antiquity; still,
there can hardly be a question but that Bensalem com-
menced about the time of the organization of the Pres-
bytery in 1705. It was formally organized five years
afterward, in 1710, but must have been a preaching-
place for some years before. Its proximity to the set-
tlement of Hollanders who at an early period formed
the Dutch Reformed Church in the neighborhood, and
the many Dutch names found among its original mem-
bers, would indicate that a large part of its families
at first came from that people. It was undoubtedly
organized in 1710 with nineteen members, with the
Rev. Paulus Van Vleck as pastor, and with four elders,
Hendrick Van Dyck, Lunard Van De Grift, Stoffle
Van Zandt and A. Van De Grift.
For nearly seventy years after its organization we
are able to trace its history with tolerable fullness
through the succession of its pastors or stated supplies.
After that for a long time it seemed to be in a declin-
ing condition, owing largely to the fact that the farms
in its neighborhood passed into the hands of people
of other denominations. For nearly forty years after
1772 the minutes of its Session were either not kept or
have been lost, and consequently we know nothing of
its history during that period.
In 1817 it emerges again into light, and from that
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 195
time we are able to trace at least its leading events up
to the present time, From the above causes at times,
as from 1840 to 1850, the church had to struggle hard
for continued existence.
On June 13th, 1843, a branch church was organized
at Centreville, which it was hoped would aid in sustain-
ing the parent body. This was supplied by Messrs.
Newell, Brough and others for a time. It continued
for about eighteen years, but on April 18, 1861, it was
finally dissolved, its building passing into other hands.
Another similar effort was made April 13, 1858, by
the organization of a church at Newportville through
a committee of Presbytery. This was one of the out-
lying districts of Bensalem, which it was believed would
be strengthened thereby. No building was erected, but
Messrs. McMurray, Burdett and others held services in
a schoolhouse for several years. Instead of growing,
however, as was anticipated, the town declined, and
after a time its interests were all transferred to another
locality. -
In Aurora, another district of the same church, still
another organization was effected, May 2, 1861, by a
committee of Presbytery. For this a small church
building was erected in the neighborhood. This organ-
ization passed through several vicissitudes and had
several names. Its building was removed subsequently
to Bridgewater, and ultimately, twenty-five years after-
ward, it was styled the church of Eddington. This
is the church which now bears that name, and which,
October 6, 1886, was organized—or rather reorganized.
This has been the leading church of the Bensalem
group ever since, while the mother-church, together
with the original building, has become an outpost with
occasional services.
196 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
BUILDINGS.
Very rarely do we have such accurate descriptions
of the origin of any of our very old church buildings
as we have of that of Bensalem. Somewhere between
1705 and 1710 the lot of ground on which the pres-
ent church stands was conveyed by deed of Thomas
Stevenson to Johannes Vandegrift, Johannes Van
Zandt, Herman Van Zandt and Jacob Weston for the
building. Then the structure was completed, and
on May 2, 1710, was opened for the worship of God.
The present old structure is not the original one, but
was in after years erected on the same site. -
After one hundred and thirty-three years, the Pres-
byterian population having largely decreased in the
neighborhood, an effort became necessary in order to
keep the church from becoming extinct, and another
building was erected a mile or two distant, at Centre-
ville. This effort ultimately failed of the object con-
templated, and after eighteen years the edifice was
abandoned to others.
A few years more pass, the drift of the population
being in the direction of the Delaware River, and still
the determination being strong to keep up the old Ben-
salem church, another building, a small frame struc-
ture, was erected in 1861 in the fields between the river
and Cornwall’s Station on the Pennsylvania railroad,
which was called the Aurora Presbyterian chapel.
After about eleven years, in 1872, this building was
removed to the village of Bridgewater, was located
between the turnpike and railroad, and named the
Bensalem Presbyterian chapel. There the population
was much greater, and the prospect of increased at-
tendance undoubted.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 197
After about thirteen years, in 1885, the number of
Presbyterian families having greatly advanced, and
they being able and willing to furnish the means, a
beautiful new church edifice was erected to take the
place of the former one. This elegant building was,
on the evening of December 1, 1886, dedicated to the
worship of Almighty God amid a delighted audience,
one of the members of the Presbytery taking the place
of Dr. McCosh of Princeton, who was to have preached
on the occasion, but was prevented by sickness. It is
a house of worship that may well be gratifying to the
Presbytery. It is a credit to both the liberality and
the taste of the residents of the neighborhood, by whom
it was erected. As seen by the side of the great thor-
oughfare between Philadelphia and New York it is an
object of romantic beauty.
PASTORS.
The list of pastors in this church for the one hun-
dred and seventy-eight years of its existence, beginning
with 1710, is as follows: Paulus Van Vleck, 1710, one
year; — Van Andrison, 1711, eight years; Maligus
Sims, 1719, two years; William Tennent, 1721, three
years; Robert Lenig, 1724 (there are no records for
the forty-eight years from 1724 until 1772); James
Boyd, 1772, forty-five years (pastor of Newtown at the
same time); J. W. Scott, 1823, five years (also pastor
of Newtown church); Alexander Boyd, 1828, eleven
years (pastor in Newtown); James M. Harlow, 1839,
seven years; George W. Newell, 1846, three years (stated
supply); William J. Brough, 1849, two years; George
W. Burroughs, 1851, four years; Thomas M. Gray,
1855, one year (stated supply); Joseph McMurray,
1856, seven years (stated supply); John Wood, 1863,
198 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
one year (stated supply); John Fowler, 1864, two years
(stated supply); Samuel R. Anderson, 1866, three
years; Thomas B. Van Sycle, 1869, one year (stated
supply); James B. Stebbins, 1870, one year; Michael
Burdett, 1871, thirteen years; Francis Heyl, 1884, the
present pastor. g
Mr. Van Vleck came from the Dutch Reformed
Church, and preached sometimes in the Dutch and
German languages, as well as in the English. It ap-
pears that occasionally he preached through the Sur-
rounding country, going as far distant as to Frankford
and Germantown.
Mr. Tennent was the celebrated founder of the Log
College. His services in Bensalem continued only three
years, but happy were that people in being permitted
to enjoy the ministrations of such a man even for that
brief length of time.
Mr. Harlow was ordained and installed July 2, 1839.
During his pastorate he also preached statedly at Cen-
treville. Moreover, it was through his earnest efforts
that the church of Bristol was commenced and finally
organized.
Mr. Brough was ordained and installed April 18,
1849. He was a minister of great worth, and since
leaving Bensalem he has held important charges in the
State of Ohio.
Mr. Burroughs was ordained and installed August 4,
1851. He afterward entered the medical profession.
Mr. Gray was son of the eminent Rev. John Gray,
for nearly half a century the very successful pastor of
the First Presbyterian church of Easton, Pa.
Mr. McMurray served this group of churches as
stated supply, with great acceptance, for seven years.
Few men have ever been more faithful and beloved
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 199
than he was, both there and in other charges, both
before and after.
Mr. Anderson was ordained and installed August 9,
1866. -
The pastorate of Rev. Michael Burdett, D. D., was
quite remarkable. He was installed January 15, 1872.
After a long ministry, first in the Congregational
church in Massachusetts, his native State, then as agent
of the Home Missionary Society, then as chaplain in
the United States Army, and then as pastor of a Pres-
byterian church in Pennsylvania, he entered upon this
field when he was sixty-seven years old. Even after
that age he served here with great energy for thirteen
years, and resigned when he was eighty. For several
of the first years he labored with astonishing energy
and success, often preaching three times on the Lord's
day, and that in places miles apart, and sometimes pass-
ing from one to another on foot. In the later years
increasing age made his labors less abundant. It should
be recorded, to the honor of the people of his charge,
that when infirmity compelled him to retire from the
field, they made provision for the chief support of him-
self and family, until, in 1888, he fell asleep in Jesus.
Mr. Heyl, the present pastor, was installed January
18, 1887. The churches were highly favored in hav-
ing secured the pastoral services of this brother, who
had previously had a rich experience in the gospel
ministry as a missionary for ten years in India.
RULING EIDERS.
As gathered from its records, the list of ruling elders
who have served this church, with the times of their
installations, is as follows: Hendrick Van Dyck, 1710;
Leonard Van Der Grift, 1710; Stoffel Van Zandt,
200 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
1710; A. Van Der Grift, 1710; John Vandergrift,
1823; Robert Wood, 1823; John Wansant, 1823; Wil-
liam Shippen, M.D., 1823; David Walton, 1839;
Joseph Ashton, 1863; Peter Conover, 1866; Jacob M.
Johnson, 1871; Col. James R. Snowden, 1871; and the
present elder, George H. Henry, 1886. With great
sadness we here meet the gap of one hundred and thir-
teen years, from 1710 to 1823, during which we find no
minutes of Session to guide us.
In the study of these names we obtain a hint which
must prove of valuable suggestion. They are names
which reveal, without a peradventure, that they are of
Dutch origin. They tell us that, to a certainty, the
church was founded by a people of the Dutch Reformed
faith. But whence came that people at such an early
day, and to a locality where they were surrounded by
other nationalities and isolated from any large body of
the same people? w
Through the researches of the Rev. D. K. Turner,
to whom he is indebted for so much, the writer is able
to answer. It is a touching story. Their coming was
owing to the ever-wakeful humanity of William Penn.
On one of his journeys of benevolence through Holland
he fell in with some of this persecuted, suffering, but
brave people. They sighed for rest from the never-
ceasing injuries and harassings of the enemies who
opposed them and their religion. He pointed them to
where they would find a safe asylum in the far-away
forests of his Pennsylvania. He offered them a home
there. That little colony of Reformed Dutch accepted
the refuge offered them by Penn, hastened to it, and
located here in the region of Northampton. They
having established their home here, were followed from
time to time by others of the same faith and country,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. º 201
of those who had settled in Long Island by earlier
immigrations. -
This branch of them in Bensalem, through the in-
fluence of eight or ten Irish Presbyterian families who
had come into the neighborhood, chose to establish our
form of the great Presbyterian faith. They selected
this spot. They erected their sanctuary here amid the
Friends of Pennsylvania, and, breathing safely and
freely, they consecrated it as their Bensalem, their
Ben Shalom—their Son of Peace.
Two or three names on this list of ruling elders should
be more than merely mentioned. It will be noticed
that no less than three of the earliest of these elders
bore the name of Vandegrift. The family of this name
was probably the leading one in the formation of the
church. It still has an influential place in the con-
gregation. Never, probably, was there a period in the
annals of the church when some one of the six gen-
erations of this family was not as a bulwark to their
dear old “Son of Peace.” Who shall say that God is
not ever true to his covenant and his Church 2 Does
not piety run in households 2
Col. James Ross Snowden is another greatly honored
name among the eldership of this church. Of the old
Presbyterian family of Snowdens, himself long known
as a prominent member of the legal faculty, for years
director of the United States Mint, and prothonotary of
the courts in Philadelphia, it is cheering to find in such
high places one who was always consistent with his
Christian profession and true to his Church and his
God.
+ GENERAL FACTS.
We have devoted more space to this than we shall
give to the history of the other churches, because it is
202 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the oldest of them all; because it has passed through
So many changes during the generations; because it
is a sort of introduction to all the rest; and because,
in fact, it contains a group of no less than five
churches — namely, Bensalem, Centreville, Newport-
ville, Aurora and Eddington. It had a bright morn-
ing, traveled a weary journey, suffered a long eclipse,
and is now, in one of its offspring, beaming out in
beauty again.
Several things are now promising it a prosperous
future. Eddington, the present centre of its strength,
is in an admirable location, though the old sanctuary is
almost without a Presbyterian congregation. Many ex-
cellent families have recently removed into the neigh-
borhood of the new edifice and have greatly strength-
ened the cause. Its present pastor is devoting to the
work his energies, his experience gained in another
department of the kingdom, and his Christian zeal, in
such a manner as must tell. A beautiful and attractive
church-building has recently been put up by the liberal-
ity of the people. From all this it has resulted that the
church is in a most flourishing condition. It promises
soon to be among the strongest of our congregations.
NORRITON AND PROVIDENCE.
We have been much perplexed with the question
whether Norriton (at first called Norrington) or Bensa-
lem should have the first place in the annals of our
Presbytery. It is certain that in Norriton we have the
very first trace of a Presbyterian enterprise within our
whole bounds. A trustworthy tradition affirms that a
plot of ground was purchased there for a graveyard,
forerunner of a church, in the year 1678—no less than
twenty-seven years before the founding of the Presby-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 203
tery. At any rate, a deed is on record to that effect,
given by an ancestor of David Rittenhouse. It also
appears that a Welshman named David Evans was
preaching in that region before 1705. He was called to
account by Presbytery in 1710 for preaching without
proper education or license, was put in a course of train-
ing under three designated ministers and was chosen
clerk of Presbytery in 1715. At the same time, the
church, so far as we are informed, was not formally
supplied with preaching until 1714. On the other hand,
we have the record of Bensalem's having its building
finished, its church established and its pastor installed
in 1710, while there was undoubtedly preaching there
before that time. On account of these certainties we
have given the first place to Bensalem. Norriton, how-
ever, has a claim of considerable weight, and may un-
doubtedly stand in the second place.
It comes to light with certainty that in 1714 there
was stated preaching in this church by the Rev.
Malachi Jones, who at that time became the pastor of
the church of Abington. He must, therefore, while
pastor of the latter church have also supplied that of
Norriton. At that time, then—that is, 1714—we date
the commencement of Norriton church, though un-
doubtedly it was a preaching-place long before.
The church of Providence—or Lower Providence,
as it was then named—was founded sixteen years after-
ward in 1730, and the strange plan was adopted of
holding services in Norriton during the winter season
and in Providence during the summer. A great relig-
ious awakening pervaded the whole region in 1740 and
for some time afterward, the chief human agent in
which was the Rev. John Rowland of Log College
fame. This great evangelist seems to have been blessed
204 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
in an extraordinary manner, and through his preaching
the cause of Christ was greatly advanced. Among
other glorious results of this revival, especially in the
Providence church, was one the effects of which were
of untold benefit to our whole Church and country.
It was that the grandfather and grandmother of the
Rev. Archibald Alexander, D.D., long the honored pro-
fessor of Princeton Theological Seminary, were among
its subjects, and then first united with the Providence
church.
In 1758, at the time of the reunion after the Great
Schism, we find the united churches going by the name
of Norriton and New Providence, which the charge
bore for many years afterward. We should mention
that an ancestor of the devoted Henrys of Germantown,
also the brothers and sisters Hamill and others who
have done such blessed service in our Church, were
members of this church.
PASTORS.
As usual, we have to lament that the names of so
many who ministered in the gospel in this church have
been lost; at the same time, however, an honored roll
remains which is as follows: Malachi Jones, 1714, for
thirteen years; David Evans, 1727, four years; Rich-
ard Treat, 1731, ten years; John Rowland, about 1741,
length of time not known; John Campbell, 1747, six
years; Benjamin Chesnut, 1756, nine years; David
McCalla, 1744, eight years; Wm. M. Tennent, D. D.,
1782, thirty years; Joseph Barr, 1814, three years;
John Smith, William Woolcott, Joshua Moore, Thomas
Eustice and C. W. Nassau (these five brethren served
the church during the nineteen years after 1817, but
the respective dates of service are unknown); Robert
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 205
W. Landis, 1836, three years; Henry L. Rodenbaugh,
1845, until the present time.
Mr. Jones was pastor of the Abington church dur-
ing thirteen years, but also supplied the Norriton church
during the same period. A further notice of him will
be given under the former church.
Mr. Evans was the minister of whom we have al-
ready spoken. So far as we have any information, he
was the first man who ever preached the gospel in con-
nection with our Presbytery.
Mr. Treat was also pastor of the Abington church,
but in addition he supplied this church during the
years of his ministry. We shall have occasion to
speak of him also hereafter.
Of Mr. Rowland we have already spoken as one of
the devoted men who were trained in learning and piety
at the Log College. Concerning him it is unnecessary
to say more save to mention that the chief fields of his
labors were Lawrenceville and Pennington, New Jer-
sey, and Norriton and Providence, Pennsylvania.
Concerning Mr. Campbell a most remarkable inci-
dent is upon record. On the last day of his public
ministry, when reading in the pulpit the one hundred
and sixteenth Psalm, as he came to the fifteenth verse—
“Dear in thy sight is thy saints' death;
Thy servant, Lord, am I.’”—
he was stricken down with paralysis. On his monu-
mental stone in the old graveyard of the church are
engraven the beautiful and appropriate words:
“In yonder sacred house I spent my breath;
Now, silent sleeping, here I lie in death.
These silent lips shall wake, and yet declare
A dread Amen to truths they uttered there.”
206 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Mr. Chesnut's name is often found as a prominent
member first in the Presbytery of Abington, and then
in the First Presbytery of Philadelphia.
Dr. Tennent was a very prominent man in the
Church in his day. He was son of Rev. Charles Ten-
nent, youngest of the four sons of the founder of the
Log College. He was therefore the third William
Tennent. So far as we know, he was the second min-
ister of our Church who received the honorary title
of D. D. He supplied this church while pastor of the
church of Abington, in connection with which we shall
have more to say of him.
Mr. Nassau's was the one name connected with the
five brief terms of service as pastor or stated supply
between 1817 and 1836 that is well known in the
Church. It is worthy of most honorable record as
connected with the eminent family of Nassau, in which
there were so many ruling elders, ministers and mis-
sionaries of our Church.
Mr. Landis was ordained and installed December
22, 1835. He remained pastor of the church for only
three years. This was a stormy period of its history,
yet no less than eighty souls were added to its roll. Mr.
Landis was afterward professor in the Danville Theo-
logical Seminary, Kentucky.
BUILING JELDERS.
So far as it has been preserved, the list of elders who
have served in this church is as follows: William M.
White, 1826; Robert Hamill, 1826; Joseph Henry,
1826; Robert Getty, 1826; John Shearer, 1836;
Joseph Teany, 1836; William McHarg, 1836; Mar-
maduke L. Burr, 1838; James Smith, 1838; Henry
Loucks, 1838; Noblet Kelley, 1838; John Moyer,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 207
1861; David T. Getty, 1861. All these have been
removed by death. The present members of the Ses-
sion are—David Custer, John Keyser, John Ritten-
house and Benjamin F. Whitby.
It is good to think of these men of God who per-
formed their long work on earth so well, and then en-
tered into that heavenly rest which is infinitely longer.
Two of them, John Shearer—Squire Shearer, whom we
used to meet in Presbytery so often—and William
McHarg, a noble Scotchman, both served the church
in its eldership for over forty years.
Joseph Henry was a son of the eminent Alexander
Henry, known for so many years in Philadelphia as
leader in most important moral and religious enter-
prises. He was the father of T. Charlton Henry, elder
in the First church of Germantown, and the grandfather
of the Rev. Alexander Henry of our Presbytery.
John Shearer, for over forty years a ruling elder in
this church, was born in Chester county, Pa., March 2,
1789; removed thence into Montgomery county in 1816.
He departed this life August 19, 1873, at his residence,
three miles west of Norristown. He was buried in the
Church Cemetery, belonging to this church. In early
life Mr. Shearer was connected with the German Re-
formed church, known as the Ridge Church, in Chester
county. He was once a representative in the State
Legislature, and also a justice of the peace in Norri-
ton township.
Robert Hamill was one whom many will for ever call
blessed. He was father of the three brothers—the
Rev. Samuel Hamill, D. D., the Rev. Hugh Hamill,
D. D., and the Rev. Robert Hamill, D. D.; the father-
in-law of two ministers, and the grandfather of many
ministers and missionaries, among them the Rev.
208 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Joseph E. Nassau, D. D., of Warsaw, N. Y., and his
sister, Mrs. Bell of Africa. When all those in Law-
renceville, N. J., in Central Pennsylvania, in New
York and in Africa, whom this family has been in-
strumental in gathering into the kingdom, shall be
numbered as God's jewels, how brightly shall this
Sainted man shine in glory !
THE CHURCH AT THE PRESENT TIME.
The Rev. Henry S. Rodenbaugh was ordained and
installed May 14, 1846. He has consequently been
the pastor for forty-three years—the longest pastorate
existing, with one exception, in the whole region in or
near Philadelphia, so far as known to the writer. Dur-
ing that long period there have been many precious sea-
sons of revival in the church. In fact, no one of the
forty-three years has been without fruits of his earnest
and untiring labors.
The church is most warmly attached to its pastor,
giving him constant proofs of its unabated affection.
Most rare and wonderful is it that this church, the
second on our roll, should still, after one hundred and
seventy-four years, be as vigorous and useful as it was
in its first energetic years.
ABINGTON.
It may well be doubted whether any church can be
found which has a more admirable record than that of
Abington. -
In fixing the date of the commencement of this
church we meet with no difficulty or uncertainty. It
was organized by the Rev. Malachi Jones in the year
1714 with a membership of sixty-five persons, and
with the four elders, Benjamin Jones, Abednego
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FORMATIVE PERIOD. 209
Thomas, Stoffel Van Saint and Joseph Breden. It must,
therefore, take its place as the third in order on our roll.
It is a remarkable thing that a church of such antiquity
should have such a precise record of its origin.
From that time to the present day its history is but a
record of uninterrupted forward progress. It was only
one church at its beginning, but on the territory which
it then occupied there are now six churches, all prom-
ising long lives of usefulness.
The one thing most noticeable in the history of this
old church is that in a succession of pastors extending
through a period of one hundred and forty-eight years
not one of them left the field until removed by death.
The Rev. Dr. Steel died in 1862, the last of that hon-
ored list. -
Among the many things which conspire to give Ab-
ington its pre-eminence are—that it has measured out
the great age of one hundred and seventy-four years;
that it has had as its pastors and children so many emi-
nent men and women; that it has passed through all
these generations in one continued course of steady prog-
ress and beneficence; that it has never had its useful-
ness crippled by humiliating scenes of strife; that so
many ministers and missionaries have sprung from its
bosom ; that it has spread out into so many other
churches, while its own strength remains unimpaired;
and that, after all these long years, it still has as fair a
prospect of usefulness as in any of its previous genera-
tions. Many other churches can rejoice in some of
these elements of prosperity, but where shall we find
another which possesses them all?
BUILDINGS.
The history of the buildings connected with this
14
210 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
church is almost as clear as is that of its organiza-
tion. In 1719, five years after it was founded, its
first house of worship was constructed out of logs,
and was the first building for a Presbyterian church
in Montgomery county, and one of the first in the
State. This log structure remained for seventy-four
years, when, in 1793, it gave place to an edifice of
stone, in which the congregation worshiped for many
years. This second sanctuary was enlarged and
greatly improved forty years subsequently. But it,
too, was removed after standing forty-one years more,
or eighty-one years in all, and in 1866, while Mr.
Withrow was pastor, it gave place to the fine struc-
ture, whose steeple, crowning the hills, can be seen
afar for many miles.
The first parsonage was built while Mr. Treat was
the pastor. Mr. Simon Thomas and his wife donated
to the church one hundred acres of land, which, with
the old stone mansion, is so well remembered by all
who of old enjoyed the genial hospitality of Dr. Steel.
The present spacious and beautiful manse was erected
about 1858, in the latter days of Dr. Steel's pastorate.
PASTORS.
The roll of the pastors of Abington, though it covers
so many years, does not include very many names.
They are: Malachi Jones, 1714, fifteen years; Rich-
ard Treat, 1731, forty-one years; William Mackey Ten-
nent, D. D., 1781, thirty-one years; William Dunlap,
1812, six years; Robert Steel, D. D., 1819, forty-
three years; John L. Withrow, D. D., 1863, five
years; Samuel T. Lowrie, D. D., 1869, five years;
Leighton Wilson Eckard, 1875, the present pastór.
The five of these brethren first named all died while
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 211
laboring in this charge. All of them have left their
impress on the field.
Concerning the early years of Mr. Jones, his educa-
tion and the first years of his ministry we have no in-
formation. From his name we infer that he was a
Welshman, probably from the settlement of that people
in the neighborhood. He was sixty-three years old
when he commenced his ministry in Abington. His
pastorate of fifteen years was uneventful. He must
have supplied the church of Norriton through it all.
He died in the field and in the harness at the age of
seventy-eight, March 26, 1729.
The pastorate of Mr. Treat was in many respects the
most eventful in the annals of the church. He was a
young man of only twenty-four when he commenced
his ministry, and was ordained as well as installed in
Abington. He was born in Connecticut; he was a
relative of Governor Treat, and was graduated at
Yale College. During the stormy times of the Great
Schism he was a staunch adherent of the New Side
and an influential member of the Presbyteries of New
Brunswick and Abington, and of the First Presbytery
of Philadelphia. His was the great privilege of enter-
taining Whitefield, and, more than once, also David
Brainerd. He had the sad honor, too, of preaching
the funeral sermon of his dearest friend, Dr. Samuel
Finley. After serving the church of Abington for
forty-seven years he died in 1778, at the age of
Seventy-one.
Mr. Tennent was installed in 1781. He was the son
of Charles, the youngest of the four sons of the founder
of the Log College, at which institution he was graduated.
His wife was daughter of Dr. Rogers of New York, so
well known in the history of our Church. It is said by
212 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Dr. A. Alexander, who knew him well, that “he was a
man of great sweetness of temper and politeness of man-
ner, and was distinguished for his hospitality. His
home was seldom without the company of friends and
acquaintances.” He received the honorary degree of
doctor of divinity from Yale College. In 1797 he was
made Moderator of the General Assembly. For many
years he was a trustee of Princeton College—a good
proof, under the circumstances, of the relationship of
that institution to the Log College. He died December
2, 1810, after serving the church for twenty-nine years.
Concerning his death Dr. Alexander, who was often
with him during his last long illness, wrote: “I must
say that I never saw a person in a sweeter, calmer, hap-
pier state of mind, and it continued for many weeks.”
Mr. Dunlap was installed July 22, 1812, when thirty
years of age. He was son of the president of Jefferson
College. His pastorate lasted but six years. He died
in December, 1818, aged thirty-six years.
Dr. Steel was a man very dear to the writer, for
through him it was that he was first introduced to his
charge, and to him, while yet an inexperienced pastor,
he went often for advice and comfort in his perplex-
ities. He was a man greatly loved and honored. He
was ordained and installed September 9, 1819. When
young and but recently come from Ireland, Dr. Steel
studied under the eminent Dr. Wylie of Philadelphia.
He was graduated at Princeton College in 1813 and
studied theology under the celebrated Dr. John M.
Mason, having as a fellow-student Dr. George Junkin.
He was greatly honored and trusted by the Church,
as is shown by the many offices he held—Trustee of
the General Assembly, Trustee of the Board of Do-
mestic Missions, Trustee of Lafayette College, and
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 213
President of Montgomery County Bible Society. In
1846 he received the degree of D. D. from Jefferson
College. & -
No man was better known or more warmly beloved
through all the region where he lived than Dr. Steel.
The hospitality of his warm heart surrounded him with
multitudes of the most closely attached friends. It was
a true remark of Dr. Gray of Easton in his funeral ser-
mon that he had never known any one with so many
sources of enjoyment as had Dr. Steel from his many
warm friendships. In Presbytery he was one of the
most untiring workers. He was always ready to go
anywhere, to engage in any enterprise, to visit any
congregation where he could forward the cause. Many
a time did it put the younger members of us to the
blush to see the toils he would undertake even when he
was an old man. It was because he loved to labor in
his Master’s service.
He was pastor here for forty-three years, and finally
fell asleep in the midst of his beloved flock Sept. 2, 1862.
The writer had the unspeakable privilege of being at
his bedside on the third day before his death, and can
never forget his parting words: “When I was first
stricken down, and realized that this was to be my last
illness, I was not satisfied as to my prospects for eter-
nity. I thought over all my past—my preaching, my
prayers, my labors; they were all mingled with self
and did not give me rest. I was forced to go back, as
when a child at my mother's knees, to the simple theory
of Christ as my all in all. From that moment I have not
had one doubt or one anxious thought. All now before
me is as clear as light. If the choice were given at this
moment to recover or to sleep in death, I am not con-
scious of a wish one way or other.” The wife of Dr.
214 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Steel was granddaughter of Dr. Beatty of Log–College
fame.
Mr. Withrow, fresh from Princeton Seminary, was
ordained and installed May 20, 1863. During the five
years of his stay with this people the present beautiful
church-edifice was erected. During the same period
many were received into the membership of the church.
Receiving a call from the Arch Street Church of Phil-
adelphia, Dr. Withrow resigned this charge Nov. 24,
1868. Subsequently he held important pastorates in
Indianapolis and in Boston, and is now laboring with
great acceptance in Chicago.
Dr. Lowrie was installed May 27, 1869. He is son
of the late Judge Lowrie of the Pennsylvania courts,
and had had experience as a pastor, especially of the
Bethany Church of Philadelphia. Whilst in Abing-
ton he took great interest in establishing the branch
church of Jenkintown, which we shall notice in its
proper place. May 18, 1874, he resigned this charge
after a pastorate of five years of successful work in the
church and efficient service in the Presbytery, in order
that he might enter upon the duties of professor in the
Western Theological Seminary in Alleghany.
The present pastor, Mr. Eckard, was installed May
25, 1875. He came to this charge richly qualified by
five years' successful labor as a missionary in China. .
He has now been in the field thirteen years, and the
brightening condition of the church opens up to him a
prospect of many happy and prosperous years.
RULING IFLDERS.
The names of the elders that are to be found on the
Sessional records of this church are as follows: Benja-
min Jones, 1718; Abednego Thomas, 1718; Stoffel
FORMATIVE PERIOD. - 215
Van Zant, 1718; Joseph Breden, 1718; John Rhodes,
1796; Archibald Wilson, 1807; Archibald McLean
and Capt. Thorburne (pastorate of Dr. Treat); John
Morrison, 1816; Baker Barnes, 1816; Jacob Benner,
1816; L. Leech, 1826; Robert Barnes, 1826; Silas
Yerkes, 1826; James Wyman, 1833; Chas. C. Beatty,
1M. D., 1833; Joseph P. Moorehead, 1850; George
Hamil, 1870; George S. Yerkes, 1870; David Cherry,
1882.
The following are the present members of the Session:
George S. Mann, 1861; Albert Mann, 1870; John C.
Hunter, 1880; James Van Horn, 1882; John D. Flem-
ing, 1882; William Yerkes, 1882; Robert Stevenson,
1887.
From this list of good and true men of God there
are several most important lessons that we should learn.
Among these men are clearly seen the original elements
composing this church, and they seem to be of the very
best that constituted the population of the country.
Jones reveals the Welsh, Abednego Thomas the New
England, Van Zant the Dutch, and Wilson and Mc-
Lean the Scotch-Irish.
Charles Beatty, M.D., was grandson of the Rev.
Charles C. Beatty of the Log-College fame, and brother
of Mrs. Steel. During the latter part of his life he
resided in the parsonage with Dr. Steel and family, and
no one ever enjoyed the hospitality of that blessed
household without retaining a happy memory of the
dignified Christian courtesy, the tender regard for
the feelings of others and the intelligent piety of Dr.
Beatty. +
Three elders of the Yerkes name—a father and two
sons—are upon this roll. This brings before us an
illustration of God’s unfailing faithfulness to his cove-
216 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
nant. Silas, the patriarchal father, was himself the
descendant of a godly ancestry. He and his devotedly
pious wife had a family of nine sons and three daugh-
ters. Of the nine sons, two died in infancy, and all the
remaining sons, save one, became elders in Presbyterian
churches—Samuel M. in the church of Howell, Michi-
gan; J. Keith in the church of Frankford; Isaac in the
church of Neshaminy, Warminster; Silas, Jr., in the
church of Downingtown; and both William and George
in this church of Abington, the church of their fathers.
Need we more than this sight of six brothers, elders,
the sons of an elder, to convince us that the covenant
stands sure? -
Of George Y. Mann, the senior elder of the church,
and of his cousin Albert R. Mann, we would also make
honorable mention, as we would of several others of the
list, but we have neither the needed information nor the
space, and must here close our grateful task.
INTERESTING FACTS.
From a glance over the roll it will be seen that in the
whole history of this church, covering a period of one
hundred and seventy-four years, it has had but eight
pastors. This makes an average pastorate of no less
than twenty-seven years for each of them—a fact worthy
of admiration from our whole Church.
We have already alluded to the fact that no less than
six Presbyterian churches are now to be found on the
territory which was originally covered by this one alone.
These six are, Huntingdon Valley, Edge Hill, Jenkin-
town, Ashbourne, Fox Chase, and the mother-church.
By it, then, these more than eightscore years have not
been spent in vain.
Of ministers, missionaries and other eminent men

JFORMATIVE PERIOI). 217
and women, this church has sent forth a goodly array.
Among them we may name—the Rev. Joseph Traville,
missionary to Singapore; the Rev. John Newton, M.D.,
missionary to India; the Rev. Charles Beatty, mission-
ary to India; Mrs. Jane Van Zant Martin, wife of
President Martin of the Imperial University, Peking,
China; Mrs. Sarah W. Newton, wife of Dr. John
Newton, India; the Rev. Stephen Yerkes, D. D., pro-
fessor in Danville Seminary, Ky.; Mrs. Mary P. Jan-
vier, missionary to India; the Rev. Joseph Stevens,
D.D., Jersey Shore, Pa.; the Rev. George D. Stewart,
D. D., Fort Madison, Iowa; the Rev. John L. Stewart,
D. D., Towanda, Pa.; the Rev. Alfred Rogers, professor
at Danville, Ky., Joel K. Mann, Esq., member of Con-
gress from Pennsylvania; Nathaniel B. Boileau, Esq.,
Secretary of State of Pennsylvania; John Stevens,
Samuel Leech, George Hamill, William F. Moore and
John J. C. Harvey, members of the Legislature of Penn-
sylvania; Moore Stevens and John M. Fenton, both
treasurers of Montgomery county. It thus appears to
have been eminently a missionary church and a church
of honored sons.
Among other noted events connected with this con-
gregation we may record the following: “It was honored
and greatly blessed by a visit in 1740 from George
Whitefield, who preached, it is said, to an audience of
at least three thousand. The devoted missionary to the
Indians, Rev. David Brainerd, as well as his brother
John, visited it on several occasions, and no doubt left
an impress on all its future missionary character.” Its
second pastor, a warm friend of Dr. Samuel Finley,
of Log College, Nottingham Academy and Princeton
College fame, preached his funeral sermon, and was laid
beside him in the old Abington graveyard.
218 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
One most beloved and honored name must be dwelt
on here—that of the Rev. James Read Eckard, D.D.,
father of Abington's present pastor. As he spent his
last years in the family of his son, and as a member
of this Presbytery, his proper place of remembrance is
in this connection. .
Where shall we find a richer memory than that of
Dr. Eckard, the grandson of a noble patriot who was
an active agent in the battles of the Revolution; a
member for four years of the Philadelphia bar—the
Philadelphia attorney for advocating at Harrisburg the
establishment of our present public school system ;
abandoning the bar, the theological student at Prince-
ton Seminary; for ten years a successful missionary in
Ceylon; principal of the Chatham Academy in Savan-
nah, Georgia; pastor for ten years of the Second
Presbyterian Church, Washington; professor for ten
years in Lafayette College; spending the happy evening
of his beautiful and useful Christian life in literary
work in the parsonage of Abington with his son; and
then sweetly falling asleep in Jesus, being instantly
carried above, in his eighty-third year?
The extreme modesty of Dr. Eckard was such that
even his friends, much less the Church at large, could not
know his great worth. His spirit, instinctively loyal to
all that pertained to Christ and his cause, could not but
make him true and good and useful. His gentle, warm,
but intense affection, as well as his fine attainments,
have placed his memory among the tenderest and most
valued of the writer's life. -
Notwithstanding its great age and the many youth-
ful branches that have sprung from it, the old mother
church is still pursuing its onward course of useful
progress. The attendance at all its services, its gifts to
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 219
the cause of Christ, and its good works at home were
never more abundant than at present. Its pastor,
happy in the loyal affection of his people, strong in
their co-operation and devoted with them in zeal for
the cause, may well “ thank God and take courage.”
NESHAMINY OF WARWICK.
It is evident that all or nearly all of the founders of
this church were either themselves Presbyterians from
the North of Ireland or the descendants of such men.
If there was no other evidence of this fact their names
alone would reveal it. There is no mistaking the origin
of the names Jamison, Carr, Mearns, Grier, McKinstry,
Hart and many others.
This was doubtless a preaching-place at an earlier
period, but, inasmuch as we have no record to that
effect, we must place the date of the founding of the
church in 1726, when Tennent commenced his minis-
trations there. There can hardly be a question but that
Mr. Van Vleck of Bensalem, who seems to have been
a sort of missionary throughout that whole region,
would frequently preach to the people who afterward
constituted this congregation.
We fix the date of its commencement, however, as
1726. That Mr. Tennent was the agent there is not a
doubt. A note in the valuable work of Mr. Turner on
the Neshaminy Church makes this certain : “Mr. Ten-
nent may have gathered and organized the church. A
stone now in the graveyard wall has on it the date
1727. This same stone was once in the old church in
which Mr. Tennent preached, and probably indicates
the date when the first house of worship was built. It
is quite probable that the church organization was
formed either that year or the year before.”
220 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
From that time forward, for fifteen years, the progress
was steady, and under the great revival influences
rapid, until the time of the schism, when there arose
commotions and misunderstanding, and for a short
time there was a division into two branches. Soon,
however, the breach was healed, the sections came
together and the church moved on harmoniously for
eighty years, when the great division of Old and New
School convulsed it to its very depths. Then it again
became divided into two separate branches.
Into the controversy between the Schools we shall not
enter, either here or in any other connection. For our
present purpose it is sufficient to say that in the Ne-
shaminy Church a plan of amicable separation was
finally adopted which to us seems to have been admi-
rable. The substance of it was in these words: “The
church and grounds thereunto attached to be sold at
public sale on the 21st day of October next (1841), the
bidders to be the respective claimants in this suit. The
purchasers to pay the other party one-half of the pur-
chase-money within sixty days thereafter, when full and
entire possession is to be delivered to the purchasers of
the church and the church lot. The graveyard is to
remain in common for ever to these and their descend-
ants and their successors, to those who have a right to
bury there at this time, each party to employ their own
sexton. The personal property to be equally divided.
The act of incorporation to follow the building.”
This plan was carried out to the letter; the property
was purchased by the New School party for six thou-
sand dollars, one-half, or three thousand dollars, of
which was given to the Old School. Accordingly, the
New School brethren retained the property, the deed of
incorporation, and consequently the succession. The Old
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FORMATIVE PERIOD. 221
School party, with the amount which they had obtained
in the division of the property, and with additional
amounts which they collected, built in 1842 the neat
edifice which they still occupy in Hartsville, the neigh-
boring village. The New School took the name of Ne-
shaminy of Warwick, and connected themselves with
the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia; the Old School,
that of Neshaminy of Warminster, and, forming into a
separate church, continued the connection with the Sec-
ond Presbytery of Philadelphia, thus retaining the eccle-
siastical succession. These distinctive names were adopted
because of the townships in which the churches were
respectively located. Such a final equitable and peace-
able separation of a church with its property it would
be very difficult to find in the annals of any Church or
denomination. Both churches have gone harmoniously
onward, and have both been blessed of God during the
half century that has since passed away.
Up to the division of the Presbyterian Church in
1838 the history of the Neshaminy churches was one;
after that date each church must receive an independent
notice.
BUILDINGS.
The first church-edifice of this congregation was
built in 1727, at the beginning of Mr. Tennent's min-
istry. This was their house of worship until the time
of the Great Schism in 1741, after which it was
still used by some of the Old Side party, while those
of the New Side, under Mr. Beatty, put up a new
building which has stood ever since. After the breach
was healed the old Tennent building stood, partly de-
serted, for many years, and at length, in 1792, it was
taken down and its material used in constructing the
graveyard wall.
222 PRESB YTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
The following clause was contained in the deed for the
ground purchased as a graveyard and for the erection
of the church-edifice: “It was to be held by the trus-
tees and their successors as a site for a meeting-house
and any other building necessary for the worship of
God, and as a place of interment for those only who
‘owned the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures, the doc-
trine and worship and discipline of the Church of
Scotland, as set forth in the Westminster Confession
of Faith, Catechism, and Directory for Worship and
Discipline, and also believing and owning the late
work that hath appeared in this land, New England
and Scotland in calling sinners to repentance to be
the work of God.” No other person should ever be
permitted to hold office in the church meeting there.”
The second church-edifice, which is still used, was erect-
ed in 1743, enlarged in 1775, improved again in 1787,
and in 1842 thoroughly renovated at a cost of two thou-
sand dollars, so as to bear its present beautiful appearance.
For many of the early years of this church there
stood a session-house in the general enclosure of the
property. In 1849 a lecture-room was built in the
neighboring village of Hartsville, and was used for sev-
eral years afterward. In 1872 there was opened, with
very impressive services, the present beautiful “chapel in
the cemetery” for the convenience of funeral processions
and the performance of religious services at funerals.
The church never before having owned a manse, the
present very fine building for that purpose was pur-
chased in 1873, and has been a comfortable home for
the pastor ever since.
THE PASTORS.
It need hardly be said that the list of the pastors
PORMATIVE PERIOD. 223
of this church forms a roll of highly honored names,
some of them well known throughout our whole
Church. For one hundred and thirty-nine years they
were the pastors of the one united church, and may be
justly claimed by both branches. It is worthy of re-
mark that of the eight ministers who have served this
church during its whole history, three had the distinc-
tion of having been connected with the Log College.
The list of the pastors, with the commencement and
length of the time of their service, is as follows: Wil-
liam Tennent, Sr., 1726, sixteen years; Charles C.
Beatty, 1743, twenty-nine years; Nathaniel Irwin,
1774, thirty-eight years; Robert B. Belville, 1813,
twenty-five years; James P. Wilson, D.D., 1839, eight
years; Douglas K. Turner, 1848, twenty-five years;
William E. Jones, D. D., 1873, eleven years; Wil-
liam K. Preston, 1885 to the present time. In looking
over the dates of these pastorates it will be noticed that
the intervals between them were very short, showing
that great harmony of sentiment has reigned in this
church throughout its entire history.
The name of Mr. Tennent, with the influence of
his seminary in forming the character of our whole
Church, sheds the brightest lustre upon this church of
which he was the first minister. It seems that he was
never formally installed as pastor of the church, though
he served it as such for sixteen years. This may have
been because, the duties of his school being his chief
work, he was too conscientious to take on him the ad-
ditional obligations and charge of the pastoral work.
He must have been an influential member of the
Synod, since in 1730 he was elected its Moderator.
Of him Dr. Alexander has given the following calm
and carefully-weighed judgment: “The Presbyterian
224 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Church is probably not more indebted for her prosper-
ity and for the evangelical spirit which has generally
pervaded her body to any individual than to the elder
Tennent.”
After serving the church for about sixteen years, he
felt constrained, through failing health, to resign the
work. Subsequently, he lived on for a few years, hav-
ing ceased from all labors, and entered into his eternal
rest and reward May 6, 1745, at the age of seventy-
two. His grave, covered by a weather-beaten horizon-
tal slab, is in the old Neshaminy graveyard, and be-
side his the grave of his good and faithful wife.
Of Mr. Beatty little more need be said in addition
to the sketch of his life which we have already given.
He was one of the most worthy sons of the Log Col-
lege. The time and circumstances of his installation
as pastor of this church we give in the phraseology of
the old record: He “was ordained to this congregation
of Warwick, in ye forks of Neshaminy, December 1,
1743, and was to have for a yearly support in his min-
istry among us the sum of sixty pounds.” This con-
tinued to be the salary for twenty years, when it was
increased to one hundred pounds. -
He was an ardent patriot, and ready to expose him-
self to danger and severe toil in defence of his country.
Again and again did he face all the fatigues and trials
of a chaplain's life in the wars of the country with
the Indians as instigated and led by the French.
On one of these campaigns his colonel was Ben-
jamin Franklin, who relates this amusing incident of
Beatty: “We had for our chaplain a zealous Presby-
terian minister, Mr. Beatty, who complained to me that
the men did not generally attend his prayers and ex-
hortations. When they enlisted they were promised,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 225
besides pay and provisions, a gill of rum a day, which
was punctually served out to them, half in the morn-
ing and half in the evening, and I observed that they
were punctual in attending to receive it; upon which
I said to Mr. Beatty, ‘It is perhaps below the dignity
of your profession to act as the steward of the rum,
but if you were to distribute it out, only just after
prayer, you would have them all about you.’ He
liked the thought, undertook the task, and, with the
help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, exe-
cuted it to satisfaction; and never were prayers more
generally and more punctually attended. So that I
think this method preferable to the punishment in-
flicted by some military laws for nonattendance on
divine service.”
Mr. Beatty was deeply interested in the conversion
of the Indians; he spent considerable time in visiting
them, and was a warm friend of their great apostle
David Brainerd.
In 1772 he accepted an appointment by the trustees
of Princeton College, of which he was himself one, to
go to the West Indies to collect funds there from the
wealthy English residents for that institution. While
in the Island of Barbadoes on that mission, he fell a
victim to the yellow fever, August 13, 1772, after he
had served the church for twenty-nine years.
The family of this devoted pastor was so remarkable
an illustration of God’s faithfulness to his covenant
that we quote the following record by Mr. Turner:
“Of but few families could so much be told that is
praiseworthy and that merits being perpetuated in the
annals of the past. Four of his sons were officers in
the army during the Revolutionary struggle with
Great Britain. Of eight children who reached mature
15
226 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
age, all but one were hopefully pious and members of
the Presbyterian Church; and three, John, William
and Reading, were ruling elders. Several of his sons
occupied positions of eminent distinction and useful-
ness in society and in the state.”
Mr. Irvin, who held the office of pastor in this church
a longer time than any other, was in many respects a
remarkable man. His birthplace was at Fagg’s Manor,
and his early education was received at the academy
there, which was one of the outgrowths of the Log Col-
lege. He pursued his collegiate course at Nassau Hall,
Princeton, where, in company with James Madison,
afterward President of the United States, and Samuel
Stanhope Smith, he established “the American Whig
Society” of that institution in 1769.
He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presby-
tery of New Castle in 1772. His ordination and in-
stallation as pastor of this church occurred November
3, 1774. In that sacred office he was constantly and
greatly blessed throughout his long pastorate of thirty-
eight years. Among other interesting things concerning
him it is on record that he made himself a tolerable
physician, so as to be able to be of service to the poor;
he healed disputes; he counseled those who had small
sums of money to invest; he wrote wills and other legal
documents, and so saved his people expense; he was
moreover a born mechanic, and helped John Fitch,
who attended on his ministry, in the studies that led
the way to the application of steam to the propelling
of boats. - -
He was a great friend of the young. “He was fond
of both instrumental and vocal music, and was in the
habit of often amusing himself and his friends by play-
ing on the violin, in which he showed no slight degree
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 227
of skill. The society of young people was very agree-
able to him, and he often invited them to his home and
unbent from the labors of the day with music and even
dancing. The youths of the congregation were attached
to him, and were fond of being in his company, and he
exercised a proper influence over them.”
He died March 3, 1812, aged sixty-five years, thirty-
eight of which were spent as pastor of this church.
“His remains were deposited, as he desired, at the spot
in the burying-ground over which the pulpit in the
original church once stood, and on a horizontal marble
tablet over his grave is the following inscription :”
“To this sad tomb, who e'er thou art, draw near;
Here lies a friend to truth; of soul sincere,
Of manners unaffected, and of mind
Enlarged; he wished the good of all mankind;
Calmly he looked on either life, for here
His peace was made and nothing left to fear.”
The pastorate of Mr. Belville was one of singular
zeal and success in winning souls. The blood of the
Huguenots was in his veins, his ancestors having taken
refuge in this country immediately after the Revocation
of the Edict of Nantes. He was ordained and installed
October 20, 1813, Dr. James P. Wilson of the First
Presbyterian church of Philadelphia preaching the
sermon on the occasion.
So indefatigable was he in devising methods for the
salvation of souls that he had, scattered throughout the
congregation, no less than six Bible-classes for prayer
and the study of God's word, most of which he attended
himself. He was blessed with a very extraordinary
work of grace in his church in 1833. It is said that in
May of that year one hundred were admitted to the
communion, and in September forty more. Of these
228 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
one hundred and forty persons, Mr. Belville stated that
he knew of but one that went back to the world and
proved unfaithful to his vows.
, Because of declining health he was compelled to resign
his charge in November, 1838, after he had held it
twenty-five years. Seven years afterward, in 1845, as
a commissioner, he attended the General Assembly at
Cincinnati, and on his return, while visiting some friends
in Dayton, Ohio, he was taken sick, and died after a
week’s illness. His death occurred June 28, 1845, at
the age of fifty-five. On his tomb in the cemetery of
Dayton is the following simple memoir: “He was
twenty-five years pastor of the Presbyterian church of
Neshaminy, Bucks county, Penna., beloved and emi-
nently useful among the people of his charge. Being
obliged by ill-health to give up the pulpit, he removed
, to the State of Delaware in 1843, and came to Cincinnati
as a delegate to the General Assembly of 1845 from the
Presbytery of New Castle. After the adjournment of
the Assembly, while on a visit to his friends in this
place, he was called by death to the General Assembly
of the first-born above.” -
One who was a constant attendant on the ministry of
Mr. Bellville testifies of him : “When animated by his
subject he would often hold his audience spellbound.
Young men would ride for twenty miles to hear him
preach. The careless and indifferent would often crowd
the galleries for that purpose. The estimation in which
he was held by his brethren in the ministry was seen in
that he would sometimes exchange with such men as
Drs. Green, Skinner, Cuyler and McDowell. His
pulpit would occasionally be filled by the Princeton
professors, Drs. Alexander, Miller, Maclean and Dod.”
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 229
Another attendant on his ministry said that he regarded
him as the finest reader he had ever heard.
The pastorate of Mr. Belville closed the period of one
hundred and twelve years during which time the church
was one, and its pastors ministered to the undivided
congregation. After that we have to trace the separate
courses of each branch.
Dr. James P. Wilson was son of the celebrated Rev.
James Patriot Wilson, D. D., so well known as the
learned and eloquent pastor of the First Presbyterian
church of Philadelphia. His pastorate commenced amid
the stormy season of the division of the Old and New
School, and he was the first minister of Neshaminy as
a New School church. He was ordained and installed
February 26, 1839. After serving the church for eight
years, upon his election as president of Delaware Col-
lege in Newark, Delaware, he resigned his pastoral charge.
Dr. Wilson's pastorate was brief, but very successful.
Mr. Turner is a native of Massachusetts and a gradu-
ate of Yale College. He studied theology at Andover
Theological Seminary when there were no uncertain
sounds in that institution, and was licensed by the East
Congregational Association, Massachusetts. He was
called to this church in 1848, and after he had been
examined by the Presbytery was ordained and installed
April 18th of that year.
His pastorate was a long and happy one of twenty-
five years, and one greatly blessed with revivals and
the conversion of souls. In 1873 he felt constrained
to resign because of impaired health. Since then he
has continued to reside within the bounds of the con-
gregation, encouraging its pastors, sympathizing with
them and aiding them as opportunity offers. At the
230 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
present time he holds the office of secretary of the
Presbyterian Historical Society.
Mr. Jones was installed October 23, 1873. During
the War of the Secession he had served two and a half
years as chaplain. He resigned in 1884, after a pas-
torate of eleven years.
Mr. Preston, the present pastor, was ordained and
installed June 4, 1885. He has a serious task to follow
in the track of such able and godly men as preceded
him, and well is he performing it.
THE RULING ELDIERS.
The dates given here indicate the time of ordina-
tion: Richard Walker, 1743; John Gray, 1748; Rob-
ert Jamison, 1748; Benjamin Snodgrass, 1794; John
Ramsey, 1794; Robert Jamison, 1794; Samuel Mann,
1794; Samuel Walker, 1794; Stephen Murray, 1810;
William Mearns, 1810; Isaac Craven, 1810; John
Weir, 1815; Jonathan Roberts, 1820; Gideon Pryor,
1825; James Horner, 1830; Samuel Craven, 1830;
William M. White, 1838; William Jamison, 1838;
James Weir, 1838; Hugh Mearns, 1838; Nathan Mc-
Rinstry, 1839; Joseph Carroll, 1839; Joseph Carr,
1839; Henry McKinstry, 1849. The elders of the
church at present are—John McNair, 1848; Stacy
Blans, 1872; R. Henderson Darrah, 1872; Cephas
Ross, 1872; Wilson McKinstry, 1886; Howell E.
McNair, 1886. t
The study of this roll of elders, extending over one
hundred and forty-five years, is deeply instructive. It
is itself a record that should be highly prized. Would
that we had the information and time to dwell on each
honored name ! We are tempted to pause over a few
of them.
FORMATI VE PERIOD. 231
Jamison first impresses us: first, Robert; then, after
forty-six years, another Robert; then, after forty-four
years, William.
McKinstry is another: first, Nathan ; then, in nine
years, Henry; then, after thirty-eight years, Wilson.
Craven is another: first, Isaac ; then, after twenty
years, Samuel.
Walker, also: first on the list, Richard; then, after
fifty-one years, William.
Weir, also: first, John; then, twenty-three years
afterward, James.
Mearns is a name concerning which we have some
knowledge. Two are on the roll, but twenty-eight
years apart. Six generations of this family worshiped
in the old church. Many of them were intermarried
with others of the elders' families.
McNair is another name of which we can speak.
John has been elder for forty years. His grandfather
and grandmother were also members, and his son How-
ell is now elder, thirty-eight years after the father's
Ordination.
In connection with this church there is one name to
which we must give more than a passing notice. It is
that of John Scott, one of its first trustees. He was
son of an officer in the army of the brave Covenanters
in the battle of Bothwell Bridge, and also great-great-
grandfather of Mrs. Harrison, wife of the President of
the United States. As an instance of the marvels of
God’s wonder-working providence and also of the cer-
tainty that the divine covenant descends to many gener-
ations, as well as a most interesting and instructive fact
of history, the name of this man must not be passed
OWer.
The record of this family is as follows: Its successive
232 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
generations contained: (1) The “Laird of Arras,” as he
was called, an officer in the army of the Covenanters at
Bothwell Bridge; (2) John Scott of this church, the first
who came to this country; (3) William Scott, resident
in the vicinity of the Neshaminy; (4) the Rev. George
McElroy Scott, an eminent minister of the Presbyterian
Church; and (5) the Rev. John W. Scott, still living.
The first of this honored roll, as proved by well-
attested traditions in the family, was connected with the
army of the Covenanters which first defeated the infa-
mous Claverhouse at Drumclog in 1679, but which,
only three weeks afterward, was itself defeated by the
duke of Monmouth, by whose permission hundreds of
those who had been taken prisoners were tortured and
slaughtered. It is probable that shortly after this defeat
he, with multitudes of others, took refuge in Ireland
from the merciless persecutions of Charles II. The
second was this John Scott of the Neshaminy Church.
He was born in the North of Ireland in 1688, nine
years after his father fought at Bothwell Bridge. He
came to this country in 1741, when about fifty years of
age. He was one of the church's first trustees, and was
one of the eight men to whom, in 1745, the ground on
which its building stood was deeded. He died in 1749.
The third was William Scott, who no doubt was born
in Ireland and came to America with his father. He
spent the rest of his life in the neighborhood of the
Neshaminy, and was trustee of this church from 1782
until he died. The fourth was the Rev. George McEl-
roy Scott, who must have been an eminently pious and
useful man. His academic studies were conducted under
the Rev. Dr. Ewing.of Philadelphia, founder of the
University of Pennsylvania, and he became a superior
classical scholar. Afterward he studied theology under
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 233
Dr. Witherspoon of Princeton College, of whom he
became an intimate and lifelong friend, evinced by giv-
ing to his son the honored name, John Witherspoon
Scott. His preparatory studies being completed, he
made his home in what was then the West, associating
with Drs. McMillan, McCurdy, and others. He was a
member of “the Board of Trusts for Indian Missions,”
which grew into our Board of Foreign Missions. He
went himself twice, for months each time, on a mission
to the Indians in the region of what is now Sandusky,
Ohio. He was one of the founders of Washington Col-
lege, which is now united with Jefferson College. The
fifth was the Rev. John Witherspoon Scott, D.D., who
is still living, the father of Mrs. Benjamin Harrison.
Under the early instructions of his father, he became a
Superior scholar, especially in the science of chemistry
and kindred subjects, in which he perfected himself at
Yale College. At first he taught in a sort of log college
established by his father in Eastern Ohio, and after-
ward took a leading part in the building up of Wash-
ington College, of which he was one of the early profes-
sors. Of the great and good men of that day and
region of country he was an intimate friend and with
them an able co-worker.
Can we help seeing in this remarkable family record
a most wonderful proof of the marvelous providence of
our covenant-keeping Lord, in that the faithful servant
of God who bravely fought for the Covenant two hun-
dred years ago should be blessed by an unbroken line
of righteous descendants ever since, until now he has
the surpassing honor of having his memory celebrated
as the great-great-great-grandfather of the wife of the
chief ruler of the United States?
It is an interesting fact that several of the elders of
234 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
this church are still represented by families, bearing
their names, in the old churches of this Presbytery.
The history of the descendants of the elders of this
church gives glorious evidence of God's unfailing faith-
fulness to his covenant with his people and their chil-
dren. -
MEMORABLE OBJECTS AND EVENTS.
If hallowed ground exists anywhere, it is that of the
old graveyard of this church, for through it at least six
generations of worshipers have gone up to this sanctu-
ary of the Lord to keep holy day. At least six gen-
erations have laid in it their beloved dead, making its
dust most sacred. There is the last resting-place of the
founder of the Log College and of his dear wife, pre-
eminently a mother in our Israel. There, too, it was
that once was heard the voice of the sainted Whitefield
while thousands hung upon his words as if for their
very souls.
It is upon record that in the early days people would
come to the church on the Lord's Day for seven or eight
miles, often through the almost pathless forests, and fre-
quently on foot. Women frequently walked all that
distance, some carrying in their hands their shoes, which
they put on after they had washed their feet in a spring
near the meeting-house. -
In 1850 the Rev. Mahlon Long, Ph.D., and his
brother Charles established the “Tennent School,” a
boarding-school for boys, near the church.
The influence of this institution has been very great,
not only in that immediate neighborhood, but also
throughout a larger part of the country. Of its pupils,
five became physicians; twenty-five lawyers, some of
them very eminent; and nine clergymen, most of them
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 235
of our own Church; besides a large number of persons
who are now eminent in other walks of life.
NESHAMINY OF WARMINSTER.
We have already shown that the church of Nesham-
iny of Warminster had the same history for one hun-
dred and twelve years as that of Neshaminy of War-
wick. Concerning this congregation we have only to
take up its history in 1839, when it became a distinct
organization.
In that year, February 10th, the separation occurred,
when one hundred and forty of the members of the old
church in a body left that organization. Six of the
seven elders went with them, while the trustees as a
body remained in their former connection. This left
the two sections in a very singular position. The body
that remained having purchased the property, which
purchase carried with it the title-deeds and other papers,
and having with it the trustees, became the legal suc-
cessor in the temporalities of the church; but the
seceding party, having with it the elders, and continu-
ing in the same Presbytery, became the ecclesiastical
successor. After the separation the new body, taking
the form of a distinct organization with the charter title
of “the Church of Neshaminy of Warminster,” for a
short time worshiped in a private house. Subsequently,
for a year or two, they occupied a tent set up in a grove
near by. In 1842 their new house of worship was fin-
ished, and they entered it. For forty-six years it has
been one of our influential churches.
THE BUILDINGS.
The story of the buildings is soon told. The church,
having received three thousand dollars from the division
236 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
of the old property, collected as much more as was needed,
and in 1842 erected the present edifice in the village
of Hartsville, about half a mile from the old church.
Forty years afterward, in the autumn of 1882, at an
expense of three thousand dollars the house was reno-
vated, refurnished and rededicated. It is now a com-
fortable and beautiful place of worship. In 1886 a
chapel was erected in the village of Ivyland at an
expense of twelve hundred dollars, which was dedi-
cated on the 8th of August, and in which services have
been held every Lord's Day since.
THE PASTORS.
The pastors since the separate organization have been
as follows: Thomas B. Bradford, 1839, two years; Henry
R. Wilson, D. D., 1841, eight years; Jacob Belville,
D. D., 1849, eight years; John McCloskey, D. D., aided
Dr. Belville, two years; A Miller Woods, 1858, eleven
years; Gersham H. Nimmo, 1870, the present pastor.
The fact that Mr. Bradford was the first pastor of the
new organization, and also the peculiar circumstances
of his entrance upon his work, renders his installation
worthy of special notice. For that purpose the Pres-
bytery held an adjourned meeting, April 29, 1839,
there being no church edifice as yet, at the house of
Mr. Hugh Mearns. The Rev. Silas M. Andrews was
the Moderator. Dr. Steel proposed the constitutional
questions and delivered charges to both pastor and peo-
ple. After this Mr. Bradford served the church two
years.
Dr. Wilson was installed in November, 1842. He was
a brother well known and greatly esteemed throughout
the whole Presbyterian Church. Some time after leav-
ing this church he was elected, and long discharged
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 237
most faithfully the duties of, corresponding secretary
of the Board of Church Erection. He died June 8,
1886.
Dr. Jacob Belville was installed on the first Thurs-
day of November, 1849. That he should have held the
office of pastor in this church is a very interesting inci-
dent. He was emphatically the child of the Neshaminy
church, being the son of the Rev. Robert B. Belville,
who was its pastor for twenty-five years, and having
been born again in a great revival under his father.
During his pastorate here he was a most efficient mem-
ber of Presbytery, much of the time its stated clerk
and treasurer. He resigned in 1857, in consequence of
obstinate trouble with his throat. His health, however,
having become restored, he has been for many years
pastor of the church of Pottsville.
Mr. Woods was ordained and installed May 12, 1859.
Mr. Woods has a most honored ancestry, being grand-
son of Dr. Witherspoon, president of Princeton Col-
lege and a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
He has now been for many years pastor of the church
of Mahanoy City and stated clerk of the Presbytery
of Lehigh.
Mr. Nimmo was installed May 26, 1870. He has
performed the duties of pastor for now nearly a score
of years.
THE RULING IFLDERS.
When this church took its place as a separate organ-
1zation, it brought with it as its ruling elders the fol-
lowing six brethren: Hugh Mearns, James Horner,
Samuel Craven, James Weir, William Jamison and
William White. Those who now hold that office in
the church are William Glasgow, Isaac M. Yerkes,
Hugh J. Carroll and Samuel K. Mann.
238 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Of some of the families represented by these men of
God we have already written in the account of the old
Neshaminy church, and of the families of Yerkes and
Mann in connection with that of Abington; for one
of the instructive things regarding these old families is
the manner in which they are ramified through all
these historic churches.
Carroll is one of the old family names the record of
which is both interesting and instructive. Hugh J.,
the present elder of that name, is descended from a
line running back through godly parents and elders
for a century and a half, until its commencement in
Jacob, who was born December 12, 1732.
FACTS WORTHY OF RECORD.
During his pastorate Dr. Belville established an im-
portant boarding-school for young ladies. Many pu-
pils were gathered into it as a happy Christian home,
not only from the surrounding country, but also from
distant places. Its influences are felt to-day in many
families of piety and esteem through the Church.
This church displayed an enlightened enterprise in
the erection of the chapel at Ivyland. That village is
about two miles distant, where the railroad has its
nearest station, and where there has suddenly arisen a
new and thriving town. The station must be the cen-
tre of growth in that region; this is its only place of
worship. May not this ultimately become an import-
ant church 2 Every church should thus watch for
suitable places and there establish mission enter-
prises.
A very interesting fact concerning this church is that
it contains within its bounds the site of the old Log Col-
lege. Its location is not more than half a mile from the
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 239
house of worship. A more memorable spot or one con-
nected with more important associations there is not in
our whole Presbyterian Church. And yet there is noth-
ing to mark the spot: it is preserved only in the memo-
ries of those who are interested in the cause. The plough
passes over it, and the successive crops of grain wave
above it as if no mighty men or sublime work had ever
been there. In a few years it will pass away into the
oblivion of the past, and the place where the Tennents
did their glorious work for God and his Church will
be known no more.
Our Church should at once take some steps to recover
the ground and erect some sort of monument. No
matter how humble, some stone or some structure should
be put up to keep the place from being forgotten. It is
a reproach to us that we have not done this long ago.
The whole Presbyterian Church is alike interested
in it, while our Presbytery, having the site in trust,
should take the lead and management. And there
should be promptness, in order both to atone for past
delay and to avert the inevitable approach of oblivion.
MARKET SQUARE, GERMANTOWN.
The history of this old historic church will require
more space than most others, because it involves an ele-
ment of our Presbytery that can be found nowhere else.”
The special authorities we consult are Watson's Annals,
an admirable paper on the subject by Mr. William H.
Scott, one of the elders of the church, and a valuable
letter from Rev. Dr. Corwin of New Brunswick, New
Jersey, the historian of the (Dutch) Reformed Church.
If we were writing the special history of this church
* The history of the German element of our Presbytery is largely in-
cluded in the history of this and the Frankford churches.
240 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
we would date its commencement in 1710, and divide
it into four periods—namely, the Dutch Reformed,
1710–32; the German Reformed, 1732–1856; the New
School Presbyterian, 1856–71; and the Reunion period,
1870–88.
That this church, of such varied history, was com-
menced in 1710, and was then in the Dutch Reformed
connection, are facts established by our protracted in-
vestigations, though it has been usual to place the time
of its founding in 1732.
In the first place, in Mr. Scott's paper the missionary
Mr. Schlatterer is quoted as in 1746 writing of the
“old half-fallen church” in this place. “Old and half-
fallen' in 1746 could not refer to the stone building of
1732, which is ordinarily considered as the beginning
of Market Square church: it was then only fourteen
years old. It must have had reference to an older
edifice. On the supposition that the Dutch Reformed
put up a log building there before 1710, which in
Schlatterer's time would be at least forty years old, this
reference of the missionary would be explained. Again,
Watson, as quoted by Mr. Scott, writes: “This old
church'' (identifying the old log building with that of
1732) “in the market square originated as a Dutch Re-
formed, and was built and used as one directly under
the Reformed Church in Holland.” Here he writes of
“a Dutch Reformed,” as the first church, and adds,
“from thence (Holland) it had its first pastors.”
Now, where did Watson find that? and who was
that first pastor from Holland 2 Fortunately, Dr. Cor-
win’s letter, based not upon tradition, but upon “written
evidence,” gives the answer. It says he “has written
evidence of preachers (Dutch Reformed) visiting
North and South Hampton before 1710, in connection
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 241
with Germantown, Bensalem,” etc. Again, he adds,
“Said records state that churches were organized at
Bensalem and Neshaminy, May 20, 1710, and that on
the same day Paul Van Vleck was installed pastor of
the united churches of Germantown, Bensalem and
Neshaminy.” Paul Van Vleck, then, a Hollander, was
installed in Germantown May 20, 1710: if installed,
then the church must have been there before that time.
Is it not, then, clear, from the fragment of the mis-
sionary and from the letter of Dr. Corwin, that there
was in fact a Dutch Reformed church, and that its first
preacher was Paul Van Vleck, a native of Holland,
who was installed in 1710? About the log building we
shall speak farther on.
How came the Dutch Reformed church in so short a
time as twenty-two years to be found as a German Re-
formed church 2 This is answered partly by Dr. Cor-
win's letter and partly by the fact that the Germans
preponderated so greatly in number in Germantown.
It is well known that the early settlers in the German-
town region were mostly fugitives from the persecu-
tions that raged in the Palatinate. Fleeing for their
religion, their first act in their new home would be
to secure the privileges of the gospel for which they
had suffered so much. In Dr. Corwin's letter it is
stated that some of these ardent Germans, coming in
among the Hollanders of the Neshaminy region,
awakened a tendency toward the German Calvinistic
Church. This tendency in the neighborhood of
Bensalem, where some families of Irish Presbyterians
were also settled, produced a compromise in the forma-
tion of a Presbyterian church. In Germantown, how-
ever, where the German element was predominant and
where the German language prevailed, it resulted in a
16
242 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
German Calvinistic church, and is so found twenty-two
years after its formation. In 1732 the church was cer-
tainly German Reformed, and the old building of logs,
either becoming decayed or being too small for the in-
creasing population, gave way to one of stone.
It is in place here to state that this German Calvin-
istic church of Germantown in those early days was
connected with Frankford, which was either an outlying
mission or another church served by the same pastors.
This is evident from the following facts: Frankford was
the most important branch of the original German set-
tlement, for it was in Frankfort, near the Rhine, that
the company was formed which first settled German-
town; the early German Calvinistic pastors had gen-
erally two or more separate churches to which they
ministered; the same persons, we know as a matter of
fact, did officiate in both places from 1770 to 1805; the
same family names abound in the records of the old
Market Square church and in those of Frankford; a pas-
tor of the Market Square church—namely, the Rev. Fred-
erick Foehring—was the founder and laid the corner-
stone of the Frankford church in 1770. Moreover, many
old people have related to us that they had heard their
parents and grandparents describe how, of old, the girls
dressed in white, the children would go from Frankford
to Germantown to attend “the catechizing.” Undoubt-
edly, therefore, these two churches, at least during the
thirty-five years between 1770 and 1805, were united
in some way under the same pastors.
The pastors of these two old churches were almost
if not altogether missionaries sent out by the Classis
of Amsterdam—either members of that body or at
least supported by it. The reason for this strange
arrangement of German churches being supplied with
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 243
pastors by a Dutch Classis was that these persecuted,
impoverished Palatinates had neither the men nor the
means of sustaining them, and so their Holland breth-
ren came to their relief in return for the refuge which
the fathers of these very Germans had furnished to the
fathers of the same Hollanders in their former days of
Sore suffering from the enemies of the cross.
For the first twenty-five years of this church as Ger-
man Calvinistic, or until the settlement of Stoy in 1757,
it seems to have depended on such supplies as could
be found from Sabbath to Sabbath; and from this there
arose one of the most interesting events in its history.
Of these temporary supplies there was one name that
was the most revered of all—that of Count Zinzendorf,
the brother-in-law of Henry XXIX. of Reuss-Ebers-
dorf, resuscitator and leader of the Moravians, and
one of the most devoted men our earth has ever seen.
He was fervently pious even from his infancy, making
Christ the end and aim of his daily life, in his youth
declaring, “I have but one passion, and that is He,
only He.” When he was nineteen he saw a picture, an
“Ecce Homo,” with this inscription, “Hoc feel pro te;
quod facis pro me?” and then he consecrated his whole
being to Christ, and ever afterward lived accordingly.
In November, 1741, he came to Pennsylvania, on one
of his missionary-tours, and seems to have made Ger-
mantown his headquarters during the year 1742, liv-
ing in a house near this church.
The record of his connection with this church for
that period is given very fully in the Memorials of the
Moravian Church, edited by the Rev. William Reichel.
For the knowledge of these facts we are indebted to
Mr. Turner, who has given us much valuable aid in
our work.
244 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
The visit of Count Zinzendorf to these old Ger-
man churches seems to have had an influence similar
to that of Whitefield to the Presbyterians on the Ne-
shaminy, and we would put on record as a precious
legacy every item of it within our reach.
We give the various items just in the order we find
them : “On December 31, 1741, Count Zinzendorf ap-
peared for the first time in an American pulpit, preach-
ing to a large audience in the German Reformed church
of Germantown.” “He preached the gospel statedly
in Germantown until June 20, 1742.” “Dec. 30th,
the count and his company reached Germantown. Dec.
31st, Sunday, he preached to a large audience in the
German Reformed church, from the words, “And with-
out controversy great is the mystery of godliness.’”
“The church in which he preached had been built in
1733, and stood opposite the market-house in the Main
street. The Reformed congregation that worshiped here,
having not yet been supplied with an ordained minis-
ter by the mother-church, Mr. John Bechtel had been
chosen to act as lector and exhorter.” On March 15,
1742, the record is, “On this day Bro. Ludwig (or
Count Zinzendorf) and his household removed to Ger-
mantown, and occupied a house rented of Mr. Ashmead,
near the German Reformed church.” It is added con-
cerning the house: “Near the market-house, almost op-
posite the German Reformed church, the house is still
standing.” The record of June 17, 1742, is, “Bro.
Ludwig preached for the last time in the Reformed
church in Germantown.” Another record concerning
him is that “he preached the gospel statedly in the
German Reformed church at Germantown until June
20, 1742.” It will explain how it came to pass that he,
the leader of the Moravian Church, should preach
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 245
statedly for half a year to a German Reformed church,
to say that he was then engaged in promoting the inter-
ests of what he called “the Congregation of God in the
Spirit,” a sort of evangelical alliance among the German
religious denominations in Pennsylvania.”
THE BUILDINGS.
During its eventful history of one hundred and
Seventy-eight years this church has had in succession
five edifices for its worship : the log house of 1710,
the first stone building of 1732, the enlarged one of
1762, the brick structure of 1840, the present noble
edifice of 1888. Concerning each of these a few words:
1st. The log house of 1710. We have repeatedly
spoken of this as a building constructed of logs, not
because we have it so stated in any record, but because
certain other things make it more than probable that
such was the case. These probabilities are—first, the
missionary Schlatterer in 1746 describes the building
then standing (that of 1733) as a stone church. Why
does he introduce the word “stone” but to contrast it
with that which was before it, which at that time could
only have been of logs? This was only a hint, but as
such it awakened thought, which led to other probabili-
ties. Second, these early settlers before 1710 were very
poor; many of them had been despoiled by persecution,
and hence when they came here they had not the means
to do otherwise than use the trees in the forests around
them to put up such a structure as they could with
* In the year 1853 the church, by a unanimous vote, declared itself inde-
pendent of the German Reformed Church. Three years afterward, by a
unanimous vote again, it connected itself with the Presbyterian Church,
New School. We make it emphatic that these votes were unanimous, as
otherwise, as in all such cases, the transfer of the property to another
denomination would not have been sustained by the civil courts.
246 PRESEYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
their own hands. Third, the Log College and Abing-
ton church in the region from which some of the peo-
ple had come were constructed in this way, and it is
likely that they would adopt the same plan. Then
fourth and chiefly, the building to which the mission-
ary alludes was in a decaying state in 1746; thus, as
it could not have been put up more than thirty-five to
forty years before, it must have been of perishable
materials, which rough, exposed logs would certainly
be. All these, it will be observed, are only probabili-
ties, but they are so strong and so many and so diverse
as to leave scarcely a question but that our supposition
is correct.
2d. The next is the stone building of 1733. Con-
cerning this there is no uncertainty. The date of the
deed for the ground on which it stood was November
9, 1732. The building was completed the next year.
It was put up in connection with the change of the
church to German Calvinistic—whether as a new organ-
ization, or as a mere transfer of the former organization,
we have no information. r
3d. The next was that of 1762. It was substan-
tially a new structure, though one end and a little more
of the former building were retained in it. Its whole cost
was £526, 2s. 2d., or about two thousand six hundred
dollars.
4th. The next was a brick structure erected in 1840.
It was sixty-four by forty feet in size, and was length-
ened eighteen feet in 1857. It was the building so
well remembered by many as the church's home until
the year 1887.
5th. The next was the present structure, finished in
1888. It needs no description, as it now stands to
speak for itself.
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 247
THE PASTORS.
It has already been stated that for twenty-five years
the German Calvinistic church relied chiefly on occa-
sional supplies, but after that time there came a long
line of installed pastors. From 1757 until the present,
a period of one hundred and thirty-one years, the list
is unbroken. We give it with peculiar interest, a
succession of honored names: Wihelm Stoy, 1757,
one year; John George Absentz, 1758, eleven years;
Christian Frederick Foerhing, 1769, three years; J. C.
Albertus Helffenstein, 1772, three years; Samuel Dub-
bendorff, 1776, two years; J. C. A. Helffenstein again,
1779, ten years; Librecht Frederick Hermann, 1790,
twelve years; John William Runkle, 1802, three years;
Frederick Wilhelm Vandersloat, four years; Casper
Wack, 1813, eleven years; John H. Smaltz, 1824, five
years; Albertus Helffenstein, 1835, two years; Truman
Osbourne, 1837, five years; Jacob Helffenstein, 1842,
twenty-seven years; Edward P. Cowan, D. D., 1870,
twelve years; John E. Wright, D. D., 1883, the pres-
ent pastor.
Mr. Stoy was one of six ministers who came from
Germany to this country with Schlatterer in 1752. He
combined the duties of physician and minister during
the last thirty years of his life. Amid great prejudice
he introduced inoculation against small-pox into Berks
county, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Absentz was born in Germany. He came to
this country in 1816. After leaving Germantown he
supplied first the church of Amwell, New Jersey, and
then the Wentz church, Pennsylvania. -
J. C. A. Helffenstein belonged to a family in which
there has been a succession of ministers since the
248 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Reformation. Our list shows that three of these
ministered in this church. He was born in the Palati-
nate; and on his way to this country a severe storm at
sea led him to devote himself more entirely to the
service of God. The majesty and tenderness of his
preaching often overwhelmed his congregations. He
was pastor of this church at first four years, was then
in Lancaster four years, when he returned to this church
and remained ten years.
Mr. Foerhing was born in Hanover in 1736. When
a child his mother, knowing that if he remained until
he grew up in his native country, he would have to
enter the army, bound him on her back, skated across
the Rhine and, escaping, came to Philadelphia. Here
he in due time entered the ministry, became eminent for
both piety and talents, preaching in German, Dutch or
English as occasion required. He finally met his
death in connection with the army, for, being an ardent
patriot, he was forced to fly from the British soldiers,
took cold from exposure in efforts to escape from them,
the effects of which proved fatal.
In the interval of four years between Mr. Helffen-
stein's two periods of service in this church the pulpit
was supplied for two years by Mr. Dubbendorff. He
came to this country as a chaplain to the Hessian
troops, but soon left them and entered the pastoral
work. As a result, he seems to have been persecuted
by the English soldiers, by whom he was plundered,
losing all that he had. Being a man of very tender
and refined feelings, this greatly discouraged him, and
he soon left the field.
Mr. Hermann was, in every respect, a remarkable
man. He was a native of Germany and was the last
of the missionaries sent over by the Classis of Amster-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 249
dam. No less than five of his sons entered the min-
istry, for which he had himself educated them. Dur-
ing the latter part of his life he was totally blind. He
died at the age of eighty-four, his last words being,
“It is well with me. I am nearing heaven. My body
is very weak, and will soon be dissolved, but Jesus, my
Redeemer, will construct for me a glorified body from
this mass of corruption.”
Mr. Runkle was also a German, and a man of very
decided character. “He was a man of strong physical
constitution, tall and rawboned in person. His powers
of endurance were very great. He was venerable and
patriarchal in appearance, excitable in temper, warm in
preaching—a ‘son of thunder.’” •
Albertus Helffenstein, Jr., was son of the venerable
man of the same name of whom we have already
spoken, and who was the first of that family of minis-
ters who came to this country. His ministry in this
church was only for the brief period of two years.
The pastorate of Mr. Osbourne in this church was
memorable from the fact that during it the old stone
edifice was taken down and the new brick one erected
in its place. This is good evidence that his ministry
was an active and prosperous one.
Dr. Helffenstein was a worthy representative of the
godly and greatly-honored family of that name which,
in its successive generations, held the sacred office in
this neighborhood for over a century. No family in
our annals has had a more blessed record; especially in
this church, where the first member of the family in
this country officiated, must the name ever be held in
veneration. His was the longest pastorate of any which
the congregation has thus far enjoyed. During his last
years declining health made his work more laborious,
250 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
but not less devoted. From first to last he was distin-
guished for the utmost fidelity in every duty. Those
of us who knew him during his closing years must
ever carry with us the remembrance of the tenderness,
the affection and the earnest piety of the good man.
Dr. Cowan remained as pastor of this church for
twelve years, and then removed to Pittsburgh, where he
still continues ministering to one of our most influential
churches.
Dr. Wright has now been the very successful pastor of
this church for five years. The E in his name—John
Elliott Wright—reveals an ancestry which is a strong
confirmation of God’s immovable adherence to his cov-
enant. Dr. Wright is grandson of the Rev. Elisha P.
Swift, D. D., for forty years pastor in Pittsburgh and
Allegheny and founder of the Presbyterian Board of
Foreign Missions. Dr. Swift again was the great-great-
grandson of the Rev. John Eliot, the revered and ever-
honored “Apostle to the Indians” for half a century
from 1639. Such an ancestry is never forgotten by the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
THE RULING ELDERS.
Of these no record has been preserved previous to
1856. Since that time their names and dates of instal-
lation are as follows: Clem. Tingley, 1856; Joseph
Boucher, 1856; Adam D. McKell, 1856; James W.
Boyd, 1857; Samuel W. Roop, 1859; Nicholas B.
Unruh, 1860; Samuel T. Bodine, 1861; Samuel Hodg-
don, 1864; Edmund Bockius, 1870; John H. Tingley,
1870; I. Newton Baker, 1870; John Krickbaum, 1870;
John T. Roberts, 1871; James W. Mason, 1875; Louis
Wagner, 1878; William H. Scott, 1879; Samuel G.
Jones, 1887; Edward T. Mason, 1887.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 251
Messrs. Wagner, Scott, Jones and Mason are the
existing Session, who conduct the spiritual affairs of
this church with a rare spirit of harmony and zeal and
enterprise. Mr. Wagner is the well-known and highly-
esteemed officer in the government of the city who has
so long taken a most honorable part in all our public
affairs. Mr. Scott is the author of the sketch of the
church's history to which we have already referred, who
by his loyalty to his Church and her King, his activity
in every good cause and his liberality is a blessing such
as not many congregations enjoy. -
MISCELLANEOUS.
Among the many remarkable things connected with
this highly-favored church is the following, which we
give in the language of Watson's Annals: “Among its
recollections was that of its being the place where in
1793 General Washington and his family regularly
went as often as they had English preaching, which
was sometimes done by Dr. Smith from the Falls of
Schuylkill.”
We may not close this brief epitome of this church
without alluding to its extraordinary Christian enter-
prise at the present time. Within two or three years
it has erected an excellent manse for its pastor, a fine
lecture-room and Sabbath-school house for itself, as well
as a beautiful new church-edifice. It has also taken a
leading part in organizing and building the Mt. Airy
church, and has borne the great part of the expense in
the erection of our newest house of worship—that of
the Church of the Redeemer.
DOYLESTOWN AND DEEP RUN.
Though the history of this church extends over a
252 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
period of one hundred and fifty-six years, the greater
part of it is one of such even and quiet progress that it
is easily written. At first its history is somewhat com-
plicated, but it is nevertheless deeply interesting. The
histories of Deep Run and Doylestown are so inter-
woven with each other that they must be traced to-
gether; the churches are in fact one—though separate
organizations, they have always been one and the same
pastoral charge, and in reality stand related as prede-
cessor and successor.
Our history has first to do, and that for eighty-three
of its years, with Deep Run. The original name it bore,
and that for six years, was “Mr. Tennent's Upper Con-
gregation.” Deep Run was a settlement twelve miles
north of Mr. Tennent's Neshaminy church and Log
College. It was a community composed of Scotch-Irish
Presbyterians. When Mr. Tennent settled at Nesham-
iny in 1726 he seems to have established this as an out-
lying preaching-place at which he held occasional serv-
ices. For six years he continued this as a mere mission
without organization or ecclesiastical form. But as it
grew and became more important it was necessary to
form it into a distinct church. This was accordingly
done in 1732, and the name given to it was “Mr. Ten-
nent's Upper Congregation ”—a name that appears on
the records of Synod. This name and the date 1732
mark the real beginning of the Doylestown church.
Mr. Tennent continued to supply the new enterprise
—not every Sabbath, we may presume—for six years
more, when in 1738 declining health forced him to
accept an assistant in the double charge of it and
Neshaminy, he having the Log College also under
his care. This assistant was the Rev. Francis Mc-
Henry, a young man of twenty-eight, recently come
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 253
from Ireland. About the same time the name of the
church was changed to that of Deep Run. Mr. Mc-
Henry seems to have taken the full charge of the
Deep Run congregation, to which he was ordained
September 13, 1739, while he preached every third
Sabbath for Mr. Tennent at Neshaminy.
From the original records of the family we have
obtained a sketch of Mr. McHenry, which is so fine a
specimen of the life and character of these early Scotch-
Irish ministers that we will give it in full: “He was
born on the island of Rathlin, between Scotland and
Ireland. The family were obliged to take refuge in
the glens of Antrim in the North of Ireland from the
persecutions they were enduring in Scotland. An
aunt, who was a staunch Presbyterian, came over from
Scotland on a visit when Francis was about fourteen
years old, and on her return took him with her to edu-
cate him for the ministry in her own Church. Soon
after completing his studies with two other brothers he
came to America. One of these brothers located near
Baltimore, and from him Fort McHenry was named;
the other located at Fort Du Quesne, near Pittsburgh,
while Francis came here to the Forks of the Delaware—
now Easton—and commenced his ministry. Soon after-
ward he was appointed to preach at Neshaminy, assist-
ing Mr. Tennent at Deep Run and at Red Hill or
Tinicum. Every third Sabbath he preached at all
three of the churches. For a number of years his sal-
ary was six hundred dollars with homestead privileges.
He used to preach in the morning at Deep Run, ride
on horseback to Neshaminy, preach there in the after-
noon, then ride to Red Hill and preach there in the
evening, stay over night with some of the people and
return to Deep Run on Monday morning.” Some of
254 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
his descendants are still to be found in the Doylestown
and other churches. r
The Old and New Light controversy was culminating
in 1739, and came to an open rupture in two years.
Mr. Tennent took the side of the New Lights, Mr.
McHenry that of the Old. The Neshaminy church
was divided, and Mr. Tennent, with his adherents,
put up a new building for their congregation in the
same grounds with the old meeting-house. Mr. Mc-
Henry remained in charge of the Old Side party,
giving half his time to it and half to Deep Run,
which latter remained undivided with the Old Side.
After two years, in 1743, the people of Deep Run
built their first house of worship, and on March 16th
Mr. McHenry was installed as the pastor. At this point
all connection with Neshaminy was ended, and hence-
forward we have to do with Deep Run alone for seventy
years.
The Doylestown church grew out of that in Deep
Run, and its beginnings were on this wise: At the time
of its formation Doylestown was but a small hamlet
lying six miles south of Deep Run. In 1804 the Rev.
Uriah DuBois, who was then the pastor of the Deep
Run church, began to hold services at Doylestown as
a preaching-station. He preached in a new school-
house which had just been put up in the village. His
audiences there increasing in number and interest, he
had himself released from Tinicum, another church to
which he ministered, and devoted his whole time to
Deep Run and Doylestown. Still his audiences con-
tinued to increase, until in a few years the people
began to build a house of worship, which was finished
and dedicated in 1815.
From that time forward, Doylestown church went on
FORMATIVE PERIO D. 255
to increase, while that of Deep Run, because of changes
in the population of the neighborhood, became more
and more feeble. Gradually the number of services in
the one was increased, while in the other they were
diminished. This process went on from year to year,
until now, for a long time they have been held in
Doylestown twice on every Sabbath, but in Deep Run
only occasionally.
From this sketch it will be seen that the succession in
the life of this old church divides itself into three dis-
tinct periods: (1) that of “Mr. Tennent's Upper Con-
gregation,” 1732, six years; (2) that of Deep Run,
1738, seventy-seven years; (3) and that of Doylestown,
1815, seventy-three years.
THE BUILDINGS.
In the Deep Run church there have been three meet-
ing-houses which successively have occupied the same
Spot. -- **
(1) The first was constructed of logs in 1732, when
Mr. Tennent had the church first organized. This re-
mained standing for about thirty-four years, or until
1766.
(2) The second was built of stone, about the year
1766. Probably the old logs were then decaying, and
possibly a larger structure was needed for the increased
number of worshipers. This remained as the gather-
ing-place of the people for seventy-five years, or until
1841.
(3) The third was built of stone in the year 1841.
This is the house of worship which is still standing, and
though but few attend it on the infrequent occasions
when it is opened for worship, it is most venerable be-
cause of its associations with that spot where God has
256 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
*
been worshiped by successive generations for a century
and a half.
The first church-edifice of Doylestown, as we have
already seen, was finished in 1815. Thirty-five years
afterward, or in 1850, it was considerably enlarged and
much changed in appearance. It stood for fifty-five
years. This was the building which many of us have
associated with our first recollections of Doylestown. It
was the one in which the chief work of the greatly
revered pastor, the Rev. Dr. Andrews, was accomplished.
The present very imposing structure was finished in
1872. It is a commodious building, ninety by sixty
feet in dimensions, and will contain an audience of nearly
a thousand persons. The cost of its erection was about
thirty-one thousand dollars.
A lecture-room for the weekly lecture, for prayer-
meetings and for Sabbath-school and other purposes
was built in 1835. A fine manse for the pastor's use
was finished in 1888.
THE PASTORS.
Considering the long period of one hundred and fifty-
six years which the history of this church covers, the
list of its pastors, only ten in number, is a remarkably
short one and speaks well for the character of the peo-
ple, as well as for the men who have been their pastors.
It is as follows: William Tennent, Sr., 1732, six years;
Francis McHenry, 1738, nineteen years; James Latta,
1761, nine years; Hugh Magill, 1770, two years;
James Grier, 1776, fifteen years; Uriah DuBois, 1798,
twenty-three years; Charles Hyde, 1823, six years;
Henry Hotchkiss, 1829, two years; Silas M. Andrews,
D. D., 1831, fifty years (almost); William A. Patton,
1881, the present pastor.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 257
Of three of these—namely, Messrs. Magill, Hyde and
Hotchkiss—we have no other information than that of
the dates of their service. Of the others a few additional
facts will be interesting and instructive.
Mr. Tennent has been so prominently before us al-
ready in connection with the Log College and Nesham-
iny church that we add but little. The only thing
farther we see of him here is additional evidence of
his wonderful zeal and industry. It was not enough
that he had on his hands the Log College and the charge
of the Neshaminy church, but he was also willing to
assume the additional burden of another congregation,
and that at a distance of twelve miles. Every time he
preached at Deep Run involved a journey of twenty-four
miles, and that in winter as well as summer for six years!
No wonder his health began to fail under it.
Mr. McHenry must have been a prominent per-
son in the church at that time. That young man from
Ireland soon became one of the most eminent and use-
ful ministers of his day. Associated with Tennent in
the Deep Run church, a hearer of Whitefield when the
latter preached at Neshaminy and probably a participant
in the services, the supply of the old Neshaminy church
when the New Side branched off from it, and then so
long engaged in laying foundations for the Deep Run
and Doylestown church, he is well worthy of an emi-
nent name in our annals. He also must have been
much honored and trusted in his day. He had the
extraordinary distinction of having been twice elected
Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia. He was an
influential member of all the committees that were
appointed from time to time to bring about a reunion
of the severed branches of the Old and New Light
schism, and of other important committees and com-
17
258 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
missions. He was appointed by Synod to spend two
months on a mission to the destitute places and con-
gregations in Virginia. Scarce an office of special
responsibility but seems to have been entrusted to Mr.
McHenry. -
He died January 23, 1757, in the forty-seventh year
of his age, in the midst of the flock with whom he had
spent his entire ministry, and with their remains his
lie mingled in the old graveyard of Deep Run, with
this inscription on his monument: “This marble, sacred
to the memory of the Reverend and pious Mr. Francis
McHenry, whose mortal part lies here interred, was
bestowed by his grateful congregation. He was mod-
est and prudent; a learned divine and an excellent
preacher; a vigilant pastor, and a truly good man, who
made it his study to live in peace and to win souls to
Jesus Christ. He was born in Ireland, A. D. 1710,
and finished his course, January 23d, Anno Domini
1757. He lived beloved and died lamented. Reader,
remember death and imitate his virtues.”
Mr. Latta is a name connected with one of the best
known ministerial families in the Presbyterian Church.
As that name and family are fully commemorated in
other histories similar to this, and are so well known, it
is not necessary to dwell on them here.
Mr. Grier also bore a well-known Presbyterian
name. His descendants in their various branches are
still found dispersed throughout these old historic
churches, and wherever found they are always loyal and
true to the Church of their fathers. His death, after he
had served the church for fifteen years, was very sin-
gular. Although he was a most grave man, his risibili-
ties were excited one day by the frantic but vain en-
deavors of his servant to catch a pig, and he laughed so
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 259
immoderately as to burst a blood-vessel, and almost
immediately expired.
Mr. DuBois while he served as pastor of this
church also supplied the old church of Tinicum, and
gave up the latter in 1808, that he might minister to
the new enterprise that was arising in Doylestown.
His is another of the names that are justly cherished
in the annals of our Presbyterian Church. How much
are we indebted to these old families for the sanctifying
influences which, received from godly fathers, as in this
instance from a Huguenot ancestry, they have dissemi-
nated through all the ramifications of society, we never
can know. Mr. DuBois had eight children: Charles
E., who practiced law before the Bucks county courts
for forty years; Amelia, who married the Rev. Samuel
Aaron, principal for many years of the Young Men's
Seminary of Norristown; the Rev. Robert DuBois,
who was the pastor of the New London Presbyterian
church in Chester county for forty years; Samuel F.,
artist; William E., for many years assayer in the Mint
at Philadelphia; Matilda, the wife of the Rev. Dr.
Andrews, pastor of this church for half a century;
Lewis; and Mary, the wife of the Rev. Silas H.
Thompson. Who can conceive of the blessed influ-
ences sent out far and near by the family of that one
pastor of the Doylestown church
Dr. Andrews is a name that can never be forgotten in
the annals of either this church or this Presbytery. His
pastorate was longer than that of any other man who
ever held that sacred office in this Presbytery. Doyles-
town was his first and only charge, and when he finally
fell at his post he had held that office for half a cen-
tury, lacking only a few months. We would therefore
dwell lovingly on his memory.
260 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
When he came to this church he was a youth fresh
from the Theological Seminary of Princeton, to which
he had come three years before from North Carolina.
He was ordained and installed November 16, 1831.
A few comprehensive facts are all that we can use
by which to convey some idea of the man.
In addition to his extraordinary diligence and suc-
cess in his appropriate work as pastor, Dr. Andrews
was a man of great public spirit. For many years he
conducted a seminary for the training of young men
and boys. He took an active part in all the enterprises
intended to improve the town and county in which he
lived. He was prominent in every effort to elevate the
moral and social condition of the community.
In all ecclesiastical bodies he was most faithful in
attendance and active in every duty assigned him.
For many years he was the prompt and accurate stated
clerk of Synod. From the Presbytery he was never
absent unless for absolutely unavoidable causes. His
words of wisdom and plans of work can never pass
away from the memory of those who had the privilege
of being associated with him.
But it was in his own special congregation that his
grand life-work can best be contemplated. In this as
in all the duties of life one of the great secrets of
his success was his rigid adherence to fixed system in
all that he did. It is doubtful whether any man could
be named who was more methodical than was Dr.
Andrews in everything. In all his work and business
and studies and intercourse with the world, and even
in recreations, it was true of him that he “had a place
for everything, and everything in its place.” His
hours, and even minutes, for reading and writing and
other duties were fixed, and at the appointed minute,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 261
no matter how much interested he might be, he would
break off for the recurring employment. He would
rise in the morning at the fixed hour, and he would
make the daily record of the degrees in the thermome-
ter. In giving out the text of his sermon he would in-
variably name the book first, the chapter next and the
verse last—this order, and no other. “He was peculiar
about numbers, and had a great liking for them ’’ in
everything. These may appear small matters, but life
is made up of small matters, and such as these add im-
mensely to its comfort and its usefulness.
The amount of work which he was thus enabled to
accomplish in his fifty years of labor seems almost
incredible. He wrote out fully and accurately fourteen
hundred and eighty sermons—sufficient to make seventy
duodecimo volumes of four hundred pages each; he
attended twelve hundred and sixty-six funerals; he
performed the ceremony of holy matrimony twelve
hundred and forty-two times. It is a very significant
fact that the number of funerals and marriages in
those fifty years were so nearly equal—namely, twelve
hundred and sixty-six and twelve hundred and forty-
two. More impressive still is the fact, which his usual
accuracy has preserved to us, that during his ministry
there were added to the church no less than one thou-
sand and fifty souls / One thousand and fifty / What
a work, and what a reward
It will be so instructive to others in the ministry
that we must preserve a few things about his private
studies and devotions. In his earlier years it was his
invariable habit to read portions of the Greek and He-
brew Scriptures every day. Of course he was too sys-
tematic not to alternate, so that he could carry forward
both the Old and the New Testaments, and so lay up
262 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the treasures of both and keep his mind familiar with
the language of each. As to the English Bible, his
reading of it, both in private and in the family, was
very regular and thorough. He had a system which
took him through and through the whole word of God
in incessant course. With all earnest students of the
Bible, he held that the reading of the whole Scriptures
consecutively is far more profitable than taking it up
here and there in detached fragments. In this course
of daily reading which he adopted, and never inter-
mitted until his last days, he went through the entire
Holy Oracles forty-seven times.
His death occurred March 7, 1881. In the follow-
ing November he would have terminated the fiftieth
year of his pastorate. His funeral, which took place
on the 11th, manifested how high and how widespread
was the esteem in which he was held. Among the
multitude who attended were not only his own congre-
gation, but great numbers of the citizens of Doyles-
town and leading men from the surrounding county.
All the neighboring ministers were present. Dr. Cat-
tell, president of Lafayette College, and Dr. Knox,
who has since filled that office, took part in the services.
The writer of this sketch regards it as one of the most
precious memories of his whole life, though a very sad
one, that he was trusted with the delivery of the fune-
ral sermon on the occasion, and that by the dying
request, thrice repeated, of the beloved friend whose
remains we were about to commit to their final resting-
place.
Mr. Patton, the present pastor, was installed May 3,
1881. Coming after such a man as Dr. Andrews, he
had a difficult place to fill, but he has filled it well, and
the church goes on to prosper greatly. -
JFORMATIVE PERIOD. 263
TEIE RULING ELDIERS.
Of these, a long list of most excellent men has been
preserved. It is as follows, commencing with 1796:
Thomas Stewart, James Ferguson, Andrew Dunlap,
John Mann, John C. Ernst, Jonas Newton, John
Beatty, Dr. W. S. Hendrie, James McNeely, Samuel
Godshalk, Nathan Lewis, John Widdifield, John H.
Anderson, Samuel Hall, John Greer, Silas H. Thomp-
son, John G. Mann, Benjamin S. Rich, John G. Har-
FIS. -
The present Session is composed of John Beatty,
John G. Mann, Benjamin S. Rich, John G. Harris,
Philip H. Fretz, Charles H. Matthews, John L. Du-
Bois, Carlisle Shepherd, Albert J. Jones, John K.
Lovett. -
Thomas Stewart, M. D., served the church for almost
half a century (1786–1844). His children and grand-
children are still in the church. His is a name still
honored in the whole community.
Mr. Mann was elder thirty-three years from 1820.
His son, John G. Mann, was elder for thirty years, and
his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
are still members of this and the adjoining churches.
Mr. Beatty has been elder since 1832, a period of
fifty-six years. He is grandson of Rev. Charles C.
Beatty of the Log College. God has thus shown his
favor to his people of the fourth generation.
Dr. Hendrie served as elder for forty-three years,
beginning with 1832. His children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren are all partakers in the covenant.
Mr. Thompson afterward entered the ministry. His
wife was the daughter of the Rev. Mr. DuBois, one of
the pastors. .
264 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Mr. Rich has an unparalleled record. He has been
an active elder in the church for thirty-five years. For
thirty-nine years he has superintended one of the Sun-
day-schools, and during all that time has been absent
but one Sabbath, and that because of a death in his
family. The promise has been made good to him and
his children for three generations.
Mr. Matthews is a lawyer in Philadelphia and is
active in the churches there.
Mr. DuBois is grandson of the pastor of the church
of the same name. He is an influential lawyer in the
courts of Bucks county. An admirable sketch of the
history of the church, from which we have gathered
much of our material for this one, is from his pen.
GENERAL FACTS.
There is little more that needs to be said concern-
ing this greatly-blessed church. With a noble his-
tory running back for one hundred and fifty-six years,
with a commanding location in the county-seat of one
of the most populous parts of the State, and with an
existing condition of great prosperity, it must exert an
influence for unlimited good. Its pastor is to be greatly
congratulated that he has been placed in such a field in
which to work for Christ and souls. Most heartily do
we adopt the language of one of its elders: “This
church has exerted a good moral and religious influ-
ence in the community, and is revered and honored
by all. May its future be bright and prosperous!
God bless its labors' and may it go on doing great
good until the time come when churches shall no
more be needed in the world, but the one glorious
Church of heaven will reign triumphantly through-
out eternity.”
FORMATIVE PERIO D. 265
NEWTOWN CHURCH.
It is greatly to be regretted that the records of this
church for more than a century of its earliest years
either have been mislaid or are hopelessly lost. For
one hundred years after its formation in 1734 we know
nothing of it with documentary certainty, Save the suc-
cession of its pastors. Hence our only sources of
information are from the facts of its formation, the
results of its course and well-authenticated traditions.
After its commencement in 1734 we can learn, with-
out much uncertainty, the leading general outlines of its
history. Its course was one of smooth, steady progress
for a century. There were no divisions, no convulsions,
no disturbances from errors, no streams into it and no
branches out from it. Families providentially brought
together at the first commingled; pastors whose names
we know followed one after another at dates which have
been preserved; and peace and prosperity seem to have
prevailed.
After a century, in 1838, light breaks in upon the
history, and henceforth we see all very clearly. From
that time forward we can trace every step distinctly
by the aid of records which have been carefully pre-
served. Amid some commotions the church has gone
steadily forward. Half a century of constant progress
lies before us for our investigation.
In this church we have an example of the com-
mingling of various nationalities in the early history of
our Presbytery, and we would dwell on it specially
here, although a similar process, perhaps not quite SO
striking, is to be found in some others of these old his-
toric churches. For instance: some of the families
came from the North of Ireland, as is revealed in the
266 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
names of the McNairs and others. Some came from
Holland, as was the case with the Wynkoops, Van
Arsdalens, Van Zandts and others. Some, again, are
revealed by their names as having come from England,
Scotland and other lands. They came here and united
in the same faith and Church. Their families inter-
married. They became homologated in their church,
family, social and civil intercourse. Their original lan-
guages and dialects were gradually dropped, and that
of their present use adopted. Now all marks of diverse
nationalities, save that of their names, are gone, and
they are one people in one Church and one faith.
Our study of this history must be largely conducted
otherwise than through documentary records. We can
trace its outlines through the succession of its pastors.
We can estimate what it must have been from its begin-
nings and through the results which we find wrought
out along the intervening century. We can learn
from family records, family growths and family tradi-
tions. We can reach unerring conclusions from the
marks of God's footsteps so deeply made that they can-
not be effaced, and the meaning of which it would not
be possible for us to misinterpret.
THE BUILDINGS.
Here our information is more full, and perfectly
reliable. There have been two church-edifices which
have been successively used for the worship of God by
this congregation.
The first building was erected in 1734 on the Swamp
Road, a mile west of the town. Its location is identi-
fied by several unmarked graves which may be seen in
the uncultivated corner of a field. This building was a
frame structure. It stood and was used for church pur-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 267
poses for thirty-five years, and was afterward sold and
turned into a wagon-house. -
The second building was erected in the year 1769.
This is the house which still stands, though it has
undergone such frequent repairs that little more than
the original walls remain. It is truly venerable from
the fact that it has continued to be the one place of
worship of that church for one hundred and nineteen
years. Many a time has it been renovated with more
or less thoroughness. As it stands to-day, it bears the
marks of the repairs that have been made upon it in
the years 1842 and 1850 and 1857, and last of all in
the year 1870.
In 1855 an old academy in the town was purchased,
and was used for religious purposes in connection with a
seminary for thirty-one years. In 1886 this was given
up, and a farewell service was held, conducted by Wil-
liam Wynkoop, Esq., the superintendent of the Sab-
bath-school.
In 1884 a neat frame chapel, costing two thousand
dollars, was built by the church at Edgewood, about
four miles from Newtown, the officers of the church
taking charge of both its spiritual and its temporal af-
fairs. A mission Sabbath-school is established there,
and preaching-services are held once a month.
In the same year an excellent stone chapel, erected
in the heart of the town, was dedicated with impressive
services. It is one of the most substantial and best-
arranged Sabbath-school-buildings in the whole region.
From its elevated location it commands a fine view of
the town and surrounding country.
THE PASTORS.
Of the pastors of this church we have no record pre-
268 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
vious to the year 1743. From that date, however, the
succession is almost unbroken up to the present time, a
period of one hundred and forty-five years. It includes
a list of twelve names, and is as follows: Hugh Carlisle,
D. D., 1743, four years; James Campbell, 1747, twelve
years; Henry Martin, 1759, ten years; James Boyd,
1769, forty-four years; James Joyce, 1813, two years;
Alexander Boyd, 1815, twenty-three years; Robert D.
Morris, D. D., 1838, eighteen years; George Burrows,
D. D., 1856, three years; Henry F. Lee, 1859, two
years; Samuel J. Milliken, 1861, five years; George
C. Bush, 1866, ten years; A. McElroy Wylie, 1877
to 1888, eleven years.
Had we the requisite information to guide us, the
study of this list of faithful pastors, many of whom
held their pastoral charge for so long a time, would be
eminently instructive, but concerning some of them we
know absolutely nothing more than the name and the
date of their service. -
Of Mr. Carlisle we have no knowledge. -
Was Mr. James Campbell a brother of the Rev.
John Campbell who at the same time was pastor of the
church of Norriton, and concerning whom so many
remarkable facts are preserved ? The question cannot
be answered. -
Of Mr. Martin we have nothing whatever to record
save the date of his ministry as given above. -
Concerning Mr. James Boyd, who held the sacred
office so long in this church, we would like to know
much more than we can find on record. All that we
can discover in the records which have been preserved
for us is simply that he came to this country from Ire-
land in his youth, and was the faithful pastor here for
forty-four years.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 269
Concerning Mr. Joyce also we have no additional
facts than date and length of service.
Of Alexander Boyd, who ministered to this church
for twenty-five years, we have been able to gather up
much more. He was born in Chester county, Penn-
sylvania, was graduated at Dickinson College under
the celebrated Dr. Nesbitt, settled first as pastor in
Bedford, Pennsylvania, and came to this Newtown
church in the year 1815. His wife, who survived
him, was granddaughter of Dr. Beatty of Log-College
fame, and sister of Mrs. Steel of Abington, and of Mr.
John Beatty, the venerable elder of the Doylestown
church, who is still living.
After this the list has a personal interest for us, in-
asmuch as we have had an intimate acquaintance with
all the persons whose names are upon it.
Dr. Morris was installed October 3, 1838. After the
close of his long pastorate here he became principal of
an important female seminary in Ohio, and continued
in that influential position for about twenty-five years,
when he died.
Dr. Burrows was installed on May 13, 1857. Sub-
sequently he became professor in a college of San
Francisco, California, and has continued in that posi-
tion ever since. He wrote a popular commentary on
the Song of Solomon.
Mr. Lee was installed on April 26, 1860. He is
now pastor of a church in the city of Philadelphia.
Mr. Milliken was installed November 6, 1862. Af-
terward he became pastor of a church in Huntingdon
Presbytery, and has now charge of the church of Fox
Chase in this Presbytery.
Mr. Bush was installed November 8, 1866. He
had done good service in the sacred office before
270 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
coming here, and he has also since leaving this
charge.
Mr. Wylie was installed on the second Thursday of
June, 1877. He is one of the members and possesses
the characteristics of the very eminent ministerial fam-
ily of Wylie in this city and State. His uncle was the
provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and did more
than any other man of his day to build up that great
institution. His cousin, the Rev. Theodore W. J.
Wylie, D. B., holds the longest pastorate of any Pres-
byterian minister of Philadelphia or vicinity.
THE RULING ELDERS.
Here also we cannot but lament that we have not the
whole roll. All the names that we have previous to
1838 are the following: James Slack, Anthony Tor-
bert, Reading Beatty, M.D., David S. McNair, Abra-
ham Slack, Solomon McNair, Lamb Torbert, David
Taggart. Since then the following have acted: Wil-
liam Bennett, 1838; James M. Torbert, 1838; William
H. Slack, 1838; Lamb Torbert, 1838; Isaac Van Ars-
dalen, 1838; Jonathan Wynkoop, 1839; James M. Mc-
Nair, 1839; James S. McNair, 1854; David McNair,
1866; Cyrus T. Van Arsdalen, 1866; James Ander-
son, 1872; William D. Stewart, 1872; William T.
Seal, 1872; William Wynkoop, 1872.
Even this list, though in but one thread of the
church's history, awakens many precious memories of
the years of that history. Almost every name sug-
gests peculiar reminiscences of the old families of the
church.
The Slacks: No less than three of these are on the
roll of these elders. They are all of one family in its
several generations, and they all tell in the most em-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 271
phatic way of God's covenant mercies to his people and
his Church.
The Torbert family: Three of them are here who
have held the holy office of elder in this church.
Even three, however, are not all, for various members
of the family, becoming connected by marriage with
others of the old families, were to be found in the dif-
ferent branches of the church. Their names are on
almost every page of its history.
Very few men have had a more eventful and honor-
able history than Dr. Reading Beatty. He was the son
of the Rev. Charles C. Beatty of the Log College. Like
all the Beatty family, he had a strong taste for the mili-
tary life. Accordingly, though educated for the medi-
cal profession, he early entered the Revolutionary army
as a private soldier in the very hottest period of that
terrible struggle; soon reached the rank of captain;
fought courageously in battle after battle; was taken
prisoner and incarcerated on the infamous prison-
ship Myrtle in New York harbor and long continued
a captive in Long Island; was released at last, and
then, having studied medicine, he became surgeon of a
regiment of artillery, and continued in the service until
the war was closed. After that he settled in Fallsing-
ton, Bucks county, not far from Newtown, whose church
he attended, practiced medicine there for forty years,
and then retired to Newtown, where he resided the
three remaining years of his life. He was a ruling elder
of this church for twenty or twenty-five years. His
children were all useful and honored in their lives.
One of them was the courtly and kind Dr. Beatty, so
long an elder of the Abington church; one the wife
of the Rev. Dr. Steel of Abington; one the wife of
the Rev. Dr. Henry R. Wilson, with whom she be-
272 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
came missionary to the Choctaw Indians, and soon
died among them; one is John Beatty, an elder of
the Doylestown church to this day; and one was Miss
Susan Beatty, full of grace and kindness, whom we so
well remember as a member of the family of Dr. Steel.
In the McNairs we have another of these old family
histories which amaze us and stir our whole souls. We
look over the list, and we find no less than five of the
family, in its successive generations, elders in this one
church—namely, David S., Solomon, James M., James
S. and David. Could we help searching diligently into
such a record? The story is—the blessed story—that its
founders, Samuel and Ann, emigrated from the North
of Ireland in 1725, a year before Mr. Tennent came
to Neshaminy, and settled in this neighborhood. Then,
as we trace the stream downward, in the third genera-
tion we find one elder; in the fourth generation we find
two ministers and three elders; in the fifth generation
we find five ministers and three elders; and in the sixth
generation we find two ministers and one elder—in all,
from this single family, eight ministers and eight elders.
“Blessed for the father's sake” may well be written
beneath each one of these family records.
The next of these old families is that of the Vanars-
dalens, the fifth generation of which is now in active
and righteous life, some in the old church still, and
some doing good service in other congregations. The
first generation came from Holland in 1700, and settled
in North and South Hampton, and united with the Re-
formed Dutch church there. The second generation
contained two sons, one an elder and one a minister, the
latter of whom died early. The third generation con-
sisted of three sons, all elders. The youngest of the
three was Isaac, a venerable man whom we well remem-
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 273
ber as a frequent attendant at our meetings of Presbytery.
The fourth generation, so far as we know of it, consisted
of the eight children of this Isaac-five sons and three
daughters. Of the sons, one was a minister, and nearly
all the others were elders; one of them, Cyrus, is at the
present time a faithful and active officer in the church.
The daughters are the wives of elders. The fifth gen-
eration are young men and women in various churches—
Some of them officers.
If possible, still more remarkable, as an illustration
of the sure mercies of our covenant-keeping God, is the
family of Wynkoop in the same church—a family whose
connection with various churches as ministers or elders
can be clearly traced for eight generations. The first
was Peter, the progenitor of the family, who came from
Utrecht in Holland in 1639, two centuries and a half
ago, and settled in Albany, New York. The second
was Cornelius, in 1657 deacon and in 1665 elder in the
Reformed Dutch church of Kingston, New York. The
third was Gerritt, deacon in 1712 in the same church
in Kingston. He was the first of the family to settle
in this county, and in 1744 was elder in the Reformed
Dutch church of North and South Hampton. The
fourth generation included Gerritt, Nicholas and Gi-
rardus, the latter of whom was for nineteen years mem-
ber of the House of General Assembly, and for several
of these years its Speaker. He was also an officer in the
Revolutionary War. The fifth was represented by the
cousins Henry and William. Henry was for years a
judge in the courts, and for a long time a member of
Congress, and William was for years a prominent mem-
ber of North and South Hampton Reformed Dutch
church. The sixth had as its chief members the eleven
children of the above William, one of whom, Thomas,
18
274 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
was elder in this church for about half a century, whom
we well remember, and who died in 1879. The seventh
has as its representative in the church William, who has
been elder for sixteen years, who was an officer in our
army during the Secession War, and who is now justice
of the peace in Newtown. As a peacemaker in both
church and community he is a most valuable man, and
as a ruling elder his wise and earnest influence is most
Salutary. The eighth generation includes the young
men and women of the various branches of the great
family, one of whom, son of the last-named William, is
son-in-law of Mr. Wylie, one of the church's pastors.
Mr. Anderson is another of these elders of whom we
must make a special record. By his wife, daughter of
Isaac Vanarsdalen, he was related to the old families to
whom the blessings of the covenant have so richly de-
scended. Besides, his sweet and faithful influence as an
elder, first in the church of Newtown and then in that
of Frankford, has caused his memory to be fondly cher-
ished. •
We may well question whether the annals of the
whole Church can furnish a more striking fulfillment
of the Scripture, “The promise is to you and to your
children,” than this of the old church of Newtown. As
an instructive example we have felt constrained to
dwell so long on these family records which are, in fact,
a rich treasury for our whole Presbyterian Church.
TINICUM CHURCH.
We take up the history of this church with peculiar
sadness from the fact that after having done valuable
service for one hundred years it gradually declined and
has passed away from the roll of our congregations.
For nearly all that we shall narrate concerning it we
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 275
are indebted to Mr. Turner, whose familiarity with the
history of all these old churches and exceedingly kind
researches have rendered the writer aid more valuable
than he can well express.
In its history this is now known as the Tinicum
church, but at first it was the Tehicken church, and
Sometimes was also called the church of Red Hill. Its
origin was the result of a settlement of Irish Presbyte-
rians in the township of Tinicum. The time of the
formation of the church was 1739, and it ceased to be
represented in Presbytery about 1855. The period of
its existence was therefore about a hundred and ten
years. At first it seems to have been a mission of the
church of Newtown; then for a long time afterward it
had a separate organization.
For many years it was an influential church of the
Presbytery, and its name frequently appears in the
records of the Synod, and always in connection with
the First Presbytery of Philadelphia. Such prominent
place it held for more than a century, from 1739 to
1855. It is truly sad that such a church should have
passed away, but it is satisfactory to know that except
Durham church it is the only instance of the kind in
all the history of the early churches. Moreover, its
decline and disappearance were not owing to defect in
the system or unfaithfulness in the members, but in
consequence of the changing of the population in the
region where it was situated. The Scotch-Irish element
gradually removed to other parts of the land, and a non-
Presbyterian people took its place. 4.
It has, it is true, disappeared from our sisterhood of
churches, but it must not disappear from our history.
At least this monument must be erected to a church
which so long did good service for Christ, and which
276 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
sent out its children to establish our cause in other
regions of the country. Besides, there are many things
in the history of this church that are both curious
and instructive, and so form a part of the general
history of the Presbytery. Indeed, it is doubtful
whether we have as full records of the history of any
of these early churches as of this.
General Davis, in his History of Bucks County, after
stating that it is not known with certainty when this
church was commenced, but that the Rev. James Camp-
bell preached at Tinicum and at Newtown in the sum-
mer of 1739, says: “In the fall of that year he received
a call to this church, then called Tehicken, through
Francis Williamson and John Orr, but he continued to
supply his two congregations, Tehicken and Newtown,
occasionally going up to the Forks of the Delaware,
until 1744, when he was installed at Tehicken on May
24th of that year.”
General Davis adds: “A few years afterward it was
decided to build a new church, and a controversy arose
whether it should be built on the site of the old one or
at Red Hill.” (This controversy was settled by the
casting of the lot, and, being carried to the Synod,
awakened much discussion there.) “It was fixed at the
latter place, on account of which Mr. Campbell resigned
in May, 1749. He went afterward to North Carolina,
and died there.”
The records of the church are missing down to 1762,
and we know nothing of its history during the inter-
vening period. On February 16th of that year the
London Company conveyed thirteen acres to the trustees
for the use of the church. In 1767 it was conveyed
by them to other trustees for the Protestant congrega-
tion of Tinicum and the adjoining township.
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 277
The records are again silent until 1785, when the pas-
tor, the Rev. Alexander Mitchell, left the church. By
consent of Presbytery the congregations of Deep Run
and Tinicum were united in one charge in 1785 under
the Rev. James Grier, who served to the close of 1787.
Among the supplies for 1788 we find the names of
Blair, Hannah, Peppard and Nathaniel Irvin. In 1792
the church gave a call to the Rev. Nathaniel Snowden,
and in 1798 the Rev. Uriah DuBois, after he had been
installed at Deep Run, was invited to give Tinicum one-
third of his time. In 1820 the Rev. Alexander Boyd
of Newtown consented to supply Tinicum one-fourth
of his time for one year for £105, and continued the
services until 1826. From this time the congregation
relied on transient supplies. In 1843 the trustees con-
veyed the one undivided half of the church and lot to
the German Reformed and Lutherans, the Presbyte-
rian congregation retaining the privilege of occupying
the church one-half of the time.
THE BUILDINGS.
The quaint-looking old stone building with the stair-
way to the gallery on the outside was erected in 1766.
This remained as the only house of worship for seventy-
seven years, or until 1843. It was rebuilt at that date,
and is the edifice which is now standing.
THE PASTORS.
Of these we have a list of seven whose united terms
of service extend over a period of one hundred and
eight years. Their names, the dates of their installa-
tion and the length of time they severally served are
as follows: James Campbell, 1739, ten years; Alexan-
der Mitchell, 1769, sixteen years; James Grier, 1785,
278 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
two years; Nathaniel Snowden, 1792, six years; Uriah
DuBois, 1798, twenty-two years; Alexander Boyd,
1820, six years; J. H. Sherwood, 1845, two years.
Mr. Mitchell was a licentiate of the Presbytery of
New Brunswick, but was, at his own request, transferred
to the First Presbytery of Philadelphia, as it is always
called in the old church-book. He was ordained and
installed November 23, 1768.
Mr. Du Bois was at the same time pastor of the Deep
Run church from 1798 to 1820.
Mr. Sherwood was only stated supply, and that for
only one-fourth of his time.
THE RULING IFLDERS.
The list of these, for such early days, is unusually
full; by the persistent industry of Mr. Turner it has
been traced in the original records as far back as
to 1768. It is as follows: Abraham V. Middleswarts,
1768; William McEntyre, 1768; Daniel Jamison, 1768;
Robert Stewart, 1768; Andrew Patterson, 1768; David
Wilson, 1772; Robert Smith, 1772; Robert Patterson,
1772; Joseph Hart, 1772; Thomas Lory, 1785; Moses
Relley, 1785; Thomas Stewart, Jr., 1785; James
Wilson, 1785; Francis A. Wilson, 1824; Jacob Van-
derbilt, 1824; Daniel Boileau, 1824; James Wilson,
Jr., 1824; Samuel Carrell, 1836; Jeremiah Vander-
bilt, 1836; Stephen Bennet, 1852; J. M. Vanderbilt,
1852.
Though we know nothing personally of any of these
twenty-two elders, yet their mere names tell an instruct-
ive story. They reveal to us their nationality. Almost
all manifest their North-of-Ireland origin; three were
of Dutch ancestry, and one was from the brave Hu-
guenots of France. Then the four Wilsons, the two
FORMATIVE PERIO D. 279
Stewarts, the two Pattersons and the three Vanderbilts
bear the usual testimony to the blessings of the cove-.
nant as extending throughout whole families.
SPECIAL ITEMS.
The oldest stone in the graveyard with an inscription
on it is that of James Blair, who died in 1749, aged
eighty-three. The fathers of the church were English-
speaking people, for in the graveyard we read such
names as Blair, Wilson, Thompson and Summers.
In 1789 it was resolved by the Session, Mr. Grier
being the Moderator, that persons who desired to be
admitted to the ordinances for the first time themselves,
or to have their children baptized, must be “propounded
a week beforehand;” which rule was carried into execu-
tion for a number of years.
The following items will show the sad decline in the
membership of the church until finally it became ex-
tinct. In 1768 the names of eighty-three members are
given who signed the call which was presented to Mr.
Alexander Mitchell. In 1836 a list of the members of
the church is given containing twenty-four names, and
one was added the next year. In 1846 there were
thirty-six members. Seven years afterward the church
WAS I, O YY1OI’é.
FRANKFORD CHURCH.
For our own guidance in framing this history we
have divided the churches into three classes—namely,
the churches of the Old Historic Period, of the His-
toric Period, and the Period of Modern Progress. The
Old Historic Period includes those organized before the
formation of the General Assembly, in 1788, eighty-
three years; the Historic Period, those between the
General Assembly and the organization of our Second
280 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Presbytery, in 1833, forty-four years; and the Period
of Modern Progress, those commenced since 1833, fifty-
six years.
Of the Old Historic Period, Frankford was the ninth
and last that was founded, the date being 1770. No
other was established after that until the General As-
sembly, or indeed until the present century.
ORGANIZATIONS.
We have already stated that Frankford was one of
the German churches which originally entered into the
composition of our Presbytery. It was formed chiefly
of the people who at first settled in the region of Ger-
mantown, and whose migration to this country received
its first impulse from the “Frankfort Company” of
that old city in the Palatinate. Its members were de-
scendants of those people whose fathers had suffered so
Sorely for the gospel’s sake in the Fatherland. As,
however, we have already described these people and
the missionary pastors who came with them or followed
after them, we need not again dwell on them.
But there was another people who mingled with them
in the church of Frankford, and of whom we have no
other traces in the churches of the Presbytery. These
were a German-speaking people also, but from the
land of John Calvin and Ulric Zwingle. They were
a colony of Swiss Calvinists from the city of Basle.
Their home had been on the upper waters of the Rhine.
From the lofty cliff of their native city they had looked
afar off, on the one side, over the Black Forest, with its
wild traditions, and on the other over the snow-covered
mountains of the Alps. They had worshiped in the
time-worn cathedrals of their martyr-fathers. They had
imbibed a deeper piety in the venerable minster which
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 281
had witnessed the “Council of Basle,” and which is
hallowed by the remains of the great Erasmus of Rot-
terdam.
A small colony of these Swiss people had found their
way, we know not how, to Philadelphia and to Frank-
ford, and, mingling with their kindred German people,
who spoke the same language with themselves and held
the faith of John Calvin and the Heidelberg Catechism,
they united with their brethren in laying the founda-
tions of this German Calvinistic church.
There were thus two elements in the original compo-
sition of this church—namely, the German and the
Swiss. As we have already seen, it was originally a
branch or mission of the old Market Square church
of Germantown, the one pastor ministering to both.
This arrangement must have been continued for a
long time, the worship in Frankford having been held
probably in a private house until the colony of Swiss
arrived and gave additional strength and impulse to the
enterprise. Their coming would seem to have imparted
new life, for we find the Frankford congregation imme-
diately afterward purchasing the ground for a church
and graveyard. This was in 1769. The next year,
1770, the building was erected, and consequently that
is the year which has been fixed upon as the date of
the beginning of the church.
In the record of the erection of this building we dis-
cover evidence of the composition of the people who
entered into the enterprise. The man who laid the
corner-stone, and who was then the acting pastor, was
a German, Mr. Foehring, pastor of the Germantown
German church, while the Frankford men who col-
lected the funds and conducted the work were all
Swiss. There were four of these men who were the
282 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
leaders in founding the church. Their names, all
Swiss, must be kept in remembrance: they were—
George Castor (or Carstor), Rudolph Neff, Henry
Rohrer and Sirach Shudy. Other names associated
with the enterprise indicate the Swiss element in
the congregation, such as John Myers, Jacob Bauer,
Daniel Peltz, Ulric Neff, Jacob Zebley and many
others.
These seem to have been an eminently pious people,
and their religion not a mere tradition received from
their fathers; for as they began their work, they de-
voted the building, as well as themselves, by a formal
dedication which is fortunately preserved, and which
we have had translated out of the original German.
As a specimen of its devout spirit we give its opening
and closing sentences: “In the name of the Holy Trin-
ity, Amen. Whereas, it has pleased the almighty and
all-wise God, through his providence and his Holy
Spirit, to put it into the hearts of the following per-
sons—viz.: George Castor, Henry Rohrer, Rudolph
Neff and Sirach Shudy—to build a house for the
glory of His Holy Name.” This was the opening;
the close was: “Now, God Almighty, Creator of the
universe, we commend to thee this house which we
have built in thy name and for thy glory. Keep
in thy hands and protection those who shall meet
in it. Destroy all false doctrines and all that is cal-
culated to destroy thy word. Give now and for ever
thy grace, peace and unity, and thine shall be the
thanks and praise, honor and glory, now and for
ever. Amen.” -
After the church had thus been founded it continued
in connection with Market Square church, whose pas-
tors supplied its pulpit, for thirty-two years, or until
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 283
1802. It was then called the German Calvinistic
church, showing the preponderance of the Swiss ele-
ment, which was under the influence of Geneva.
During all this time the services were in the Ger-
man language, in which also all the records were
kept.
After a while, however, a change seems to have
come. The first zeal had cooled, there was no resi-
dent pastor, and the young people were losing the
German language and growing to prefer the prevail-
ing English. The church continued to decline until
in 1807 it became almost disorganized; suitable per-
sons could not be found to fill the offices of elders
and deacons.
Then it was that, by unanimous vote of the whole
people, the church applied through its delegate, George
Castor, to the Presbytery of Philadelphia to be taken
under its care as a Presbyterian church. This applica-
tion was received and considered and the following ac-
tion taken by the Presbytery: In consequence of the vis-
its and statements of Mr. Castor, by adjournment Pres-
bytery met in the Frankford church, on December 8,
1807. This was a memorable meeting of Presbytery
in the annals of the Church. The names of those
who were present were—the Rev. William M. Tennent,
the Rev. Ashbel Green, D. D., the Rev. Archibald
Alexander, D. D., the Rev. Dr. Janeway, the Rev.
Dr. Potts and the Rev. Mr. Latta. Before them was
laid the petition of the Frankford church, composed of
over thirty families. The petition asked that the con-
gregation be taken under the care of Presbytery, and
pledged that they should be governed by the rules of
the Presbyterian Church. Presbytery being assured
that these families were nearly all that composed the con-
284 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
gregation, and that they were then in no other ecclesias-
tical connection, agreed to take them under its care,
and made arrangements for furnishing them with
supplies.
It was well, as subsequent events proved, that this
action of the church in transferring their connection
from the German Reformed to the Presbyterian body
was unanimous, and that it was afterward established
by the legislature. Otherwise there might have been
serious legal trouble in the future in consequence of
the law forbidding the transfer of property from one
denomination to another if there be even one vote
in opposition to it. In fact, so late as the time of
the present pastor, legal investigations were made by
Germans (not the German Reformed Church), and
action in the courts was not instituted simply because
the original action of the church was in strict con-
formity with the law.
From that time forward for a period of eighty-one
years the course of the church's history has been one
of steady progress, and, except one brief period of
strife, unmarked by any important organic charges.
THE BUILDINGS.
As already stated, the original house of worship was
erected in 1770. It was a type of the original Ger-
man Reformed churches of the country, and such as
may be seen in Switzerland at the present time. As a
curiosity and a specimen of these old German churches
we give a somewhat full description of it. The
church-edifice as it was first built was only forty feet
wide and thirty feet long. The separate cost of each
of the various articles of its construction is pre-
served:
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 285
£ S. d.
Stone, lime, sand, hair and hauling © te 133 2 10
Boards, planks, shingles and other lumber . 109 6 8
Paint, oil, glass, and painting . e o e 27 16 3
Mason-work and plastering º o o g 64 16 0
Jarpenter- and cabinet-work . . . . 97 16 9
Blacksmith-work and other incidentals . º 28 17 5
Whole cost of building when finished . g 461 15 11
About two thousand four hundred dollars ($2400).
In 1810 this old building, after standing for forty
years, was enlarged by an addition of forty feet,
which more than doubled its size, but the structure
was precisely the same in form. Then, after fifty
years, the enlarged building, having become too small
from the increase of the congregation, was taken
down and the present commodious sanctuary erected in
1860. The comfortable manse in which the pastor's
family has its home was built in the year 1844.
THE PASTORs.
The first pastors of the church were all German.
Most of them were missionaries sent out by the Dutch
Reformed Classis of Amsterdam. In this way, as be-
fore remarked, this Classis came to the aid of its Ger-
man brethrén in their suffering from persecution by
which they had been made exiles and poor, as in for-
mer days the Germans had ministered to their wants
when they were passing through a similar fiery fur-
nace. They were pastors of the Market Square church
of Germantown, and in connection with it, as we have
already seen, ministered here also. We present the
following list, first of those German pastors and then
of the English-speaking pastors, who preached in this
church: Christian Frederick Foehring, 1770, two years;
J. C. Albertus Helffenstein, 1772, three years; Samuel
286 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Dubbendorf, 1775, four years; Mr. Helffenstein (again),
1779, ten years; Philip R. Pauli, 1787, two years;
Librecht Frederich Herman, 1789, twelve years; John
William Runkle, 1802, five years. The Presbyterian
and English-speaking pastors were—John Whitefield
Doak, 1809, seven years; Thomas Biggs, D. D., 1818,
thirteen years; J. T. Marshall Davie, 1832, two years;
Austin Morss, 1835, two years; William D. Howard,
D. D., 1838, eleven years; Thomas Murphy, D. D.,
1849, forty years and still continuing.
Of all the German pastors save one we have already
given a few facts in connection with the church of Ger-
mantOWn.
Mr. Pauli is the one exception. In an act of incor-
poration he was mentioned as minister of this church.
As their years overlap each other, it is probable that
he ministered here as assistant while Mr. Helffenstein
labored in Germantown. The aid was probably neces-
sary because of the latter's declining health. Mr. Pauli
was a native of Prussia. For six years after 1783 he
had charge of the Academy of Philadelphia; at the
same time he preached at Frankford. He was a learned
man, a celebrated linguist and an active and faithful
minister. After his death his loss was very greatly
lamented by this people.
In the interval between 1807 and 1809, when Mr.
Doak became pastor, the pulpit was filled from time
to time by neighboring pastors, among them Dr.
Archibald Alexander, Dr. Jacob J. Janeway, Revs.
George C. Potts, William Latta, Nathaniel Snowden,
Dr. William M. Tennent who preached twenty-one
Sabbaths, and many others. -
While the pulpit was again vacant for two years
from 1816 it was supplied by Drs. Rogers, Janeway
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 287
and Neill, and by Revs. Messrs. Janvier, Dunlap and
others.
Mr. Doak was installed June 18, 1809. He was the
son of the Rev. Samuel Doak of Tennessee. He had
held two other charges before coming here. After
leaving this church because of declining health, he
became an eminent practitioner of medicine in his
native State, preaching also as he was able. Here he
labored diligently, leaving an impress never to be
effaced.
Dr. Biggs was installed Nov. 10, 1818. He was an
eminent and useful man. He made the deepest im-
pression that had ever been made on this community.
He must have been a fine Scriptural scholar and an
excellent preacher. While in Frankford the Rev.
Charles Hodge, D.D., was his most intimate friend
and a frequent guest at his house. Indeed, Dr.
Hodge, the Rev. Daniel Baker, the Rev. S. C. Henry
and Bishop John Johns of the Episcopal Church, had
all been classmates of Dr. Biggs in Princeton College;
they were converted in the same revival with him and
remained his warm personal friends through life.
After continuing pastor of this church for thirteen
years Dr. Biggs accepted a professorship in Lane
Theological Seminary at Cincinnati. That office he
held for seven years, and then became president of a
Cincinnati college in 1839. In that position he contin-
ued for six years, and for three years more was president
of Woodward College in Cincinnati. In 1852 he was
installed pastor of the Fifth church of the same city,
and after four years resigned. At the age of seventy-
seven, in 1864, he fell asleep in Jesus.
The best tribute to his memory we have seen is that
of Bishop McIlvaine of the Episcopal Church in Ohio.
288 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
It closes with these words: “A beautiful trait in his
character was the largeness of his Christian regards.
He was beautiful too in his faith and the joyfulness of
his hope. He never seemed to see God in the pillar
of cloud, but always in the pillar of light. Christ was
so near to him that he felt no doubts. Great loving-
ness of mind and heart characterized him beyond what
is usual. It beamed from his countenance, it spoke
from his voice and was expressed in his whole manner.
He must have been useful as he was.”
Mr. Davie was installed August 28, 1832. After
serving the church for two years he removed to Lan-
caster, where he became the pastor and intimate friend
of James Buchanan, afterward President of the United
States. He died in 1862 at Flatlands, Long Island.
One friend of his family declared of him that he had
never seen his temper even ruffled; another, that he
was uniformly so happy and forbearing as never to be
excited into an unkind remark about any one.
Mr. Morss was installed April 30, 1835. He re-
mained but two years.
Dr. Howard was ordained and installed March 13,
1838. His pastorate was one of eminent prosperity and
progress in the church. The congregation had been torn
and distracted by previous strife; under his wise and
conciliatory course all was soon healed. It had been
much weakened, but by his able ministry prosperity and
strength gradually increased. Through his admirable
direction the Sabbath-school became one of the very
best in the city. During his pastorate the church-
edifice was renovated and the manse built. Because of
his really eloquent preaching, his faithful pastoral work
and his warm, friendly nature he was greatly beloved
by his own people as well as by the whole community,
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 289
When he felt called to accept a position of wider
influence and usefulness he left behind him a mourn-
ing people. Difficult indeed was the undertaking of
him who followed Dr. Howard in the post he had filled
so long and so well. After leaving Frankford he took
charge of the Second Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh,
and remained there for many years, until he died.
Dr. Murphy was installed October 11, 1849. This
pastorate has now continued for nearly forty years.
Between the years 1833 and 1835 the Rev. David X.
Junkin, D. D., was stated supply for a few months, as
was also the Rev. James Watson, D. D.
THE RULING ELDIERS.
The list of all the elders of whom we can learn as
having ever held the office in this church is as follows:
Jacob Gransback; Rudolph Neff, 1780; Conrad Axe,
1798; George Castor, 1801; Philip Buckius, 1808;
Caleb Earl, 1808; Robert Smith, 1810; Samuel W.
Doak, 1810; Jacob Myers, 1810; Edward Gilfillen, M.
D., 1812; William Nassau, 1812; Capt. Jacob Peter-
son, 1812; Roderick Adams, 1820; William Gibson,
1829; Christopher Coon, 1829; Thomas D. Mitchell,
M. D., 1829; Alfred Jenks, 1830; George T. McCal-
mont, 1830; Charles Dewees, 1836; John D. Harper,
1836; John Deal, 1836; Robert Pattison, 1839; Rob-
ert W. Solly, 1853; William Irwin, 1853; Philip
Cressman, 1853; Benjamin Rogers, 1864; William J.
Warner, 1864; Robert Cornelius, 1866; William E.
Hamill, 1870. The present Session consists of Benja-
min Rogers, Robert Cornelius, William J. Warner,
Joseph McConnell, William B. Dixon, William Scott,
J. M. Somerndike, Joseph L. Kinkerter, David Nimlet,
M. Davis Yonker, J. Keith Yerkes—the last eight, 1872.
19
290 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Of this number, among the deceased, there are two
or three who so greatly influenced the church's history
that they must be had in special remembrance.
George Castor is the first. A descendant of one of
the four who laid the foundations of the church in the
beginning, he was born five years after his grandfather
took the leading part in that good work. Himself
among the first of its elders, when the church was to be
established in a new connection, when its first house of
worship was to be enlarged, when great trouble was
found in supplying its pulpit, when great sacrifices had
to be made to bear its expenses and maintain its ordi-
nances, George Castor was always the man to bear the
heaviest of the burden. He was known even to mort-
gage his own property that the interests of the church
might be promoted. An interesting incident concern-
ing this venerable man is that he was intimately asso-
ciated with the Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., in
securing the transfer of the church to the Presbyterian
connection. In fact, Mr. Castor's name is on almost
every page of the church's history for half a century.
Mr. Adams was for a short time sole elder of the
church. Prudent, amiable, retiring, he could be known
only to be loved. -
Mr. Gibson was active in every department of Chris-
tian usefulness. As one of the founders of the church's
Sabbath-school, a leader of its music, an active elder,
a man of prayer, the possessor of a warm Christian
heart, his name will long live in the Zion he loved so
well. tº-
Mr. Harper was a most amiable man. As elder and
trustee of the church, superintendent of the Sabbath-
school and staunch friend of the pastor, of a family
for a long time prominent in the community, he can
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 291
st
never be forgotten. He was eminently a man of prayer.
His greatest study was to promote harmony and broth-
erly affection among all the members.
Mr. Deal was elder in the church for over forty years.
He was also a trustee, clerk of the Session for a long
time, superintendent of the Sabbath-school for years,
and active in every good word and work. His church
was his life. There was no other object on earth, out-
side of his family, so dear to him. He attended all its
services as regularly as he took his meals. As a matter
of course he was to be found prominent in every effort
to promote its welfare. For many years there was no
face more familiar in all the meetings of Presbytery
than was that of John Deal.
Dr. Mitchell exerted a very wide and blessed in-
fluence in the church. His piety, his zeal and his love
for Zion were unflinching and, without a doubt, many
will rise up at the last day to call him blessed.
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
The Sabbath-school of this church is one of the oldest
in the land, having been commenced seventy-four years
ago, in 1815. It was begun beside the stove of the
church with seven little girls. There was at first great
opposition to it because it was free, parents alleging they
could afford to pay for their children's schooling.
One of the first acts of the church after it became
Presbyterian was, in 1810, to purchase an old academy
in Frankford for two thousand dollars and set up a school.
Frankford and vicinity were indebted to it as their only
school for many years. When we consider that at that
time there were no public schools we may understand
what a benefit this must have been to the community.
During the Revolutionary War, after the battle of
292 PRESBYTERY OF THE Log college.
Trenton, some of the prisoners captured in that engage-
ment were brought here, and for a time confined in the
old church. Of this fact there is no question, as a minis-
terial friend of the writer found an account of it in the
archives of Hesse Cassel, Germany, in a journal kept
by a Hessian officer.
Even the Lutheran church of Frankford is an off-
shoot from this old Presbyterian church, having been
originally founded by a number of the older Germans
who seceded from our organization because the younger
members persisted in conducting at least occasional serv-
ices in the English language.
The Frankford Baptist church had the same origin.
About 1806 the authorities of the church frequently
secured for their pulpit a Baptist minister named Alli-
son, who taught in the academy. He preached for them
with great acceptance. In the same academy there was
another Baptist minister named Montoney, who also
frequently filled the pulpit. A number of the con-
gregation in time became so attached to these ministers
that they united with them, and in 1807 formed the
Baptist church of Frankford, which has prospered and
done good service ever since.
In the last fifty years this church has sent out no less
than five offshoots which now belong to our sisterhood
of churches—namely, Bridesburg, Holmesburg, Ann
Carmichael, Tacony and Wissinoming. On the terri-
tory which it then occupied alone there are now no less
than eight Presbyterian congregations—namely, in ad-
dition to the five already named, Hermon, Lawndale
and the mother-church—yet that mother-church now
numbers five times as many members as it did at the
beginning of the period indicated.
The present pastorate of nearly forty years is the long-
FORMATIVE PERIOD, 293
est in the history of the congregation. It has extended
over one-third of the church's whole life, and is longer
than the aggregate of the years of any four pastorates
that went before it. It has been a period uneventful,
but of steady progress.
THE GENERATION OF ESTABLISHMENT.
It is a fact worthy of special notice that after the Old
and New Light schism, with all its events and results,
there was a period of thirty years, or a generation, until
the formation of the General Assembly, in which there
were no churches organized in the Presbytery save that
of Frankford, in 1770. Such a rapid increase in the
earlier times, and now an almost absolute pause ! Has
the Church lost her first love and her first zeal? Has
the Lord withdrawn the power of his Holy Spirit from
her because of unfaithfulness, and that at the very time
when she seemed matured, and equipped, and ready
for valiant service? What means this? A whole gen-
eration of these new and vigorous churches, and yet
only one new congregation started Surely this must
be not only noticeable, but highly significant. What
means it?
There were at least two natural causes: The one was,
that in all portions of the Presbytery available for the
planting of churches in those days when the population
was so sparse, congregations had been already gathered.
In the great revival times the increase of churches had
been rapid, so that the field in which to plant them had
been covered. Localities in which churches could be
sustained were not very many, and they were taken up
already. The other cause was that the period from
1758 to 1788 was so filled with rumors of war and the
terrible Revolutionary struggle and the momentous
294 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
public events which followed that the minds of men
were drawn away, and their resources so exhausted
on other things that the building of churches was
neglected. In the controversies and alarms which
preceded the war, in the troubles of families, and
confused noise and garments rolled in blood, and
slaughters of many battle-fields, and in the intense
excitement that followed the cessation of hostilities,
the public mind was wholly taken up. It thus came
to pass that the interests of the Church were at a
partial standstill.
These were the natural causes, but there was a far
more potent providential cause. It was ordered in
divine wisdom that there should be this period of a
whole generation for confirming the results of the
previous steps which had been taken in the work of
providing a Presbyterian Church for this country. All
else having been done, a time was needed in which all
that had been accomplished should be settled, defined
and fully established. The principles of doctrine and
order were to take root; the habits and character and
modes of thought and forms of an American Presby-
terian Church were to be matured; influencing traditions
were to be formed; the great power of early associations
was to be created. A whole generation was required
for this; and no more than a generation, for only those
who were children at the time of the great consumma-
tion of 1758 could possess such peculiar attachment to
the Church as is hallowed by the memory of the past.
This confirmation was the last step in the series of prep-
arations previous to the organization of the General
Assembly. A generation of people would be prepared,
when the crowning-time should come, who would know
no other form of Presbyterianism than the one they
FORMATIVE PERIOD. - 295
possessed, and to whom it would be most dear from the
strangely influential feeling that it was the form of the
Church of their fathers.
We would now recapitulate and make distinct the
various steps by which God had provided a Presbyterian
Church for America. We cannot be mistaken in our
assured belief that all these were the majestic steps of
his providence and grace. The events have rendered
this opinion most certain. They were:
1st. The gathering together here of the people out of
the various European lands, where the persecutions
they had endured had prepared them to prize and im-
prove the untrammeled enjoyment of their gospel
privileges.
2d. The providing for this gathered people a sound
Calvinistic creed, which had been matured by many
struggles in the years gone by.
3d. The providing of means for furnishing a prop-
erly-qualified ministry through the marvelous move-
ments which concentrated in the Log College.
4th. The baptism of the Holy Ghost which caused
the infant Church to become animated by the most
fervent piety—a piety akin to that of Wesley and
Lady Huntingdon and Jonathan Edwards.
5th. The issuing from the Log College of a band of
apostolic men endowed with extraordinary power and
piety and zeal, who swept over the land as angels with
the everlasting gospel spreading abroad the system and
the spirit which God was maturing.
6th. A period of tempering, an annealing process,
passed through in the celebrated Old and New Light
Schism from 1741 to 1758, by which the diverse ele-
ments in the Church were brought close together,
united, homologated, and so made one.
296 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
7th. The appointment of a period, a generation
long, for confirming, establishing and working up
principles into habits and establishing hallowed asso-
ciations.
8th. And finally, the organization of the General
Assembly, the forming of a visible Church for the
whole land, with its creed, ordinances and traditions
all matured, and ready to enter side by side with the
nation upon a career of unimagined sublimity.
Such was the logical and very nearly the historical
process of preparation for our American Presbyterian
Church. The chronological process may be almost as
distinctly traced. At first, only eighty-three years be-
fore the Assembly—a very short period in the entire
annals of the kingdom—there was but one small Pres-
bytery with seven infant churches and a few more in
embryo. Twelve years afterward, in 1717, there was
strength enough in the body to form a Synod, with its
several Presbyteries, each having its own sisterhood of
churches. Seventeen years after that, in 1734, our own
Presbytery alone had its seven churches and was still
increasing. Twenty-four years later, in 1758, there
were eight churches, and the whole body was united,
harmonious, zealous, one in doctrine and in ordinances.
Twenty-eight years later still, in 1786, we had nine
churches, and the body well established and ordered
and firm for its appointed work.
And now there remained only the crowning act, the
organizing of the General Assembly. This was needed
to give visibility, and so actuality, before the world to
the one body for which all the previous preparations
had been made; to unite the scattered branches into
one responsible organization that could be addressed;
to gather up the innumerable elements of influence and
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 297
form them into one vast available force; to keep the
whole sisterhood of Presbyteries and churches in har-
mony of counsel and action; to concentrate the wisdom
and piety and power of all the parts into one grand
agency for the upbuilding of the kingdom ; to give
opportunity for mutual aid and encouragement to all
the members associated in it; to present the whole en-
ergy of the united churches against the machinations
of the principalities and powers of the apostate world;
to organize and economize the forces in the great work
which the Master has given his Church to do; to coun-
teract and put to shame the lying reproaches of the
malignant enemy, and to make our great organization
felt as one of the chief sanctifying elements of our
New World. For all these and other reasons such a
general organization was needed, and the preparations
were completed for uniting all our churches under the
one national General Assembly.
TIME FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COME.
Before describing the organization of the General
Assembly, the most important event in our history,
it is proper that we should glance at the state of the
world, the country and the Church at the epoch when
it was effected. At that time no railroad had been
constructed, no steamboat had floated, no magnetic tel-
egraph had been imagined, no American vessel of any
kind had sailed on the eastern coast of Asia. The
American Board of Foreign Missions had not been
formed, and Sabbath-schools were just beginning to
be heard of. In France, the Revolution began by
the taking of the Bastile the very year of our organi-
zation, the Republic was set up a year later, and the
Reign of Terror commenced its bloody work four years
298 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
afterward. In Great Britain, George III. was on the
throne, the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson was buried
the same year and the trial of Warren Hastings was agi-
tating the whole country. The celebrated writers Han-
nah More, Warburton, Burke, Burns and many others
were in the midst of their fame or had lately passed
away. In this country, five years before, national in-
dependence had been acknowledged by England, the
Federal Constitution was completed the same year, and
the year after George Washington was inaugurated as
the first President. Hamilton, Jefferson, Randolph,
Jay and Knox were among the great men at the head
of public affairs. The state of society at that time is
portrayed so well and so much to our purpose by Dr.
John Lord that we shall introduce his picture at some
length: “At that time manufactures were in their
infancy; travel was limited; it was a great event for
a man to visit Europe; the people were obliged to
practice the most rigid economy; everybody went to
church; religious skepticism sent those who avowed it
to Coventry; ministers were the leading power; the
press was feeble, and elections were not controlled by
foreign immigrants; when men drank rum instead
of whisky, and lager beer had never been heard of,
nor the great inventions and scientific wonders which
make our age an era had anywhere appeared. The
age of progress had then scarcely set in, and every-
body was obliged to work in some way to get an honest
living; for the Revolutionary War had left the coun-
try poor and had shut up many channels of industry.
The farmers at that time were the most numerous and
powerful class, sharp, but honest and industrious, who
honored learning and enjoyed discussions on meta-
physical divinity. Their sons did not then leave the
FORMATIVE PERIOD. 299
paternal acres to become clerks in distant cities, nor
did their daughters spend their time in reading French
novels or sneering at rustic duties and labors.”
It was in the midst of these great national events of
the world and of this state of society in this country
that our General Assembly was formed.
CHA PTE R. X.
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMB1, Y.
WE have now reached the point where we are to
study the formation of the General Assembly—an era
the most momentous in our history.
The official action which issued in this important
event extended over four years, and the records of it
are as follows: The Synod having assembled in Phila-
delphia May 17, 1786, on the nineteenth day of its
session passed the resolution : “The Synod, consider-
ing the number and extent of the churches under their
care, and the inconvenience of the present mode of
government by one Synod, Resolved, That this Synod
will establish, out of its own body, three or more sub-
ordinate Synods, out of which shall be composed a
General Assembly, Synod, or Council, agreeably to a
system hereafter to be adopted.”—Records, p. 517.
At the meeting of the Synod of 1787, on May, 28,
it was resolved, “That the division of the Synod be
postponed until next year, and that the Synod be then
divided.”—Records, p. 541.
At the meeting of the Synod which began May 21,
1788, on the twenty-ninth day of the session, it was
“Resolved unanimously, That this Synod be divided,
and it is hereby divided into four Synods, agreeably
to an act made and provided for that purpose in the
session of the Synod in the year one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-six, and that this division shall
commence on the dissolution of the present Synod.
300
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 301
“Resolved, That the first meeting of the General As-
sembly, to be constituted out of the above said four
Synods, be held, and it is hereby appointed to be held
on the third Thursday of May, one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-nine, in the Second Presbyterian
church in the city of Philadelphia, at eleven o’clock
A. M., and that Dr. Witherspoon, or in his absence Dr.
Rodgers, open the General Assembly with a sermon
and preside till a Moderator be chosen.”—Records, pp.
547, 548. -
Arrangements were then made for the meetings, in
the autumn following, of the four Synods for organi-
zation. The Synod was then dissolved.
At the time and place appointed the General As-
sembly was fully organized in 1789.-Minutes of Gen-
eral Assembly, p. 5.
This is the point from which we can most advan-
tageously study one of the vital, all-pervading elements
of our whole history. We have asserted that the
reigning idea of the whole course through which the
infant Church had been led was that God was prepar-
ing a Presbyterian Church for America, and that this
Presbytery was the cradle of the movement. This was
the divine purpose. This manifest purpose has been the
writer's guide in tracing the footsteps of the great Head
of the Church in all his providential dealings with our
fathers. It is in accordance with this purpose that
every event must be interpreted.
In the great comprehensive fact announced, there are
three essential elements—(1) that God was maturing
a great Presbyterian Church; (2) that this Presbytery
was the cradle of the movement; (3) that the Church
to be matured was for America. The first and second
of these points have formed the substance of all our
3()2 PRESBYTERY or THE Log college
preceding studies; we shall now direct attention to
the third—
A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOR AMERICA.
What are the evidences that in the providential
operations we haye been considering a Church for this
country was the reigning purpose? Those operations
may be seen throughout the previous history, but how
was the purpose specially indicated when the formation
of the Church was consummated ? The substance of *.
the argument is that the organization of the General
Assembly and the formation of the Constitution of the
country were accomplished side by side, and under cir-
cumstances which made it evident that they had one and
the same providential Designer. To make the matter
more distinct, we shall place the various items of evi-
dence under the following significant aspects—namely,
the civil government and the Church were organized
under (1) a similar process of preparation, (2) at the
same time, (3) in the same place, (4) by the same
kind of men, (5) by men having the same principles,
and (6) by men having the same prospects.
1. As to the first point, that each had a similar pro-
cess of preparation, the facts are certainly remarkable.
The elements of the preparation of the civil govern-
ment were the collecting into this land of a population
drawn from the very best of all the nations of Europe;
the forming of provinces or States that should after-
ward be confederated into one nation; the protracted
period of training by which the people were brought
up to a necessary degree of self-reliance; the Revolu-
tionary War, by which the country's independence was
attained; the providing of a body of eminent men who,
when independence was established, were ready for the
wº
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 303
nation's great crisis; and lastly, the framing and adoption
of the national Constitution. Running parallel with
this was the process of preparing the Church, gathering
together the people from the nations when persecutions
had trained them to an intense love for their Church
and their God; so ordering it that these gathered people
should all be wedded to the same Calvinistic creed;
preparing for them a supply of well-trained pastors;
baptizing them with the Holy Ghost, and so enduing
* them with an earnest piety; dispersing their faith
throughout the land by the agency of a band of emi-
nent and godly evangelists; subjecting them to an
annealing process, by which they were homologated
and made one in heart; granting them a generation in
time during which they might become established in
faith and order and church-life; and then the organiza-
tion of the General Assembly. Who can help the con-
viction that God had a purpose in these surprisingly
similar processes?
2. The two events of establishing the new govern-
ments were not only at the same general epoch, but also
at the same exact time. This is a striking fact that has
not attracted deserved attention. We must look into
this coincidence somewhat in detail, in order that its
great significance may be appreciated.
As to the nation, the facts are that the new Consti-
tution was signed by the convention of States Septem-
ber 17, 1787: this Constitution was ratified May 23,
1788; the Government was organized March 4, 1789;
and Washington was declared the first President April
6th and inaugurated April 30th of the same year. As
to the Church, the facts were that the first action of
the Synod looking toward the formation of a General
Assembly was taken June 6, 1786; the vote that
304 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
such General Assembly should be formed was carried
May 28, 1787; the specific action establishing the
Assembly was taken June 23, 1788; and the organiza-
tion was formed May 24, 1789.
3. Scarcely less remarkable was it that the places
where both events were consummated were on almost
the same spot. The city in which they both occurred
was Philadelphia. But more striking still, the hall
where the national Constitution was adopted was only
a little over two squares from the Second Presbyterian
church where the General Assembly was meeting. Had
there been no intervening obstacles, a clear voice might
easily have been heard from one building to the other.
It would not have been difficult for a rapid walker in
a few moments to pass from the church to the State
House. Was there no meaning in this?
4. The same sort of men were the framers of both
Constitutions. This point we deem to be of the very
highest importance; indeed, we consider it to be the
most significant coincidence of all. Such an able
and pure body of patriots as the fifty-four men who
composed the national Constitution this land has
never at any other time seen gathered together. When,
we name as among them Washington, Franklin, Rufus
King, Roger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth, Livingston,
Dickinson, Rutledge, Pinckney and Madison, this will
readily be granted. *
We do not say that these men were also members of
the first General Assembly. Neither do we say that
any number of them were members of the Presbyte-
rian Church. To what particular denominations indi-
viduals of them belonged it would now be probably
impossible in most cases to discover. But what we do
affirm is that the spirit of the Calvinistic system was
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 305
that which animated, impelled and guided most of
these great statesmen. The prevalence of that system
had a predominating influence in the framing of that
wonderful instrument. In fact, it is known that some
of the members of the convention who were most influ-
ential in framing it had been brought up in Presby-
terian churches.
On one occasion the Rev. A. A. Hodge, D. D., of
Princeton Theological Seminary, made the statement
to the writer, and presented the proofs on which it was
founded, that for above one hundred and thirty of the first
years of this country all the higher institutions of learn-
ing in the land were under Calvinistic management and
teaching. But that was the period in which these great
statesmen had received their mental training and bias;
and such were the institutions which made them what they
were. Hence their spirit, the bent of their minds, their
opinions and views and their interpretations of history,
were the same as those of the framers of the Constitution
of the Church. We believe this to be a matter worthy
of very close study, as the undoubted reason why the
two Constitutions had such a striking similarity.
5. The same principles actuated the framers of both
instruments. Just as far as comparison can be instituted,
as far as there was any similarity of object or as the
spiritual government of which the Son of God was the
Head could have lineaments like one that was the re-
sult of human wisdom and existed for human ends, the
principles of the two are precisely alike. The following
points will serve as specimens: (a) It was a principle of
both bodies that there should be a total disconnection
between the governments of the Church and the State,
the one claiming no aid, and the other no obedience.
(b) Both cut loose from all connections with the Old
20
306 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
World, the one seeking no ordinations, and the other
acknowledging no allegiance. (c) Both adopted writ-
ten and ratified Constitutions as the guide to all laws
and for the ultimate decision of all controversies.
(d) Another principle adopted by both was the perfect
equality of all of the members of their respective con-
stituencies—the one tolerating no prelates of any degree
and the other no potentates or privileged classes. (e)
The very framing of both constitutions is according to
the same plan—in the one the church Session, the Pres-
bytery, the Synod and the General Assembly; in the
other the township, the county, the State and the Gen-
eral Government. (f) The principle of representation,
by which one person or a few shall stand for the whole
body, runs through the whole framework of both gov-
ernments. (g) The courts of appeal are so exactly
alike in both that it is difficult to imagine but that the
younger body, the country, must have borrowed from
the older, the Church.
6. The same prospects were contemplated. The Na-
tional Government was adopted for a new people, formed
out of the best elements of the old lands; the General
Assembly was the representative of a new Church formed
out of the best elements of the Reformed Churches of
other lands—not an Irish Presbyterian Church or a
German or a Dutch Reformed or a Welsh, but an
American Presbyterian Church. One was for a na-
tion having an unknown but most momentous des-
tiny in the future; the other was established for a
most sublime mission amid the final movements of
Christ's kingdom upon earth. We are, of course,
well aware that some of these principles are adopted
also by each one of the other denominations consti-
tuting our sister churches, but we assert that there is
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 307
not another in which all are found as they are in the
Presbyterian Church.
Were all these coincidences mere chances? Did
they all merely happen to be so? Who can believe
it? Who can imagine that the mere wisdom of men
made this arrangement? Is it not manifest that the
same mind was at work in the formation of the purpose
that shaped them all, and that the all-wise Mind? Was
there not clearly one great plan in both lines of events?
Was not that plan to set up a great nation that would
take a prominent part in the final movements of the
earth, and side by side with it a great scriptural Church
to influence its character and sanctify its destiny ?
In tracing the remainder of the history of this Pres-
bytery we have nothing further to do with the history
of the Church at large. Thus far, we have been com-
pelled to trace that general history, inasmuch as Our
Presbytery was the cradle of its earliest movements,
and the fortunes of the two were inseparably bound to-
gether. We now confine ourselves to our own special
history.
This period, which we name the Period of the General
Assembly, began with 1788, when the decree to organize
that body was passed, and ended with our receiving the
name of the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1832
—a period of forty-four years.
There were but two churches organized during this
time, owing to the two facts—(1) that the localities for
churches had previously been well occupied; and (2)
that “the age of progress” had not yet commenced.
Our descriptions of the churches will henceforward
be much more brief, because they were not connected
with the early organic movements of the Presbytery,
308 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
and because the later ones have not as yet had time to
make much history.
THE CHRONICLES OF THE CHURCHES.
GERMANTOWN FIRST.
This church has now had a history of nearly four-
score years, as it commenced in 1809. It sprung
originally from the German Reformed—or German
Calvinistic body, as they chose to call themselves—but
it is appropriate here to say that this church was, at
that time, as thoroughly Presbyterian in both doctrine
and order as were any of the churches of the Nesham-
iny. They differed in scarcely anything except the
name and the language they used. Whenever there
arose such circumstances as to make it desirable they
became Presbyterian as a matter of course. This ex-
plains why so many of them in that early day came
into our connection.
There was, however, a difficulty in the way of most
of them which we must here explain in order that we
may the more fully understand some important events
of the time—events in which at least four of our
churches were very deeply interested. It arose from
the use of the German language, in which the services
of all these were conducted for many years. The Eng-
lish, however, began gradually to supplant the mother-
tongue in all the churches. In process of time the
young people could not understand the German, and
services in German were, to them, wellnigh useless. On
the other hand, the older people could not follow the
worship in English; and, besides, their sacred old asso-
ciations, all connected with the German, received a rude
shock by the attempted change. From this source there
arose many controversies of the most earnest character.
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 309
How could the young understand the German 2 How
could the old become reconciled to the use of the Eng-
lish? In other words, How could the old mother-tongue,
with all its dear and sacred associations, be laid aside,
and that of the country, which was strange to many, be-
come the only one used in their worship 2 There were
three different modes in which the difficulty was met
in the churches. In the Market Square church it was
left to time to wear out the one language and gradually
introduce the other; and it proved a process of many
years. In Frankford the knot was cut at once, and by
unanimous vote of the people they became Presbyte-
rian, leaving at once their old Church and their old
language. In Germantown First the friends of the Eng-
lish went out from the German mother-church in a body,
and formed a new organization. This was the origin of
the church whose history we are now to trace.
From 1807 till 1809 there seems to have been much
agitation on this subject in the old Market Square
church and its branches. In the first of these years the
Frankford church made the important change of its re-
lations; in the latter, the English offshoot separated and
commenced the enterprise which resulted in the church
we are now considering.
So far as we can find, there was no formal organiza-
tion of this church, but the English-speaking band
went out, commenced separate services, and were soon
spoken of and treated as a new church. All we know
is that in 1809 they were statedly worshiping in the
private house of the Rev. Samuel Blair, D. D., son of
the Rev. John Blair of Log-College fame, and bearing
the name of his still more eminent uncle, Samuel Blair.
Prom this year, therefore (1809), the origin of the
church is appropriately dated. Though no formal or-
310 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ganization is recorded, during its first two or three years
the enterprise is spoken of, and that even by the Pres-
bytery, as a church, and frequent references are made
to its elders.
For about three years it continued to hold its worship
in the private house of Dr. Blair until a house of wor-
ship, commenced in 1811, was finished and dedicated to
the service of God in 1812. This gave the enterprise a
more definite shape and name, for at first it was styled
“a Christian Society founded on the principles and
rules of the Presbyterian Church;” subsequently it was
known as “the English Presbyterian church of Ger-
mantown.” In this posture it continued for twenty
years, when in 1832 it was formally organized, a char-
ter obtained from the legislature and the present name,
“The First Presbyterian church of Germantown,” was
fixed. From that time forward its course as an organi-
zation has been unmarked by any special changes. Its
history has been very largely identified with that of its
pastors and elders.
THE BUILDINGS.
The story of the buildings erected by this congrega-
tion for the worship of God is soon told ; for, though it
has been in existence for fourscore years, and has greatly
increased in numbers, the present house is but the sec-
ond one constructed for that purpose. For two years,
from 1809 to 1811, the little band which formed its
nucleus worshiped statedly in the private house of Rev.
Dr. Blair, which is still standing. Then a church-
building became necessary, and in 1811 preparations
were begun, and the structure was completed and dedi-
cated to the service of God in 1812. This was the
building which is now used by the Young Men's Chris-
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 311
tian Association. Forty-two years after its erection, in
1854, very extensive repairs and improvements were
made in this first house, so that it might contain a
much larger congregation.
This continued to be the church's home for sixty
years after its erection, and then, in 1872, the present
structure was built in a different locality and devoted to
the worship of the Triune Jehovah. It is a splendid
and commodious edifice, with all the apartments needed
for the various services of the sanctuary. Its style and
magnitude may be inferred from the fact that the cost
of its construction was over seventy thousand dollars.
It has now stood for sixteen years, and, large as are its
dimensions, still more room is needed by the congrega-
tion.
THE PASTORS.
During the course of its nearly fourscore years this
church has had nine pastors and four stated supplies:
Thomas Dunn, 1809, six years; George Bourne, 1816,
two years; James Rooker, 1819, seven years; James
Nourse (stated supply), 1830, one year; George Junkin,
D. D. (stated supply), 1830, several months; William
Neill, D. D. (stated supply), 1831, eleven years; Thomas
Bradford (stated supply), 1842, eight years; Septimus
Tustin, D. D., 1850, two years; Henry J. Van Dyke,
D. D., 1852, one year; James H. Mason Knox, D. D.,
LL.D., 1853, sixteen years; J. Frederick Dripps, D.D.,
1870, ten years; William J. Chichester, D. D., 1880,
five years; Charles Wood, D. D., 1885, present pastor.
After supplying the church for a few years, Mr. Dunn
was installed as pastor on the second Thursday of May,
1813. He was born in England and educated in the
Baptist church at Bristol, of which the celebrated Rob-
ert Hall was the pastor. After coming to this land he
312 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
adopted the Presbyterian faith. He was a man of much
power and earnest piety. The impress he left upon this
church was very great, even though ill-health made
his ministry so short. -
Mr. Bourne was also of English birth. He was a
man of considerable literary attainments and of fervent
piety, and was fearless in his attacks upon error and
Wrong. - -
Mr. Rooker had also come from England, where, in
connection with the Independent body, he had filled
positions of great usefulness. He was sixty-two years
of age when he came to this church, and that with im-
paired health, and yet during his short pastorate of
seven years the membership of the church was more
than doubled, and he was still more tenderly remem-
bered in consequence of the deep impression made by
his beautiful Christian character.
Dr. Junkin's is a name well known and greatly hon-
ored in the annals of our Church. He supplied the
pulpit of this congregation only about six months, and
yet during that short period the church was greatly
strengthened by the addition of a large number to its
membership. While in Germantown he was principal
of the “Manual Labor Academy,” an institution which,
on its removal to Easton, developed into Lafayette Col-
lege. Dr. Junkin was a noble specimen of the Scotch-
Irish race. In addition to having filled an important
pastoral charge he was successively president of Lafay-
ette College, of Miami University and of Washington
College in Virginia. He exercised a large influence
upon the Presbyterian Church, was a keen and logical
debater, was one of the leaders of the Old School branch
after the division, and was Moderator of the General
Assembly in 1844.
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PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 313
Dr. Neill was another eminent minister of our Pres-
byterian Church whose name and good works were
widely known. As pastor in Cooperstown, in Albany,
New York, and in several churches in Pennsylvania,
as president of Dickinson College in Carlisle, and as
stated clerk of the General Assembly, he was greatly
honored. After retiring from such public positions he
spent the evening of his life in Philadelphia. During
his last years he still continued to be a very useful
member of this Presbytery. He was always present at its
meetings, and his counsels to its younger members were
eminently wise. In aiding at installations and other
special services in the churches, in helping to allay
strifes in congregations and in aiding pastors by occa-
sionally filling their pulpits, few men were more busy
or more useful than Dr. Neill, even in his old age. The
whole ministerial life of more than one young pastor
was influenced by the kind and wise counsel of this
honored man of God.
During the pastorate of Mr. Bradford one hundred
and twenty-five members were added to the church.
Dr. Tustin performed a good work in this congre-
gation. Its tide of prosperity rose from the beginning
to the end of his pastorate. He was installed July 11,
1851. Dr. Tustin was a most amiable and devoted ser-
vant of God. In his sermons there was a sweetness that
could not but draw the heart of every hearer. He was
widely known throughout the whole Church as pastor
of several important congregations, for many years
chaplain of Congress, and especially as delegate from
the Old School General Assembly to that of the New
School in 1863, when he was influential in inaugurat-
ing the reunion movement.
Dr. Van Dyke was installed in October, 1852. His
314 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
stay was very brief, as in about a year there came to
him from the First Presbyterian church of Brooklyn
a pressing call, which to the sore grief of his people
he felt constrained to accept, He has ever since done
noble service in the field to which he removed.
Dr. Knox was installed Nov. 9, 1853. His pastor-
ate was the longest which the church has enjoyed,
extending over sixteen years. It was also a period of
great importance in the church, for during it the contri-
butions of the congregation to objects of benevolence
were increased in a marvelous manner, so that it became
one of the most liberal of our churches. Other import-
ant improvements also marked the period. After
leaving Germantown, in 1869, Dr. Knox spent several
years in the pastoral charge of the church of Bristol,
and then, in 1883, was elected president of Lafayette
College, upon the duties of which he entered the next
year, and which he has discharged ever since.
In Dr. Knox we have another illustration of God's
abiding fidelity to his covenant. A line of godly pater-
nal ancestry running back several generations into the
North of Ireland and a similar maternal line running
back into Scotland manifest that the promises and bless-
ings of God go down from family to family and from
age to age.
Dr. Dripps was installed March 7, 1870. His pas-
torate continued ten years, during which time two im-
portant improvements marked the history of the
church : One was the organization of the congrega-
tion into various bands for Christian work, which have
done much to give it its great success; the other was
the erection of its present splendid church-edifice.
Dr. Chichester was installed on May 1, 1880. The
increase of the membership of the church during the
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 315
five years of his pastorate was very great. Indeed, the
whole ministry of Dr. Chichester has been marked by
extraordinary success in the winning of Souls to Christ.
It is probably much below the truth to say that he has
been instrumental in gathering in an average of over a
hundred every year.
Dr. Wood was installed on April 20, 1885. His
pastorate, which has now continued for three years, is
marked by every indication of the divine favor; many
Souls are coming into the kingdom, the great liberality
of the people continues and the house of God is
thronged from Sabbath to Sabbath.
THE RULING ELDIERS.
The list of elders which we are able to give in con-
nection with this church is more complete than that
of any other of the old congregations. We probably
have the names of all who have held that office in
it. The list consists of nineteen names, as follows: Jo-
seph Miller, 1812; Samuel Blair, D. D., 1812; Henry
Bruner, 1812; William Trumbull, 1812; Jacob Whar-
tonbury, Jacob Rittenhouse, Matthias Miller, William
D. Howard, 1835; Martin Weaver, 1836; Joseph B.
Mitchell, 1838; T. Charlton Henry, 1858; Joseph W.
Parkes, 1870; Enoch Taylor, 1870; William Adam-
son, 1871; Thomas MacKellar, Ph.D., 1871; Edward
L. Wilson, 1874; Charles M. Lukens, 1876; Samuel
G. Dennisson, Thomas F. Jones.
Dr. Blair, as we have already stated, was son of the
Rev. John Blair of the Log College, and bore his
uncle Samuel's name. His residence in Germantown
is accounted for by the fact that his mother was the
daughter of Dr. Shippen of that place, in whose home
Dr. Blair spent the closing years of his life.
316 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Mr. Howard, while elder in this church, was prepar-
ing for the ministry under the instruction of Drs.
Junkin and Neill. Soon afterward he entered the
sacred office, was pastor of the Frankford church for
eleven years, and stated clerk of Presbytery for a long
period. After leaving Frankford in 1849 he became
pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of Pittsburgh,
and continued such until his death a few years since.
He was an excellent preacher, a faithful pastor and a
man of warm heart and kindly feelings.
Mr. Mitchell was one of those staunch, upright and
godly elders who are the glory of our Presbyterianism.
For many a year he was one of the strong pillars of this
church.
Mr. Henry has now been elder in the church for
thirty years. In his family we have another impressive
instance of God’s faithfulness even to the third and
fourth generations. His grandfather, Alexander Henry,
came to this country from the North of Ireland when
he was twenty years of age, became one of Philadel-
phia's prosperous merchants, and in every good work
was one of the most eminent men of the city. Elder
of the Presbyterian Church, president of the Board of
Education, president of the American Sunday-school
Union, president of the House of Refuge and a man-
ager of many other benevolent institutions, his name is
still remembered and revered. Of his two sons, one
was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Charleston, South
Carolina, and the other, John S., was the father of
Alexander Henry, mayor of the city of Philadelphia,
and of this elder in Germantown, Thomas Charlton.
Then the sons of the last-mentioned, forming the fourth
generation, are all true to their father's God and Church;
the eldest of them, the third Alexander Henry, being
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 317
pastor of the Hermon church in Frankford, Philadel-
phia, having previously held a pastoral charge for twelve
years in the interior of the State.
Dr. MacKellar is one of those elders of whom our
Church may justly be proud, with gratitude to our heav-
enly Head for having given us such faithful men. His
whole history is full of evidence that God bestows
special blessings on the seed of the godly. In his
veins is running the blood of several of the very best
types of our Presbyterianism—the Scotch, Dutch,
Huguenot and English. Beginning as a printer at the
foot of the ladder, he gradually rose until he is now at
the head of the house which may be called “the most
complete and the largest type-foundry in the world.”
As an author, his works on the typographic art, one of
which has reached the sixteenth edition, are the standard
authority. As a sacred poet many of his verses are
among the sweetest and holiest in the language. The
degree of doctor of philosophy was conferred on him
by the Wooster University five years ago.
But it is as a Christian, devoted in heart, sound in
faith and active in good works, for which we are most
grateful. Brought to the knowledge of Christ through
the ministry of the celebrated Dr. Ely, in 1834, for
more than half a century he has known the power of
godliness. For forty years he has been a ruling elder,
first in the Old Pine Street church and then in Ger-
mantown. His generous but unheralded gifts are con-
stantly flowing. In untiring activity in the holy cause
he has still all the vigor of youthful years.
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
The Sabbath-school of this First Germantown church
was one of the earliest schools established in the land
318 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
It was commenced about seventy years ago, in 1819,
“for instructing the children to read and learn by
heart portions of Scripture.”
As we have already stated, this church has long been
noted for its large contributions to all the causes of
benevolence in the Church. During the pastorate of
Dr. Knox it raised for all religious purposes over one
hundred and seven thousand dollars, of which more
than sixty-three thousand dollars were contributed to
the various Boards of the Church. In ten years sev-
enty-three thousand have been given to other benev-
olent objects outside of the congregation itself. For
many years it was the twelfth church in connection
with the General Assembly in its contributions to the
cause of Christ.
Another excellency of this church is the thorough
organization of its “Ladies’ Pastoral Aid Society,” by
which all the latent power of the people is drawn out
and systematized for every department of the work for
Christ and his Church. An efficient standing com-
mittee exists for the performance of every duty that
can give comfort in the house of God or success in the
effort to build up the kingdom.
There are also three or four mission enterprises sup-
ported by the church intended to supply neighboring
districts with the stated means of grace and to lay
foundations of what may at some future day be distinct
churches.
Thus it is that this church has gone on from great
weakness at first, received the divine blessing at every
stage of its progress, seen the work prospering in its
hands, until now it is one of the strongest, most active
and most devoted in connection with our General As-
sembly.
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 319
THE DUREIAM CHURCH.
The older members of Presbytery remember a
venerable elder, named Morgan Long, who in former
times was always present at every stated meeting. So
prompt and faithful was he in his attendance at all
times that we came to regard him as an essential part
of our sessions. No matter how inconvenient of access
the place of meeting or how unfavorable the weather,
he was always there—was always among the first and
remained until the close. Even though lame and be-
ginning to feel the infirmities of age, still he would be
in his place. He assumed no prominence, he took up no
time, he shrank from no duty, but he was never absent.
This faithful elder represented a church whose name
is not now on our roll. Our younger members do not
even know its name nor the place where it was situated.
Yet Durham was formerly one of our churches and
formed an integral part of our Presbytery. It had a
history of many years. It continued in existence for
almost the “threescore and ten º' years of man's al-
lotted days. Now, however, it is gone, except in its
fruits, which have been gathered into the celestial
storehouse. Probably not more than one or two of its
former members remain in the place where it once
stood.
And yet, though it be so, the blame cannot be laid
to the unfaithfulness of pastors or elders or people.
The candlestick is gone, but not because of any declin-
ing of first love. The cause is simply that the material
composing the church has disappeared. Death has
taken some, but removals to other parts of the land
still more. Another people, with other religious views,
have taken the place of those who have departed.
320 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
The first trace of this church which we can find is
in the year 1811. In a small book of the minutes of
its Session there is a notice of its beginning and a
summary of its history for its first quarter of a century.
A number of the citizens of the township of Durham
and parts adjacent assembled together December 16,
1811, for the purpose of providing means for the build-
ing of a meeting-house for a place of worship. It was
agreed that certain persons should be appointed a board
of trustees to superintend the building of such a house
for the use and benefit of the English Presbyterians,
the German Reformed and the Lutheran congregations.
On the eighth day of August of the following year,
1812, William Long deeded an acre of ground for such
church-edifice and a burying-ground, and the house
was immediately built. -
After that for twenty-three years, or until 1835, we
know very little of the progress of the congregation;
no detailed records were kept. ' There was simply a
statement of the names of the elders and stated Sup-
plies. In the year 1835 there is given a full list of
all who were members of the church at that time.
And a curious fact is that of all the twenty persons
who were members then, no less than nine, or nearly
one-half, bore the name of Long. This must therefore
have been the one large family connection which com-
posed the church and bore its burdens. In the list,
moreover, we find, for the first time, the name of Morgan
Long, in whose person so much of the church's whole
history was undoubtedly centred.
From that date, 1835, forward, the whole career of
the church seems to have been one continuous strug-
gle for existence. The ministers who filled its pulpit
seem all to have been stated supplies; we find no name
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 321
of a settled pastor. With the one determined purpose
of living on, the church seems to have been connected
sometimes with the Presbytery of Newton, New Jersey,
and sometimes with ours.
All the minutes of the Session are contained in about
fifty small pages of records, in which are found minutes
of meetings, receptions of a few members, baptisms, elec-
tions of elders and the names of the ministers who were
the stated supplies.
So far as known, the names of the stated supplies and
their times of service are as follows: Mr. Boyer, 1813,
two years; Mr. Bishop, 1816, until his death; various
supplies from Presbytery of Newton; John Gray, D. D.
(then pastor of First church of Easton), one Sabbath
in the month for several years; no stated supply until
1833; Joseph McCool, 1833, two years; Joseph Wor-
rell, 1836, one year; J. W. Yeomans, D. D., 1843, two
years; C. W. Nassau, D. D. (then professor in Lafay-
ette College), 1845, three years; J. J. Carrell, 1851,
two years; W. C. Cattell, D. D. (professor in Lafayette
College), 1857, four years; John L. Grant, 1861, three
years.
The entire roll of the ruling elders contains but six
names: William Long, 1833; John Cawly, 1833;
Morgan Long, 1843; James M. Long, 1860; William
Bennett, 1860; James Jardine, 1860.
Morgan Long died March 11, 1864, and virtually the
church died with him. As the leading elder he had
served for twenty-one years, but he had been a member
almost from the beginning. He was largely the embodi-
ment of the church from first to last; it was the life of
his life. Modest, quiet, but firm and true, persevering,
faithful, noble in the highest sense, he was one of those
excellent elders who have made our Church what it is.
21
322 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
After the death of Mr. Long the church had a nomi-
nal existence for eight years, but really little more
than nominal. There were occasional Services and
occasional meetings of Session, but the latter were sim-
ply to grant certificates of dismission to members who
were seeking other church homes. The last recorded
meeting of Session was May 1, 1872. This was sixty
years after the church was commenced, and then the
history closes. The name has disappeared from our roll,
but shall not the name of the Durham church be some
day restored?
THOMPSON MEMORIAL CHURCH.
This old church has had a career of usefulness for
seventy-six years. It was formally organized on the
third Sabbath of April, 1813, by the Rev. James N.
Wilson, D.D., who organized so many of our early
churches. He did this under the direction of the Pres-
bytery of Philadelphia. The name which was given to
it then, and which it bore for sixty-two years, was that
of “the Presbyterian church of Solebury.” Many of
the original members had been connected with the Pres-
byterian church of Newtown. Among the first of these
were William Neely, Richard Corson and Mrs. Samuel
D. Ingham, the wife of the eminent Mr. Ingham who
was Secretary of the Treasury under President Jackson.
Mr. Ingham was also father-in-law of the Rev. George
Hale, D. D., for many years the secretary of the Pres-
byterian Board of Ministerial Relief.
In 1875 the name of this church was changed to “the
Thompson Memorial Church,” by which it is now
known.
THE BUILDINGS,
The first church-edifice was built in the year 1812.
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 323
In erecting this structure Dr. Amzi Armstrong of New
Jersey seems to have taken an active part. The present
house was built in the year 1875 by William Neely
Thompson, Esq., of New York, in memory of his
father, Thomas M. Thompson, one of the founders of
the church and for many years a ruling elder in it. It
is a stone building and one of the most picturesque of
our country churches.
The church has also a chapel in the village of New
Hope which was erected in 1875. It is a neat frame
structure with seating capacity for two hundred persons.
Sabbath-school and preaching-services had long been
maintained in that neighborhood by the Lambertville
Presbyterian church, of which the Rev. Dr. Studdiford
was the pastor, and after the chapel was built the ground
was given up to the Solebury church, by which the
services are still continued.
THE PASTORS.
For about eight years of the first part of the history
of this church the records have been lost, and conse-
Quently we have no certain information as to the dates
of the beginning and ending of the first two pastorates.
The whole list of pastors is as follows, the dates con-
nected with the first two being approximate: Samuel
B. Howe, 1813, four years; Thomas Dunn, 1817, three
years; Peter O. Studdiford, D.D., 1821, twenty-seven
years; William Henry Kirk, 1849, four years; Henry
E. Spayd, 1853, fourteen years; Henry Calkins, 1868,
five years; William Dayton Roberts, D.D., 1876, five
years; Henry D. Lindsay, 1883, one year; Dwight C.
Hanna, 1886, the present pastor.
Mr. Dunn had been pastor of the First church of
Germantown, and left there in consequence of declining
324 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
health in 1815. His coming here was therefore prob-
ably about 1817. -
Dr. Studdiford began his work here as a licentiate
and stated supply, and continued such for four years,
when he was ordained and installed. -
The installations of Messrs. Kirk, Spayd and Calkins
occurred while the church was known as Solebury, and
therefore their dates are not in our hands.
Dr. Roberts was ordained and installed July 6, 1876;
he is now a pastor in Philadelphia. Mr. Lindsay was
ordained and installed June 11, 1883; he is now pastor
of the Brainerd church of Easton.
Mr. Hanna was ordained and installed June 1, 1885.
He has now held the charge for three years, and under
his ministry the venerable church gives every evidence
of renewing its youth.
THE RULING ELDERS.
It is believed that the entire roll of the brethren
who have held the office of elder in this church has
been preserved: William Neely, 1813; Benjamin Pid-
cock, 1813; Thomas M. Thompson, 1813; Daniel Wyn-
koop, 1813; Joseph Scarborough, 1819; Emley Hol-
combe, 1819; William Wilson, 1823; Samuel Mc-
Nair (?); John Poor (?); Isaac Vân Horn, 1834;
Dean Gray, 1843; Sutton Scarborough, 1843; Henry
Wynkoop, 1843. -
Mr. Thompson was father of the good friend who
rebuilt the church-edifice in 1875 in honor of his parent,
and gave to it its present name.
Mr. Henry Wynkoop is still, after almost half
a century, the same loving, active elder in the
church. He bears a name found in most of the
Neshaminy churches, which, coming down through
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 325
many generations, proves that God's covenant ever
stands sure.
ADDITIONAL.
The old family names found in the list of the elders
of this church show that it belongs to the family of the
Neshaminy churches, and affords another evidence of
the vast and deep work of grace which in the former
days pervaded this whole region and gave it its abiding
character for truth and righteousness.
In tracing this history the writer has constantly felt
regret that the church's old name of Solebury has been
changed. By that name the church, to the historian,
was located; with that name its sacred traditions were
associated; and the change seems to have broken the
continuity of its life and detracted from its venerable-
ness. This remark pertains equally to all changes of
the names of churches, and for that reason we venture
to make it. At the same time, we dearly honor the
filial reverence that would perpetuate the name of a
godly ancestry. It should be done, but, if possible, in
some way that would leave the venerable traditions of
a church untouched.
It is good to see one of our old churches reviving
and growing vigorous again, as this one is. It is to be
hoped, and expected too, that its improvement will
go on until it shall have become one of our strong
Neshaminy churches.
ty
NORRISTOWN FIRST.
The First Presbyterian church of Norristown was
formally organized September 4, 1819, by the Rev.
James P. Wilson, D. D., under the direction of the
Presbytery of Philadelphia. Previous to that time,
326 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
however, there had been an unusual amount of pre-
paratory work done. A congregation had been col-
lected, first by the Rev. Mr. Jones, who had charge
of the old Norristown Academy, and afterward by the
Rev. Joseph Barr, who also taught in the same insti-
tution while pastor of the Norriton and Providence
churches. Both of these had preached statedly in the
academy, and so had collected a nucleus for the church.
By Mr. Barr especially the foundations had been laid,
and, in a sense, the commencement of the church might
be dated from 1813, when he began his ministry at
Norriton and Providence. Besides this preparation, a
church-edifice had also been erected by the congrega-
tion, and finished the year before the organization.
And, for those times, it must have been a fine struc-
ture, inasmuch as its whole cost was more than seven
thousand four hundred dollars.
After the organization there seems to have been no
special installation of Mr. Barr as the pastor of the
church; he appears merely to have continued in it as a
part of his established charge as the pastor of the three
churches, Norriton and Providence and Norristown.
During the remaining time of his pastorate that ar-
rangement continued, and he ministered to Norristown
as well as to the other two churches. In fact, the same
grouping of the churches continued for about ten years
after the organization, when Norristown, having been
greatly strengthened, needed the entire services of a
pastor and was able to bear the expense.
Not long after its commencement this church en-
tered the troublous scenes of the Old and New School
controversy, was greatly agitated thereby, and, July
12, 1838, at its own request it was transferred to the
Third Presbytery of Philadelphia, which was New
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 327
School. In this connection it remained for sixteen
years, until 1854, when, after much controversy and
strong feeling, the church decided by a large majority
vote of the congregation and an unanimous resolution
of the trustees to return to its former connection. It
was accordingly received into the Second Presbytery
of Philadelphia. In the mean time, however, a rupture
in the church had been made. A party withdrew
and was organized as another church under the name
of “the Central Presbyterian church of Norristown.”
The old congregation retained the succession, divided
the Sabbath-school library with their seceding brethren
and gave them church property valued at four thou-
sand dollars.
From that time forward for thirty-four years there
have been no organic changes in the church, which has
gone on steadily from strength to strength.
THE BUILDINGS.
As already stated, for a short time, while in a forma-
tive condition, the congregation worshiped in the old
academy. This, however, in a little while became too
strait for them, and in 1818 the first church-edifice
was erected, and continued to be the only structure pre-
vious to the one that is now in use. This building was
commenced in 1853, and dedicated September 16, 1854,
thirty-six years after the erection of the former one.
It is amongst the largest church-edifices in the Pres-
bytery, and, having every comfort and all needed at-
tractiveness in ornamentation, it is a model for a
Presbyterian church. In 1853 a well-arranged manse,
in cottage style, was erected on a lot adjoining the
church, at an expense of over twenty-five hundred
dollars.
328 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
PASTORS.
During the seventy years of its history, up to the
present time, this church has had eight pastors: Joseph
Barr, 1819 (in Norriton and Providence six years
before), ten years; Charles W. Nassau, D. D., Nov. 16,
1825, three years; Robert Adair, Nov., 1834, three
years; Samuel M. Gould, September 25, 1838, thirteen
years; Randolph A. Smith, 1852, four years; Job F.
Halsey, D.D., May 11, 1856, twenty-four years; Wil-
liam B. Noble, D. D., May 5, 1881, five years; Thomas
R. Beeber, June 1, 1887, the present pastor.
Mr. Barr began his pastorate with the organization
of the church in 1819. He had served the Norri-
ton and Providence churches since 1813, and these
churches were connected with Norristown during the
rest of his pastorate. The church grew substantially
during his ministry. He resigned in 1823, after a
pastorate of four years.
Dr. Nassau was installed pastor of the united
churches of Norriton, Providence and Norristown
Nov. 16, 1825. He resigned because of impaired
health in 1828. His health, however, after a time
being restored, a career of great usefulness awaited
him. He was first called to the professorship of He-
brew in Marion College, Missouri; thence he went to
Lafayette College, Easton, first as professor of Latin
and Greek, and then as president of the institution.
After that, again, he was for twenty-five years princi-
pal of the female seminary in Lawrenceville, New
Jersey. In all these important positions he was enabled
to do much for the Master by his earnest piety and
fine scholarship.
Mr. Adair was installed November, 1834. During
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 329
his pastorate of three years, as he writes in a letter to
a friend, “my [his] work there, mainly, was to tie up
the loose ends and get the church in working order for
my successor.” He resigned in 1837 to take charge of
the Franklin Street church, Philadelphia. Mr. Adair
is a very remarkable man. His whole life has been
full of most active and successful service in the blessed
cause. Though born in 1802, in Ireland, he is still, at
the advanced age of nearly ninety, full of vigor and
animation as he kindles in love for the Lord and his
CallS62.
Mr. Gould was installed by the Third Presbytery of
Philadelphia September 25, 1838. His pastorate was
remarkable for its many and very precious revival sea-
sons. Mr. Gould reckons no less than six of these dur-
ing the twelve years. His ministry here was certainly
one of far more than ordinary success. In 1851 he
felt constrained to resign. He was a most earnest
worker and a fearless preacher.
Mr. Smith was installed June 3, 1852, by the Third
Presbytery of Philadelphia. While he was the pastor
the present spacious church-edifice was built at a cost
of over twenty-four thousand dollars. Another event
of this pastorate was the return of the church to the
Second Presbytery, Old School, with which it was orig-
inally connected. In consequence of continued ill-health
Mr. Smith was obliged to resign his pastorate after four
years of faithful service.
Dr. Halsey was installed March 13, 1856. He was
a member of a family of great eminence in our Pres-
byterian Church. His father was Captain Luther
Halsey, a patriot who served through the whole Rev-
olutionary War. Captain Halsey had four sons, all
of whom graduated at Union College and entered the
330 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE
|
ministry. They were—Rev. Luther Halsey, D. D.,
of Allegheny Seminary; Rev. L. J. Halsey, D. D., of
Chicago; Rev. Abram Halsey of the Reformed Dutch
church of Bucks county; and Job F., the youngest.
During this pastorate of twenty-six years the church
steadily progressed in all its highest and best interests.
Dr. Halsey was a man remarkable for his many excel-
lences as a minister of the gospel of Christ. His
knowledge of Scripture was so full that his sermons
were peculiarly rich. Warm-hearted and of affection-
ate piety, he was greatly beloved. Though fifty-four
years of age when he took charge of the church, he
was still able to preach with unusual vigor until he
reached eighty.
During the latter part of Dr. Halsey’s pastorate the
Rev. William B. Waller was invited to become assist-
ant in the pastoral work. He accepted the call, and
was ordained and installed by Presbytery, February 19,
1874. He labored here for two years with great accept-
ance, when he was called to take charge of a new church
enterprise in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Noble was installed April 19, 1881. He was
a faithful member of Presbytery, always at the post
of duty and usefulness. After five years of service
he resigned, and now holds an important pastoral
charge in California. -
Mr. Beeber was installed June 1, 1887. He is
the present pastor, and under his able ministry the
church has the brightest prospects of future prog-
ress and usefulness.
THE RULING ELDIERS.
We are fortunately able to give a complete list of all
the elders who have held office in this church: Robert
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 331
Hamill, 1819; Ulrich Schlater, 1819; Hugh Dixon,
1819; William Powell, 1828; David Getty, 1828;
William McGlathery, 1828; Jacob Teany, 1838;
Marmaduke S. Burr, 1842; Levi Streeper, 1849;
Samuel Beaver, 1855; George Camm, 1855; Cor-
nelius L. Baker, M. D., 1855; Henry McMiller,
1855; Benjamin Davis, 1855; Philip Cressman, 1855;
John Hill, 1860; Samuel O’Neill, 1860; William
Mogee, 1863; Samuel D. Powell, 1866. The mem-
bers of the Session at the present time are—G. Rod-
man Fox, 1855; John K. Ralston, 1860; Joseph K.
Gotwals, 1872; William Craig, 1872; Abraham A.
Yeakle, 1872.
Concerning these men, with all of whom he was
personally acquainted, Dr. Ralston wrote: “While
among them there was great diversity of opinion as
well as of talent and attainment, it can be truthfully
said of them all that they were men fearing God and
loving righteousness.”
We would like to dwell a moment on the history of
each of these men, but it is impossible, and we can say
a word or two only about the first, Mr. Hamill. Con-
cerning him Mr. Gould writes: “The first, the leading
elder, and who may be regarded as the father of the
church, was Robert Hamill, Esq. He came to this
country from the North of Ireland in early life and
settled in Norristown, where he engaged in mercantile
pursuits, and was much esteemed for his uprightness
and Christian integrity. From the first formation of
the church he was the most active member of it, and
his house was the home of ministers. He was the
father of a large family.” Three of his sons became
eminent ministers of our Church, two of whom still
live. Of his three daughters, two were married to
332 PRESEYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
prominent Presbyterian clergymen, and a third to a
Presbyterian elder.
REV. J. GRIER RALSTON, D.D., LL.D., AND THE OAKLAND
FEMALE INSTITUTE.
Any account of the Norristown First church would
be incomplete which did not tell of Dr. Ralston and
the seminary which he founded and conducted so long.
He was one of those really great men to whom our
Presbyterian Church owes so much, and yet who, by
reason of the modesty of true greatness, are not known
so widely as the interests of the cause demand. He
was an eminent example of the truth which we cannot
make too emphatic, that God blesses families because
of the faithfulness of parents. Of his uncles on his
father's side three were elders and one a minister; on
his mother's side, of the members of four generations,
beginning with his great-grandfather and ending with
himself, no less than twenty-six were ministers, and of
the elders in the family no record can be given save
that the last one of the succession, his brother John, is
now an elder of this church. Dr. Ralston's own history
was strangely overruled by Providence. The purpose
of his life was to carry the gospel as a missionary to the
Indians, but threatening ill-health stopped him just as
he was entering upon that work, and he was forced into
that profession for which he was so eminently qualified
and in which was to be his grand life-work.
He was a man of superior abilities, which, however,
were appreciated only by his most intimate friends—
his unobtrusive disposition kept him from being known.
His religious principles, founded on the sure word of
God, were deep and real in their influence upon his
whole nature. His learning was thorough, accurate
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 333
and of extended character. There was no pretence
or sham or mere surface culture in him : all was real
and deep and true. As a man of good common sense
and business ability few surpassed him. As an educa-
tor the astonishing success of the institution which he
founded and conducted was his best testimonial. As a
close daily student of the Bible he surpassed any other
person with whom the writer has been acquainted.
Not known even by his family during his life, it was
discovered after his death that he had been in the habit
of reading the Bible through thrice every year. In
Presbytery and in the Boards of the Church he was
always in his place, and never shrank from the discharge
of any duty. As to this particular church with which he
and his family were immediately connected, as a counsel-
or in every difficulty, as president of its board of trustees
for twenty-one years, as preacher ready to take its pul-
pit in any emergency, as liberal supporter, as making
up so much of its audience by the long procession of
his pupils, and as its wise friend, always true as steel,
it owes to him more of its past success than it will ever
be able to understand.
The writer owes to him a debt of gratitude which he
can never forget. When he was entering the ministry
a stranger, timid and unknown, Dr. Ralston visited
him, sympathized with him and encouraged him in a
manner that had a lasting effect. Then as a lifelong
friend none knew better than he of Dr. Ralston's cease-
less industry, his strong sense of justice, his thorough-
ness in everything he undertook and his fidelity to his
convictions of right.
We might add very much concerning the Oakland
Female Institute, which was the great work of his life.
We delight to think of it as one of the many streams of
334 IPRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
blessed influences which have flowed out from the great
fountain of the Log College. The Rev. Charles Clin-
ton Beatty was one of the most honored of the sons of
that school of the prophets; the Rev. C. C. Beatty, D.D.,
his grandson, was founder and principal of the cele-
brated female seminary of Steubenville, Ohio; and
Mrs. Ralston was one of Norristown's best and truest
daughters, how much had her sweet but powerful
influence to do with shaping Oakland's wonderful his-
tory ! How truly wonderful that history was we can
describe only by the results. A seminary sometimes
containing no fewer than one hundred and seventy
young ladies, which was instrumental in the conversion
of more than six hundred souls, which during its
course had in it, under the benign influence of its men-
tal and religious training, a band of over two thousand
five hundred of the daughters chiefly of our Presby-
terian Church,-how is it possible for us to use lan-
guage by which the boundless and endless influences for
good of such an institution could be exaggerated ?
A single paragraph more is all that can be devoted
to this subject: “Of the two thousand five hundred
young ladies educated at Oakland, but very few have
been permitted to make a wreck of character or to
bring upon themselves social blight. Many of them are
occupying and adorning the highest social positions in
our land. Some of them are conspicuous as principals
of schools, while others are teachers in subordinate posi-
tions. Two of them have already laid down their lives
in the service of their Master on the western coast of
Africa. Four have given themselves to the cause of
missions in India. One is to-day a toiler in the vine-
yard of the Lord in Japan, while another pursues her
self-denying labors for Christ among the Choctaw
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 335
Indians. As every State in the Union was represented
in the pupils of Oakland, as was also Canada, South
America, Cuba, Great Britain, Germany and Greece,
it is not wonderful that they are scattered throughout
the world to-day. Some have gone down to an early
grave, and ere they crossed the Dark Valley have left
on record their testimony that God’s grace is sufficient
even for a dying hour.”
MANA YUNIK CHURCH.
This church was organized in 1832, and for the sake
of distinctness the fifty-six years of its history may be
divided into three periods: (1) The period of formation,
consisting of the fifteen years from 1832 to 1847; (2)
the period of confirmation, consisting of the twenty
years from 1847 to 1867; (3) the period of growth,
consisting of the twenty-one years from 1867 to 1888.
The first period was emphatically one of weakness and
struggling, but of perseverance. The church was origi-
nated by the labors of the Rev. Charles Brown, who
was sent out as the agent of a society connected
with the Fifth (now Arch Street) Presbyterian church
of Philadelphia, whose object it was “to spread the
gospel in the surrounding villages.” He instituted
prayer-meetings and established Sabbath-schools in
Manayunk, Roxborough, Barren Hill, Falls of Schuyl-
kill and Lower Merion, where churches have since
sprung up. In some cases, like Thömas Charles of
Wales, he started “reading classes” for some who did
not know even the alphabet.
After a time of such preparatory work the church was
organized in the private house of Mr. James Darrach
on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 10, 1832, with thirty-five
members. It was organized by the Second Presbytery
336 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
of the Assembly (N.S.); the Second Presbytery of
Philadelphia (O.S.) was not constituted until the next
year. It was originally designated the “First Presby-
terian church of Roxborough township.” Subsequently
the name was changed to the “First Presbyterian church
of Manayunk.”
The struggles of the church at this time, manifesting
how limited were the means of the people, may be seen
from the fact that though this period lasted only fifteen
years, there were no less than six pastorates. In fact,
throughout this period the church was engaged in one
continued effort for existence, wrestling with debt and
difficulty and on the verge of losing everything. So
poor were the members of the congregation that it was
not until near the close of the period that they were
able to increase the pastor's salary to two hundred and
fifty dollars. Yet so persevering and true were the
people that the number of the communicants was more
than doubled. In 1836 the church transferred its con-
nection from the Third Presbytery, which took the
place of the Assembly’s Second, to our Second Presby-
tery, which had been constituted three years before.
Of the second period, from 1847 to 1867, the most
prominent characteristic was that the single pastorate
of the Rev. Andrew Culver extended through its whole
twenty years. This fact was the more remarkable in
that during this period there were two serious obstacles
to progress: First, there were the financial embarrass-
ments of 1857 and 1858, which in a manufacturing
town must have had a most depressing influence; then
from 1861 onward was the War of the Secession, which
distracted effort from religious things and drew away
many young men to the army. Yet amid all the
congregation settled down into a firmer and stronger
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 337
condition. The church-edifice was enlarged by the ad-
dition of another story, the pastor labored faithfully
to increase the attendance on the sanctuary and the
Bible was diligently taught to the young. Through
such means as these it came to pass that at the close of
twenty years the church was established on a stable and
lasting basis. r
The third period, from 1867 to 1888, has been one
of steady and substantial growth. It has embraced
three successive pastorates, in each of which the church
has advanced, and through these pastorates former
weakness has been overcome and strength for the
future has been attained, until now this congregation
has become strong and efficient.
THE BUILDINGS.
The first services of the church were held in the
parlor of Mr. James Darrach, then the only elder.
Very soon, however, a room was fitted up for divine
worship in the mill of that gentleman, and was so used
for two or three years. The congregation then erected
a one-story stone edifice which, covered with debt, be-
came their future home. After a number of years, but
still during the ministry of Mr. Culver, this building
was altered by the addition of a second story and other
important improvements. During the pastorate of
Mr. Schenck, in 1869, a manse was erected at some dis-
tance from the church, on one of the elevations of the
neighborhood, from which there is a magnificent view
of the valley of the Schuylkill and of the surrounding
hills.
- THE PASTORS. -
There have been ten pastors during the fifty-six
years of the church's progress—in the first period, six;
22
338 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
in the second, one; and in the third, three: namely,
James M. Davis, 1832, four years; Sylvanus Haight,
1836, one year; Charles Williamson, 1837, two years;
William Wright, 1841, two years; David Longmore
(stated supply), 1843, three years; Henry J. Van
Dyke, D. D., 1847, part of a year; Andrew Culver,
1847, twenty years; A. W. C. Schenck, D. D., 1868,
two years; J. H. McMonagle, M. D., 1871, seven
years; Charles E. Burns, 1878, the present pastor.
The pastorate of Mr. Culver is worthy of honorable
mention as the longest which this church has had up to
the present time, and as that during which it passed
into a state of stable prosperity.
Dr. McMonagle was installed October 3, 1871. His
health becoming impaired, he studied medicine, and
devoted himself to its practice after his resignation in
1878. * .
Mr. Burns was ordained and installed October 24,
1878. During his pastorate the church has made by
far the most substantial progress of its history. -
THE BULING ELDIERS.
The complete list of the elders of this church from
the beginning contains fifteen names: James Darrach,
1832; William Marshall, 1833; James Auldjoe, 1833;
Edwin Booth, 1847; Henry Keim, M.D., 1847; James
Doak, 1854; Joseph Bockius, 1858; James Milligan,
1862; Samuel C. Rutherford, 1862; Jonathan Stead,
1862; William A. Bell, 1868; Caleb Y. Davis, 1878;
Joshua Batty, 1878; George B. Gallagher, 1886;
Thomas L. Milligan, 1886. Messrs. Keim, M. D.,
Batty, Gallagher and Milligan at present form the
Session of this church. -
Of the present Session the eldest is Dr. Henry
PERIOD OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 339
Keim. For nearly fifty years he has been foremost
in every good work, rarely absent from a church
service or a Sessional meeting.
ADDITIONAL.
Few churches in our connection offered so many of
her sons to the country during the war as did that of
Manayunk. Not far from one hundred of her young
men were in the ranks of those that suffered and sacri-
ficed in that conflict.
What a contrast between the present condition of
this congregation and that of half a century ago! We
have seen what its condition was during its first fif-
teen years, struggling in the midst of constant pastoral
changes with weakness and poverty. During the last
year, with its property free from all debt, it contributed
over a thousand dollars to the various Boards of the
Church.
This closes the record of our old churches up to the
time of our reorganization, under the name of the
Second Presbytery of Philadelphia, in 1833. They
were at that time fourteen in number; the youngest
of them is now fifty-six years old, and the oldest one
hundred and seventy-eight.
CHA PTE R XI,
PERIOD OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERY, 1833–38.
IN entering upon the period of the Second Pres-
bytery, which, though so short, was one of great im-
portance, we must first notice the time of our Presby-
tery's taking its special form and boundaries, and the
events connected therewith. The time was in the year
1833, forty-five years after the organization of the Gen-
eral Assembly; ninety-four years after its formation as
the leading portion of the original Presbytery of New
Brunswick; eighty-two years after it was organized as
the Presbytery of Abington; and seventy-one years
after it was constituted as the First Presbytery of
Philadelphia. After all these changes it was reorgan-
ized with the name Second Presbytery of Philadelphia,
which name was afterward changed to that which it
now bears, Presbytery of Philadelphia North.
The events connected with the reorganization as the
Second Presbytery of Philadelphia we cannot under-
stand without a brief review of some of the controver-
sies and agitations that marked the separation of our
Church into the Old and New School sections. The
reorganization was only five years before the disrup-
tion, and was intimately connected with that event.
The excited discussions of that time may appear to
us unnecessary, but the really great and good men who
took part in them were honest and earnest. They be-
lieved that they were contending for the truth, and that
vital interests were at stake. Moreover, we are yet too
340
PERIOD OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERY. 341
near the time of the controversy to judge of the good
results that will flow from it, even as such results
flowed from the Old and New Light divisions.
The various acts of the General Assembly and the
Synod pertaining to this point of our history were
peculiarly complicated. To disentangle them and
make them understood will be a work of difficulty.
We shall simply narrate the facts as we find them in
the records; we shall take the eight years, commencing
with 1832 and ending with 1839, and give the trans-
actions concerning our Presbytery in succession. It
is essential to the understanding of them that the
reader should keep clearly in mind the distinction
between the General Assembly and the Synod as factors
in these events; for, while in the Synod the Old School
element always predominated, in the Assembly, for the
first three years, the New School had the leading influ-
ence, and in the other five years the Old School.
First Year, 1832—In the first of the eight years,
or 1832, the New School party being in the majority
in the Assembly, opinions had become so diverse and
feeling so strong that it was deemed advisable to form
a separate Presbytery in which those who were of
similar views and feelings could harmonize. The
Assembly therefore formed a Second Presbytery of
Philadelphia, which was sometimes called the Assem-
bly’s Second Presbytery and sometimes the Elective
Affinity Presbytery. It was formed May 26, 1832;
and the churches of which it consisted were the First,
Third, Fifth, Eleventh, Twelfth, First Northern Liber-
ties, First Southwark, Second African, and certain oth-
ers in the country. It was also enacted: “If any of these
churches prefer to retain their present connection with
the existing Presbytery of Philadelphia, they may be
342 | PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
allowed to do so, and shall not be compelled against
their wish to be attached to the new Presbytery.”
Second Year, 1833–The Synod, which was Old
School, at its previous fall meeting had refused to recog-
nize the action of the Assembly creating the new
Presbytery; it denied the right of the General Assem-
bly to erect or dissolve Presbyteries, claiming that such
power belonged to Synods alone. On this the Assembly
of 1833, having still a New-School majority, enjoined
the Synod to acknowledge and receive the new Presby-
tery. The Synod, in the autumn having received this
command, obeyed it, but under protest. It received the
Second Presbytery, but immediately dissolved it; and
then proceeded itself to create a Second Presbytery with
boundaries, alleging that it was its special prerogative
so to do. t
The substance of the ordinance of the Synod of
Philadelphia constituting its Second Presbytery was in
these words: 1. Resolved, . . . . The Synod do hereby
receive the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia as a
constituent member of this body. 2. Resolved, That in
the exercise of the right of Synod to divide and unite
Presbyteries, this Synod do hereby unite the Second
Presbytery of Philadelphia with the Presbytery of
Philadelphia, and ordain the two Presbyteries thus
united to be known as the Presbytery of Philadelphia.
3. Resolved, That in the exercise of the same preroga-
tive the Synod do hereby divide the said Presbytery of
Philadelphia by the line of Market street, in the city of
Philadelphia, extending north as may be necessary, and
west to the Schuylkill, then up the Schuylkill to the
extremity of the Presbytery; and that the ministers
and churches south of the said line be known as the
Presbytery of Philadelphia, and those of the north
PERIOD OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERY. 343
side be known as the Second Presbytery of Phila-
delphia.” ,
Accordingly, the Synod's Second Presbytery of
Philadelphia met in the Central church, Philadelphia,
November 27, 1833, and was fully organized, the Rev.
William Neill, D. D., being Moderator, and the Rev.
John McDowell, D. D., stated clerk. The ministerial
members present were Jacob Larzalere, John McDowell,
William Neill, Alexander Boyd, Robert B. Belville,
Robert Steel, Charles W. Nassau, William J. Gibson
and Silas M. Andrews. The ruling elders were Messrs.
Charles C. Beatty, Robert Hamill, Andrew Brown,
Charles Elliott, George Durfor, Matthew L. Bevan and
George W. McClelland.
Third Year, 1834.—The Assembly again had a New-
School majority, and refused to sanction the dissolution
of the Assembly’s Second Presbytery. The result was
that there were two Second Presbyteries—one of the
Assembly and the other of the Synod. This state of
things being so incongruous, the Assembly, in order to
relieve the difficulty, organized a new Synod styled the
Synod of Delaware, to which it transferred its Second
Presbytery, together with the Presbyteries of Wil-
mington and Lewes. -
Fourth Year, 1835.--When the Assembly met, the
Old-School party was in the majority. It therefore,
disapproving of the action of the Assembly of the
previous year, dissolved the Synod of Delaware. In
the autumn the Synod again dissolved the Assembly's
Second Presbytery, which the preceding Assembly had
recognized, and directed its members to join other
bodies, without specifying with what other bodies they
should connect themselves. -
Fifth Year, 1836.-The Synod had, by ordinance,
344 PRESBYTERY of THE LOG COLLEGE,
dissolved the Assembly's Second Presbytery, but as it
still claimed existence, the Assembly, the Old-School
party having the majority, removed the difficulty finally
by two acts: first, by taking away the Elective Affinity
character of the Presbytery, which seems to have be-
come distasteful to all, by giving it fixed boundaries;
and second, by changing its name to that of the Third
Presbytery of Philadelphia.
Sixth Year, 1837.-The action of 1836, mentioned
above, seems to have been reviewed by the Assembly
of 1837, and the Third Presbytery was dissolved—for
what reason does not appear, probably out of the mere
intensity of party feeling.
Seventh Year, 1838.-The Assembly was so absorbed
in the controversy pertaining to the general division of
the Church that it took no action concerning the Third
Presbytery. In the fall, however, the New-School
Synod restored it under the name of the Third Presby-
tery; thenceforward it continued under the same name
until the Reunion of 1871.
Eighth Year, 1839–The final action establishing
the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia was that of the
Old-School Synod, which in October diminished our
territory by removing our southern boundary from
Market street, and placing it so as to give all of what
was then Philadelphia, together with the Northern
Liberties, to the First Presbytery, and all north of that
line to the Second Presbytery. This action restored to
our Presbytery its original southern boundary, and gave
to it substantially its present limits.
We begin the history of our Presbytery as it was then
reorganized, and as it has been continued, first in the
Second Presbytery of Philadelphia and then in the Pres-
PERIOD OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERY. 345
bytery of Philadelphia North, presenting a list of all the
stated clerks who during its fifty-five years have so faith-
fully kept its records. We owe very much to these
brethren for the unusually excellent manner in which
they have written our history from year to year. We
know of no deliberative body that has a history so fully
preserved. Their names and dates of service are as fol-
lows: John McDowell, D. D., November 27, 1833, four
years; William J. Gibson, October 3, 1837, one year;
William D. Howard, D.D., May 23, 1838, eleven years;
Thomas B. Bradford, April 18, 1849, one year; Ben-
jamin F. Stead, D. D., March, 1850, two years; Jacob
Belville, D. D., June 1, 1852, fourteen years; J. B.
Davis, D. D., October 3, 1866, three years; Joseph
Beggs, D. D., October, 1869, twenty years, the present
stated clerk. -
From this list it will be seen that we have had eight
stated clerks, Dr. Beggs holding that office for the long-
est period. - t
CHRONICLES OF THE CHURCHES.
During this short period of only five years, from
1833 to 1838, there was only one new church organized
within our bounds, the church of Bridesburg.
BRIDESBURG CHURCH.
The church of Bridesburg was commenced in the
year 1837, the first of six churches which have gone
out as colonies from the mother-church of Frankford.
Whatever missionary enterprises may have accomplished
in modern times, this was, half a century ago, a model
of what such new undertakings should be. There was,
first, a weekly prayer-meeting established years before;
then a Sabbath-school for some time; then occasional
346 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
preaching by the pastor of the mother-church and
others in school-houses or private dwellings. Thus the
way was prepared. In these preparatory efforts the Rev.
Dr. Beggs of the Frankford church took the lead, its
Session aiding and its people forming the body of the
audience. Meantime, God in his providence had brought
to Bridesburg a family ready to commence the work,
take the lead, give it a standing and assume the respon-
sibility. This was the family of Mr. Alfred Jenks, who
had established an important manufactory there seven
years before. Other influential families and individuals
also were there, among them Mr. Herbert Reynolds,
able and willing to aid by his means and his services,
and Charles and Andrew Ramsey, willing to under-
take the office of ruling elder. -
After a period of such preparation the time came for
the church to be set up, and accordingly it was formally
organized December 8, 1837. It consisted of twenty-
one members. This was fifty-one years ago, and the
work then commenced has held on its course for half
a century without organic change, without serious in-
terruption of any kind and with the blessing of God
resting upon every year of its history.
THE BUILDINGS.
The first church-edifice, which had been commenced
about a year before, was finished and dedicated for divine
service December 8, 1837. The lot upon which it was
built, together with the adjoining graveyard, had been
presented by Mr. Jenks. The money which the building
cost had been collected from friends in every direction.
It was a plain but substantial and comfortable house,
and served the purposes of the congregation for more
than thirty years. .
PERIOD OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERY. 347.
The present building, which is undoubtedly the most
excellent structure of the kind in the Twenty-third
Ward of the city, was erected in the year 1868. It was
substantially the princely gift of Barton H. Jenks, son
of him who may well be called the church's father. The
whole cost of the edifice was more than thirty-five thou-
sand dollars, of which Mr. Jenks gave above thirty-two
thousand.
The very superior building for Sabbath-school, lec-
ture and prayer-meeting purposes was also the gift of
Mr. Barton Jenks, he having borne the entire expense
of seven thousand dollars. -
The manse, which adjoins the church, was purchased
by the congregation in the year 1886 at the time of the
installation of the present pastor.
THE PASTORS.
The church in its history of half a century has had
eight pastors, as follows: John Mason, 1838, three
years; Benjamin F. Stead, D. D., ten years; William
Scribner, 1852, three years; J. J. A. Morgan, 1855,
seven years; J. B. Davis, D. D., 1862, seven years;
William A. Jenks, 1870, five years; A. A. Dinsmore,
1875, twelve years; J. P. W. Blattenberger, 1887,
the present pastor.
Dr. Stead was ordained and installed February 22,
1842. He was a pastor of superior ability; was for
years stated clerk of the Presbytery; and afterward be-
came pastor of the church of Astoria, near New York.
Mr. Scribner was installed November 9, 1852. He
was brother to the celebrated New York publisher of
that name. He resigned the pastorate because of failing
health. -
Mr. Morgan was installed October 18, 1855. Some
348 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
time after leaving Bridesburg he connected himself
with the Episcopal Church. t -
Dr. Davis was installed March 17, 1862. He was a
man of great amiability and excellence of character.
While here he was stated clerk of Presbytery, and
afterward held the same office in the Synod of New
Jersey. -
Mr. Jenks was installed May 5, 1870. It is worthy
of special notice that he was son of Alfred Jenks, the
founder of the church, and brother of Barton H. Jenks,
elder at the time of this pastorate. -
Mr. Dinsmore was installed December 29, 1875. He
was a man of deep piety and was much beloved. He
is now pastor of an important church in California.
Mr. Blattenberger was installed November 10, 1887,
and is the present pastor.
THE RULING ELDERS.
The roll of elders from the first is complete, and
has on it the following twelve names: Alfred Jenks,
1837; Francis Putt, 1837; Samuel D. Powel, 1837;
Andrew Ramsey, 1837; Charles Ramsey, 1837; Bar-
ton H. Jenks, 1855; Andrew McMillan, 1855; John
H. Smith, 1855; Charles H. Biles, 1869; Matthew
McBride, 1876; C. H. Lambert, M. D., 1876; An-
drew Tannahill, 1884. . .
Alfred Jenks was a man who must ever hold the
most conspicuous place in the history of this church.
His coming to the neighborhood and establishing his
manufactory there in 1830 was what first gave import-
ance to Bridesburg. His ancestry was of the old-fash-
ioned sound Calvinistic, New England people. In his
family was illustrated again how the blessing of God
rests upon households, for his parents were godly peo-
PERIOD OF THE SECOND PRESBYTERY. 349
ple; his wife was daughter of a New England pastor,
who was also a professor in Harvard College while that
great institution was true to the faith; his daughter was
wife of the church's second pastor; one of his sons was
its seventh pastor, and another son was an elder, and
for a long time superintendent of its Sabbath-school.
Previous to the organization of this congregation, he
was an elder in the old church of Frankford. In the
commencement of this church his devotedness to the
cause was best seen. It was very dear to him, and he
was steadfast and ready to lend every aid, opening his
house for prayer-meeting every Saturday night, sending
for and entertaining the preachers, giving ground for
the church-edifice and graveyard, contributing largely
for the erection of the first building, superintendent of
the Sabbath-school for twenty-four years, and ever fore-
most in every good word and work. In all these he
was nobly sustained by his devoted wife, who continued
one of the most active teachers of the Sabbath-school
until she had reached the age of fourscore. We might
also speak of his son Barton as an elder, whose mag-
nificent gifts to this church, as well as other objects of
benevolence, can never be forgotten.
Of another of these elders we must make special
mention—viz. Charles Ramsey. He entered that office
when the church was organized, and though fifty-one
years have passed he holds the office still. Ever true
to the highest interests of the church, ever present at
its services, ever ready to help it forward, his has been
the rare privilege of being spared to serve his Master in
this church for half a century.
The Bridesburg church has always been distin-
guished for the excellence of its Sabbath-school. This
has been largely owing to the care devoted to it by the
350 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Messrs. Jenks, father and son, the latter of whom, for
the many years that he was its superintendent, devoted
to the study of its lessons nearly every evening of the
week.
This church during its whole history has been
blessed in an unusual degree by seasons of revival, by
which it has been, from time to time, greatly strength-
ened. The church began in the troublous times when
our Zion was sorely agitated by the controversies con-
nected with the Old and New School division; it had
its own troubles from the same cause, but it came out
of them unharmed, and has now held on its steady
course for half a century.
CH A P T E R X II.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION, 1838–1870.
WE now enter upon a new and important period of
our history. It is the period between the division of
our one Presbyterian Church into the New and Old
School sections, in 1838, and their Reunion in 1870. It
was the period when, separated into two independent
denominations, we worked on apart; but at the same
time it was a period of progress—with us, as a Presby-
tery, one of rapid growth, in which together we found-
ed no less than twenty-one new churches—an average
of two every three years.
To obtain a distinct impression of the character of
the Presbytery during this period three things must be
understood at the outset—namely, first, the identity of
the Presbytery with the one which preceded it and
that which followed it; secondly, that the churches in
the territory were fully separated into two bodies; and,
thirdly, the relative strength of these bodies.
(1) As to the first of these points, our territory was
then well defined. When the Second Presbytery of
Philadelphia was erected, in 1833, it included the rural
portion which the Presbytery North now substantially
includes, together with that part of the city which lies
north of Market street. In 1839, however, or the
year before this period commences, the territory was
curtailed by setting off that portion of it which lay
within the old city limits to the First Presbytery.
This left our limits at that time precisely what they
351
352 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
now are. Moreover, these limits embrace the territory
which has perpetuated our identity as a Presbytery.
It was the district of the influential portion of the
original Presbytery of New Brunswick, of the Presby-
tery of Abington, of the original First Presbytery of
Philadelphia, of our Second Presbytery of Philadelphia,
and it is the territory of Philadelphia North to-day.
There have been transition periods in the stream of the
history of our body, when again and again it was ab-
sorbed in the general Presbytery of Philadelphia from
three to over thirty years at a time, but the identity, as
defined by the territory, has ever sprung up again
without material change. It always has been substan-
tially the same, as the chief part of the old Presbytery
of New Brunswick, as Abington, as the elder First
fºresbytery of Philadelphia, as the Second Presbytery
of Philadelphia, as Philadelphia North.
(2) At the beginning of the period, and throughou
its course, the Presbytery was no longer one body.
Previously, all the churches had been united. All the
plans and acts of the Presbytery were those of the
whole body of Presbyterians within the defined terri-
tory. Now, however, together with the whole Pres-
byterian Church, it had become two distinct bodies—
bodies of very unequal magnitude, but still distinct.
The larger of these, the Old School, retained the
succession, and was the Second Presbytery of Philadel-
phia; the smaller united with the Third and Fourth
Presbyteries of Philadelphia, which were New School.
(3) Moreover, at the opening of the period, the Old
School portion consisted of thirteen churches, while the
New School portion had only three within the same
territory. Then during the course of the period there
were seventeen Old-School churches organized, and
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 353
four New School. Add to this that in order to bring
Lafayette College within the bounds of the Synod of
Philadelphia the three churches of Easton, Allen town-
ship and Catasauqua were transferred to our connec-
tion, and remained with us for twenty years, and then
we have the totals during the period of thirty-three Old-
School churches and seven New-School, or forty in all.
This analysis of the composition of the Presbytery
during the period is necessary to the full understand-
ing of the history; but, having presented the analysis,
we have now done with the Old and New-School par-
ties. As we are writing the history of Presbyterianism
in our territory, we shall henceforth treat the two ele-
ments promiscuously in our chronology of the churches.
Whatever they may have been in their origin, they now
belong to one body. Save for simple information we
shall not need to name the Schools in the future.
As there were no organic changes in the Presbytery,
nor any general movements of special importance during
this period, our work will hereafter be chiefly with the
history of the individual churches. We are entering
the age of progress, and shall find that new congrega-
tions increase very rapidly; and the history of them
separately is nearly all that we shall attempt. In order
to fix them in their proper places and make our enumer-
ation of them the more distinct, we shall classify them in
decades, and so mark the origin of each the more
clearly. Of course the period divides itself into three
such decades—namely, 1841–50, 1851–60 and 1861–70
—and we shall consider them in that order.
FIRST DECADE, 1841 to 1850.
During this decade there were eight new churches
organized, as follows: Jeffersonville, 1843; Port Ken-
23
354 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
nedy, 1844; Bristol, 1845; Port Richmond, 1846;
Conshohocken, 1847; Pottstown, 1848; Forrestville,
1849; and Norristown Second, 1850.
JEFFERSON VILLE CHURCH.
The church of Jeffersonville was commenced in the
year 1843 and had its origin in distractions which
arose in the neighboring church of Providence concern-
ing the Old and New School disruption. The heat of
that controversy, which had culminated but five years
before, was yet very great, and affected this region in a
high degree. An extract from the records of the
church will give all that our history needs: “After a
long series of dissensions and distractions the church of
Providence was divided, one part known as the Old
School, the other the New School; and in October,
1843, each congregation worshiped separately, the Old
School retaining the church-building and property inci-
dent thereto, holding their connection with the Second
Presbytery of Philadelphia, and the New School with
the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia.” The new
organization must have been very small and weak, and
must have continued so ; for when Dr. Collins com-
menced his ministry there, twenty-three years after-
ward, the property was encumbered with debt and
there were only thirty-three church-members. It was
not until four years after the enterprise commenced that
a charter was obtained and the name of Jeffersonville
Presbyterian church adopted. From that time onward
it has been struggling in weakness, and yet in hope and
faith.
THE BUILDINGS.
The first church-edifice was dedicated to the service
of God October 10, 1844, the year after the organiza-
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 355
tion. The Rev. Joel Parker, D. D., Rev. Daniel H.
Emerson, and Rev. C. F. Diver officiated on the occa-
sion. The house was a plain strong building, fifty-four
by thirty-six feet in size.
After this first building had stood about thirty-two
years it had become so unattractive and uncomfortable
that a new edifice became a necessity for the continued
life of the church. Accordingly, by the most strenu-
ous efforts of the people, and especially of Dr. Collins,
then the pastor, a new one was built, and was dedicated
October 1, 1876. This second edifice, which is the pres-
ent one, is an ornament to the surrounding country,
over which it can be seen far and near. Its whole cost
was about twenty-eight thousand dollars.
THE PASTORS.
Of these, the church has had the seven following:
C. F. Diver, 1844, two years; George Foot, 1851, two
years; William Fulton (stated supply), 1853, two
years; Samuel Helffenstein, Jr., 1855, two years; A.
J. Snyder (stated supply), 1858, eight years; Charles
Collins, D. D., 1866, twenty years; W. C. Hendrick-
son, 1886, the present pastor.
During the intervals between the short pastorates
the pulpit was filled by various supplies, either for a
single Sabbath or for a month or two. Among such
temporary supplies we find the names of Messrs. Aller,
Ottanger, Cross and others.
Mr. Diver was ordained and installed October 22,
1844, by the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia (N.S.).
Dr. Collins, after serving for ten years as stated sup-
ply, was installed pastor January 2, 1876. His minis-
try of almost a score of years in the church was not
only longer than any other, but longer than all of the
356 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
others together. Within it most of the best days of
the church were contained. The pastor's self-denying
labors were unremitting through heat and cold and
discouragements of every kind, and without other in-
centive than love to the cause and its Master. And
they were crowned with abundant success, for the
church, which at the beginning of his pastorate was
almost ready to be abandoned, with a discouraged mem-
bership of about two dozen persons and a building not
worth a thousand dollars, was through his efforts awak-
ened to new life—blessed revivals strengthened it, the
new edifice was erected and freed from debt, and the
number of communicants greatly increased.
Mr. Hendrickson was installed December 14, 1886.
He has been the pastor for two years.
TULING EDDIERS.
Of these we have the full roll. Six of them have
passed away from their earthly labor—namely, Joseph
Janey, James S. Smith, Henry Countiss, Henry Loucks,
Christian Weber, David Shrack, M. D. Three more
are still at their post of duty—namely, Francis Whiting,
Michael H. Reed, John C. Weber.
Francis Whiting removed to Jeffersonville, Pa., in
the spring of 1865 from Great Barrington, Mass. He is
a lineal descendant of the renowned Governor Bradford
of early colonial times. -
Mr. Whiting was graduated from Yale College, and
afterward studied law, but preferred and chose an agri-
cultural life. In 1841 he was married to Miss Harriet
W. Curtis of Columbia co., N. Y. In 1866 he united
with this church, and was soon after elected a ruling
elder, and during the twenty years' pastorate of the
Rev. Dr. Collins he was his most faithful and efficient.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 357
helper. He was born in Berkshire co., Mass., March
27, 1808, and at this writing is enjoying a fair measure
of health, having entered his eighty-second year.
One act of this church we cannot but greatly regret.
It was that by which, through legal ratification in 1875,
its name was changed from the old and proper one of
Jeffersonville to that of Centennial. Thus the his-
torical identity of the church was broken, the de-
scriptive title was taken away and a name far less
attractive was assumed. If we had the ear of the
people, we would urge that the old name be restored.
This church, possessing a history of forty-four years,
with a property free from all encumbrances and all its
agencies in good working order, may look with confi-
dence to a hopeful future.
PORT RENNEDY CHURCH.
Port Kennedy lies on the west of the Schuylkill
River, about three or four miles from the united charge
of the Norriton and Providence churches, while toward
the west it is about the same distance from the Great
Valley church. In the year 1844 a few families of
the last-mentioned church residing in Port Kennedy
petitioned Presbytery to organize them into a new
congregation. The petition was granted, and for that
purpose a committee was appointed which met with the
people March 20, 1845, and organized a church con-
sisting of but three members / Such is the simple story
of the beginning of this church, which has now been
in existence for forty-three years.
THE BUILDING.
The first and only church-edifice, being the one which
is still in use, was built in the fall of the year 1844.
358 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
THE PASTORS.
The church, though small and weak from the begin-
ning, has had an almost unbroken succession of pastors,
who have been five in number: Henry S. Rodenbaugh,
1846, twenty-six years; Charles T. Anderson, 1873, one
year; E. P. Hawes, 1874, two years; Yates Hickey, 1878,
two years; Belville Roberts, 1880, the present pastor.
Mr. Rodenbaugh was ordained and installed May
14, 1846. His pastorate, which covered more than
half of the church's life, was the palmy period of its
history. Although at the same time constituted pastor
of the two old and important churches of Norriton and
Providence, he was willing to assume this charge also;
nor did he slight its work, but for over a quarter of
a century ministered in it with great energy and suc-
cess, building up also the old churches, so that to-day
they are stronger than ever. This is an instructive ex-
ample to our Presbytery of what may be done by the
judicious grouping of neighboring churches.
Mr. Anderson was ordained and installed May 8,
1873.
Mr. Hawes was ordained and installed October 15,
1874. -
Mr. Hickey was installed October 13, 1878. He is
now pastor of the church of Torresdale.
Mr. Roberts, after having served as stated supply for
eight years, was installed pastor during the present year,
and is working most faithfully.
THE RULING ELDIERS.
Of these the church has had but four—namely, William
Henry, 1846; George Hart, 1850; James McPherson,
1855; Joseph B. Powel, 1859.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 359
Mr. Powel has been the only acting elder for twenty
years, and nobly does he strive to sustain the feeble
congregation.
Although this church was commenced forty-three
years ago, it is still small and weak, its membership
probably being no greater now than it was at the begin-
ning. This has been owing chiefly to the removals of its
families to other parts of the land. A large colony and
flourishing church exist in Kansas which are made up
almost entirely of families that went from this neigh-
borhood. e
Still, there are now prospects of future growth ; es-
pecially has the Sabbath-school been greatly encouraged
by large increase and improvement. The advance in the
contributions of the church to objects of benevolence is
also awakening hope, as within a short time they have
become more than double what they were in former years.
BRISTOL CHURCH.
The career of the church of Bristol has been one of
such exceptionally steady progress that there is little
more for the writer to do than to note the various salient
points of its history. There have been no strifes, no
convulsions, no organic changes, marking the twoScore
years of its life.
This church owes its origin to the energy and self-
denying efforts of the Rev. James M. Harlow, who
came from Centreville to Bristol, and moved in the
matter of its organization, and especially in the work
of the erection of a house of worship, as early as the
spring of 1844. At the time of the organization, Octo-
ber 17, 1845, the membership consisted of only fourteen
persons, of whom Mrs. Mary Pierce—then Mary Wan-
uxem—is now the only survivor.
360 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
THE BUILDINGS.
The present church-edifice is the one which was
erected in 1844. It was built chiefly through the un-
tiring efforts of Mr. Harlow. He seems to have secured
subscriptions from every quarter where he could make
appeal—churches, ministers and private individuals lis-
tening favorably to his plans.
In the year 1872, twenty-seven years after its erec-
tion, the church-building was enlarged and refurnished
at a cost of forty-four hundred dollars. It has now
capacity for seating four hundred persons. The congre-
gation also owns a large and well-arranged manse, con-
veniently near the church.
THE PASTORS.
Of faithful pastors the church has had seven : James
M. Harlow, 1845, five years; Franklin D. Harris, 1851,
ten years; Alfred Taylor, 1862, two years; Henry F.
Lee, 1865, three years; Jacob Weidman, 1868, five
years; James H. Mason Knox, D. D., LL.D., 1873,
eleven years; Edward P. Shields, D. D., 1884, the
present pastor.
Mr. Harlow commenced his ministry here with the
organization of the church, and to him under God it
is indebted for its very being.
Mr. Harris was installed May 8, 1851. His preach-
ing was eminently sound and instructive as well as
earnest.
Mr. Taylor was installed July 31, 1862.
Mr. Lee was installed November 7, 1865.
Mr. Weidman was installed November 18, 1868.
Dr. Knox was installed October 30, 1873. Of him
we have already spoken in our sketch of the First
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 361
church of Germantown. His services to this church
were specially valuable, among other things in that he
stimulated it to a very high degree of liberality. He
resigned this charge in compliance with a call to be-
come president of Lafayette College.
Dr. Shields was installed May 1, 1884. Under his
wise, devoted and efficient ministry the church still pur-
sues its upward and onward course.
All the seven pastors of this church are still living
and actively engaged in useful service for the Master
in some branch of Christian work.
THE RULING ELDIERS.
For no less than sixteen years after its founding this
church was in the anomalous position of having in it no
ruling elder. Presbytery met the difficulty in part by
appointing Mr. Charles Bradfield, ruling elder of another
church, to aid the pastor of Bristol in receiving new
members and in administering the Lord's Supper. This
was the situation of the church until 1861, after which
time the following brethren held in it the office of elder:
Silas E. Weir, 1861; Peter E. Hope, 1870; James
Noble Dickey, 1878; John Hope, 1878; Alexander
Ralph, 1880; Foster P. Crichton, 1888; Willis P.
Weaver, 1888. Messrs. Ralph, Crichton and Weaver
are, with the pastor, the present Session.
The work of twoscore and three years shows steady
growth in the various elements of true church organi-
zation. The membership, originally but fourteen, is
now not far from two hundred. With the growth of
Bristol there are many reasons for the confidence that
this church, distinguished for its harmony and energy
and devotion to good works, will advance to greater
strength and usefulness.
362 PRESEYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
PORT RICHMOND CHURCH.
The church of Port Richmond—now of the Central
Presbytery of Philadelphia—was organized February
5, 1846, by a committee of this Presbytery. The
reason of its connection with us was that the Presby-
terian families of that vicinity, which was then far
outside of the city, originally worshiped with the
church of Frankford, and afterward with that of
Bridesburg. The place was therefore naturally con-
sidered as within our bounds.
For a few months after its organization the new
church was ministered to by Mr. Oakley. Meantime,
its first and only house of worship was built. In a lit-
tle over a year the Rev. Samuel D. Alexander, D. D.,
was called to the pastoral charge. He was ordained
and installed November 16, 1847. He was a son of
the Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., of Princeton
Theological Seminary; and that fact, together with the
expected importance of Port Richmond, gave the event
of his settlement great prominence. Mr. Alexander,
however, remained only two years. He was succeeded
in the charge by the Rev. William Dod, brother of the
celebrated mathematical professor of Princeton College.
He also remained but a short time. The church then
passed over to the First Presbytery of Philadelphia,
to which it naturally belonged. It is now, after a
period of more than forty years, one of the churches of
the Presbytery of Philadelphia Central.
THE CHURCH OF CONSEHOHOCKEN.
The church of Conshohocken owes its origin to the
establishing of the Conshohocken iron-foundry, of which
Mr. Stephen Colwell was the chief proprietor and man-
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 363
ager, and of the marble-mills of the Jacoby family.
The church enterprise was commenced in 1847, when
the Rev. David Eakins preached for a short time in a
small frame temperance hall. . The church was organ-
ized November 16, 1847, with a membership of eighteen
persons.
At that time Mr. Colwell applied to Princeton Sem-
inary for one of the graduates to enter the field as a
missionary; and the writer was sent, and spent a few
months in the field previous to his ordination in some
permanent charge. The work was one of great diffi-
culty and many discouragements. During the Sabbath-
school exercises boys would run out and throw stones
at their teachers through the open windows. On hear-
ing the sound of in-coming trains persons in the con-
gregation would go out to see the arrivals, and then
return to their seats. A woman on whom the young
preacher was calling told him that she had not heard a
sermon nor seen a Bible in three years, though a church-
member before coming to this country. The neighbor-
hood was as thoroughly heathen as one could find.
There was also opposition from unexpected quarters.
Another denomination, failing to oust the Presbyterians
from the hall, established rival open-air services at the
door of the building, and that at the same hour with
the worship of those who were honestly striving to found
an evangelical church.
But the work went on and prospered amid all trials.
Another preaching-service was established at the neigh-
boring village of Spring Mill, with an audience of some-
times not more than six persons. A house of worship
was built. The inexperienced preacher, fresh from the
seminary, was encouraged by Dr. Ralston of Oakland
Female Institute. He was also greatly helped by Mr.
364 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
Colwell and his excellent family and by the family
of Mrs. Jacoby. He was also encouraged by many
Roman Catholics of the place, who would come to him
respectfully with their troubles, and upon whom he was
exerting considerable influence until a neighboring priest
interfered. The result of all the work was that a fair-
sized congregation was collected, a Sabbath-school was
gathered, a house of worship was built and in due time
another preaching-place was established. The work
has gone on and the church has pursued a prosperous
course for twoscore years.
THE BUILDINGS.
The first house in which the services of the congre-
gation were held was a small one-story frame hall
which had been erected by the Sons of Temperance.
After it came the plain stone structure which is still
the house of worship, and which was built in 1848.
The writer collected from every quarter most of the
funds which were needed. The whole cost was a little
over two thousand dollars, which, though a small sum
for such a purpose, was gathered with long-continued
and anxious effort. The building was of course very
plain and unpretending. Twenty-four years afterward,
in 1872, this building was repaired, improved and en-
larged to its present dimensions. Another house should
be erected very soon—one much more attractive and
capacious and in a better location than the one now in
use. We are glad to know that efforts in that direction
are in progress: a new lot of ground has been secured
and funds are being collected.
THE PASTORS.
The church has enjoyed the services of eight pastors,
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 365
as follows: Samuel Paul, 1850, two years; James Mar-
tin, 1853, one year; Joseph Nesbit, D. D., 1855, five
years; James Laverty, 1861, two years; Henry B.
Towsend, 1863, four years; J. H. Symmes, 1867, seven
years; W. Fulton, 1875, ten years; Alexander Wad-
dell, 1888, the present pastor.
Mr. Paul was installed October 21, 1850. He was
at the same time pastor of the Second church of Nor-
ristown.
Dr. Nesbit was installed May 17, 1855. He also
had charge of the Second church of Norristown at the
same time with this. He is now in the church of
Lock Haven.
Mr. Towsend was installed May 5, 1863.
Mr. Symmes was installed November 12, 1867.
Mr. Fulton was installed in October, 1875.
Mr. Waddell was ordained and installed February
13, 1888.
THE RULING EDDERS.
During the forty years of the life of this church
there have been nine of these brethren : Moses Wool-
verton, 1847; William Moore, 1849; L. M. Streeper,
1867; William Dunlap, 1867; Walter F. Fahnstock,
1872; Harvey K. Kroh, 1886; George Ewing, 1886;
Prof. J. W. Schlichter, 1887; H. D. Prendaville, 1887,
The last five of these are now acting.
This church was blessed with a very powerful revival
of God’s work in 1876 under the pastorate of Mr. Ful-
ton. No less than one hundred and seventy-five persons
were added to the number of its communicants as the
result of that awakening. A very different prospect
lies before the church this day from that which was
beheld forty years ago.
366 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
THE CHURCH OF POTTSTOWN.
The beginning of the church of Pottstown, a place
where the Lutheran and German Reformed churches
had formerly absorbed nearly the whole population,
was of very special interest. Several things awakened
attention to it as a location for a Presbyterian church,
and led finally to the organization of one there. The
first was the return of the Hon. Jacob Yost from Wash-
ington, where he had been as a member of Congress
for a number of years, bringing with him a bride who
had been Miss Harrington of Troy, New York, and who
had been thoroughly trained in the Presbyterian faith
by the Rev. Dr. Beman. She wondered how she could
live in Pottstown, a place where there was no Presby-
terian church. Her words were communicated to Dr.
Gray of Easton. By him they were repeated to the
Rev. W. R. Work, who had just left the college of
Newark, Delaware; the results were deeply momentous.
Mr. Work was prompted by the remark to establish a
female seminary in Pottstown, and of course cast about
for a Presbyterian church. The Rev. Matthew Meigs,
D. D., LL.D., about the same time came to Pottstown
accompanied by his noble wife and her godly father,
the Rev. W. R. Gould, and commenced what is now the
well-established and influential “Hill Seminary” for
boys and young men. With such a simultaneous influx
of the very best material for the purpose, a Presbyte-
rian church could not but arise. In 1847, Mr. Work
began to preach on Sabbath afternoons in the Methodist
church, which was kindly offered for the purpose.
The church was organized May 9, 1848, by a com-
mittee of Presbytery consisting of Rev. Messrs. How-
ard and Rodenbaugh and Elder Shearer. The num-
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 367
ber of members enrolled at the beginning was ten, with
Hon. Jacob Yost as elder.
THE BUILDINGS.
For a time, as we have stated, the services of the
infant congregation were held in the Methodist church.
But a house of worship was indispensable, and the per-
sons to aid in the erection of one were very few. Nev-
ertheless, an edifice was commenced in 1848, in which,
though it was only partially finished, services began to be
held in 1850. This structure was completed and dedi-
cated in 1853. The entire expenses were borne tempo-
rarily by Mr. Yost and Mr. Work, while they collected
the funds from every quarter—Mr. Yost, from friends
in Washington, amongst whom was the President of the
United States, and from friends in other localities; and
Mr. Work from the churches of the Presbytery. A
chapel, which it is expected will grow into a much
larger and more attractive house of worship than the one
now occupied, has been erected during the past year.
THE PASTORS.
Seven brethren have faithfully ministered to the
church whose names are—William R. Work, 1848,
five years; Robert Cruikshank, D. D., 1857, three
years; Wm. B. Stewart, D. D., 1861, one year; John
C. Thompson, D. D., 1864, nine years; Henry F. Lee,
1873, seven years; H. B. Stevenson, 1881, six years;
Henry M. Dyckman, 1888, the present pastor.
Mr. Work was not installed as pastor, but served as
stated supply while conducting his female seminary.
The church owed very much of its success to his self-
sacrificing efforts.
Dr. Cruikshank was installed October 3, 1857, and
368 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
remained three years. As president of a college in the
West, he has done good service to the Master's cause
since then.
Dr. Stewart was installed May 6, 1861. He is now
an efficient agent of the American Tract Society.
Dr. Thompson was installed the second Sabbath of
November, 1864. He is a successful pastor in Phila-
delphia at the present time.
Mr. Lee was installed Dec. 28, 1873. He is now
doing excellent work among the seamen as pastor of
their church in Philadelphia.
Mr. Stevenson was ordained and installed Nov. 1,
1881.
Mr. Dyckman was installed May 6, 1888.
THE RULING ELDERS.
Of ruling elders the church has also had seven ex-
cellent men: Hon. Jacob Yost, 1848; the Rev. W. R.
Gould, 1855; the Rev. John Moore, 1868; W. C.
Beecher, 1868; D. K. Hatfield, 1868; William M.
Gordon, 1868; Isaac Sweinhart, 1880.
Mr. Yost was a man of decided mark and influence.
He has been not only a prominent man of business in
the vicinity of Pottstown, which was his native place,
but a member of the State legislature for three terms,
an influential member of Congress, and also a United
States marshal—to which office he was appointed by
President Buchanan, his lifelong friend. To aid in
this church enterprise he left the German Reformed
body, the Church in which he was born—for he was a
descendant of the Palatinates—took a prominent
part in forming the new enterprise, gave and collected
a large part of the funds needed for the church-edifice,
and continued an elder until his death. To him and
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 369
his most excellent wife, who is still active in promoting
its interests, the church owes more than to any other
persons.
Mr. Gould, though an ordained minister, served as
ruling elder for years, and his sweet piety and earnest
efforts in the cause of Christ were greatly felt in the
church. Mr. Moore was also an ordained minister.
While serving as elders both of these brethren fre-
quently filled the pulpit in periods when the church
was without a pastor.
The two seminaries of this place were of important
service to the church, their principals and teachers
often filling its pulpit and rendering other aid, their
pupils forming no insignificant element of its audiences
and their influence giving a prominent standing to the
congregation. The “Hill School” still flourishes as
one of our most important seminaries for young men
and boys. The founder of this institution, Dr. Meigs,
is still with it; his son, however, is at the present time
its active principal.
FORRESTVILLE CHURCH.
The church of Forrestville was commenced by the
Presbytery of Raritan, of the Synod of New Jersey,
and continued in connection with that body for twenty
years. Although not formally organized until 1856,
at least seven years before that time the enterprise
resulting in organization had been entered upon, so
that we may properly fix the date of its beginning as
1849. Prior to that time preaching services had been
held in a neighboring grove and in a carpenter-shop.
The old church of Neshaminy aided in the efforts of
those who were engaged in the enterprise, its pastor
preaching for them and its Sabbath-schools being turned
24
370 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
over to their care. The Presbytery of Raritan also
continued to help.
The formal organization was effected June 19, 1856,
by a committee of the Presbytery of Raritan. The
infant church consisted of eleven members, John H.
Conover and John Brown being the elders. In 1868
the church, being on this side of the Delaware, at its
own request and with the approval of the Presbytery
of Raritan, was transferred to our Presbytery by the
General Assembly.
From the beginning this church has been extremely
weak, so much so that at one time its services were sus-
pended for several months. Still, being sustained and
guided by the good hand of God, it has kept on its way
in a field which should never be deserted.
The congregation has had but one church-edifice.
For the first four or five years of its existence its places
of worship were a grove and a carpenter-shop. At
length, however, in 1853, preparations for erecting a
house of worship were commenced; the building was
begun in 1854, and was completed and dedicated to
the service of God in 1855. ;4
This church, during its forty years, has had only two
pastors. They have been good and faithful men, else
it could not have survived its struggles. Previous to
the formation of the first pastoral relation, and again
after it came to an end, various brethren preached occa-
sionally in the field, among them the Rev. Daniel
Gaston, Otto Bergner, A. M. Woods and Peter Stud-
diford, D. D. On November 11, 1856, the Rev. Henry
E. Spayd was installed by the Presbytery of Raritan
as the first pastor. This clergyman was at the same
time pastor of the church of Solebury, and continued
to minister to both charges. Thirteen years afterward,
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 371
however, he felt constrained to resign this charge, the
work being too great for him.
After preaching for some months as a supply while
still a student in Princeton Seminary, the Rev. Jacob
B. Krewson was ordained and installed the pastor May
20, 1869. At that time there were only thirty-one mem-
bers in the church, and the persevering and self-sacri-
ficing labors of the new minister alone saved it from ex-
tinction. Few other men could or would have endured
so many hardships. But he has in faith labored and
endured, and the church continues on its mission.
RULING IFLDERS.
The roll of elders who have served the church is as
follows: John H. Conover, 1856; John Brown, 1856;
Aaron F. Hageman, Gilbert Walton, Charles D. Wright,
Charles S. Bewly, Richard K. Foster, T. Shoemaker
Wilson, Anson B. Atkinson. The three last-named
constitute the Session at the present time.
The brightest gleam of sunshine which this feeble
branch of the Lord's vine has enjoyed was a blessed
revival season in 1858 and 1859, by which it was greatly
cheered and strengthened through the addition of twenty
persons to its communion.
NORRISTOWN SECOND.
We have been able to obtain but very scanty data for
the construction of even a brief sketch of the Second
church of Norristown. It was organized September 27,
1850. Most of those who composed the congregation
at the beginning were persons so strongly attached to
the singing of Rouse's version of the Psalms that they
desired a separate organization in which they could
enjoy that privilege. Because of the location of the
372 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
church, only a few rods from the First church, and be-
cause of the unattractiveness of its building, the con-
gregation in a few years removed its place of worship
to Mogeetown, about a mile south of Norristown. A
few years later it was removed to Bridgeport, which
is directly across the Schuylkill from Norristown,
where there was a much better field because of a
larger population.
THE BUILDINGS.
The building in which the church was first established
was a small old stone structure which had belonged to
the Primitive Methodists.
When the church removed to Mogeetown a plain but
commodious edifice was built, chiefly, if not entirely, by
the liberality of Mr. Mogee. On removing to Bridge-
port a large new structure was erected, at a cost of about
seventeen thousand dollars. This expense involved the
congregation in a heavy debt by which it has been
Sorely crippled ever since.
THE PASTORS.
During its life of thirty-eight years the church has
had six pastors, whose work would have been more
successful had not the changes in location and other
adverse causes greatly hindered their efforts. Their
names are—Samuel Paul, 1850, two years; Joseph Nes-
bit, D. D., 1852, nine years; James Harrison, seven
years; Belville Roberts, 1872, eight years; Henry F.
Mason, 1880, five years; S. R. Queen, 1887, one year.
Mr. Paul was installed October 21, 1850.
Dr. Nesbit was installed November 3, 1852.
Mr. Harrison—date of his installation unknown.
He resigned October 15, 1871.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 373
Mr. Roberts was installed the third Sabbath of May,
1872.
Mr. Mason was installed October 14, 1880.
Mr. Queen was installed January 7, 1887. He re-
cently resigned the charge.
Of the elders we are able to give the names of only
the two who now hold office—Charles H. Mann, M.D.,
and Thomas Worrell.
The exclusive use of Rouse's Psalms in this church
has been given up. The debt, which at one time nearly
crushed it, has been almost liquidated. When it is en-
tirely free from this burden, the church, with the im-
portant field it occupies and its fine house of worship,
will doubtless do a noble work in the Master's cause.
CHRONICLES OF THE CHURCHES (Continued).
SECOND DECADE (1851–1860).
During the decade upon which we now enter ten new
churches were founded within the bounds of the Pres-
bytery, an average of one a year. Those churches
were-Chestnut Hill, Slatington, Brainerd, Holmes-
burg, Roxborough, Flowertown, Falls of Schuylkill,
Germantown Second, Morrisville and Huntingdon
Valley.
Besides the ten churches mentioned above, three
others were at the beginning of this decade transferred
to our connection—namely, Allen Township, Easton
First and Catasauqua. This transfer was made by act
of the General Assembly, which extended our bounds
so as to include Easton and the adjacent country, in
order that Lafayette College might be brought within
the limits of the Synod of Philadelphia. These churches
continued with the Presbytery for twenty years, or until
the rearrangement of all the Synods at the union of
374 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
the New and Old School bodies in 1870. All that de-
volves upon us in reference to them is to trace their
history while they were with us, as their beginnings and
subsequent careers were in other connections. In the
same transferred territory the Presbytery founded
three other churches, whose history it will be proper for
us to trace so long as they continued in connection
with us.
CHURCH OF ADLEN TOWNSHIP.
It is a source of gladness that our Presbytery em-
braced this old and renowned portion of Presbyterian
territory even for a short period. Its connection with
us forms an episode in our history in which we may
well rejoice. - -
The church of Allen Township will be first consid-
ered, because it is a monument of that grand work of
our early days which had such a vast influence upon the
whole destiny of our Presbyterianism. The first great
settlement of the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians was in the
“Forks of the Delaware,” and that region may there-
fore be considered as the old home of our Church.
Even such an important colony as that of the Cum-
berland Valley can look back to that locality as the
birthplace of many of its most important families. Our
own Presbytery of the Neshaminy received thence many
of the founders of its churches. Throughout our whole
Church some of the greatest and best members trace the
lines of their ancestry to that favored spot.
With the planting and early history of this church
we are not familiar, and it comes not in our way to
trace the record. As a church it came to us with its
pastor, the Rev. Leslie Irving. He was of Irish birth,
of superior talents and attainments, but so humble and
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 375
unpretentious that he was but little known. We have
pleasant recollections of him in our meetings of Pres-
bytery as one who was conscientious in attendance,
modest in counsel, but rich in thought and sweet in
spirit. He left us in 1868, attracted westward by chil-
dren who had settled there. Two years after the
departure of Mr. Irving the church, in the rearrange-
ment of the Synods, was incorporated with the Presby-
tery of Lehigh.
CHURCH OF EASTON.
We rejoice in having had this church connected with
our Presbytery, because, among other things, it makes
it our pleasant duty to aid in embalming the memories
of three men whom our Church should never forget,
two of them elders—Thomas McKeen and David
Thomas; and one a minister—the Rev. John Gray,
D. D. -
Among the many valuable families that county
Antrim, Ireland, has sent to this country, there have
been few so worthy of being remembered as that of the
McKeens, which came here about eighty years ago from
Ballymena. The patriarch of the family was the ven-
erable Thomas McKeen of Easton, scarcely more emi-
nent than his nephew, Henry McKeen, long a well-
known elder of the Scots church of Philadelphia, who
still lives at between ninety and one hundred years
of age, or than his other nephews, James and Thomas
McKeen. Thomas McKeen was undoubtedly the most
prominent and honored of Easton's citizens in its early
days. He must ever be remembered as the founder of
Easton, as the famous surveyor known by the German
population as the “Honest Irisher,” as the president of
the old Bank of Easton and as the noble man whose
376 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
word was bond enough for any engagement. In his
relation to this church he was the real founder, the
elder who was never absent from its services, the leader
in every project for its welfare, the stand-by of the pastor
in every work and trial, the man whose principles and
practice and piety were as stable as the surrounding
hills—who knew no guile and could practice or endure
nothing but the truth.
Side by side with him lived and labored the church's
first and most honored pastor, the Rev. John Gray, D.D.
His pastorate commenced in 1823. At that post he
continued in work and prayer and faith for forty-four
years. He was therefore fully identified with the church
for the first half century of its prosperous career.
Through his ministry it grew up from nothing to be
one of our finest congregations. He loved it as his
very life, all of which he gave to it.
Dr. Gray also came from the great training-school of
the North of Ireland. In crossing the Atlantic he and
his wife were shipwrecked, and finally escaped with
their lives only after terrible hardships. A singular
and very touching scene of his last days is worthy of
record. His health had long been declining before the
end came. In great feebleness he was at the tea-table
with his family for the last time. He arose, asked for
his overcoat and hat, and, putting them on, said, “I
shall eat and drink no more until I go home.” And
he did not, for he was immediately carried up to the
bed on which his soul forsook the body and went home.
His funeral service, amid the silent sorrow of his be-
reaved flock, was one of the most pathetic scenes of the
writer's ministry, the more so as the trying task was his
of speaking the words of comfort and improvement
that were demanded.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION, 377
On April 17, 1867, Dr. Gray resigned the pastoral
charge of the church to which he had so long and
faithfully ministered. In the fall of the same year the
Rev. W. C. A. Kerr was ordained and installed in his
place. Three years afterward the church was trans-
ferred to the Presbytery of Lehigh.
CHURCH OF CATASAUQUA.
This church owes its origin to the establishing in
Catasauqua of one of the great iron-furnaces of our
State. It is interesting to us as the scene of the faith-
ful services of David Thomas, one of those devoted
elders in whom our church may justly rejoice. He,
too, in his youth came from a foreign land—from
Wales, where he had been brought up in the church
of Howell Harris and Lady Huntingdon. He began
in this country as an humble worker in an iron-furnace;
he was prospered, and by his virtues, skill and energy .
built up one of the largest smelting-furnaces in the
region. Of this church he was the founder, the chief
support and the ornament. To him, his church, its min-
isters and his religion were of the first interest. He wa-
vered in his Christian life no more than the rocks around
him. To him, guile, wrong, faithlessness, seemed incom-
prehensible. With him, to attend every service and pro-
mote every interest of his church were matters of course.
The early days of the church are all associated with his
fidelity. His sweet, loving spirit was its charm.
When this church came to us, it was connected with
that of Allen township, both being under the pastoral
charge of the Rev. Leslie Irving. .
The Rev. William Fulton became pastor and was in-
stalled Dec. 17, 1868. Two years afterward its connec-
tion with our Presbytery ceased.
378 PRESB YTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
CHESTNUT EIILL CHURCH.
There is a true pride which it is lawful to cherish,
and in that pride we may well indulge as a Presbytery
when we contemplate the origin, the progress and the
present condition of the Chestnut Hill church. Its his-
tory runs through but thirty-six years, and yet it is one
of the strongest and most influential of our sisterhood
of churches.
In the year 1850 the Rev. Roger Owen, D. D., was
providentially led to take up his abode at Chestnut
Hill, and his coming may be regarded as the planting
of the germ from which this church grew. On arriv-
ing in the place Dr. Owen found of the Presbyterian
faith no organization, no house of worship, no Sabbath-
School, no prayer-meeting and scarcely any people. In
a year afterward, however, a little interest had arisen,
and his instinct for the service and honor of God was
gratified by the agreement of a few Presbyterian fami-
lies to meet with him on the Lord's Day to listen to
his preaching. This was the beginning: the cause
prospered, the assemblies increased, a Sabbath-school
was established, and in a year thereafter a church was
organized.
This organization was effected April 21, 1852. Di-
wine services were at first conducted in an old academy
or chapel. In the year of the organization, however,
the erection of a house of worship was begun, which
structure was completed and dedicated in 1853. To
appreciate the efforts of the congregation in so speedily
erecting a Sanctuary we must consider that then Chest-
nut Hill was far from having its present numerous and
wealthy population.
The special blessing of God seemed to rest on this
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 379
church from its very commencement. Its course was
onward and upward, year by year, until it took rank
among our most important congregations.
To write the history of such a church is but a brief
task. There are so few disturbing events and so few
changes that the material for extended history is want-
ing; nothing but the leading facts that indicate prog-
ress can be narrated.
THE BUILDINGS.
The church-building in which the services of this
congregation were first held is the one in which they
are still held, although it is greatly changed. It was
finished and dedicated in 1853, the year following the
organization of the church. Sixteen years afterward,
in 1869, it was enlarged and greatly improved. Eleven
years after that, again, in 1880, it was still further en-
larged and made much more attractive. In the same
year, 1880, a fine Sabbath-school building was put up,
and thus another addition was made to the facilities of
worship. Only four years after the church was erected
a beautiful and convenient manse was built by its side
for the comfort of the pastor and his family. The total
result of all this labor and expenditure is one of the
most complete and picturesque clusters of buildings for
the worship of God and for the various departments
of church work that can be seen. No wonder that
artists from home and abroad visit and sketch it as
affording a most beautiful group for a picture.
THE PASTORS.
The church of Chestnut Hill through its history of
thirty-six years has had but two pastors—the Rev.
Roger Owen, D. D., 1853, who wrought in the field
380 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
with great acceptance and blessing for thirty-three
years; and the Rev. Walter W. Hammond, D. D.,
1885, the present pastor. g
Dr. Owen was installed Nov. 10, 1853. So great a
portion of the history of this church was covered by
the pastorate of Dr. Owen that a few special words
must be devoted to an account of his work. Few
men have ever had a more happy and useful ministry
than he. He has been a model pastor, and hence, he
having to do with a faithful people, the church's great
prosperity. An eye single to the glory of God in the
performance of the great work assigned him was emi-
nently the secret of his power. He loved this church
sincerely; its members were his personal friends; they
had come into the church under his ministry; their
good name was his; he ever had them on his heart at
home and abroad; he gave the best of his life to them;
and his greatest joy was to see them walking close with
God. It was a sore trial when failure of health forced
him to give up the charge which was so dear to his
soul; but his loving and loyal people have done all
that deep affection could prompt to give comfort to
his remaining years.
Dr. Hammond was installed Oct. 14, 1885.
THE RULING ELDERS.
Not the least of the peculiar favors which this church
has received from its Divine Head is the bestowment of
the excellent body of elders who have conducted its
spiritual affairs. They have been in all ten in number:
James Smith, M. D., 1853; John Piper, 1854; John
F. Houston, 1860; Albert B. Kerper, 1860; Henry J.
Williams, 1860; Frederick W. Vanuxem and Thomas
Potter, 1872; George H. Stuart, Jr., John Macfarlane,
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 381
Frank Olcott Allen. Messrs. Kerper, Stuart, Macfar-
lane and Allen constitute the present Session.
Mr. Williams was a man of blessed memory, whose
name must ever stand amidst the highest in the history
of this church. Having retired from public life after a
long and honorable career of legal practice, he devoted
his closing years to the cause of Christin connection with
this congregation. To his pastor he was a bosom-friend
and counselor. Most generously did he devote of the
abundance which God had given him to the improve-
ments in the church-buildings, to the pastor's comfort
and to general objects of benevolence. He was active
in the Lord’s business in all the church's services, in
the Sabbath-school and with his pen, so that the words
of his sanctified wisdom live after him.
Mr. Potter was another strong pillar of this house
of God. Though a very busy man, manufacturer,
merchant and bank president, yet could he find time
for always aiding in the work of the kingdom. He
would withhold no expenditure in time, talents or
money that might be needed for the cause of his
Master. He was always ready and prompt in every
duty.
With such a body of elders, led by such a pastor, the
church could not but be prosperous and happy.
It is an interesting fact that the Rev. M. B. Grier,
D. D., who has been for twenty-eight years one of the
editors of The Presbyterian, was formerly connected
with this church, and so was a member of our Pres-
bytery. In his family again we have an illustration
of God's faithfulness to his covenant with godly pa-
rents. The progenitor of that family in this country
was a devoted Presbyterian who came from the North
of Ireland one hundred and fifty-eight years ago, and
382 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
almost all his descendants have been persons of like
character with himself. Among these there are known
to have been ten ministers of the gospel, some of whom
have held prominent places in the Church, while the
number of ruling elders found in every generation has
been very great. It has been one of those highly-hon-
ored families which have made our Church what it is
to-day.
SLATINGTON CHURCH.
This is one of the churches which, for a time, was
connected with us in consequence of the extension of
our boundaries into the region of Easton. Its case,
however, was different from the three previously men-
tioned, in that, while they were simply transferred to
us, it, as were two others, was organized by our
Presbytery.
The town of Slatington, in the valley of the Lehigh,
in which this church is located, had grown up into a
large community that had been attracted by the work-
ing of one of the large slate-quarries in the vicinity.
The way was prepared for the church by Providence in
sending to the place, as chief owner and superintend-
ent of the slate-works, Mr. Robert McDowell, a Scotch
Presbyterian of sound faith, earnest piety and fine bus-
iness abilities. He took the responsibility of the leader-
ship of the new church enterprise. Not only was he
the chief agent in its formation, but he became its
elder, Sabbath-school superintendent and most devoted
worker. He gathered into it the Welsh operatives
and others, and so became instrumental in building up
an important congregation which is still doing a great
work in the valley.
The church was organized June 24, 1852. For
Some time it was served by various supplies, when the
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 383
Rev. Mr. Harned was installed pastor in 1860. After
a pastorate of five years, Mr. Harned resigned, and
the Rev. George J. Porter was installed Oct. 3, 1866.
Mr. Porter remained five years, and upon his retire-
ment the Rev. John McNaughton was ordained and
installed April 26, 1870. During the pastorate of the
last-named minister the church was transferred to the
Presbytery of Lehigh.
BRAINERD CHURCH OF EASTON.
Like Slatington church, this was organized by our
Presbytery during the period when the Easton terri-
tory was within our bounds. It was situated in Easton,
and from the first was a very successful and important
enterprise. The First church had grown very strong,
and its house of worship was overflowing, while at the
same time the population of the place was rapidly
increasing. Another Presbyterian church became a
necessity. Mr. James McKeen and other men of faith
and influence entered into the new organization, and it
Soon took rank among our leading congregations.
The church was organized October 5, 1852. Two
years afterward, during which time its house of worship
was erected, the Rev. G. W. McPhail, D.D. (October
18, 1854), was installed as pastor. On the retirement
of Dr. McPhail after a service of eight years, the Rev.
Alfred H. Kellogg, D. D., accepted the pastorate, and
was installed October 22, 1862. He remained three
years, and was succeeded by the Rev. D.T. Banks, D.D.,
who was installed November 5, 1865.
Five years after the installation of Dr. Banks the
church was transferred to the Presbytery of Lehigh.
Since its transfer it has held on its course as one of our
strong and influential congregations.
384 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
THE HOLMESBURG CHURCH.
The Holmesburg church was the second colony that
went out from the mother-congregation of Frankford.
Previous to its organization quite a number of Presby-
terian families resided in Holmesburg who were con-
nected with the church of Frankford, and, as these
places were four miles apart, the desirability of forming
a separate church for them had been for years earnestly
considered. At length, with the purpose of preparing
the way for a new organization, the Frankford pastor
commenced holding Sabbath-afternoon services in a
school-house at Holmesburg. He continued these serv-
ices about three years, preaching every Sabbath after-
noon, excepting one Sabbath in the month, when some
other neighboring minister took his place. In these
preparatory efforts the leading burden of responsibility
and work was borne by Mr. Robert Pattison, Sr., a
ruling elder in the Frankford church who resided in
Holmesburg. Under God the church owes its origin
to Mr. Pattison and his family.
The church was organized April 26, 1853. It con-
sisted of seventeen persons, nearly all of whom were
members of the Frankford church, and some of whom
belonged to the most important families of that church.
Mr. Pattison was the only elder. The church thus
constituted has pursued its onward course for about the
length of a generation, and most of its founders have
already passed away from earth.
THE BUILDINGS.
At first, for a little while, the congregation held its
services in a small school-house. Then, until after the
church was organized, it worshiped in a large public
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 385
hall called the Athenaeum. Soon after the commence-
ment of the first pastorate funds were collected and a
house of worship was built, which is still the sanctuary
in which the people gather for their sacred services.
THE PASTORS.
The church thus far has had five pastors—James
Scott, 1854, seven years; A. Hartpence, 1861, two
years; Jacob Belville, D.D., 1864, two years; J. F.
Jennison, 1866, three years; John Peacock, the present
pastor, 1871, eighteen years.
Mr. Scott was ordained and installed June 6, 1854.
For more than one reason his name must ever stand
foremost among those of the pastors of this church.
It was a sad and mysterious providence that this most
excellent minister was so soon taken away from the
infant congregation, which under him was so rapidly
increasing and giving such blessed promise. The writer,
with whom Mr. Scott was very intimate, can truly as-
sert that of all the men he has ever known he was one
of the purest in heart. . He appeared to be absolutely
without guile. Thoroughly trained for the ministry—
first in Ireland, his native land, and then in Scotland—
he was an able, sincere and successful preacher. He
had a single eye to the glory of God in striving to
build up this church, which he most dearly loved.
As might have been expected, his death, which was
within the bounds of the writer's congregation and
almost in his arms, was a wonderful triumph of grace
over the last enemy. At first, as is often the case, he
had doubts and fears, and sometimes he would whis-
per, “Oh what if, after having preached to others, I
should at last be myself a castaway?” But every cloud
soon was dissipated, and then for the remaining days he
25
386 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
had perfect sunshine and peace. His very last moments
we shall not fully understand until perchance he may tell
us of them in the realms of the ransomed. Suddenly his
eye brightened as though, with indescribable rapture, he
were gazing on the beatific vision; and doubtless he was.
Mr. Hartpence spent the two years of his ministry
here from April 1, 1861, to April 1, 1863, as stated
supply. His health was declining, and soon after leav-
ing this field he went to his blessed home.
Dr. Belville was installed June 2, 1864. As already,
in our sketch of the Neshaminy church, we have been
led to state a few things concerning this very able and
devoted brother, we need not repeat them here.
Mr. Jennison was installed Nov. 14, 1866.
Mr. Peacock was ordained and installed April 28,
1871. He has now been the pastor of the church for
eighteen years.
THE RULING ELDERS.
This church has had ten ruling elders. Their
names and the order of their installations are as fol-
lows: Robert Pattison, Sr., John Fowler, Charles
E. Neville, John Irwin, John W. Morrison, Robert
Pattison, Jr., Richard J. Wheeler, Charles H. Bamford,
Louis Floye, Harry Taylor. -
As to Mr. Scott among the pastors, so to Mr. Pattison,
Sr., among the elders must be accorded the first place.
He was at first an elder in the church of Frankford,
and having been installed in that office at the organiza-
tion of this church, he continued to hold it until his
death. He was a Scotch Presbyterian of the truest and
best type. Next to his immediate family, of all earthly
things his heart beat most warmly toward his church
until that heart altogether ceased to beat. For the in-
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 387
terests of his church he spared neither time nor money
nor anxious thought and work. In his relations to it,
as in all the other relations of life, he was like a rock
in truth, in faith, in every righteous practice.
Mr. Fowler was the second elder elected, and most
faithfully did he stand by the church in all its interests
until he removed to another field of usefulness.
IROXBOROUGH CHURCH.
Although the church of Roxborough was established
as a Presbyterian church in the year 1854, it had ex-
isted previously for nineteen years as a Dutch Reformed
church. Its original founding was in the year 1835,
when the corner-stone of its house of worship was laid
by the Classis of Philadelphia. At that time it was a
branch from the Dutch Reformed church of Manayunk.
The building, whose corner-stone was laid June 8, 1835
(the proper date of the commencement of the enterprise),
was finished and dedicated in 1836.
On the fourth Sabbath of August of the same year
(1836) a church was organized consisting of twelve
members. Early in the next year the Rev. T. A. Bum-
stead was installed the pastor of the “Dutch Reformed
church of Upper Roxborough.” He was at the same
time pastor of the church of Manayunk, preaching
there in the morning and at Roxborough in the after-
noon or evening.
Mr. Bumstead continued to be the pastor for four
years, and then resigned; he, however, again served the
church for a short time, some years after his resigna-
tion. He was a man of fervent piety and great zeal.
After him, in 1842, the Rev. A. Ammerman became
the pastor and ministered for four years. He was suc-
ceeded in 1846 by the Rev. Robert Queen, who was
388 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
pastor for three or four years. Such is an outline of
this church's history during the nineteen years that it
continued in the Dutch Reformed connection.
Owing to some dissatisfaction with the Classis, the
church by unanimous vote resolved to change its eccle-
siastical relation. It made application for admission to
our Presbytery. It was received April 19, 1854, and
ever since has continued to be one of our staunch con-
gregations. For a short time after the change of rela-
tion the Rev. Dr. Owen of Chestnut Hill preached
occasionally for the people. It was not long, however,
until the church was blessed with a pastor of its own.
PASTORS.
Six clergymen have in succession held the office of
pastor in this church during the thirty-four years of its
connection with us: Joseph Beggs, D. D., 1855, thirteen
years; Charles H. Ewing, 1868, two years; Samuel
Phillips, 1871, seven years; William A. Patton, 1878,
three years; William C. Westervelt, 1881, five years;
Charles A. Oliver, 1887, the present pastor.
Dr. Beggs was installed March 24, 1855. While pas-
tor of this church he preached also in Falls of Schuyl-
kill, where his great life-work afterward lay, and of
which presently more will be said.
Mr. Ewing was installed September 30, 1868.
Mr. Phillips was installed March 13, 1871.
Mr. Patton was installed in October, 1878. After
leaving this church Mr. Patton entered upon the pas-
torate of the church of Doylestown, which he still ably
SëI’VéS.
Mr. Westervelt was installed November 20, 1881.
Mr. Oliver was ordained and installed May 12, 1887.
He is pastor still.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 389
THE RULING IFLDIERS.
The church's list of elders contains the following
eleven names: John Hagy, 1854; Francis H. Latch,
1854; Valentine Keely, 1854; Peter Streyker, 1872;
Michael Blynn, 1872; Henry D. Coler, 1874; Ephraim
Rex, 1874; Henry C. McManus, 1874; Robert Corbit,
1877; Robert R. Lownes, 1877; William W. McFad-
den, 1877. Of these, Messrs. McManus and McFadden
are now in active service.
SPRINGFIELD CHURCH.
The church of Springfield was organized December
5, 1855, by the Fourth Presbytery of Philadelphia.
It was originally composed of fourteen members, who
came from the Lutheran and the German Reformed
Churches. Its first two elders were John Sorber and
John Jacoby.
The church-edifice, which was built in 1861, is the
one which is still in use; it was, however, greatly
improved in 1887. There is also a fine manse in
connection with the church, built in 1861.
THE PASTORS.
In consequence, doubtless, of the weakness of this
church there have been many pastoral changes, and
several of those who ministered were merely stated
supplies. The entire list of those who have served as
pastors or stated supplies is as follows: Alfred Snyder,
pastor nine years, 1857–66; George H. Hammer,
stated supply three years, 1867–70; Henry F. Mason,
pastor two years, 1871–73; Joel S. Kelly, pastor one
year, 1874–75; William Travis, stated supply, 1878,
one year; W. E. Westervelt, stated supply, 1882, four
390 PRESEYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
years; A. W. Long, stated supply, 1886, the present
minister of the church. -
During the pastorate of Mr. Snyder this church was
grouped with that of Jeffersonville. While Mr. Wes-
tervelt supplied the pulpit it was a station of the Rox-
borough church. Since Mr. Long entered the field it
has been grouped with the Ambler mission, which Mr.
Long also serves.
This church has had but three elders—namely, John
Sorber, John Jacoby and Amos Dungan. The first of
these has passed to the upper sanctuary, the others are
still acting.
NORRISTOWN CENTRAL CHURCH.
At the time of the division of the Presbyterian Church
in 1838 the First church of Norristown, which was then
the only one in that place, threw in its lot with the New
School side. Sixteen years afterward, however, the con-
gregation determined to change its relation, and by a
formal majority vote passed over to the Old School
body. A portion of the members, however, not acqui-
escing in this change of relation, were organized in 1855
by the Fourth Presbytery of Philadelphia (N.S.) as
the “Central church of Norristown.” For a short time
the new congregation worshiped in a public hall, but as
soon as the work could be done a house of worship was
erected; and since that time the church has gone stead-
ily forward in a course of progress and usefulness.
THE BUILDINGS.
For a few months the new congregation, while it
was in a formative condition, held its services in
what was called Hill's Hall. The corner-stone of a
church-edifice was laid Aug. 9, 1856, which in due
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 391
time was finished and opened for service. This sanc-
tuary is still in use. In September, 1886, a newly-
built, beautiful and commodious manse was purchased
with the proceeds of a very liberal bequest which had
been left by Mrs. Sarah Derr a year before for that
purpose.
THE PASTORS.
On the roll of the pastors of this church there are
six honored names: Daniel G. Mallory, 1856, five
years; Robert Adair, D. D., 1862, three years; Henry
T. Ford, 1866, nine years; William A. Jenks, 1875,
six years; Joseph McAskie, 1882, four years; J. Lin-
coln Litch, 1886, who is the present pastor.
Mr. Mallory was installed Oct. 15, 1856. After
a successful though short pastorate, he was forced to
resign by impaired health.
Dr. Adair was installed June 17, 1862. This vet-
eran man of God still lives.
Mr. Ford was ordained and installed July 26, 1866.
Mr. Jenks was installed July 22, 1875. He was a
son of Alfred Jenks, the eminent elder of the Brides-
burg church, and a brother of Barton H. Jenks, also an
elder in that church.
Mr. McAskie was installed April 27, 1882. After
leaving Norristown, he took charge of the church of
Port Carbon.
Mr. Litch was installed Nov., 1886, and continues
to hold the pastorate.
THE RULING ELDERS.
The names of the entire list of elders of this church,
fourteen in all, with the years of their installation, are
as follows: David Getty, 1855; Jacob Teany, 1855;
Joseph T. Smith, 1855; Charles A. Hallman, 1855;
392 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
William McDermott, 1855; Abraham Gerhart, 1861;
John Hill, 1866; Isaac Royell, 1866; Ninnian Irwin,
1866; John W. Loch, 1866; William P. Cuthbertson,
1886; Montgomery Evans, 1886; John E. Finley
1886; George M. Rynick, 1886. -
It is proper in the narrative of this church to make
record of the admirable institution for young men and
boys, “The Tremont Seminary of Norristown,” of
which John W. Loch, Ph. D., an elder of the church,
and who was long the principal, is proprietor. In
rank it is inferior only to our leading colleges. On its
annual catalogue there are the names of over a hun-
dred students from all parts of the United States, from
Canada, from India, and from Central and South Amer-
ica. During the forty-four years of its history it has
sent out many hundreds of young men into every
department of life and usefulness.
Much of the success of this school has been due to
the admirable ability of Principal Loch. His com-
bined gentleness and kindness, his good sense and
excellent business qualities, together with his mathe-
matical, belles-lettres and general scientific attainments,
eminently fit him for his difficult but exceedingly
important trust. Who can estimate the endless results
for good of that institution the development and con-
duct of which has been the great work of his life?
FALLS OF SCHUYIEIILL CHURCH.
The Falls of Schuylkill church ranks amongst the
first of our congregations in respect of its small be-
ginning and its steady progress. It commenced with
no organization, no house of worship, no expected aid
from without and almost no people. It had to rely
upon its own efforts and resources. The pastor with
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 393
whom it began is its pastor still. From the very first
day it has been going steadily forward, step after step,
ever increasing in strength and equipment for useful-
ness. It has the rare pleasure of having the same
house of worship and the same pastor it had at its
organization, thirty-two years ago.
So smooth and gradual has been the progress of this
church that the historian has almost nothing to record.
In its annals there have been none of the important
changes and no such strifes and divisions as those of
which history is usually made. . It is one of the
churches in view of which our Presbytery may
properly rejoice and be thankful. It would not be
easy to find a better specimen of the working of a
genuine Presbyterian church planted in a new field
and steadily rising to a position of commanding in-
fluence.
In order that the history of this church may be pre-
sented in as clear a light as possible the successive steps
by which it arose to its present condition of useful-
ness will be narrated.
In the autumn of 1855 a prayer-meeting was estab-
lished and sustained by some of the neighboring pas-
tors. Three months later, in January, 1856, some of
the surrounding brethren commenced preaching on
. Sabbath afternoons in the old academy. In about two
months afterward the interest in the enterprise had so
much increased that Dr. Beggs, then pastor of the Rox-
borough church, engaged to preach as stated supply
every Sabbath afternoon. In about nine or ten months
after this arrangement, as the field seemed ripe, the
church was organized Nov. 7, 1856.
In a little more than two years after the organiza-
tion, in accordance with the petition of the church, Dr.
394 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
Beggs was installed pastor for half his time, April 28,
1859; previously he had been merely stated supply.
Nine years afterward, April 22, 1868, his whole serv-
ices being needed at the Falls, Dr. Beggs severed his
connection with Roxborough and made the sole pastor-
ate of this church from that time forward his great life-
work. Seven months after this change, Oct. 11, 1868,
the new church-edifice, the erecting of which had been
going on for a year, was dedicated to the worship of
God, Messrs. Knox, Dickson and Murphy preaching
successively morning, afternoon and evening. From
that time to the present the church has been eminently
prosperous and useful.
The first place of worship was the old academy,
which was occupied for twelve years. In 1868 the
church entered its own sanctuary, which from time to
time has been greatly improved, and which it is in
contemplation to subject to a still more radical improve-
ment that will so enlarge it as to enable it to accommo-
date the increased congregation.
This church has no list of pastors: only one honored
name is on its records. Dr. Beggs may well rejoice
with thankfulness in the peculiar distinction. He was
installed April 28, 1859. His pastorate has now ex-
tended over thirty years.
The church has had but four elders: John Kinnier
and John Hope, who were installed at the time of the
organization, and James McMurtrie and John Max-
well, who are now also in the Session.
GERMANTOWN SECOND. !
Unlike most of our churches, which were very weak
in the beginning, the Second church of Germantown
may be said to have commenced full grown. It was
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 395
virtually a colony of the First church, from which
most of the families, though not the greater part of
the members, came that they might engage in the new
enterprise. It had its origin in the conviction of a few
gentlemen of energy and means that another church
of our denomination ought to be established in the
western part of Germantown, which was becoming an
important suburb of the city.
These friends of the cause having made all neces-
sary preparations, the church was formally organized
on the evening of December 31, 1857, by a committee
of Presbytery. The meeting for this purpose was held
in a little old Mennonite meeting-house; twelve mem-
bers were enrolled and two elders were elected. The
new organization at once took rank among our leading
churches, which position it has continued to maintain
during the thirty-two years of its history.
THE BUILDINGS.
The first services of the congregation were held, as
before remarked, in an old Mennonite meeting-house
on Main street, which is still standing. The year
after the organization a chapel was commenced which
it was designed should serve temporarily as a place of
worship and ultimately for prayer-meetings and Sab-
bath-school purposes. This house was opened Sept. 12,
1858. The church-edifice was commenced in 1860 and
dedicated June 30, 1861. Its cost was twelve thousand
five hundred dollars, which at the time was considered
remarkably small. The present Sabbath-school build-
ing, the erection of which was pushed forward with
great taste and energy by Mr. Harry Schiveley and
other members of the congregation, was completed in
1882. A fine manse was recently erected, being fin-
396 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ished and entered by the pastor's family during the
early part of 1888.
THE PASTORS.
This church has had seven pastors, who have served
it with great ability and with encouraging success,
though some of them have remained but for a short
period. Their names are—Horace G. Hinsdale, 1859,
three years; Robert Taylor, 1862, two years; Prentiss
de Veuve, D. D., 1864, two years; William E. Ijams,
1867, three years; Archibald McCullagh, D. D., 1871,
seven years; John W. Teal, D. D., 1878, eight years;
C. P. H. Nason, 1887, the present pastor.
Mr. Hinsdale was installed Oct. 6, 1859. He has
now for several years been pastor of the First church,
Princeton, N. J.
Mr. Taylor was installed Oct. 13, 1862. He was cut
off by death in the midst of a prospectively brilliant
and useful career.
Dr. De Veuve was installed June 22, 1864. He is
now the pastor of the First church, Dayton, Ohio.
Mr. Ijams was installed May 10, 1868. After leav-
ing this church he renounced the Calvinistic faith and
connected himself with another denomination.
Dr. McCullagh was ordained and installed May,
1871. For several years he has been the pastor of
one of the leading churches of Brooklyn, New York.
Dr. Teal was installed June 4, 1878. During his
pastorate, the longest the church has yet enjoyed, Dr.
Teal, by his able ministrations, greatly endeared him-
self to all the Presbytery. He is now pastor of the
Westminster Presbyterian church of Elizabeth, N. J.
Mr. Nason was installed May 5, 1887. Though the
time he has been with us is short, it has been long
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 397
enough to manifest that he is one of those Congrega-
tional brethren from New England whom we shall
always heartily welcome.
THE RULING FILDIERS.
The church cannot but prosper which has been blessed
with such a noble body of elders as has this—men of
God so able, so willing, so devoted, so prompt in every
duty to the church, and so cordial in sustaining the
pastor in all his work. The names of the thirteen are—
Thomas Broome Smith, 1857; Jonathan S. Helffen-
stein, 1859; Charles E. Morgan, 1863; James L. Car-
naghan, 1866; Samuel T. Bodine, 1870; William
Brockie, 1870; Frederick S. Kimball, 1873; George
F. Wiggan, 1873; Samuel Bradbury, 1878; William
Garretson, 1878; William Harvey, 1888; Henry L.
Davis, 1888; Penrose R. Perkins, 1888.
INTERESTING FACTS.
This is one of the churches which from the first was
fully organized, as it had a band of deacons whose
names are found on record throughout all the pages of
its history. It has also been a church much distin-
guished for its liberal gifts to all the agencies estab-
lished for the advancement of the divine kingdom.
The Lord gave its members the means to do liberal
things, and they have recognized their stewardship.
From several causes its prosperity has recently re-
ceived a great impulse. Its house of worship is filled
almost to overflowing.
MORRISVILLE CHURCH.
From the very beginning the condition and prospects
of the church of Morrisville have been in the extreme
398 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
weak and disheartening. Its whole history has been
one long struggle to preserve itself from becoming ex-
tinct. In its thirty years there is scarcely to be found
one bright, hopeful spot.
It was commenced because Morrisville, lying on the
other side of the Delaware from the large and rapidly-
increasing city of Trenton, was expected soon to become
a populous place. The expectation, however, was not
realized; it never increased greatly in the number of
its inhabitants. The church was organized October 5,
1858. After that we can obtain only a few of the
leading facts which measure the years of its sad
story.
The laying of the corner-stone soon after the organ-
ization of its first and only house of worship we remem-
ber chiefly on account of an admirable address delivered
by the Rev. Dr. John Hall of Trenton.
As far as we can ascertain, the church has had but
three pastors—namely, James Callen, 1859, three years;
John M. Rogers, 1873, four years; Martin Hoffard,
D. D., 1878, eight years. In addition to these, Andrew
Tully and others served for various periods as stated
supplies. A. F. Hutchinson of Trenton is now minis-
tering as stated supply.
Of the elders of this church we have been able to
find the names of only two—William Buchanan and
John Colland. One thing casting a ray of brightness
over this history is the faith and endurance of the
Scotch elder, William Buchanan, who has stood un-
flinchingly by the church throughout its thirty years
of discouragement.
We would venture to ask the question, Should not
this feeble church be taken under the care of the
churches of Trenton ? It is at the farthest extremity
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 399
of our Presbytery, and our hands are full of other im-
portant and pressing enterprises which have none to aid
them but ourselves. It is connected by bridge with
Trenton, and business intercourse unites its members
with that city. The separation of Synodical boundaries
need not be a barrier, for the cause is one, and such ex-
ceptional accommodation could be made as would at
least serve to keep the church alive.
HUNTINGDON VALLEY CHURCH.
There were three things which conspired to the prep-
aration of the way, and then to the actual formation,
of the church of Huntingdon Valley. The first was
, the long-cherished purpose and plans of the Rev. Rob-
ert Steel, D.D., pastor of the Abington church, of which
Huntingdon Valley was an outlying district. Many
times during previous years did he describe to the
writer his hopes and purposes in reference to this
field. With the establishment of a church in view
as the ultimate aim, he had set up a monthly preach-
ing-station and a Sabbath-school in the neighborhood.
Then, finally, he took the lead in the organization of the
church, making the sacrifice of giving up some of his
own families to unite with it, and aiding it in all its
important movements. It was, in fact, a colony from
Abington.
The second preparatory thing was the striking provi-
dence which placed on the ground three persons who
were ready to assume the care and perform the work
which the enterprise demanded. One of these was
Mr. Casper W. Fetters, who was elected ruling elder,
assumed the responsibility, became the official head,
represented the church, was always at the post of duty
and stood steadfastly by the cause through all vicissi-
400 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
tudes and trials. Another was Dr. B. Snowden, together
with his family, who took a prominent place in every
effort, extended hospitality to the preachers and others
who aided the church in its infant days, and by his ex-
tensive influence as a physician drew many new families
to the enterprise. The third was Miss Rebecca Snow-
den, of the same old ministerial family to which Dr.
Snowden belonged, who generously gave of her money
as the rising church needed it, collected other funds
from her many friends, interested many in the enter-
prise, and who sympathized, counseled and worked in
a most efficient manner.
The third preparatory thing was the great religious
awakening of the years 1857 and 1858 which kindled
new zeal in the cause of Christ throughout Philadelphia
and its vicinity. This brought to a crisis the prepara-
tions for founding the church, and drew out from the
city congregations young men and others who aided in
the religious services which were held as introductory
to the establishment of stated preaching.
All these conspiring to open the way, the cause was
ready, and the church was organized April 17, 1860,
by a committee of Presbytery in an old frame school-
house near to the spot on which the present building
stands. There were eighteen members in the infant
church, and Casper W. Fetters was ordained the elder.
From that time forward for these twenty-nifie years it
has been graciously sustained through changes and
trials, through seasons of spiritual dearth and of spir-
itual refreshing, through seven pastorates and through
all the mutations of an increasing population, until it
has become one of our most substantial churches and
an incalculable blessing to all the surrounding coun-
try.
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 401
THE BUILDINGS.
The church-edifice which was built at the beginning
of the enterprise, and which is seen from afar on the hills,
is the only one the congregation has had, though in late
years the house has been repaired and improved. Beside
it stands a comfortable manse, which the devoted people
erected immediately after finishing the house of God.
THE PASTORS.
Though the church has a history of but twenty-eight
years, it has had seven pastorates: however, as some of
them, from providential circumstances, were very brief,
their average duration would not be a proper index by
which to judge of the true relation between the church
and its ministers. The names of the pastors and their
times of service are as follows: George J. Mingins, 1861,
two years; James B. Kennedy, 1863, three years; Thomas
L. Gray, 1867, one year; T. C. Anderson, 1869, nine
years; James W. Cowles, 1879, five years; W. T. Barnes,
1884, three years; W. P. Fulton, 1887, the present
pastor.
THE RULING EDDERS.
The elders have thus far been five in number—viz.
Casper W. Fetters, Samuel R. Mann, Daniel H. Yerkes,
Andrew Erwin and Edward H. Bullock. Mr. Fetters, it
was before mentioned, was ordained when the church was
formed, and he still faithfully serves in his office. He and
Mr. Erwin, with the pastor, constitute its Session at the
present time.
THIRD DECADE (1861–1870).
A singularly instructive fact emerges from the care-
ful study of the dates of the beginnings of the churches
of this period. For the sake of greater distinctness we
26
402 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
have divided the period into decades. In the decade
1841–50 we find that eight new churches were formed,
and in the decade 1851–60 there were ten. When we
came to decade 1861–70, the one now under review, we
expected to find the organization of about an equal num-
ber, but to our surprise we discovered that there were
only three, and as one of these had only an ephemeral
existence, and as another was separated from us when
the Easton territory was placed under the care of an-
other Presbytery, it appears that, in fact, but one of
the churches now in our Presbytery was formed in this
decade. On looking forward we found that in the fol-
lowing decade, 1871–80, eight new churches were es-
tablished, and that even in the short period 1881–88
there were eight. The question arose, What means it
that in four of the decades there was an average of over
eight new churches in each, and that in the one imbed-
ded in their very centre there was but one? The answer
is manifest when the date is carefully considered. This
decade, 1861–70, was that of the war.
We cast our eye back to the times of our great Rev-
olutionary struggles. The sad fact met our gaze that
not a single new church was formed by our Presbytery
from the year 1770 throughout all the Revolutionary
period, and even to the close of the century. The
meaning of this cannot be mistaken. What a commen-
tary on the influence of war upon the spread of relig-
ion War is sometimes a necessity, but it is always a
horrible one.
CHRONICLES OF THE CHURCHES (ContLNUED).
THE CHURCH OF PILUMSTEADVII,D.E.
When the church of Plumsteadville was formed,
twenty-seven years ago, it was felt that there ought to
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 403
be a congregation of our faith in the wide extent of
country of which it was the centre. There were some
influential Presbyterian families in the place, and it
was hoped that many others would gradually fall in
with the enterprise. In this hope the church was or-
ganized October 30, 1861.
The prospects of growth, however, either in popu-
lation or in adherents to the cause, were not real-
ized. On the contrary, it was found, after a while,
that the congregation could not hold its own. The
Rev. Samuel Harrison took charge of the church as
pastor in 1861, and labored very faithfully for four or
five years, but became discouraged and left. The Rev.
J. E. Miller followed in 1866, and remained two years.
In 1880 the Rev. F. R. S. Hunsicker, D. D., under-
took the pastorate in connection with his chief work in
Carversville, and after three years of labor resigned.
In 1885 the Rev. Henry L. Gleiser became the pastor,
in connection with his charge in Carversville, but he has
proved that no ordinary means can enable our cause to
flourish at Plumsteadville. Important families of our
faith from time to time are removing from the neigh-
borhood, and others of a different creed—chiefly of
German sects—are taking their places. The cause
has run so low that it is no longer possible even to
find suitable persons to fill the necessary offices of the
church. It will probably have to be made a mere
preaching-station, where adjacent pastors may hold oc-
casional services. The ruling elders who have served
the church have been six in number: Justus E.
Long, Joseph H. Grier, M. D., William H. Gib-
son, Jacob Hagerty, Joel H. Krause, M.D., John L.
Rickert.
404 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
HERMON CHURCH.
Twenty years ago Mr. Matthew W. Baldwin pur-
chased a piece of ground in the northern part of Frank-
ford, and built on it a house of worship for the use of a
Presbyterian church when one should be organized.
The ground afforded ample room for the erection upon
it of a large church-edifice at some future day. About
the same time, in 1868, a church, consisting of thirty-
seven members, was organized by a Presbytery in con-
nection with the New School body. The Rev. J. Ford
Sutton, D. D., was called to the charge, and was in-
stalled pastor in the same year. His pastorate con-
tinued for five years, when he resigned. During this
period both church and pastor, through the Reunion
of the Assemblies, became connected with the Presby-
tery of Philadelphia North. Very serious troubles
having arisen in the congregation, in which the body of
the people had no part, and these troubles proving
utterly incurable, the church was finally dissolved by
an act of Presbytery, which was ratified by the higher
judicatories in 1877.
After a little more than three years the church was
reorganized Feb. 21, 1881, with a roll of nineteen
members. Its commencement, therefore, as it now is,
may be placed at the date Feb. 21, 1881. Since that
time it has enjoyed seven years of steady progress and
usefulness. -
THE BUILDINGS.
The present beautiful and convenient church-build-
ing, the gift of Mr. Baldwin, though large enough for
the use of the congregation, is intended merely as a
chapel preparatory to another edifice to be erected in
PERIOD OF SEPARATION. 405
the future. Within a few months past an elegant manse
has been erected adjoining the church, and has already
been taken possession of by the pastor's family.
THE PASTORS.
In its seven years of renewed life, this church has
enjoyed the ministrations of two excellent pastors—the
Rev. J. H. Boggs, 1881, six years; and the Rev. Alex-
ander Henry, 1888, the present pastor.
Mr. Boggs was installed April 26, 1881. Temporary
ill-health caused him to resign that he might find rest
and restoration.
Mr. Henry was installed January 17, 1888. He is
great-grandson of the eminent Alexander Henry, whose
name he bears. Under his ministration the church is
proving a great blessing in the community.
The church has two most efficient elders—Charles H.
Biles and Robert H. Mackie.
The congregation is now in a prosperous condition in
every department. In its earlier days it had sore trials,
but an important future of usefulness now apparently
lies before it.
SOUTH BETHLEHEMI CHURCH.
The Presbytery had felt for years that an effort should
be made to establish a church of our faith in Bethle-
hem, which, because of its interesting history, its con-
centration of railroads and its rapidly increasing popu-
lation, was a place of peculiar importance. With the
aim of making such an effort committees were sent for
three successive years to explore the field and, if possi-
ble, to take some steps preparatory to an organization.
Such steps were at length taken, and April 27, 1869, a
church was organized. Immediately thereafter a church-
406 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
building was commenced, which was soon finished and
dedicated to the worship of God. This, however, was
but two years before the Reunion, when the Presbyte-
rial connection of so many of our congregations was
changed. At that time this church passed into the
Presbytery of Lehigh, and its subsequent history be-
longs to that body.
C H A P T E R XIII.
PERIOD OF REUNION.
WE now enter upon the presentation of the last period
of our history, the one in which the Presbytery has
made most rapid progress. It is a period without any
outward movements or organic changes which call for
the special attention of the historian. All of import-
ance that has now to be recorded is steady and rapid
progress, as indicated by the formation of new churches.
There are, however, three things to which at the begin-
ning of this chapter special attention should be called.
These are, the name by which the Presbytery is now
designated; the definite boundaries which have been
established; and the union in one body of the two
Presbyteries that were before on the territory.
The first is the name. The introduction of this
subject naturally leads to the consideration of the va-
rious names which mark the whole track of our his-
tory and of the changes indicated thereby. Having
now the whole of that track before us, we are prepared
to give a full account of the lineage of our Presbytery
up to the present time.
In order that there may be no mistake, we take the
precaution of stating that in tracing the annals of our
Presbytery we make the general territory it covers that
in which its identity inheres. A little reflection will
convince the reader that this, in the premises, is the
only thing on which we can rely as still the same, but
that this for our purpose is sufficient. With these
407
408 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
points understood we would trace the course and
changes of what is now styled the Presbytery of Phil-
adelphia North from the very beginning.
(1) For eleven years after the organization, in 1705,
until the Synod was formed in 1716, it made a prin-
cipal part of “The Presbytery,” which was then, in
fact, the whole Presbyterian Church, so far as organ-
ized in this country. -
(2) From 1716 for twenty-two years all the churches
in this region of country were united in what was des-
ignated simply the Presbytery of Philadelphia.
(3) In 1738 the original Presbytery of New Bruns-
wick was formed, and its major and influential portion
was located in what is now the territory of our Pres-
bytery. In evidence of this, on page 233 of the Rec-
ords of the Presbyterian Church there is a list of the
members of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and
five out of the nine were men of the Log College set-
tled within the present bounds of our Presbytery and
in our territory.
(4) Thirteen years after that, in 1751, the Presby-
tery of New Brunswick was divided into two parts,
located respectively in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
the New Jersey part retaining the name New Bruns-
wick, and the Pennsylvania part being styled the Pres-
bytery of Abington. This Abington Presbytery was
essentially our Presbytery, as may be seen on page 250
of the Records, where there is a full list of its members,
all of whom were located in our territory.
(5) Seven years afterward, at the healing of the
Great Schism, 1758, all the ministers and churches of
this region were again absorbed in the one Presbytery
of Philadelphia.
(6) Only four years after that, in 1762, as may be
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 409
seen on pages 321, 322 of the Records, the Presbytery
of Philadelphia was again divided. A new Presby-
tery, consisting of the city portion, was formed, and
named “the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia,” while
the portion in our territory, retaining ten out of the
fifteen old members, and embracing several New Jersey
churches, was named “the First Presbytery of Phila-
delphia.”
(7) Our Presbytery continued thus the First Pres-
bytery of Philadelphia until the General Assembly
was formed, in 1788, when, again, the churches of this
whole region were united in the one Presbytery of
Philadelphia.
(8) Forty-five years afterward, in 1833, the Synod
of Philadelphia (O.S.), as a sort of counterpoise to the
erection of a New School Second Presbytery of Phila-
delphia by the General Assembly, organized a Presby-
tery consisting of the churches within our territory,
and named it “the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia.”
The Records published by Dr. Engles do not extend
beyond the organization of the General Assembly, but
the facts as stated may be found in full in the Minutes
of the General Assembly and of the Synod.
(9) The Second Presbytery of Philadelphia contin-
ued under that name for thirty-seven years, when, at
the Reunion in 1870, the Presbytery of Philadelphia
North was constituted of the churches lying within its
territory.
Such are the recorded facts of the varied history of the
Presbytery. From them its lineage may be condensed
and placed in one view, as follows: it was in 1705–16 a
principal part of the one Presbytery that embraces our
entire Church; in 1716–38, a part of the Presbytery of
Philadelphia; in 1738–51, the leading portion of the
410 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
original Presbytery of New Brunswick; in 1751–58,
the Presbytery of Abington; in 1758–62, absorbed in
the Presbytery of Philadelphia; in 1762–88, the First
Presbytery of Philadelphia; in 1788–1833, absorbed
again in the General Presbytery of Philadelphia; in
1833–70, the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia; in
1870–89, the Presbytery of Philadelphia North. Or,
dropping the connecting portions of the time when
there was nothing very special in the history, it was
the leading portion of the Presbytery of New Bruns-
wick, which was the representative of the Log College
with its great evangelizing influences; then the Presby-
tery of Abington, which was the Pennsylvania division
of the former; and then the old First Presbytery of
Philadelphia, while leading the way up to the forma-
tion of the General Assembly; in this the evidence
of its being the cradle of the American Presbyterian
Church reaches its culmination.
The second important fact in the beginning of this
period was that the boundaries of the Presbytery were
definitely established. Previously thereto, while our
general territory was well enough understood, its limits
were very loosely held: occasionally they were extended
much farther north than at other times, and sometimes
as far south as Market street, Philadelphia. Even in
the days of the Second Presbytery they were not clearly
defined. But in the arrangement made at the Reunion
they were definitely fixed. On the one side the Pres-
bytery embraces the entire counties of Montgomery
and Bucks; and on the other it extends into the city
as far as Erie avenue.
The third point was the uniting of all the Presby-
terian churches within this territory into one body;
and this, of course, as a consequence of the Reunion
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 411
of the two great branches of the denomination. Pre-
vious to this period, while the great majority of the indi-
vidual churches were Old School, yet there were a num-
ber on the New School side scattered throughout our
bounds; and the two elements were for a time as fully
dissociated as though they had not had a single point of
faith in common. The exact number of churches on
the respective sides were—of the New School branch,
seven, and of the Old School, twenty-seven. As in
1870 the whole body of the Presbyterian Churches in
the Northern States came together in one, so those of
our territory joined in one, and became so perfectly
amalgamated that the old lines of division are obliter-
ated and party names almost forgotten.
Thus the Presbytery, as this period opened, received
the name of the Presbytery of Philadelphia North, and
had its boundaries well defined and settled; and since
then nineteen years of happy progress have passed
over it, during which seventeen new churches have
been formed, an average of almost one a year.
CHRONICLES OF THE CHURCHES (CoNTINUED).
FOURTH DECADE (1871–1880).
During this decade eight new churches were formed
in the Presbytery. This is peculiarly gratifying, and
it is also a cause for much thankfulness, since this is
the period immediately succeeding the Reunion, and
such increase must be regarded as a precious manifesta-
tion of the divine approbation. We shall now take up
these churches in the order of their formation.
CARVERSVILLE CHURCH.
Carversville was an outpost of the Doylestown
church in which a few of the members of that congre-
412 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
gation resided. Dr. Andrews, the Doylestown pastor,
had long been in the habit of holding occasional ser-
vices there on Sabbath afternoons. The location was
a very important one for the planting of a church of
our denomination, for it was the centre of a wide region
of country in which there was no such church.
In process of time, several influential Presbyterian
families being in the neighborhood that would form a
nucleus, the field was considered ready, and at the in-
stance of Dr. Andrews preparations were made for an
Organization. A church was accordingly organized
January 28, 1871, by a committee of Presbytery. It
was composed of fourteen members. Since then, though
the progress has been very slow, the congregation has
increased from year to year, and is undoubtedly destined
to become a substantial church.
Soon after the organization the erection of a house
of worship was commenced, and in due time a fine edi-
fice was completed which does much credit to the
energy and generosity of the people.
During its seventeen years this church has had
but two pastors—F. R. S. Hunsicker, D. D., 1880,
three years; and Henry G. Gleiser, 1885, the present
pastor.
Dr. Hunsicker was installed May 6, 1880. He had
served the church as stated supply for some years before
his installation.
Mr. Gleiser was installed June 15, 1885. He is
doing a great work in maintaining the cause of Christ
in that region and making gradual advance in estab-
lishing the gospel therein.
The church has thus far been served by three elders:
William W. Morris, Edmund M. Price and Edmond
Heling. This important point should be held; the
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 413
region needs it, and the present faithful pastoral work,
aided by the few but earnest people, will lead to the
most blessed results.
WAKEFIELD CHURCH.
This church had its origin in the combined plans
and efforts of the other three churches of Germantown.
As far back as 1856 a Sabbath-school had been formed
by a number of Christian ladies, at first under the shade
of the trees. It was an humble effort, but it was not des-
tined to die out. The school after a short time, was
transferred to the old Wakefield knitting-mill, and af-
terward to a small frame building erected for the pur-
pose. Meantime the Session of the First Presbyterian
church had taken the school under its care and ap-
pointed one of its own members to be the superin-
tendent.
The God of providence had thus prepared the way
for the church, and then he put it into the hearts of
his servants to begin the work. Mr. William Adam-
son, an elder of the First church, proposed to the Ses-
sions of the three churches that they should all unite
in building a chapel for a new church. Mr. Adamson
himself proposed giving the necessary ground near his
own residence as a site for the building. This proposi-
tion was accepted; he headed the subscription-list; five
thousand dollars were soon gathered in liberal gifts;
and the structure was erected.
A church of twenty-one members was organized May
4, 1874, by a committee of Presbytery consisting of the
ministers and elders of the Germantown churches. Rul-
ing Elders William Adamson of the First church of
Germantown, and Francis B. Reeves of the Second
church of the city, were elected and installed as the el-
414 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE
ders of the new enterprise. At once it became strong,
Self-reliant and prosperous, and so it has since con-
tinued.
THE BUILDINGS.
The story of this congregation's places of service is
peculiarly interesting. The shade of the trees, the old
knitting-mill, the small frame Sabbath-school building,
the chapel of 1874, the noble church-edifice finished,
furnished and dedicated free of debt in 1883, the sec-
ond beautiful chapel completed in 1887 at a cost of
fifteen thousand dollars, these are the various sanctu-
aries where God has come unto his people.
THE PASTORS.
In its fifteen years the church has had three pastors
—namely, N. S. McFetridge, D.D., 1874, ten years; A.
Wilson Clokey, 1885, three years; D. W. Woods, 1889,
the present pastor.
Dr. McFetridge was installed December 10, 1874.
The ten years of his pastorate was a period of great
blessing and prosperity to the church, and his resigna-
tion, which was occasioned by failing health, was a great
blow to it. He was a fine scholar, an impressive
preacher, and a careful and affectionate pastor.
Mr. Clokey was installed October 18, 1885.
RUTING FILDERS.
This church has been greatly favored in an excellent
body of six elders, as follows: William Adamson, 1874;
Francis B. Reeves, 1874; William Kinnier, 1876; Wil-
liam H. Matthews, 1876; John Canfield, 1876; Charles
B. Adamson, 1883. All these remain except Mr. Adam-
son, who has entered into rest, and Mr. Canfield, who
has removed to another part of the vineyard.
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 415
Concerning Mr. Adamson it is proper to say that he
was the unwearying leader in planning, working and
giving for this Zion, which owes to him more than to
any other man, and which must ever hold his memory
most dear.
Before this vigorous church there now lies a fine
prospect of usefulness. Everything is in good work-
ing order; with its devoted elders, its earnest people, .
its splendid location, its liberal givers, its harmonious
spirit, its great love for the cause, we may well promise
it, with God's blessing, a most important future.
CHURCH OF LOWER MERION.
In 1869, five years before the real commencement
of the Lower Merion church, an effort was made to
effect an organization; a congregation was gathered
and divine worship established; but after about a
year's experiment the enterprise was abandoned. The
failure at that time resulted from obstacles placed in
the way by another denomination. After a period,
however, the work was revived, and the present
church was organized with seventeen members, Octo-
ber 29, 1874. Since that time, for fifteen years, it
has persevered in a substantial, quiet, but ever-increas-
ing work. The people are earnest and devoted. The
church has had one stated supply and two pastors.
The stated supply was the Rev. H. F. Mason, who
entered the field in 1875 and remained with the peo-
ple for two years. The pastors were—A. W. Long,
1877, nine years; Claude R. Brodhead, 1887, the
present pastor.
Mr. Long, after serving as supply for a few months,
was ordained and installed Nov. 1, 1877. For nine
years he toiled on with patience and diligence, and
416 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
by his faithful labors laid the foundation of a spiritual
structure that will doubtless stand for generations to
COD16. &
Mr. Brodhead was ordained and installed October
20, 1887. He has thus but recently entered upon
his work, yet he is laboring in the spirit that always
brings success.
In the list of elders of this church we find but three
names—Joseph Herbert, J. C. McCurdy and J. C.
Fryer. Mr. McCurdy, who has faithfully served the
church from the beginning, we cannot but regard as
one of those men who are sent by the Church's great
Head to be the bulwark of the cause in neighborhoods
where without them the ordinances could not be main-
tained.
From the first this church has had the distinction
of being the chief centre of gospel ordinances in an
almost deserted neighborhood, of maintaining perfect
harmony through all its changes, and of allowing no
debt ever to cripple its energies. May God’s work
prosper gloriously in its hands !
ANN CARMICHAEL CHURCH.
The Ann Carmichael church of Franklinville is
another of the enterprises which were undertaken and
made ready for organization by the church of Frank-
ford. The location was one of the outlying posts, then
called Coopersville, where the old church maintained a
Sabbath-school and where some of its members and
officers resided.
The first germ of the enterprise was a proposition to
the mother-church, in which his family were members,
by Mr. William Baird, to open a Sabbath-school in a
building adjoining his residence, which was accompa-
PERIOD OF RE UNION, 4.17
nied with an offer of pecuniary aid. In consequence,
a committee was appointed by the church Session to
superintend the enterprise; the sum of two hundred
dollars was secured, a Sabbath-school was opened, and
Sabbath-afternoon services were established. At these
services the pastor of the Frankford church either
preached himself, or secured another to do so, every
Sabbath; the pastor also occasionally conducted service
on an evening in the week. This continued for about
two years, when the work fell into the hands of the
Rev. S. J. Milliken, who had been appointed by Pres-
bytery to conduct missionary services on the line of
the North Pennsylvania Railroad.
In 1876, Mr. Thomas Potter, an elder of the Chest-
nut Hill church, who owned and worked the very large
oilcloth factories in the neighborhood, with noble gen-
erosity erected a fine house of worship, bearing the
entire expense himself, and at the same time engaged
to contribute two hundred dollars every year toward
the support of a pastor.
The way having thus been fully prepared by God's
providence, the church was at length organized Febru-
ary 12, 1877. The organization consisted of forty-one
members, and was named the Ann Carmichael church,
in memorial of a beloved sister of the generous donor
of its sanctuary.
Rev. S. J. Milliken, who had supplied the pulpit
for some months, was installed as pastor November 26,
1877. He remained for six years, and then removed
to another field. W. Y. Thompson was installed May
8, 1884. He remained three years. Albert L. Kelly
was installed January 19, 1888. He is still the pas-
tor, and under his ministry the church is making good
progress.
27
418 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
RULING ELDERS.
During its twelve years the church has been served
by nine elders, as follows: John K. Fischer, William
H. Goodwin, William P. Walkinshaw, Benjamin F.
Brown, George W. Kennedy, Moses P. Bruce, Harry
P. Brown, B. F. Fisher, Findley Braden.
MACALESTER MEMORIAL CHURCH.
Mr. Charles Macalester, an elder of the Second
Presbyterian church of Philadelphia, had his country-
seat in Torresdale, on the banks of the Delaware. He
was naturally interested in the establishment of a
Presbyterian church in that suburb, and in order that
ultimately one might be formed, he made a bequest for
that purpose. By that bequest he left five thousand
dollars for the erection of a house of worship, an acre
of ground on which to place both it and a manse at
some future time, and also five thousand dollars for
an endowment-fund, the proceeds of which should go
toward the support of a pastor. After Mr. Macales-
ter's death a committee of Presbytery was appointed
to attend to the duties which this gift imposed upon
the Presbytery.
From several causes there was some delay, but after
three or four years the nucleus of a congregation was
gathered and other preparations were made; a church
was finally organized November 5, 1878. A short time
afterward the church-building was commenced. This
was completed and was dedicated January 23, 1883.
Since then the work has gone on without intermission
and the ordinances have been statedly maintained. The
Rev. Yates Hickey was installed as pastor of the church
December 30, 1883. He is pastor at the present time.
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 419
Through the persevering efforts of Mr. Hickey funds
were collected and a commodious chapel was erected at
Mechanicsville, a large village four miles from Torres-
dale, which was opened for services August 1, 1886.
This chapel enterprise, with its stated preaching-serv-
ices, its large Sabbath-school, its weekly prayer-meet-
ing, and the seventeen members it has already gathered
into the Torresdale church, is a most important tribu-
tary to that church, while it supplies a need in a wide
section of country in which before it there was no
organization of our faith.
LEVERINGTON CHURCH.
The church of Leverington was organized May 9,
1878. At the organization there were installed four el-
ders—viz. William A. Bell, A. B. Detwiler, P. J. Langer
and William C. Todd, M. D. In the years of its history
since then it has become established as a great power
for good in a part of the city where it may look forward
to many generations of usefulness. Its beautiful house
of worship was completed and dedicated to the service
of God not long after the organization of the church.
Three pastors have ministered to this church during
its existence—namely, Samuel Phillips, 1878, two years;
A. A. Murphy, 1881, one year; James W. Kirk, 1882, the
present pastor. Willis Skillman also served it as stated
supply for a few months in 1880.
Mr. Phillips was installed June 13, 1878.
Mr. Murphy was ordained and installed January 13,
1881.
Mr. Kirk was installed October 17, 1882.
The elders of the church have been nine in number
—viz. William A. Bell, 1878; Philip J. Langer, 1878;
A. B. Detwiler, 1878; William C. Todd, M.D., 1878;
420 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
John Doak, 1884; John J. Foulkrod, 1884; John R.
Hendricks, 1887; Homer Parsons, 1887; W. A. A.
McKinley, 1887. All but the first three are in the
present session.
The church is now thoroughly united and is in a
prosperous condition.
ASHBOURNE CHURCH.
The Ashbourne church seems to have been one of
those which had no infancy, but sprung at once into
vigorous and active youth. Its beginning was on the
16th of June, 1878, when a Sabbath-school was assem-
bled, which on the first day numbered about one hun-
dred scholars. Only four months afterward, October
25, 1878, the church was organized with fourteen mem-
bers and two elders. The youthful congregation grew
healthily and rapidly, until at the end of eleven years
it stands almost as strong as one of our oldest churches,
with over one hundred members.
For six years the congregation worshiped in a small
frame hall belonging to Mr. Richard J. Dobbins and
kindly furnished by him for their use. In June, 1884,
an excellent house of worship was dedicated, which had
been built and furnished at a cost of fifteen thousand
dollars.
The pastors of the church have been J. W. Kirk and
Richard Montgomery.
Mr. Kirk was installed May 13, 1880. He remained
for two years.
Mr. Montgomery was ordained and installed Decem-
ber 19, 1882. He has now been in vigorous and sub-
stantial work for over six years.
Nine elders have served the church, viz.: Charles T.
Luther, 1878; Thomas Van Horn, 1878; Daniel H.
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 421
Yerkes; Hugh J. Laird; John L. Erwin; Silas Yerkes;
G. Howell Arthur; George B. Heller, and Robert J.
Thompson.
This church, because of its important location, its
vigorous youth and substantial growth, its earnest people
and its energetic pastor, may be regarded as one of the
strongholds of our Presbytery.
MOUNT AIRY CHURCH.
The Mount Airy church was organized Nov. 9, 1880,
with a membership of twenty-four persons. For nearly
two years it was ministered to by the Rev. John Ruth-
erford, who served it as stated supply. Then the Rev.
William P. White was installed pastor Dec. 5, 1883.
He is still the pastor, having continued in that office for
five years. During the first year of his pastorate a lot
of ground was purchased and the present house of wor-
ship erected and dedicated, free from any debt. During
the second year a beautiful manse was built and paid for.
During the church's existence it has enjoyed the
services of two ruling elders—viz. John Lund and
John H. Tingley.
This church from the beginning has manifested a
most earnest spirit of self-reliance, having never sought
or received any aid from either the Board of Home
Missions or that of Church Erection. On the contrary,
it has been a liberal contributor to them and all the
other benevolent agencies of the Church. During the
five years of Mr. White's pastorate it has contributed
an average of nearly four hundred dollars a year, which
for an enterprise so young is truly remarkable.
The location of the church is a very important one,
and from the vigorous life it has already shown it
promises to occupy it in an admirable manner.
422 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
FIFTH DECADE (1880–1888).
The number of new churches formed by the Presby-
tery during this period has been eight. That there
have been so many is the more remarkable from the
fact that, though we call it a decade, it consists of only
eight years. This, again, reveals the gratifying result
of an average of one new church a year during the
closing years of our history. We now consider these
churches in their order:
CHRONOLOGY OF THE CHURCHES (CONTINUED.)
GRACE CHURCH OF JENEOINTOWN.
There were five influences which contributed to pre-
pare the way for the founding of this church more fully
than in the case of any other of our new organizations.
They were as follows: (1) Jenkintown being a district
of the old Abington church, several of whose families
lived in the neighborhood, Dr. Steel had many years
before established it as a preaching-station and formed
a Sabbath-school there. (2) In the pastorate of Dr.
Lowrie the Sabbath-school was revived, and through
the earnest efforts of himself and his devoted and ener-
getic wife a prosperous school was built up and Sab-
bath-evening preaching-services were established. (3)
The success of these efforts giving promise of still
greater results, the Abington church purchased a desir-
able lot of ground, and Mr. John Wanamaker, whose
country residence is in the neighborhood, erected at
his own expense a beautiful chapel in memory of a be-
loved little daughter who had been removed by death.
(4) In order that permanent services might be sustained
in this new house of worship, the Session of the Abing-
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 423
ton church procured the services of two licentiates as
missionary assistants for the after-part of every Lord's
Day—first, Mr. Joseph H. Dulles for one year, and then
Mr. A. A. Murphy for two years. (5) In the mean
time the population of Jenkintown had been greatly
augmented by residents from the city finding homes
there.
All these things conspiring to prepare the way, the
organization of the church came as a matter of course,
and it was accordingly effected May 6, 1881. Its subse-
quent prosperous course is well known.
The first place in which the Sabbath-school met and
the occasional preaching-services were held was the old
Lyceum of Jenkintown. The chapel or church was
built by Mr. Wanamaker in 1872. This building was
repaired and improved, and another excellent Sabbath-
school building was erected in 1886.
The pastors of the church have been the Rev. Henry
A. Mackubbin, 1882, two years, and the Rev. Richard
A. Greene, 1886, the present pastor.
Mr. Mackubbin was ordained and installed June 1,
1882.
Mr. Greene was ordained and installed July 15,
1886.
The ruling elders have been five in number, as fol-
lows: John J. C. Harvey, Robert Coltman, M. D.,
Andrew H. Baker, Charles D. Wright and Francis
Triol.
This church, judging from the prosperity of the past
and the bright prospects of the future, must be
regarded as a precious habitation of our God. It is a
noble branch in which the old tree of Abington is
again putting forth additional vigor and beauty and
fruitfulness.
424 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
CAIRMEL CHURCH OF EDGE HILL.
This congregation was another colony from the
Abington church. The members, the money, the sym-
pathy and the fostering care all came from it. A Sab-
bath-school was first established in connection with that
church, and through the fidelity of Mr. George Hamill
it has been continued until the present time. As the
Sabbath-school increased, and as it had a weekly prayer-
meeting connected with it, a building became necessary,
and, accordingly, a chapel was erected in 1876, the Abing-
ton church giving the ground and much of the money.
The building of this chapel was under the superintend-
ence of a committee from the Abington church—viz.
John B. Stevenson, William A. Drown, Gen. Robert
Patterson, John M. Fenton, George Hamill and Robert
Craig, with the Rev. Mr. Eckard, pastor of the church.
By the approbation and aid of the mother-church
this new congregation was organized Feb. 15, 1882. It
was composed of eighteen members, most of them from
the Abington church, with the ruling elders—George
Hamill and George R. Todd.
Soon after the organization, June 1, 1882, Mr. How-
ard Bent was ordained and installed pastor. Mr. Bent
continued the pastor for two years. After that Mr.
Bray, while completing his studies for the ministry,
supplied the pulpit for some time, under the superin-
tendence of a committee of the Presbytery. This in-
fant church occupies an important position and should
be sustained in its good work.
FOX CHASE CHURCH.
Fox Chase had been for many years a preaching-
station of the church of Abington, with the pur-
PERIOD OF REUNION. 425
pose and hope that it would some day become an inde-
pendent congregation. The writer also, as pastor of
the Frankford church, some of whose members re-
sided at that place, had held occasional services there
on Sabbath afternoons. Many consultations were held
about forming a separate organization in the locality,
but the way was not open ; God’s time had not come.
At length, in 1881, a strong desire for such an organ-
ization arose among the people; the time was drawing
nigh.
The real founder of the church was Mr. Gustavus
Benson, an elder of the West Spruce Street church of
Philadelphia. He was one of the most liberal givers
to objects of benevolence that the Philadelphia Presby-
terian Church has ever known. He was generous, un-
tiring in work for Christ, unassuming, whole-hearted.
He had become interested in Fox Chase through the
residence there of a son. In the rooms of the Board
of Publication, of which both were members, he said to
the writer, while leaving them for the last time, as it
proved, “You see to the gathering of a congregation
in Fox Chase, and I will see that a church-edifice shall
be erected.” Soon afterward, he was summoned to the
heavenly sanctuary. But the son, and the whole fam-
ily with him, inheriting the same generous spirit, took
up the well-known intentions of the father as a sacred
trust, and in due time erected the beautiful Presbyterian
church which is the ornament of the village of Fox
Chase.
A flourishing Sabbath-school having been already
established, as well as weekly preaching-services on
the Lord's Day afternoon, the way seemed to be open
for permanent work, and accordingly the church was
organized Nov. 13, 1883.
426 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
A few months afterward, Feb. 4, 1884, the Rev. Sam-
uel J. Milliken was installed pastor. He still continues
in that office.
The church has had two ruling elders—Mr. Frank
Benson, who gathered and superintended the Sabbath-
school, established the prayer-meeting, moved in the
organization, and took the lead in erecting the church-
edifice; and Mr. B. F. Stratton.
DISSTON MEMORIAL CHURCH OF TACONY.
The first step in the founding of the church of
Tacony was the appointment, by the Session of the
Frankford church, March 1, 1883, of a committee to
establish a mission in that place, to be under the care
of the Session.
The second step was the spending of three years in
building up a Sabbath-school, holding prayer-meetings,
and preaching by the Frankford pastor, sometimes on
Sabbath afternoons, and sometimes on week evenings.
All this was accomplished through the untiring energy,
the earnest work, the wise planning and the personal
sacrifices of Mr. Barton Castor and his family, mem-
bers of the Frankford church.
The third step was the building by Mrs. Henry
Disston, at her sole expense, of a beautiful and well-
appointed house of worship. Concerning this the not-
exaggerated language of the people was, “Words are
inadequate to express the gratitude of our hearts to
this noble, generous lady for this gift. Long will her
memory be enshrined in the hearts of those who owe
her so much.”
The fourth step was the dedication of the completed
church-building by the Presbytery April 1, 1886. On
the same day, the church was organized with twelve
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 427
members, and with two elders—Barton Castor and
William W. Milner.
The fifth step was the ordination and installation
June 8, 1886, of its first and only pastor, the Rev. D.
W. Woods. The church, being fully equipped, en-
tered at once upon a career of usefulness that will
doubtless long continue.
CHURCH OF LEIDYTOWN.
The church of Leidytown was formerly connected
with the German Reformed body. At a meeting of
Presbytery April 21, 1886, it applied, by its com-
missioners, for admission to our connection. A com-
mittee was appointed to visit it, examine into all the
facts and report to a future meeting. The committee
on June 16th of the same year reported that the
resolution to make the change had been adopted by
the unanimous vote of the congregation, and that there
was no legal impediment in the way; whereupon the
church was formally received and enrolled by the
Presbytery.
On August 3, 1886, the Rev. F. F. Christine, the
former pastor of the church, was received from the
German Reformed Classis and installed its Pres-
byterian pastor. He remained for about a year.
The Rev. Thomas Van Sycle became stated supply
in 1887, and served the church for over a year.
The Rev. David Wills, D. D., is now supplying its
pulpit.
The church has an important adjunct, in that it has
an excellent chapel at Chalfont on the North Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, in which a congregation is already wor-
shiping. This congregation, doubtless, will in time
become strong.
428 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER.
This is one of four new churches organized by the
Presbytery within the year 1888. It commenced in
the erection, chiefly by persons connected with the
Market Square church of Germantown, of an excellent
church-edifice.
As soon as this house of worship was com-
pleted Presbytery, April 24, 1888, dedicated it to
the service of God, organized the church with thirty
members and installed Mr. Jonathan Graham as
elder.
Shortly after the organization the Rev. Louis F.
Benson, having been unanimously called, was ordained
and installed its pastor May 10, 1888. -
The church commences in full vigor and activity,
from which, together with its fine location in Ger-
mantown, it may look, by the divine blessing, to a
prosperous future.
LANGHORNE CHURCH.
The Langhorne church was organized June 7, 1888.
It consisted of fifteen members, with Mr. J. H. Young
as elder. It has not yet called a pastor, but, being lo-
cated in the now rapidly-growing village of Langhorne
(formerly Attleboro'), it will doubtless become a living,
active congregation. A very peculiar interest attaches
to this new organization from the fact that it is located
within the bounds of old Bensalem, and that its house of
worship stands not far from the very spot where stood
the sanctuary of that oldest of all our churches. Is
there no providence in the fact that this, almost the
last-formed church in the Presbytery, should now arise
as if to take the place of the first?
N
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 429
WISSINOMING CHURCH.
The infant church of Wissinoming is the result of a
mission established by the Session of the Frankford
church. It was nurtured into a strong and rapid
growth by Mr. Barton Castor, an elder of the Tacony
church, and his devoted family. Through their unceas-
ing efforts a fine frame chapel was built, a large Sab-
bath-school formed, a weekly prayer-meeting estab-
lished and preaching maintained on the evening of
every Lord's Day. When such an enterprise as this
applied to be formed into a church, the request was
promptly granted, and the missionary committee, by
direction of Presbytery, organized it on the evening of
October 11, 1888, with a membership of twenty-eight
persons, and with Mr. Barton Castor as its ruling elder.
A pastor has not yet been installed.
LAWNDALE CHURCH.
The Lawndale is the youngest church in the Presby-
tery. To the pastor of the Frankford church, a part of
whose former territory it occupies, it is associated with
very precious memories. In the manufacturing village
of Crescentville adjoining it he had preached, generally
once a month, for more than twenty years, sometimes
in the house of one of the workmen and sometimes
under a willow tree. Some of the most marvelous tri-
umphs of grace he has ever seen were witnessed there.
Two of these ought to be put on record. John Schofield
had been grossly intemperate from his earliest days.
He could neither read nor write. He could scarcely
utter an intelligible sentence in consequence of stam-
mering. But the Lord touched his heart. He became
a changed man. Tracts were selected for him which
430 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
he gave to his friends until a temperance reformation
followed. He learned to read the Bible. He turned
the chief room of his house into a kind of chapel in
which a weekly prayer-meeting was established, where
he was the chief speaker, and in which the writer for
years preached occasionally. The other case was that
of Samuel Williams, an old Welshman. He was the
first-fruits of John Schofield's labors. Though he could
not read and scarcely knew there was such a thing as a
Bible, and could remember nothing about religion but
what he had learned from a little bound-girl in a home
where he had been a bound-boy in England, yet he was
brought to the saving knowledge of Christ, gave clearest
evidence that he was a new man, and was baptized when
eighty-four years of age.
The church had its origin in the formation of the
new suburb of Lawndale, largely by Presbyterian fam-
ilies from the northern part of Philadelphia. As soon
as they had taken up their residences in the new home
they set about preparations for the establishment of a
church; a large Sabbath-school was formed, Sab-
bath evening services were established, at which Sam-
uel J. Milliken and others preached, and the erec-
tion of a house of worship was begun. They soon
applied to Presbytery to be organized into a church.
The request was granted, and the organization was
effected December 17, 1888, by the missionary com-
mittee of Presbytery. The new church consists of
fifteen members, with Messrs. John Roper and
George Carson as the ruling elders. Upon the com-
pletion of the church-edifice, which will be effected
in the near future, it is believed that the congre-
gation will enter upon an exceedingly important ca-
I'ê61”.
PERIOD OF RE UNION. 431
The writer has now gone over the roll of all the
churches of the Presbytery and given an historical
sketch of each of them. The work has been one of
the most laborious undertakings of his life, involving
as it did the gathering, the analyzing, the arranging of
the facts, and the writing of a brief history of each
separate church.
The Presbytery has been composed, in this its estab-
lished territory, of no less than fifty-eight churches.
Of these at the time of the Reunion six were set off
to the Presbytery of Lehigh—namely, Easton First,
Brainerd, Allen township, Catasauqua, Slatington and
Bethlehem ; and two, Tinicum and Durham, having
done good service, one for over a century and the other
for half that time, had at last, in consequence of the
removal of their families, to close their work. The
Presbytery now consists of fifty churches.
In this history the writer has purposely not even
alluded to the strifes by which some of the churches
have been sorely afflicted. He did not think it wise to
perpetuate their memory, regarding them as among the
things that were best cast “into the depths of the sea.”
With this exception he has not knowingly omitted one
fact of historic importance in his account of any one
of the churches. He has passed over no church, of how-
ever little importance it might seem. He has given the
name of every pastor and of every stated supply who
has ever been connected with the Presbytery. He has
mentioned every ruling elder whose name he could find
on the records or hear of by means of an immense
correspondence, sometimes dwelling upon the life and
character of those who had done special service; but
rarely, however, in the case of those still living. He
has not knowingly omitted the names of any of these
432 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
nor suffered himself to be influenced in his remarks con-
cerning them by personal prejudice. He has devoted
longer or shorter space to individual churches, not in
view of their present importance, but in accordance
with their influence on the history. Sometimes, doubt-
less, he has made mistakes, but never through relying
on vague recollections or mere probabilities; for he has
in every case required positive information as the basis
of his statements. He has always given names, dates
and facts as they were given him or as he found them
in the records, thus throwing the responsibility on his
authorities. His abiding desire has been to prepare a
thesaurus of that highly important portion of Christ's
kingdom whose interests God had entrusted to the Pres-
bytery.
CHAPTER x IV.
PROGRESS IN THE PRESB YTER Y S LIFE.
HAVING thus far studied the history of the Presby-
tery in detail, investigating all points of special im-
portance, it is proper that it should be regarded as a
whole, so that the important facts it brings to light
concerning church-work may be ascertained. Has the
work of the Presbytery been successful? If so, what
is the amount of success which God has accorded ?
What is the amount of increase that has been made, so
far as is indicated by the statistics in our possession ?
What was the Presbytery one hundred and eighty
years ago, and what is it to-day ? The full answer to
these questions would involve several elements, such as
the relative degree of piety both in churches and in-
dividuals, the amount of gifts to benevolent objects in
proportion to ability, and other similar questions; but
as these are beyond the reach of human investigation,
we must confine ourselves to the numerical strength in
members and in churches at various periods. This we
can ascertain with absolute correctness, and we can
grasp their import without any difficulty.
INCREASE IN MEMBERS.
Our first investigation will be as to the increase in
church-members. We cannot learn the number at the
beginning of our history or even at the beginning of
this century, but we can obtain the number forty years
28 433
434 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ago, and that will serve to give a satisfactory view of
the direction in which we have been moving. There
are certain facts deducible from such summaries and
comparisons which are deeply significant,
We take the period from 1850 to the present time,
which is nearly forty years. Let us then compare the
number of Presbyterian church-members in 1850 in
the territory which the Presbytery of Philadelphia
North now covers with the members in the same
territory to-day. In 1850 there were in that terri-
tory five New School churches and all the churches
of the Second Presbytery. In these combined there
were then two thousand and seventy-three (2073)
members. In the Presbytery there are at the present
time seven thousand seven hundred and forty-three
(7743) members, or more than three times as many as
there were at the former date.
But has not the entire population increased just as
rapidly, so that really there has been no proportionate
gain of church-members? This question induced the
writer to make an investigation as to the increase in
the population, in which search, for a time, he feared
that he could not be successful. Who could tell or
what tables would show the number of inhabitants in
that peculiar territory in either 1850 or at the present
time? Fortunately, he found one—perhaps the only—
man living who could give the exact amount of popu-
lation of Bucks and Montgomery counties, and espe-
cially of the city north of Erie avenue—namely, the
Hon. Richardson L. Wright, for years the speaker of
the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania. After
careful examination he arrived at the conclusion that in
1850 the population of that district amounted to 150,393,
and at the present time is 316,000. According to these
PROGRESS IN THE PRESBYTERY'S LIFE. 435
estimates, which undoubtedly are proximately correct,
there was in 1850 one Presbyterian church-member to
every seventy-two (72) of the population, and at the
present time there is one to every forty (40) of the
people. These are actual communicants in the church,
but in the families of the members and in the congre-
gations and the community there are many children
and others who are adherents of our Church, though
not communicants. The usual estimate of these is from
four to five as represented by each member. If we take
the lower number, four, then in 1850 we had 8292
adherents in the territory, while at the present time
there are 30,972 nominal Presbyterians therein. Then,
again, in 1850 we had one adherent to our cause for
every eighteen (18) of the people, and now we have
one to every ten (10). How richly God has crowned
our imperfect efforts for the extension of his kingdom |
Had we been as faithful as all the servants of Christ
within our bounds should and might have been, what
glorious results might we now behold !
INCREASE IN CHURCHES.
The whole number of actual churches that are, or
have been, on the roll of the Presbytery is fifty-eight.
In making this exhibit three or four small organizations
are omitted which ought never to have been formed,
and which had but an ephemeral existence. Fifty-eight
churches | Where do we find them 7 Six of them—
namely, Easton First, Brainerd, Allen township, Cata-
sauqua, Slatington and Bethlehem—were set off to the
Presbytery of Lehigh ; two of them—Tinicum and
Durham—after doing good service, one for a century
and the other for half a century, had no longer a
population around them by which they could be sus-
436 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
tained. And the remaining fifty now constitute the
Presbytery.
CHURCHES ORGANIZED IN FIFTY YEARS.
During the last fifty years the Presbytery has formed
forty new churches—an average of eight to each of the
five decades. This fact becomes the more significant
of progress when we see in the records that nineteen
of the forty were organized within the last twenty
years. This is an average of one church a year for the
last twenty years. Moreover, these forty churches are
not sickly, dying organizations: some of them are
amongst our strongest congregations. We have not in-
cluded in the review the ephemeral ones which were
no sooner formed than they began to die, and only five
of the forty are receiving any aid from the Board of
Home Missions.
THE CHURCHES IN GROUPS. .
One hundred years ago the whole number of churches
in our territory, commencing with Bensalem and ending
with Frankford, was only nine. How is it now 2 In
order that the answer to this question may make due
impression, the fifty churches of the Presbytery will be
considered in five groups into which they naturally di-
vide themselves. In each of these groups there is a cen-
tral or mother-church which existed in the last century,
around which most of the others arrange themselves.
In some cases the lines of division are arbitrary. A con-
trolling principle in forming the groups was that they
should be nearly equal, in order that there might be
impressive comparison with the past. It is proper to
add that in fixing the groups no comparison of the in-
dividual churches is intended.
PROGRESS IN THE PRESBYTERY'S LIFE. 437
(1) The first may be called the Neshaminy Group,
the mother-church of which is Neshaminy of Warwick.
It is composed of the ten churches—viz. Neshaminy of
Warwick, Neshaminy of Warminster, Bensalem, Doyles-
town, Newtown, Morrisville, Carverville, Plumsteadville,
Thompson Memorial and Forrestville.
(2) The second is the Schuylkill Valley Group,
with Norriton as the mother-church. It is composed
of eleven churches—viz. Norriton and Providence,
Lower Merion, Falls of Schuylkill, Manayunk, Con-
shohocken, Norristown First, Norristown Central, Nor-
ristown Second, Jeffersonville, Port Kennedy and Potts-
to Wh.
(3) The third is the Central Group, with Abington
as the mother-church. It is composed of ten churches—
viz. Abington, Eddington, Bristol, Huntingdon Valley,
Fox Chase, Jenkintown, Ashbourne, Leidytown, Lang-
horne, Edge Hill.
(4) The fourth is the Germantown Group, with Mar-
ket Square as the mother-church. It consists of ten
churches—viz. Market Square, Germantown First,
Germantown Second, Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill,
Springfield, Wakefield, Church of the Redeemer, Lev-
erington, Roxborough.
(5) The fifth is the Frankford Group, with Frank-
ford as the mother-church. It consists of nine
churches—viz. Frankford, Hermon, Bridesburg, Wis-
sinoming, Tacony, Torresdale, Holmesburg, Lawndale,
Erie Avenue.
We are now prepared to appreciate our growth in a
hundred years. At the beginning of the century the
Presbytery consisted of nine churches; it now consists
of five groups of churches, the smallest of which groups
has in it more than the original number of churches.
438 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
Dividing the century into periods of twenty-five years
each, there has been an average addition every quarter-
century of as many churches as the Presbytery con-
tained in 1788, or eighty years after it was organized.
How wonderful is the evidence of God’s care of his
Church 1
INTERCOMMUNICATION WITH OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
Some very interesting questions appropriately arise
while we are considering the growth of the past.
What is the standing or drift of our people with ref-
erence to other denominations? What are the ten-
dencies in our families? Do our people leave us to
connect themselves with other communions, or do many
from other communions come from them and connect
themselves with us? What do the facts of history—
not impressions or guesses, but facts ascertained from
averages of congregations variously situated—teach us
concerning the intercommunication between the various
branches of the one great family of our common Lord?
There is an impression—an impression to which our
own people give too much countenance—that the bal-
ance is against us, and that our young people especially
are leaving us and joining other communions. Is this
the fact 2 Is there any way of proving whether it is so
or not ? There is one mode which will prove at least
partially effective. The roll of the members of a large
church with the religious history of whose members the
pastor was very familiar was taken, and after much
careful scrutiny it was ascertained that forty-four per
cent. of the members had been brought up in connection
with other denominations. After conference with other
pastors, and after comparison with other churches dif-
ferently situated, it was concluded that this was not far
PROGRESS IN THE PRESBYTERY'S LIFE. 439
from a general average. Now, it cannot be contended
that a larger percentage leave us to join other com-
munions. The conclusion, therefore, appears to be a
fair one that while, beyond doubt, a large number go
from us to other denominations, at least as many come
to us from them.
CHA PTER XV.
TEACHINGS OF THE WINESCORE YEARS.
THESE one hundred and eighty years of church-life
and activity have wrought out a very rich store of ex-
perience, and have established many valuable principles
on sure foundations. They teach the thoughtful many
important lessons. They have exposed many errors in
both doctrine and practice. They have developed many
excellent maxims and many invaluable rules of life and
work. These matters have not been alluded to in the
body of this work, it being deemed preferable to wait
until they could be presented as fortified by the whole
mass of the experience of our history, and thus made
more impressive than they could have been when seen
standing by themselves. - -
This mass of experience is for practical use the very
essence of our history, and with its invaluable lessons
must not be overlooked or lost. It is rarely that such
a rich treasury of experience is ever possessed, and as-
suredly it ought to be fully improved. Throughout the
years and in the various churches all sorts of motives
have arisen, all kinds of plans and experiments have been
tried, and the results are here. All sorts of Christian
men have been with us and all sorts of efforts have been
made, and the influences which sprang from them are
before us. Some of these influences have utterly failed
of good result, some have been of doubtful effect and
some have been crowned with God’s testimony of suc-
cess; and the inferences are ours. Certain evils have
440 .
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 441
been seen in their hideousness and certain excellences
have appeared at their full value; and all their lessons
are for us to read. - -
Presbyterianism itself, as a system, has been here
fairly subjected to the test of experiment. Has it stood
the wear and strain of years? Has it shown itself to
be the solid, ever-abiding and unchanging truth? Has
it turned out to be an invaluable boon sent down from
heaven to the children of men 2 If true and real, it
must have proved itself to be so in the course of these
years; if false and pretentious, time must have shown
that it is so.
Never in the history of the world was there a better
field than this region of the Neshaminy in which the
experiment could be made. Presbyterianism has had
a period of almost two centuries in which to prove
itself. It has had a field of operation wide enough for
the testing, and yet compact enough to be readily kept
in view. It has had a population that with their de-
scendants remained the same from age to age, and so its
peculiar influences could descend unbroken and un-
changed. It has been left to itself, without outside
influences either to advance or to retard. It has had
neither worldly patrons to give it a spurious growth nor
worldly persecution to oppose its progress. In these
respects the opportunities for the testing have been com-
plete, and the trial of the Presbyterian system has been
as perfect as can ever be expected on earth.
The value of the lessons derived from this history,
therefore, cannot possibly be overestimated, and these
lessons, in all their freshness and force, are now before
us for our instruction. So abundantly have they been
established by the history which we have gone through
in detail that it is impossible for us to be mistaken
442 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
concerning them. They pertain to living issues with
which we have to do at the present time; they pertain
to the whole round of our principles, doctrines and
duties; so that they will certainly apply to every case
with which we can possibly have to do.
The writer would not dogmatize, but, having his own
mind fairly saturated with the spirit of the history, he
would present the impressions made upon him to those
who have not had the same opportunity of receiving
them. There is an advantage in a single mind having
before it all the lessons arising out of a history, and
thus being enabled to arrange them into definite form.
In presenting the lessons of this history under the fol-
lowing arrangement, it is proper for the writer to
remark that he has not fallen back on the unerring ut-
terances of Scripture, nor has he merely repeated the
maxims of human experience: he gives simply what he
has gathered from the history. He presents no point
of instruction that is not sustained by the actual facts.
I.
PRESERVING CEIURCEI RECORDS.
This point will be the first presented, because in
writing the history the writer has been made to feel
very deeply upon the subject, inasmuch as there is
scarcely one of our old churches a great part of whose
minutes have not been lost beyond all hope of recov-
ery. In consequence of this loss, their history can never
be completely written. Of some pastorates of thirty, or
even forty, years, no record remains save the names and
the dates; even the names of many elders are gone.
Families that we would delight to honor have no me-
morial left, and important events have no appropriate
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 443
mention. A little care on the part of church officers
would have prevented this lamentable loss.
When either records are not fully written or the book
containing them is thrown aside as a worthless thing,
little is it considered how priceless in value would
these records become in after-years. The career of a
church, like the life of a person, is one and indivisible
from year to year; to be understood and appreciated,
it must be viewed as an entirety. What a mutilated
and imperfect thing it appears if a large part of its his-
tory has passed out of knowledge | There are certain
influences or causes operating in the present which had
their origins in the past; how sad when the knowledge
of those origins is lost beyond recovery ! There is a
wholesome curiosity the gratification of which would be
a great delight, and which would certainly have an ex-
alting influence, and that gratification the properly-kept
records alone can yield; for ordinarily such records af-
ford the only reliable and abiding information concern-
ing church officers, families and individual members.
And, besides all else, the knowledge of the past is a
great power for good in any church. The recorded
experience of the fathers is a guide: it gives impulses
and warnings, the effects of which are of vast im-
portance in the hard and perplexing work of the
present.
The Presbytery to which the interests of all its
churches are committed should undoubtedly take some
action on this subject. And it should do it promptly,
for the danger of losing some of the records of our
fifty churches becomes more and more threatening
every year. What that action should be it may be
difficult to determine, but the welfare of our churches
demands that something should be done. Three sug-
444 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
gestions may open the way for the devising of some-
thing that might be practicable: (1) An immediate
inquiry might be instituted as to the present condition
of the records of each church. Are they all in exist-
ence? Where are they 2 Who are their custodians?
Are they perfectly safe? (2) It might be made a rule
at the commencement of every new pastorate to have
all the records delivered to the pastor, and then to hold
him responsible for their safekeeping. (3) Would it
be impracticable to procure some safe building or fire-
proof apartment where all the old records of all the
churches might be deposited, and so kept from acci-
dental destruction and the dangers resulting from negli-
gence? As a case in point, it may be stated that the
old records of all the parishes of the Established Church
of Scotland are kept in a fireproof building in the
city of Edinburgh.
II.
AN AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOR AMERICA.
Our meaning on this point is that in the way through
which God in his providence has led this Presbytery as
a part of the whole Church during ninescore years, he
was preparing a Presbyterian Church which would be
suited to the character of this nation when both should
come to maturity. If ever it is given us on earth to
read the meaning of any providential events, assuredly
this is an instance. The footsteps of God have been so
manifest, so many, so clearly in one direction, and have
so certainly concentrated at one point, that we cannot
possibly be mistaken. We may well doubt whether a
more reliable indication of so sublime a fact could be
found in all modern history. It is so deeply interesting
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 445
and important for us to realize this that even at the risk
of repetition the leading and most discernible of the
divine footsteps will be pointed out. Only when they
are considered in detail and their dependence upon
each other is studied and their final culmination in one
great event is properly estimated can they awaken that
surprising impression which is inevitable.
(1) The first step was the gathering together here of
a people out of whom to form the new Church for this
land. Was it not significant that this people should
have been gathered from the best types of European
nationalities, and that every branch of them, without
exception, should have been tried and refined by the
fires of persecution ?
(2) Was it not significant that the same sound Cal-
vinistic faith should have been assured to this collected
people from the teachings of John Knox, of the Heidel-
berg Catechism, of the Synod of Dort, of the West-
minster Assembly, of the halls of Trevecca and of the
school at Geneva 2
(3) Was it not significant that, the people being col-
lected and the creed assured, in order to furnish a
needed supply of educated ministers the Log College
should be founded, with the three offshoots therefrom,
Nottingham, Fagg’s Manor and Pequa?
(4) Was it not significant that the infant Church
should then have a wonderful baptism of the Holy
Ghost in which the spirit of Wesley and the Oxford
Methodists should be imparted through that divinely-
gifted man George Whitefield 2
(5) Was it not significant that then, the system being
thus matured, there should be raised up a band of
apostolic men, chief of whom were the ten great
preachers from the Log College, who should teach that
446 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
system throughout the whole land and set up the needed
institutions of Christian learning?
(6) Was it not significant that the new Church, being
completely formed and extended, should next be sub-
jected to the annealing or tempering process of the
Great Schism, by which its heterogeneous elements were
homologated, its misunderstandings cleared up and the
body firmly compressed into one?
(7) Was it not significant that, all else being pre-
pared, there should be given to the Church a period, a
full generation in length, from 1758 to 1788, in which
it had opportunity to take root and to become firmly
established ? &
(8) Was it not significant that, the nation and the
Church having both become matured by an equal length
of time and a similar preparatory process, the govern-
ment of the nation and the General Assembly of the
Church should both be organized at the same time, in
the same place, by men educated largely in the same
Calvinistic schools and on principles precisely alike, so
far as similar principles were possible in bodies existing
for purposes so unlike? .
(9) Was it not significant that since that time there
has followed a century of unprecedented prosperity
for the nation, and that the Church, from being a hand-
ful, has grown to be the largest Presbyterian body in
the world 2 - -
Is there any possibility of our mistaking the provi-
dential meaning of all this? We must be modest in
our attempts to interpret God’s providential purposes;
but if all this process, continued so long, consisting of
so many converging steps and with the one great object
apparently so clearly in view, does not force us to the
assured conviction that this peculiar Church was in-
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 447
tended for this peculiar nation, how shall we ever form
any opinion concerning current providences?
III.
PRESBYTERIANISM IMPERISEIABLE.
Another of the lessons to be learned from this history
is that Presbyterianism is imperishable. By this dec-
laration it is not intended to assert that it is always so,
or that it cannot be corrupted, or that it ever lives on
without divine support. But it means to declare that
when left to itself, free from outside destructive influ-
ences and in a fair field, it is so sure of the fulfillment
of the divine promise, “Lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world,” that it will continue on
through unlimited periods. So surely is it founded on
the truths of God that it will always be enabled to hold
on its way indefinitely. The proof of this from our
history is abundant.
An experimental test of this fact is one which, from
the nature of the case, can very rarely be made. It
requires time for such a test, and protracted time in
order that it may be satisfactory. In the long life of our
Presbytery, extending through almost two centuries, we
have an exceedingly favorable opportunity of applying
the test, and, since such opportunity is so rare, we
should eagerly improve the one thus offered. Indeed,
we may well question whether the whole history of the
Church has ever afforded a better instance of the endur-
ance of any system of faith than is furnished by the
continuance of Presbyterianism in this land.
Presbyterianism has lived during all these years, not
because it was free from all impediments that could ob-
struct its way or from all defects in its members that
448 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
had a tendency to wear it out. Like all things earthly,
it was exposed to the wearing, exhausting influences of
time. It had to pass through violent storms, some of
which wellnigh destroyed it. The restlessness of pro-
fessed friends sometimes subjected it to dangerous—at
times almost fatal—experiments. The deceitful in-
fluences of but partially sanctified hearts sometimes
threatened its very existence. Nor was it upheld by
any special human supports. It has had no government
help, no patronage from the great of earth—from princes
or potentates. There was no cunningly devised hier-
archy by whose shrewd policy it was sustained. What-
ever it has been, it has been of itself, as a part of
its very nature, always resting upon God alone.
In this way it has been enabled to continue its course
for one hundred and eighty-three years—almost one-
tenth of the period since the coming of our Lord. Had
it contained in itself the elements of decay, it had been
dissolved long ago. Had it not been preserved by a
vitality imparted by its divine Head, it would inevitably
have worn out. On the contrary, however, it has con-
tinued for generations precisely the same that it was at
the beginning. Not one essential principle has changed,
not one feature which God gave it at first has altered.
Even after all these years it shows no symptoms of
decay. Have we not evidence most plain that our
Presbyterian system is one which God himself pre-
serves? Has it not endured the test of permanence in
the past? and in this have we not proof that the hand
of the Most High is with it to preserve it into the far-
distant future ?
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 449
IV.
PRESBYTERIANISM FOR THE PEOPLE.
Another lesson is that Presbyterianism was designed
by God for the people. The people composing the
churches of this Presbytery have from the begin-
ning possessed at least a fair average character and in-
telligence. They have been just such a people as we
would desire in order to such an investigation as is in-
tended under this head. Moreover, they have always
been contained in such a compact territory that they
could easily be studied and their religious condition
ascertained. Still further, throughout their generations
they have continued substantially the same people that
formed the body of the churches at the beginning. A
large part of the families which were found in the
Presbytery then are those which, running down
through five generations, are in it still. In an extraor-
dinary degree, therefore, we can trace the course of in-
fluences which have marked this people in all their
history. A natural identity can be found in them
in all places and times which fits them admirably for
such an investigation as we have in hand.
Now, the influence of our Presbyterian system upon
a people so well adapted for the experiment, the reten-
tion of that system by them and the character it has
developed in them present a study of great interest.
That system formed their character in youth; it
guided them in busy life, ministering to their integrity
and usefulness; it sanctified to them all the changes of
life; it strengthened them in the day of temptation;
it consoled them in affliction; it comforted them in old
age; it cast cheering light over the grave, and it up-
held them in the hour of death. It met all the wants
29
450 PRESPYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
of their souls and made their lives what they were, and
that not merely through some special season of reviving,
but by the steady influence that it exerted day by day,
from generation to generation. It was the very thing
needed by their mental and moral nature, and under
its teaching they became a people remarkable for
their intelligence, their stability, their virtue and their
Christian integrity. Through its influence they individ-
ually grew in grace, and they increased in number in
proportion to the whole population. They found by
experience that this system of gospel truth had not
deceived them by holding out delusive promises, but
that it had the same happy effects from age to age.
So fully did it always meet their wants that they did
not become weary of it or feel any desire to abandon
it for some other system that might seem to be more
attractive. They clung to it throughout their various
generations. They tested its excellences for themselves,
and they would not let it go.
Could there be any better proof than all this that
Presbyterianism is especially adapted to the people?
Since it has met all the spiritual needs of this people
so fully, and they have ever clung to it with the most
devoted affection, does it not become manifest that
Providence intended it as the system for the people?
W.
AN EDUCATED MINISTRY THE BULWARK OF THE
CEHURCH.
Another of the lessons to be learned is that a thor-
oughly educated ministry is the bulwark of the Church.
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of our
Presbyterianism, from the beginning of our history, is
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCO RE YEARS. 451
that it has always insisted upon its ministers being
liberally educated. One of the very first steps, after
the formation of the infant Church, was the setting up
of an institution by which a needed supply of such
ministers could be made sure. To the one thus estab-
lished, similar institutions were added from time to
time, as they were needed, showing that the fathers
regarded the establishment of such institutions as in-
dispensable.
The good and great men who planted our churches
were all thoroughly educated. Says Dr. Alexander:
“The first Presbyterian ministers in this country were
nearly all men of liberal education, and, though there
existed such a destitution of ministers in this new coun-
try, they never thought of introducing any man into
the ministry who had not received a college or university
education, except in very extraordinary cases—of which,
I believe, we have but one instance in the early history
of the Presbyterian Church.” In succeeding years a
similar practice has been observed. It has ever been a
law of the Church that its ministry should be thor-
oughly educated. All its most successful pastors have
been men who had received such training for their
office, such as the Tennents, the Treats, the Belvilles,
the Wilsons, the Steels, the Grays, the Andrews, the
Halseys, and multitudes of others whose names need
not be mentioned. And the Lord of the Church has
been with these men and helped them, and has thus
affixed the seal of his approbation to the practice which
his providence had led the Church to adopt.
So firmly was this principle established in the be-
ginning of our history that those providentially-raised
men to whom we look for example would not depart
from it even when greatly tempted by a sore need of
452 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
more ministers. They would not do so in a very ex-
ceptional case, when a young man named Evans, pos-
sessed of many eminent qualifications for the ministry,
but not liberally educated, began to labor without the
approbation of the Presbytery. He was censured for
preaching without a license, and then directed to under-
take a special course of study in order to his preparation
for the ministerial office.
The reasons then urged, reasons which still hold good,
are obvious. The chief work of the minister is to de-
liver the message of God, to make it plain and to press
it home upon the hearts and consciences of men. To
interpret the Scriptures to the edification of others de-
mands that a man should be well trained both in the
knowledge of the Scriptures and in the art of impart-
ing that knowledge to others. Only by the former
training can he understand divine truth in its full-
ness and bring out of the treasury of the word of God
“things new and old;” only by the latter can he meet
the scriptural requirement of being “apt to teach.”
A liberal education also is needed that the mind of
the teacher may be strengthened and fitted for its in-
finitely momentous work. Mathematics and kindred
logical studies are of importance to train the reasoning
powers. The study of languages is needed also to fit a
man for the better expression of his thoughts. All
experience proves that such training enlarges the
mind, makes it sober, substantial, well balanced, and
keeps it from being puffed up. And, in addition to
all these reasons, we have the example of our divine
Lord, who would not send forth his apostles on their
mission to the world until he had first trained them
for years.
With these teachings before us, can we help regard-
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 453
ing with great sorrow the efforts which are made in
some quarters at the present time to secure a lowering
of the standard of ministerial education ? We cannot
think that those who would bring about this change
fully realize what they are doing. An effort in this
direction in the early part of the last century rent the
Church asunder; for ninescore years the minds of the
wisest of our ministry have been fixed against any low-
ering of the existing standard; our history shows that
there has hardly ever been any variation therefrom that
was not most unfortunate. We feel sure that the sub-
ject would not be reagitated if the possible—indeed, the
probable—consequences were duly weighed. The want
of more ministers may be sorely felt, but lowering the
standard of preparation, all experience declares, is not
the way to supply the lack. Temporary expedients of
every kind are always hazardous. Assuredly, it is not
now the time for a lower degree of education in the
ministry, when the average intelligence of the people
is rising higher. It would be suicidal for Presbyterians
to depress their standard, when Methodists, Baptists, and
all other denominations, are raising theirs.
Would it not be wiser to study carefully and employ
the remedy given by our Lord for this very evil?—
“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
will send forth laborers into his harvest.” Was this
injunction intended only for apostolic days? Was
there not a depth of special significance in it which the
Church has not yet sounded ? Can the people of our
Lord go to his throne with the very petition which he
himself has put in their mouths and he not heed them?
Most assuredly, to use the means which Jesus himself
has appointed, and not to adopt a scheme of doubtful
expediency, is our wisdom. God has stamped our pres-
454 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
ent plan with the seal of his undoubted approbation:
we cannot adopt any other without fearful risk.
WI.
TEIE ELDERSEIIP ANOTHER BULWARK OF TEIE CHURCH.
On no point have the teachings of these ninescore
years been more clear and instructive than on that of
the stability, the dignity and the value of the eldership
in our Church. No reflection has impressed itself more
deeply on the mind of the writer than that as a people
we have not duly appreciated or improved this ordained
agency for conducting the affairs of our portion of the
kingdom. Of course we believe that it is an office estab-
lished by God himself; and we believe that it is a fun-
damental element in the organization of the Church,
as enjoined in the Scriptures of divine truth. We know
that it is the feature of our system which eminently
distinguishes it from all others, and which also gives it
its name.
But as we have traced the history of our churches
we have seen how much of their life and prosperity
and attractiveness and usefulness has depended on their
elders. There is no class of men more worthy of high
esteem than the true Presbyterian elders; they are a
tower of strength to the church and the community
wherein God may have placed them. As a class they
are men of true piety, of good sense, of intelligence, of
high reputation, and consequently of great influence.
Their character and the high estimation in which they
are held by the community are manifest from the im-
portant trusts which are so often committed to them.
As a specimen we may refer to the fact that in the State
of Pennsylvania a large number of its most honored
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 455
judges have been, and are, men who have been or-
dained to this sacred office.
In every sense our elders are one of the bulwarks
of our Church. In the first organization of a church,
in its feeble infant days, in the inauguration of its
various enterprises, in the choice of its pastors, in car-
rying it through the trials of bitter strifes, the elder is
the reliance established by divine appointment. On
the Sabbath the faithful elder is as certainly in his
pew as is the pastor in the pulpit; the pastor looks for
him and is encouraged by his presence and aided in
his preaching thereby. His presence and voice and
unfailing interest are a vital element in the weekly
prayer-meeting; it would not, in fact, be the prayer-
meeting without him.
• To the pastor, as his appointed confidant and adviser,
as his informant concerning the wants and wishes, the
hopes and fears, the errors and prejudices, of the peo-
ple, as his defender from the effects of all misunder-
standings and misrepresentations, as his aid in all diffi-
cult and perplexing duties, the elder is an invaluable
helper. To the people there is no visitor more valu-
able than is he, for he listens to and can sympathize in
the story of their longings, their sorrows, their troubles
and their wants. His voice is well known and valued
by the poor, the sick, the anxious, the erring and the
inquiring. To the church he gives continuity as being
with it uninterruptedly while his life lasts; he imparts
weight to its counsels from his long experience and
superior knowledge of its people; he secures respect
and consideration for it in the community from the
influence of his own justly esteemed reputation. As
peacemakers in the church, helpers in every good word
and work, friends throughout all the families, counselors
456 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
in the management of all affairs, standard-bearers of the
cause, attendants and participants in all the ordinances
and true and loyal supporters of the pastor, we cannot
speak too highly of the influence of faithful elders.
In bearing testimony so decided we are not merely
depicting men of ideal excellences, but are simply re-
lating what we have learned from the history, and
what we know has given such singular success to some
of our churches. There is not one element in the de-
scription which is not based upon instances which are
clearly before our mind. We could very easily give
the names and the churches—not a few—which are the
models that we have chosen. To say nothing of the
living, we could name of deceased elders a Robert
Pattison, a Morgan Long, a Robert Hamill, a Silas
Weir, a Dr. Beattie, a George Castor, a Henry Wil-
liams, a Thomas McKeen, a David Thomas, a Joseph
Mitchell, and innumerable others. Without any feel-
ing of reservation do we assert, in view of the whole
history of our Presbytery, that it could not have had
such a record of usefulness, of stability, of influences
for good, of blessing for the whole community and of
constant and happy progress had it not been for its
faithful elders. We can think of no really prosperous
churches where they were not the leaders; we can think
of none in which faithful elders were found that did
not prosper. Need we repeat that this is the clear and
unmistakable testimony of long and ample experience
as to the divine wisdom of the appointment of the
eldership as an element of our church organization?
It was a sad day for our Church when the door was
opened for taking the crown from the heads of our elders
by a system of rotation in office, when it became possi-
ble to make of them mere committee-men, and when
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 457
thus admission was given to possible evils by their los-
ing the weight of their ordination influence and the
value of their experience, by throwing away the power
of their established official character, and by exposing
the churches to the annual convulsions of elections.
We rejoice that the evils of this step are more and more
clearly seen to be as a deep wound to our whole system.
May the day soon come when that wound shall be
healed, and our eldership be restored to the dignity of
an office to which they were elected, not by the people
merely, but ordained of God, and that for all the days
that may be allotted them on earth.
VII.
HEREDITARY PIETY.
We are well aware that the term “hereditary,” as
we apply it here, is not strictly accurate, yet it is so ex-
pressive of our thought that we venture to make use
of it. Piety is never inherited as is property or as are
personal characteristics, either physical or mental; but
piety, when it exists in parents accompanied by true
fidelity, will generally be found in the children also, as
the result of God's faithfulness to his promises. This,
of course, we believe from the teachings of the Script-
ures; but in entering upon this study of the history
of our Presbytery we felt that we were entering upon
another method of reaching the same truth, and prob-
ably the best illustration of the method in all modern
times. We have therefore kept this subject in view
throughout all our work, for we have felt that the es-
tablishment of the point at issue by the mode contem-
plated was well worth our whole labor.
Is it a fact that as a general rule, by the divine bless-
ing, devoted piety descends from parents to children,
458 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
and that from generation to generation to an unlimited
extent 2 There are, of course, but two ways of deter-
mining the answer to this question—one from the
affirmations of Scripture, the other from the experi-
ence of believers throughout the ages of the Church.
As to the first—the testimony of Scripture—it does
not here come within our consideration; for our sole
study pertains to the teachings of the history of our
Presbytery. We therefore confine our investigations
to the latter. Does the experience of believers con-
firm the truth that earnest piety descends in families
from generation to generation ?
Four things are necessary in order to a satisfactory
induction on this point: (1) The investigation must
extend over a long period of time. It might happen
that there would be instances of such descent for a
generation or two; that, however, would not have much
weight. (2) A large number of families must be
brought under review. One or two cases, or even sev-
eral, would not suffice to justify us in inferring a gen-
eral rule. (3) The record of the facts must have been
made by those whose testimony can be relied upon, and
must have been accurately preserved. Mere rumor or
tradition would have but little authority. (4) There
must not have been outside influences either aiding or
hindering in the production of the contemplated re-
sult: that result, if apparent, must be seen as springing
from covenant relations.
These four elements of a satisfactory induction, how-
ever, can hardly anywhere be found in conjunction.
When has there ever been a portion of the Church in
one period and place in which, in order to such induc-
tion, there was a sufficient number of families in a suc-
cession of many generations, a reliable record kept of
TEACHINGS OF THE NIN ESCORE YEARS. 459
the events, and no extraneous influences either to help
forward or prevent the work? No such conjunction
existed at any time in Scotland or in the North of
Ireland or in Wales or in Holland or in New England,
or in any place of which we have knowledge—at least,
in modern times. In each instance some one or more
of the named requisites are wanting. In no instance
but in this which we are considering do they all meet.
Here we have almost two centuries of time, or over five
generations; we have all the families of seven or eight
churches; we have records concerning which there can
be no doubt; and there were no persecutions to hinder,
or worldly patronage to advance, a result springing from
covenant relations. We have, therefore, a case of the
very utmost value for our purpose.
Now, what can we learn from the careful study of
the history of this Presbytery as to the question of
devoted piety descending from parents to children from
generation to generation ? We may first look at the
matter in its more general aspect. We have here a
collection of churches which have stood, some of them,
one hundred and seventy-five years, and all of them
eightscore years, and the same godly families which
composed the body of them at the beginning compose
the body of them still. Does not this fact alone afford
strong reason to believe that the piety of the fathers
went down from generation to generation throughout
the whole period 2 Again, we may contemplate the
individual households, and we shall reach the same
conclusion. The names of families can be given in
which the same true piety can be traced through three
generations, four generations, five generations, six gen-
erations, seven generations—even ten generations. In
all of those families, from age to age, there have been
460 PRESE YTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
those who held important positions as either ministers
or elders or deacons. In some of them there have been
unbroken lines of elders for over a hundred and fifty
years. In the annals of some of them we find lists of
from five to ten ministers, and a still larger number of
elders. To aid us in realizing this wonderful fact still
more fully, the names of some of these old families in
whose generations the covenant of God has been so re-
markably fulfilled may be given. Among these were
the McNairs, the Vanarsdalens, the Van Zandts, the
Yerkes, the McKinstrys, the Castors, the Jamisons, the
Carrells, the Cravens, the Mearns, the Ralstons, the
Reeves, the Manns, the Henrys, the Griers, the Vande-
grifts, the DuBoises, the Van Horns and the Wynkoops.
All these families we can follow back for over two hun-
dred years—some of them in lines of ten generations in
every one of which there were either ministers or elders
or deacons, or all of such officers. And there are still
other families which belong to this history, for they
sprang from the Log College. Among them we name
the Beattys, the Finleys and the Blairs. Where else
is there such an instance as that of a sister of the Blairs
—sister of Drs. Samuel and John Blair, wife of Robert
Smith, D.D., of Pequa, and mother of John Blair
Smith, D.D., president of Union College, and of Samuel
Stanhope Smith, D. D., president of Princeton College?
We could easily add many to these instances, but it would
be superfluous.
Not only is the divine promise positive; but the fact is
certain, as manifested by the history of this Presbytery,
that true piety does go down in families from gener-
ation to generation as surely, and we believe in as many
instances, as any hereditary type of blood or mind or
character. And there are causes which produce this
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 461
result. Not that piety is inherent, but that the pious
instruction, the godly example, the affectionate disci-
pline, the fervent prayers, and, above all, the covenant
engagement of God to bless the children for the father's
sake, are just as sure to produce it as is any cause of
which we can possibly conceive.
The right appreciation of this subject is a matter of
inexpressible practical importance.
(1) It comes in to confirm the covenant engagement
and promise of our gracious Lord. Listen to that cov-
enant and the promise it involves: “Know therefore
that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God,
which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love
him and keep his commandments, to a thousand gener-
ations.” This covenant has never become obsolete.
Its great principle is as imperishable as God himself.
(2) It comes in as the greatest possible comfort to
believing parents. God does not forget their children.
The precepts, prayers, example and restraining influ-
ences of faithful fathers and mothers will tell, most
likely, while they are alive, and assuredly after they are
gone, and down to generations yet unborn. The cov-
enant cannot fail. Parents have the assured pledge of
the God of infinite truth, and that confirmed by all the
experiences of the Church's history. On this they may
confidently rest.
(3) It comes in as the strongest possible incentive to
incite unto the diligent training of the young in the
principles of religion. Here we see how God has
blessed such training, and how much it will accom-
plish. Its efficacy has not worn out. And here an
important question arises: What kind of religious
training was it which has proved effective? Most of
the plans extolled in these modern days were not even
462 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
thought of in the times of our predecessors. It was
the old-fashioned, God-ordained method of the family,
the Bible and the Catechism. Anything which is cal-
culated to divert from these must be regarded with
suspicion. If anything tends to weaken the parents’
sense of obligation, to induce neglect of the Bible or
to cause disuse of the Catechism, we must beware.
Our diligence in the religious training of the young
should be vastly increased. When the youth of the
Church are thoroughly grounded in the gospel of Christ,
stable and influential characters are sure to follow. Our
history makes this so certain that it cannot be ques-
tioned. There are a few, very few, apparent exceptions,
but this is the ordinary rule. There is no planting or
sowing in the world which is so sure to produce an
abundant harvest as this. In every old church and in
the entire history of our Presbytery this is written as
with God’s own finger. The fruit may not be seen at
once—even a generation may sometimes pass without
its being perceived—but the word of the Lord stands
sure; and even to the third and fourth and tenth gen-
erations the blessing of Heaven will surely be seen.
That blessing will come: God has promised it. The
whole experience of these ninescore years makes mani-
fest the certainty of its bestowal. What is needed in
the Church is not the emotion of an hour or a day or a
year, but principle—abiding principle founded on God-
revealed truth. This is the Supreme lesson of our
history, as if written with a pen of diamond.
VIII.
PRESBYTERIANISM AND EDUCATION.
In an address delivered at the centennial anniver-
sary of the Frankford church in 1870 by Dr. McCosh,
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 463
president of Princeton College, there were remarks on
the relation between Presbyterianism and education,
which we may cite as an admirable presentation of
its general aspects. From his ripe experience as an
educator, and from his personal knowledge of Presby-
terian churches in various lands, these remarks are of
priceless value. We cite them only in their substance:
“We believe that Presbyterianism is founded on the
word of God, and is agreeable thereto. It was bred
in a mountain-country—Switzerland—transplanted into
Scotland, came to the North of Ireland, and thence
was transported to America, and has taken deep root
and flourishes here. There is one characteristic of
Presbyterianism which I wish especially to bring be-
fore you, and that is the close and intimate con-
nection through its whole history that has existed
between it and education. I believe Protestantism is
itself favorable to enlightenment. It cannot subsist
except among a people taught in the word of God.
Presbyterianism—in particular, from the fact that it
is an organic system—at an early date saw fit to
establish a system of schools: lower schools, upper
schools, higher schools or academies, and colleges. It
did so in Geneva, the place of its birth. Traveling in
Switzerland, you can tell whether you are in a Protest-
ant canton or in a Roman Catholic canton by five min-
utes' conversation. But the system of elementary edu-
cation was first organized in Scotland. The principle
that every parish ought to have a school and that every
child has a right to be educated was undoubtedly first
announced by John Knox, and not only did he an-
nounce this as a speculative principle, but he put it into
execution; and when he died, there was a school in
every parish except a few of the most remote, and an
464 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
academy in every important town, and no less than four
universities in that comparatively small country.”
Such has been the general characteristic of our Pres-
byterianism as to its affiliation with sound learning,
but how has it been with our own Presbytery in par-
ticular in reference to the same spirit.” Has it been
true to the traditions of the whole Church in this
respect? Has its experience been such as to add to the
whole mass of experience which proves that this is of
the very nature of our system 7
To this question our history enables us to give an
answer in the affirmative, most positive and emphatic.
We had prepared a list of educational institutions of
every grade to present as proof, but it is too long for in-
sertion here, and we must therefore confine ourselves to
mere specimens. Our old territory proper had but few
towns large enough for the higher institutions of learn-
ing, yet in it was the Log College, the mother of all
such institutions in our whole Church. Of academies
we must name the “Hill School” of Pottstown, Mr.
Long's academy of Neshaminy, the academy of New-
town, the Tremont Academy of Norristown, and many
others. Of seminaries for young ladies we have had
the peerless “Oakland Female Institute” of Norris-
town, Belville Seminary of Neshaminy, Dr. Gosman's
seminary of Doylestown, and still others. Of pastors
who associated teaching with their ordinary parochial
work we could instance Pauli and Biggs of Frankford,
Andrews of Doylestown, Steel of Abington, Stead of
Bridesburg, Rodenbaugh of Norriton, and a long list
of others. As to common schools founded by churches
and sustained by them in the early years, they were
almost as numerous as the churches themselves. In
many instances'the Presbyterian parochial School sup-
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS.” 465
plied all the elementary education for the neighborhood.
The old academy of the Frankford church, for instance,
for many years after 1800 was the only school in the
place; to it all resorted, and it was sustained by the
trustees of the church by greater efforts than were ne-
cessary in order to collect funds to defray the ordinary
expenses of the congregation. Such were the facts all
through the generations of our history. And such is
the spirit still. We could name a single church at the
present time over twenty of whose members are public
School-teachers.
Why this should be so we may not be able to explain
in full, but the very genius of our system seems to re-
quire light for its highest development. The system is
founded on intellectual as well as on moral and relig-
ious truth, and must have intelligence in its members.
Certainly no system is so much in need of light to win-
dicate it from the misunderstandings and misrepresenta-
tions of enemies as is ours, which strictly follows the
truth as it came from God, even when that truth clashes
with the preconceptions of the natural heart. As a mat-
ter of historic experience, there is no question but that
the prevalence of sound learning in our Presbytery has
contributed much to give us our success and stability.
IX.
INFLEXIBLE ADHERENCE TO THE TRUTH.
What would be the ultimate effect of setting up the
truth as the standard of preaching and worship—the
truth alone—and adhering to it without any attempts
at softening down or modifying it into conformity with
the currents of human thought or the tendencies of the
times? This is an important question, and probably
there never was a better opportunity for giving an
30
466 PRESB YTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
answer than from this history. In 1729 the West-
minster Standards were adopted by the Church, and
during the one hundred and sixty years since there has
never been an effort to depart from them even in the
slightest degree. Nor were they adhered to in blind,
unreasoning prejudice, for twice at least have great
storms swept the Church and shattered it, causing the
very foundations to shake, but not an inroad has been
made upon the old faith.
And what has been the result 2 The answer is writ-
ten on these pages with an emphasis that is absolutely
wonderful. The faith which centuries have tested is
the faith of the present day. The little group of
churches which formed the Presbytery a hundred years
ago has now become five groups, each one of which is
larger than was the original. During the fifty years
past there have been forty new churches commenced.
In the space of forty years the increase in the number
of our communicants has been such that whereas, at the
beginning of the period, we had but one member in
seventy-two of the population, we now have one in forty.
Could there possibly be a better test of the effect of the
truth alone—the truth without any other aid than
that which its Author gives it wherever it is made
known 2
On the other hand, what would have been the his-
tory had the truth been tampered with, experiments
attempted and errors—even little ones—admitted? We
can answer only from what errors have wrought out in
other places and times: they have upset well-founded
systems; they have brought into the house of God
wretched absurdities, gross corruptions and irreligion;
they have created bitter alienations; they have rent
churches asunder and blighted their usefulness; they
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 467
have cut good people adrift from their faith and good-
ness; they have raised up bodies of infidels; and then
they have themselves died out, leaving behind them,
however, seared and blasted tracks of ruin and woe.
All kinds of experiments have been made, but they
have all been most hazardous; they have all been worse
than failures. The truth cannot be improved on; God's
plans cannot be amended.
Be it, therefore, the inflexible purpose of every
Christian, every church and every body of churches
to cling with a grasp that will not be relaxed to the
truth, the truth alone, to the whole truth—to the truth
in doctrine, in worship and in practice. We can afford
to be branded with old-fogyism: if old-fogyism can do
what this history shows us has been done, we may well
be proud of the name. We may well say, especially
to those who are near to the commencement of their
course, Cling to the truth, pure and simple—to the
truth, and not to mere feelings, impressions, sentiments;
to the truth, and no tampering with falsehood; to the
truth: it is heaven-born ; to the truth: it is from God,
and he knows best what we should believe and what do;
to the truth: it has been well tested by many a genera-
tion; to the truth: it is a rock upon which our all both
for time and eternity may be rested; to the truth: it is
sure to bring after it the rich blessings of its Author.
Let us cling to the truth, wherever it may lead us /
X.
PRESBYTERY RESPONSIBLE FOR, ITS FIELD.
Very few of us have a sufficiently deep impression
of the weight of obligation which rests upon the Pres-
bytery, as such, to cultivate the territory within its
bounds by the planting of new churches. By his
468 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
providence God has placed us here, and has made this
the special field of our work. Who will cultivate it by
the planting of Presbyterianism—which we believe to
be the nearest of all systems to the truth—if we do not?
We are always in danger of overlooking that which is
near and easy of access, and of appropriating our con-
tributions for work in fields that are more remote. Not
for a moment should we harbor the thought that any
part of our territory is hopeless. What it is possible
for us to accomplish should be emphatically impressed
upon us by the measure of success we have experienced
in the past, even through the very imperfect efforts that
we have already made.
The work to which the pastor is called is not by any
means limited by the bounds of his own congregation;
it is selfish for him to think so. There are regions be-
yond, and who is to look after these ? He is a watch-
man upon the walls of Zion, and desert-plains lie around
him; he is a leader, and these are the fields over which
the soldiers of God are to be conducted. The whole
territory of the Presbytery should be kept in view by
each one of the band of pastors whom the Great Cap-
tain has placed therein. The sight of desolate fields
should prompt to action.
There are two modes in which the appropriate work
of Presbytery in reference to the destitute portions of
its territory may be conducted. One method is for each
pastor to look after the neighborhood immediately adja-
cent to his own congregation. Where is there a church
near to which some preaching-station or stations might
not be set up 2 Two or three families, or even but one,
might be found who would take the lead and open a pri-
vate house, if need be, for services; and then the pastor
could aid by preaching weekly or monthly at such hours
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 469
as might be deemed best. There are few of our pastors,
especially of our younger ones, who could not easily as-
sume such additional services. In this way many a nu-
cleus of a church might be collected, the foundations
laid and the way prepared. Many of our more recent
organizations had precisely such an origin. Never
should any pastor be without such an enterprise at
heart, and, if possible, on hand.
Another method might be for the Presbytery, as
such, to concentrate its efforts upon some point that
lies remote from any particular church. It might sur-
vey the field, contrive to have stated services established
and detail its own members to preach in turn, and so
continue until the enterprise should be ripened for an
organization. Then another similar point might be
taken up, and another and another; and never
should the Presbytery be without one or more such
enterprises. Thus would new churches arise without
expense to the Boards, the entire field be gradually
covered and this home-work be made to prosper. This
is easy, it is practical, it is inexpensive; it would be of
great benefit to our pastors as well as to our people, and
one of Presbytery’s first and most momentous duties
would be fulfilled.
XI.
EVILS OF SEIORT PASTORATES.
There are churches in the Presbytery not a few
which for a long time have been kept back from a
satisfactory measure of growth chiefly because of fre-
quent change of pastors. Possibly these churches do
not see the cause of the stagnation in their life, but,
viewed from the outside, it is not difficult to perceive
that there could not be much progress, while ever and
470 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
anon there came such a shock to all their plans and
efforts as is occasioned by a dissolution of the pastoral
relation. The survey of all our churches which the
preparation of this history rendered necessary furnishes
an excellent opportunity of calling attention to what
has become a most serious drawback to our cause.
Among the numerous evils arising from frequent
changes in the pastorate of a church, the following
may be mentioned:
(1) The church is kept in a restless, unsettled state.
At each change old plans of work and worship gen-
erally are abandoned and new ones introduced. The
loss of a pastor is itself a great shock to a congrega-
tion, and frequently contentions and alienations arise
during the effort to secure another. The evils con-
sequent upon such changes are far greater with us
than in the Methodist Church, where they are made
systematically, and consequently are expected and
arranged for.
(2) Frequent changes in the pastorate prevent deep
and permanent foundations from being laid. The pas-
tor, warned by the past history of his church, does not
lay out his plans for training, especially the young,
as if he expected in future years to reap the fruits
of his labors. There is danger that all work shall
be performed merely for the present, and consequently
that many of the best effects of our system shall fail
of being realized. -
(3) The formation of the peculiar and affectionate
confidence that should exist between pastor and peo-
ple is almost certainly prevented. Such confidence is
one of the mightiest powers for giving to the cause of
Christ its most blessed success. Its growth, however,
is necessarily the work of time. By the separation of
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 471
those between whom it should exist, as it is forming or
just as it is ripening into fullness of strength, it will
be blasted.
(4) Frequent change is calculated to diminish the
impression upon the community of the dignity and
sacredness of the pastoral relation. The connection
between the pastor and people is an ordinance of God,
and is designed to be an important agency in building
up the church through the edification of believers and
the conversion of the impenitent; but when it is broken
every year or two, much of this power is gone.
(5) Serious injury frequently results to ministers
from the dissolution of the pastoral relation. In some
cases, indeed, it is in order to their removal to situa-
tions of greater comfort and usefulness; in many in-
stances, however, it results in unsettling them for a
long time, and so of exposing them to numberless
hardships. The writer has in mind one case where a
pastor of an exceedingly attractive country charge left
his field because of an estrangement with a single elder,
and after that spent the remainder of his days almost
without a charge or a home. He knew of another, a
prominent man in the Church, who in his old age
mourned that once he had been induced unwisely to
give up a most desirable pastoral charge, thus render-
ing his whole subsequent life a failure.
As a matter of sad experience it is found that when
there are frequent changes in the pastorate of any
church, that church becomes restless and unsettled, plans
of usefulness are not continued, enterprises for advan-
cing the cause of Christ are not undertaken, strifes are
engendered, discipline is not attempted, foundations are
not laid deep; and, as a matter of fact, such churches
are rarely, if ever, among those that prosper.
472 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
XII.
EVILS OF CHURCH STRIFES.
There is nothing more detrimental to the prosperity,
the happiness, the beauty and the usefulness of a
church than are parties, contentions, strifes, among its
members. They are sadly common, and it is not very
difficult to give the reasons. The interests of the soul
and of eternity are so overwhelmingly important that
earnest men are liable to become greatly excited when
such matters are brought under discussion. And, still
further, the body of the members of a church is com-
posed of such a diversity of people that it would be
strange if it was not sometimes agitated by misunder-
standings and controversies. Our history exhibits the
sad fact that such liability does exist. There are no
darker pages in our ecclesiastical records than those
which are filled with the long, weary, bitter, yet unnec-
essary, contentions which have blurred our otherwise
fair history. Yet we probably have less to lament than
many other Christian bodies.
Some of these evils the writer feels bound to expose.
He has not even alluded to them in the body of this
work, and he would not mention them in this place
did not a sense of duty, induced by what he has seen
in the study of the records, constrain him to do so. He
has seen church strifes producing such an atmosphere
of animosity that the presence of the Holy Spirit
seemed to have been withdrawn. He has seen them lead-
ing to such utter disregard of the urgent and repeated
exhortations of Scripture to cultivate the spirit of peace
that the Lord Jesus was wounded in the house of his
friends, sad reproach brought upon the cause of Christ,
opportunity given the enemy to gloat over the deformi-
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 473
ties of Christians, the blush of shame brought into the
faces of the true friends of Christ even in other com-
munions, sore animosity introduced into families where
nothing but love should reign, and in the end the fruit
of long years of faithful labor destroyed in a few short
weeks. Alas ! this is no imaginary picture.
Some of the actual facts which have passed before
the view of the writer are inexpressibly painful to relate.
He has seen no less than ten churches wounded and
rent and suffering for years. He has seen churches
that were flourishing and happy reduced in a few sad
weeks to weakness and wretchedness. He has seen such
deplorable effects produced by internal strifes that it
has taken a whole generation to restore the churches to
what they once were. He has seen churches so crip-
pled that their whole subsequent course was one long
struggle merely to live. He has seen alienations pro-
duced that were never healed. One sad case rises be-
fore his mind of a man who at one time was ardent and
apparently true to the cause of Christ, but who became
so exasperated and soured that his life was blighted;
and fifty years afterward his unhealed wounds made
him bitter and wretched even on his death-bed.
What lessons concerning such strife should be learned,
especially by pastors' Let anything in the wide world
short of sinning be done to avert them. Let any wrongs
and self-denials be endured rather than encourage them.
Let any sacrifice short of principle be made rather than
engage in them. If they must be engaged in, let it be
under the pressure of principle, and not of temper; let
not conscience be made the scapegoat for sinful passion.
One such strife in a church may do more harm than
the whole life of an ordinary pastor can remedy. If
the bitter alternative should ever arise, let a man give
474 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
up the ministry rather than take the lead in them.
“The servant of the Lord must not strive.” These
things are written considerately, in view of the whole
history of the Presbytery.
XIII.
DANGER OF WARRING AGAINST THE CHURCH OF GOD.
Another lesson which the records of the churches of
this Presbytery abundantly teach is that it is a most
dangerous thing for any one to take a position of hos-
tility to God, to his Church or to his ministers. It is
on the very surface of these records that God does not
hold such persons guiltless even in this world. The
writer recognizes that this world is not the place of
retribution, but he also believes that there are excep-
tions wherein the divine displeasure is especially mani-
fested in the present life against certain offences that are
peculiarly heinous. He long entertained a very strong
conviction of this awful fact; but when, in the providence
of God, he was led to give special attention to an un-
doubted instance of such exceptions in Scripture, his
belief became most positive. “For this cause many are
weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” If Paul
knew that “the prevailing sickness and frequent deaths
among the Christians of Corinth were a judgment from
God on account of the irreverent manner in which they
had celebrated the Lord's Supper,” is it not certain that
similar judgments may be witnessed in the Church at
the present day ? - -
Warring against God's Church and God’s servants is
undoubtedly one form of such heinous offence, and the
fact of God's present judgments coming upon those en-
gaging in such warfare is engraved upon our whole
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 475
annals. The writer could, were it proper, tell of one
who declared his purpose fixed immovably to effect the
banishment of his pastor from his charge, but before
a fortnight ended he was himself by a mysterious dis-
ease summoned into eternity. He could tell of another
who was found a corpse in the dust of the road on a
Sabbath morning after a renewed assertion of his bitter
hatred toward the minister who had been a faithful ex-
pounder to him of the word of life. He could tell of
another who persistently refused to cease from forment-
ing strifes and animosities in the church until he was
suddenly prostrated by a broken thigh that could not
be healed, and that laid him on his bed a suffering in-
valid all the remaining years of his life. Other instances
of divine retribution could be mentioned, but they were
so remarkable that even an allusion to them would
involve such exposures as it would not be proper to
make. Many such cases do the unpublished records
of this Presbytery reveal—so many that there can
scarcely be a question but that it is a feature of
God’s providential government often to punish in
this world those who war against the Church and
its ministers. So thoroughly convinced is the writer
of this, even from the teaching of the records he has
had under review, that he would not dare to oppose
the cause of Christ were he influenced by no other
motive than dread of earthly consequences.
XIV.
TEIE FALLS OF MINISTERS.
The teaching of this history on “the falls of minis-
ters” we must consider as very significant. It is also
very timely, in view of the fact that in this day there is
476 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
a great outcry made concerning the alleged hypocrisy
and flagrant sins of ministers. Such alleged crimes
are paraded in the public press; they are often shame-
fully exaggerated; they are held up to the disparage-
ment of the Church, and outcries against them are
heard throughout the whole land. But what is the
testimony of our history concerning the falls of those
who have been ordained to the sacred office? This is
testimony on which we can rely, for it is not mere in-
sinuation or surmise or indulgence in idle and slander-
ous condemnation.
The writer has carefully examined all the records of
the Presbytery; not one page or paragraph—nor, as he
believes, one sentence—has escaped his eye. He has
gone over them twice, to make the examination the more
thorough, and has had his attention specially directed
to this point from the first. This is the result of his
investigation: In what may be called the modern his-
tory of the Presbytery, commencing in 1833, the min-
utes began to be fully kept, and in all the fifty-five
years since that time, of ministers deposed, or even
arraigned for offences of any kind, there were only
two. One of these was a man in whom eccentricity
amounted almost to insanity, and whom it is hardly
proper to count. In reality, there was but one.
Only one arraigned for offence of any kind out of a
body of ministers ranging in average number from fif-
teen to fifty-six, and that during a period of over half
a century |
This tells the story. A body like this, which we may
take as a fair sample of the whole ministry, in a period
of fifty-five years having, at most, but two members
that were subjected to discipline ! What a record!
Why will the enemy continue to slander? Why will
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 477
friends continue to give credence to defamatory reports
that can but damage the cause of Christ?
XV.
PREACHING THE WORD ONLY.
The whole experience of this Presbytery is that the
men who made the holy word the substance of their
sermons, their texture, their warp and woof, were the
men who built up the strong congregations, held the
long pastorates, did a work which will last for ever;
these were, in the highest sense of the term, the success-
ful, the honored, the happy pastors. This is an experi-
ence which to make distinct and prominent is worth
the whole labor of writing this history. Other pastors
who delivered essays on religion and morals or flashed
out startling sentimentalism or excited surprise by their
comicalities may have had a short day of popularity,
but where now are either they or the results of their
work? The value of the Scriptures as affording the
matter and the model of all true preaching can perhaps
nowhere receive a finer illustration than from the his–
tory of this Presbytery. That we may not rest in
mere generalities, the names—as specimens only—will
be mentioned of some of those whose preaching is still
bearing fruit, and will continue to do so while the
Church endures. Reference might be made to the
apostolic ten who went forth from the Log College,
where the Bible was the leading text-book, and who
moulded the character of our early Church; mention,
however, will be made of the names of men in more
recent times—a Gray who built up the church of
Easton; an Andrews whose ministry of half a century
left on Doylestown an impress that can never be effaced;
478 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
a Steel who for more than forty years had so much
to do with giving the church of Abington its honored
record; a Halsey who even amid the infirmities of age
made such an enduring impress on Norristown; a Scott
of Holmesburg who was so early cut off in the midst
of a most promising work. Many other names among
those of both the living and the dead might we mention,
but these will suffice. All these preached the word—
the word only: they never dreamed of preaching aught
else—and the results to themselves and to their churches
and to the Presbytery and to the cause of Christ are
in undying efficiency.
Why is it that this preaching of the word alone
should be the first and highest work of the pastor's
life? The points of the answer are manifest: {
(1) The word is the sword of the Spirit, prepared by
the Spirit, directed by the Spirit, blessed by the Spirit.
There is no instrument like it. r -
(2) In preaching the word the pastor speaks with au-
thority—speaks as God’s ambassador. He is delivering
the King's message. He is interpreting in accordance
with his commission the holy oracles. He preaches the
preaching which God has bidden him.
(3) In preaching the word he can always be fresh,
new and interesting. His own thoughts soon become
stale and exhausted. In the word there is a treasury
of thoughts prepared in heaven which is inexhausti-
ble; drawing thence, he need never become a tiresome
repeater of himself. -
(4) By preaching the word which was given for
spiritual nourishment and edification he can build up
the people, so that they shall become intelligent, sub-
stantial and permanent in Christian life and character.
It is a sore wrong to them for their pastor to endeavor
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 479
simply to amuse or interest them with his own imper-
fect cogitations, when he might be enriching their
minds and hearts with the truths of God.
Another strong argument is from the teaching of
experience as to what is ordinarily preached when the
word is neglected. What generally takes the place of
the word 2 Essays about religion or morals or human
improvement which are all well enough in their place,
but which are all wrong enough when they take the
place of the preaching which God has committed to
his ministers. It is a serious question, What can be
preached if the word is not preached ? Shall it be the
exciting themes of the day—the political movements,
the improvements, the agitations of the nations of the
world 2 Intelligent hearers know as much as do their
pastors of these things, and, wearied and jaded by
the report of them during the week, they desire on the
Lord's Day to get away from newspapers and newspaper
excitement. Shall the sermon be on the charms and
refining influences of literature and art? These are
not the high and solemn themes appropriate to him
who is set to watch for souls. Shall the effort be to
make people stare by novelties and eccentricities, to
excite a sensation, to produce a laugh? Oh that those
who, under the pretence of attracting hearers to the
sanctuary, thus trifle with souls, could see how they
are degrading the sacred office, how they are wounding
the hearts of the best of God's children, how they are
ministering to their own woe and to the woe of those
uncared for by them
We would speak in the strongest and most urgent
terms upon the most solemn duty and high privilege
of preaching the word alone. It takes some men
nearly the whole of their ministerial life to learn how
480 PRESBYTERY OF THE LOG COLLEGE.
great is the importance of such preaching. Would that
the study of this history might impress that importance
especially upon those who have recently entered upon
the ministry ! We would bring the whole weight of
the lesson to be derived from this history of preachers
and congregations for nearly two hundred years to press
home upon those of our brethren who have yet the
greater part of their ministerial life before them that
their highest duty, their greatest honors, their brightest
prospect of success, their purest happiness, depend upon
their preaching the word only, and that with all their
energies concentrated on the sublime work.
XVI.
LOYALTY TO CHRIST THE ANIMATING AND LIMITING
PRINCIPLE. -
What is the secret principle that has given life and
oneness to this Presbytery throughout the one hundred
and eighty years of its history 2 What is it that has
given identity to the body, though its individual ele-
ments have been ever changing? What is it that has
given unity to the spirit and purposes and work of its
members wherever and whenever found 2 What have
been the fountain of its life, the bond of its union, the
secret of its perpetuity?
The great significance of these questions will be ap-
preciated if we consider how many things there were
which rendered it improbable that the career of the
Presbytery would have continued so long. An observer
who did not understand the secret principle which
animated it might have said, The wear and tear of a few
generations will surely bring it to an end. The incessant
strain upon its friends will eventually cause them to
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 481
become weary. The ever-varying currents of fashion
and drifts of thought and feeling will inevitably lead
to its being supplanted by other objects of attraction.
The ever-continuing friction of the world will irre-
sistibly wear it out. The temptations that will perpetu-
ally assail it will ultimately lead it to apostasy.
Something was needed that would counteract the in-
fluences ever acting against the continuance and growth
of the vine that was planted so many years ago—some-
thing more powerful than the artifices of Satan; something
animating and indestructible; something that would
preserve life and vigor from age to age. That hidden
principle was supreme love and loyalty to Christ
wrought in the souls of the individual members by the
Holy Spirit. It was the character and source of this
principle which gave it superiority to all the influences
of earth. This it was which, uplifting and ever the
same, imperishable and invincible, rendered all causes
of decay or failure utterly harmless. This explains all.
It continued from year to year without extinction or
diminution. It came down from a celestial Source that
was not subject to fluctuation and that could not be de-
stroyed. It gave a life and a fervor which nothing
could subdue. In a word, all that which the wisdom of
this world could not fathom is explained by the divine
testimony: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lord.”
This supreme love and loyalty to God and his truth
which animated the fathers as well as their descendants
has been the secret source of prosperity in all our gen-
erations. It raised up a bulwark stronger far than
human hands could build against all enemies—even
against the ravages of time. It strengthened the hands
of the generations of the faithful when discouragements
31
482 PRESB YTER Y OF THE LOG COLLEGE,
and toil and time would have worn them out. It
afforded a beauty, a unity and a harmony to all the en-
terprises, of whatever age or place, which gave to this
Presbytery its ever-abiding identity and its concentra-
tion of forces in the one glorious work of building up
the kingdom. It bound the generations together with
a secret cord soft as love could twine, yet stronger far
than any which human researches have discovered.
The centre of that never-dying love was the throne of
God, and its rays have beamed down into every church
and into every year of the passing ages. It is still as
bright and as warm and as benign in its influences as
it was in the beginning.
XVII.
THE CHEERING HOPE OF MEETING THE FATHERS
HEREAFTER. 1- :
We have now become familiar with those precious
men, ministers and elders, who in the various genera-
tions were raised of God to take the lead in the blessed
cause which is so near to his heart. Our long-con-
tinued study has brought them very close to us, so that
we now regard them as dear personal friends. In im-
agination they stand before us as well-tried acquaint-
ances in company with whom we have gone through
their trials and their victories. In the pages of the his-
tory we have seen so much of their heroic work, and at
this distance of time we are able to judge so justly of
its results, and time has so effaced their defects, that it is
possible they seem greater to us than they appeared to
the Church in their own day. And, in addition to all,
we have entered into their work and are now reaping
its rich fruits. -
Shall we not some day see them face to face 2 Shall
TEACHINGS OF THE NINESCORE YEARS. 483
we not meet them hereafter in that celestial home into
which long ago they were permitted to enter, and into
which we also hope to receive admittance after our toils
and struggles in the same cause which was so dear to
them shall have come to an end ? Would it not be a
wondrous bliss to us in those happier ages if permitted
to describe to them how the work which they had the
privilege of commencing was continued after they were
taken up to their rest, and how the great results which
they had never imagined flowed out from it to the glory
of Him who is the rapture of their being 2 And may
it not be that they will be permitted to explain to us
many an event of their earthly days which we had in
vain sought to unravel? Shall we not be allowed to
rejoice together—fathers and sons who, though sepa-
rated on earth by long years of time, had the honor of
taking part in the same great enterprise and helping
forward the same cause and participating in the same
glorious achievement? May it not be that we shall
there have much sweet communion concerning the in-
terests that on earth were so dear to us both 2 Victors
from the wars of time, shall not the saints rest in the
blissful regions and rehearse the conquests gained
through their Great Captain? Shall it not be that we,
bound to these fathers by the special ties of association
in the same work on the same field, shall have fellow-
ship with them in the peculiar joys of that portion of
the heavenly harvest? It is probable that we shall;
for, though we must speak modestly of what God has
not revealed, surely the old interests of earth have
projected into the future such momentous results that
throughout the ages of eternity they can never be for-
gotten.
PICTURE OF THE ORIGINAL LOG-COLLEGE BUILDING.
IN the journal of the Rev. George Whitefield record
is found which states that the Log College was a struc-
ture built of logs, and that its dimensions were twenty
by eighteen feet. Beyond this simple notice and the
name it has ever borne, the appearance of the build-
ing has thus far been a mystery. No picture, or de-
Scription even, has been supposed to be in existence.
This makes the discovery of what is the frontispiece
of this volume an event the value of which only the
antiquary can appreciate. It is a discovery for which
the author is indebted to Dr. W. S. Steen, a gentle-
man well known in San Francisco, Cal., member of
the Calvary Presbyterian church of that city and for
years superintendent of one of its Sabbath-schools, also
an eminent mineralogist and assayer.
While engaged in geological and kindred pursuits at
the Yuba mines, in California, he made the acquaint-
ance of a man named Wilson, a pious and intelligent
miner, in whom he became greatly interested. Both
being natives of Pennsylvania and members of the
Presbyterian Church, they would seek refuge on the
Sabbath in the forest from the noise and profanity of
the mine, and there study the Bible. On these days
Wilson related his previous history. He was of pious
ancestry in Eastern Pennsylvania. A grandfather had
importuned him to study for the ministry of the Church
of his forefathers, and among other inducements had pre-
484
PICTURE OF THE LOG-COLLEGE BUILDING!. 485
sented him with a Bible in which there was a picture
of “the first college established in this country for the
training of young men for the Presbyterian ministry.”
It looked as if it had been an illustration from an old
pamphlet or had been sketched by some bright youth of
the institution. The building was small and rude, of logs,
and located in Eastern Pennsylvania among the Pres-
byterians. On this picture, as a reminder of their far-
off home, the two had gazed times without number. Dr.
Steen came to have it so fixed in his imagination and
memory that he could recall it with the utmost vivid-
ness. Failing by correspondence to find either Wilson
or the Bible, at the author's solicitation he described
the picture so exactly that the designer had no diffi-
culty in reproducing it with the utmost accuracy. Of
this the doctor has given the accompanying certificate,
with the liberty of making it public:
“I do hereby certify that the accompanying engrav-
ing is an exact reproduction of ‘a picture of the first
college building in this country for the education of
young men for the ministry of the Presbyterian
Church in Eastern Pennsylvania, and which was con-
structed of logs,” which I very frequently saw in the
Bible of a pious miner of the Yuba mines of Califor-
nia, and which he had received as an heirloom from a
grandfather whose ancestral home was in that region
of the State.
“W. S. STEEN,
“San Francisco, Cal.”
In addition to this certificate, there are three corrob-
orative circumstances which leave no question but that
we have here an actual likeness of the original Log-
486 PICTURE OF THE LOG-COLLEGE BUILDING!.
College building: (1) The picture is so unique with
its two tiers of windows, so unlike the traditional log
house, that the building evidently had some special pur-
pose; (2) The grounds around the building, as seen
in the larger original picture, are precisely like the
existing grounds around the site of the Log College;
(3) In the original picture was the form of a man
standing in front of the door, which in the position,
dress and mode of wearing the hair bore an unmistak-
able likeness to the existing pictures of William Ten-
nent. All these peculiarities Dr. Steen described before
he had seen the likeness of Tennent or knew anything
else about the Log College.’
There can, therefore, be scarcely a doubt but that
in this picture we have a correct representation of the
original Log–College building, and so a treasure of the
greatest value.
I N D E X.
A.
Abington church, sketch, 209; best of
records, 209; organized 1714, 209;
for one hundred and forty-eight years
all its pastors died in the field, 210;
pre-eminence of, 210; buildings, 210;
pastors, 211; elders, 214; elements
of, 215; interesting facts, 216; other
churches out of 216; Jenkintown,
422; Carmel, 424; Fox Chase, 424.
Abington Presbytery, formation of,
172; identical with ours, 183; men
composing, 183.
Absentz, Rev. John George, sketch,
247.
Adair, Rev. Robert, D. D., sketch, 328.
Adams, Roderick, sketch, 290.
Adamson, William, commencing
Wakefield church, 413, 415.
Adopting Act, history of 62; har-
mony of doctrine in, 159; text of,
62
Alexander, Rev. A. A., D. D., testi- |
mony that Log College was the
germ of Princeton, 127; on causes
of the Great Schism, 164.
Alexander, Rev. Samuel D., D. D., in
Port Richmond, 362.
Allen township church, sketch, 374.
Allison, Judge Joseph, on William
Tennent, 72.
Amalgamation of Old and New School,
410.
American Presbyterian Church for
America, providential plan of, 3;
stages of 295; process of forming,
296; substance of all, 301; evi-
dences of, 302; building up of, 302;
plan in detail, 444.
Analysis of our history, 44.
Anderson, James, sketch, 274.
Andrews, Rev. Jedediah, sketch, 52.
Andrews, Rev. Silas M., sketch, 259;
account of his system, 261; Script-
ure studies, 261; death and funeral,
262.
Ann Carmichael church, sketch, 416;
pastors, 417; elders, 418.
Antepresbyterial period, 46.
Apostolic ten, studies of, 77; sketches
of 80; Davies' poem on, 90; work
of all and of each, 101.
Ashbourne church, sketch, 420; vig-
orous youth, 421.
Aurora church, sketch, 195, 196.
B.
Baldwin, M. W., founds
church, Frankford, 404.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the pre-
paratory stage of, 149.
Barr, Rev. Joseph, sketch, 328.
Beatty, Charles, M. D., sketch, 215.
Beatty, Rev. Charles Clinton, sketch,
111; mission of 113; a young ped-
dler, 113; pastor in Neshaminy, 114;
collecting for widows' fund, 115;
chaplain, 115; mission to the In-
dians, 116; sent to Europe, 116;
dies in Barbadoes, 117; descendants
of, 117; sketch as pastor, 224; and
Franklin, 224; family of, 225.
Beatty, Rev. C. C., D. D., of Steuben-
ville Seminary, 334.
Beatty, John, sketch, 263.
Beatty, Reading, M. D., remarkable
history of, 271.
Beeber, Rev. Thomas R., in Norris-
town, 330.
Beggs, Rev. Joseph, D. D., and Falls
of Schuylkill, 393.
Bell, Tom, the horse-thief, 109.
Belville, Rev. Jacob, D. D., sketch,
237; his seminary, 238.
Belville, Rev. Robert B., D.D., sketch,
227; great revival under, 227.
Bensalem church, sketch, 194; oldest
of all, 194; buildings, 196; pastors,
197; elders, 199.
Bºº, Frank, elder in Fox Chase,
426.
Hermon
Benson, Gustavus, sketch, 425; his
4 $7
488
INDEX. |
family and Fox Chase church,
425
Benson, Rev. Louis F., and Church of
the Redeemer, 428.
Bent, Rev. Howard, in Edge Hill,
424. -
Blair, family of 87.
Blair, Rev. John, D. D., sketch, 92;
at Fagg’s Manor, 93; at Princeton,
93; death of 94; character, 94;
epitaph, 95.
Blair, Rev. Samuel, sketch, 87; his
sister, 90; Davies' poem on, 90; as
a preacher, 91; blessed family of,
91; epitaph, 92.
Blair, Rev. Samuel, Jr., D. D., sketch,
309, 315.
Boggs, Rev. J. H., pastor of Hermon,
405
Boundaries of Presbytery, 351; fixed,
411. *
Bourne, Rev. George, sketch, 312.
Boyd, Rev. Alexander, sketch, 269.
Boyd, Rev. James, sketch, 268.
Bradford, Rev. Thomas B., sketch,
236, 313.
Brainerd church, Easton, sketch, 383.
Bridesburg church, sketch, 345; model
organization, 345; buildings, 346;
pastors, 347; Sabbath-school of,349.
Bristol church, sketch, 359; buildings,
360; pastors, 360; elders, 361; steady
progress, 361. -
Brown, Rev. Charles, and Manayunk
church, 335.
Brough, Rev. William, sketch, 198.
Buchanan, William, elder in Morris-
ville, 398.
Bumstead, Rev. T. A., in Roxborough,
387.
Burdett, Rev. Michael, sketch, 199.
Burns, Rev. Charles E., in Manayunk,
338.
Burrows, Rev. George, D. D., sketch,
269.
Bush, Rev. George C., sketch, 269.
C.
Calvinism of our first educational in-
stitutions, 305.
Calvinistic Methodists, great preach-
ers of 33.
Campbell, Rev. John, sketch,205.
Carmel church of Edge Hill, 424;
colony of Abington, 424.
Carroll, family of 238.
Carversville church, sketch, 411; pas-
tors and elders, 412.
Castor, Barton, and family in Tacony,
426; in Wissinoming, 429.
Castor, George, sketch, 290.
Catasauqua church, sketch, 377.
Centreville church, sketch, 195.
Chalfont chapel, 427.
Charles II., persecutions by, 36.
Chestnut Hill church, sketch, 378;
Dr. Owen founding, 378; buildings,
379; pastors, 379.
Chichester, Rev. Wm. J., D.D., in
Germantown, 314.
Chronicles of the churches, explana-
tory, 193. •
Churches, increase in number of 435;
organized in fifty years, 436; in
groups, 436; making war on, 474.
Church extension in pastor's vicinity,
187.
Church and country, same process, 302;
same time, 303; same place, 304;
same men, 304; same principles,
305; same prospects, 306.
Church strifes, lesson of the history of,
472; shocking evils of, 472.
Classis of Amsterdam helping the
German Calvinists, 242.
Colleges, controversy about, 161.
Collins, Rev. Chas., D. D., in Jeffer-
sonville, 355.
Colwell, Stephen, and Conshohocken
church, 363.
Common schools, John Knox father
of, 463.
Confession of Faith after Great Schism,
175.
Constitution of United States, men
framing it Calvinists, at same time
and place with men preparing Gen-
eral Assembly, 302–307; its princi-
ples all Presbyterian, 305.
Conshohocken church, sketch, 362;
first obstacles, 363; buildings of,
364; pastors, 364; elders, 365; re-
vival in, 365.
Corwin, Rev. Dr., on commencement
of Market Square church, 239.
Country, state of, at organization of
Presbytery, 48.
Country and Church, same process,
302; same time, 303.
Cradle of the Presbyterian Church,
this Presbytery the, 5.
Creed, adopting the, 61.
Crisis of the Great Schism, 169.
Culver, Rev. Andrew, in Manayunk.
338.
Curious deliverances, specimens of,
186.
INDEX.
489
ID
Davie, Rev. J. T. Marshall, sketch,
288.
Davies, Rev. Samuel, D. D., poem on
the Log College evangelists, 90.
Davis, General, on Tinicum church,
276.
Davis, Rev. J. B., sketch, 348.
Deal, John, sketch, 291.
Decade 1841–1850, new churches in,
353.
Decade 1851–1860,
373.
Decade 1861–1870,
402.
Decade 1871–1880,
411
Decade 1881–1888,
422.
Deep Run church, transferred to our
Presbytery, 184; sketch, 252; de-
cline, 255; buildings, 255; pastors,
256.
Denominations, our members going
to other, 438.
Dinsmore, Rev. A. A., in Bridesburg,
348.
Disston, Mrs. Henry, builds Tacony
church, 426.
Disston Memorial church, sketch, 426;
mission of the Frankford church,
426.
Diver, Rev. C. F., in Jeffersonville,
355. *
Doak, Rev. John W., sketch, 287.
Doylestown church, sketch, 251; be-
ginnings of, 254; epochs of, 255;
buildings, 255; pastors, 256; elders,
263; present prosperous state, 264.
Dripps, Rev. J. Frederick, D.D., in
Germantown, 314.
Dubbendorf, Rev. Samuel, sketch, 29.
DuBois, John L., Esq., record of, 264.
DuBois, Rev. Uriah, sketch, 259; fam-
ily of 259.
Dunlap, Rev. William, sketch, 212.
Dunn, Rev. Thomas, sketch, 311.
Durham church, sketch, 319; passed
away, 322; ministers, 321; elders
of 321.
Dutch Reformed came to Northamp-
ton through William Penn, 200;
first in Germantown, 240.
new churches in,
new churches in,
new churches in,
new churches in,
E}.
Easton church, sketch, 375; for years
in this Presbytery, 375.
Ecclesiastical relations not understood
at first, 162.
Eckard, Rev. James Read, D. D.,
sketch, 218.
Eckard, Rev. Leighton W., in Abing-
ton, 214.
Eddington church, beginning of, 195;
fine new edifice, 197; present pros-
perity, 202.
Educated ministry, the fathers required
an, 72; object of Log College, 73; a
stage of God’s plan, 73; and the
New Light schism, 161; young
preachers must have their sermons
examined, 187; censure for preach-
ing without a license, 187; lesson
of ninescore years, 453; dangerous
to tamper with, 453; bulwark of the
Church, 451.
Bducation and Presbyterianism, a les-
son from, 462.
Edwards on Whitefield, 137.
Eighteen hundred thirty-two, events
of, 341.
Eighteen hundred thirty-three, events
of, 342.
Eighteen hundred thirty-four, events
of 343.
Eighteen hundred thirty-five, events
of 343.
Eighteen hundred thirty-six, events
of 343.
Eighteen hundred thirty-seven, events
of 344.
Eighteen hundred thirty-eight, events
of 344.
Eighteen hundred thirty-nine, events
of, 344.
Elders, bulwark of our Church, 454;
lesson of ninescore years, 454; the
pastor's aid, 455; aid to the people,
456; model specimens, 455; evils
of rotation, 456.
Elective-Affinity Presbytery’ what is
an, 341.
Eminent ministers from Log College,
78.
English element of the Presbytery,
32
Epoch of General Assembly, 299.
Errors, blighting effects of 467.
Establishment, stage of 293,
Evans, Rev. David, censured for
preaching without a license, 187;
sketch, 205.
Experience, invaluable teachings of,
440; of the Presbytery gathered up,
442; of the Presbytery most valu-
able, 442; one mind grasping, 444,
490
INDEX.
F.
Fagg’s Manor, great revival at, 88;
and Samuel Blair, 88; academy, 89;
John Blair at, 93. -
Falls of ministers, lessons of the, 475;
slanders about, 476; only two on our
records, 476.
Falls of Schuylkill church, sketch,
392; , steps of its progress, 392;
buildings and elders, 394.
Fathers, deep piety of the, 190.
Fetters, Casper W., elder in Hunting-
don Valley, 400.
Finley, Rev. Samuel, D.D., sketch,
95; family, 95; early piety, 95; es-
tablished Nottingham Academy, 96;
president at Princeton, 97; person
and character described, 98; tri-
umphant death, 99; in the Great
Schism, 166.
First ministers, residences of, 55.
First Presbytery, ministers and
churches composing, 55; organiza-
tion of 55; proofs that ours was the,
182, 186; the fact of 186.
Focus of the first movements of the
Church, this the, 181. -
Foehring 2 Rev. Christian F., who was,
28; sketch, 248.
Forks of the Delaware, important set-
tlement at, 374.
Forrestville church, sketch, 369; strug-
gles, 370; buildings, 370; pastors,
370; elders, 371.
Foundation period, 57; events of 58.
Founding of Log College, 73.
Fox Chase church, sketch, 424.
Frankford church, branch of Market
Square, 242; organization of, 280;
Swiss colony, 281; beginnings of,
281; the four founders of 282;
dedication, 282; becomes Presby-
terian, 283; pastors, 285; elders,
289; Sabbath-school of 291; Lu-
theran and Baptist churches out of,
292; buildings, 284; a prison in
Revolution, 291; its old academy,
292, 465; mother of churches, 292;
present pastorate, 292.
1Franklin, Benjamin, Dr. Beatty and
the rum, 224.
Fugitives, all our forefathers were, 41.
Fulton, Rev. William, in Consho-
hocken, 365. -
GH.
General Assembly, need of 297; pe-
riod of, 300; organization, 301.
Generation of Presbyterians, taking
root, described, 294.
German Calvinists, element of the
Presbytery, 26; missionaries of 28,
30; at Germantown, 241; who were
they?.281; thoroughly orthodox,308.
German language, difficulties about
the, 308. - -
Germantown First church, sketch, 308;
beginnings of, 309; buildings, 310;
pastors, 311; elders, 315; noted for
liberality, 318; thorough organiza-
tion, 318.
Germantown Second church, sketch,
394; pastors, 396; elders, 397; dea-
cons, 397; liberality of 397.
Germs of the Presbytery, 42.
Gleisser, Rev. Henry G., pastor in
Carversville, 412.
Gould, Rev. Samuel M., pastor in
Norristown, 329.
Gould, Rev. William R., elder in
Pottstown, 369.
Grace church, sketch, 422; pastors
and elders, 423.
Gray, Rev. John, D.D., sketch, 376.
Great Awakening, sketch, 132; Hat-
field on, 134; mission of, 135.
Great Schism, what was it 2 155; con-
dition of the Church then, 156; the
time of, 156; tendencies leading to,
158, 162; no doctrinal differences,
158; specific causes of, 163–165, 167;
essence of the controversy, 167; cri-
sis, 169; lasted seventeen years, 170;
beginning to heal, 171; reunion, 174;
spirit of the reunion, 176; growth
during the separation, 176; the men
and their work, 177; circumstances
made it inevitable, 178; results at
the time, 178; permanent effects,
179; settled principles, 179; an-
nealed, 179.
Great Valley, great revival under Row-
land, 107.
Grier, Rev. James, sketch, 258; fam-
ily of 258.
Grier, Rev. M. B., D. D., sketch, 381.
Grouping churches, good sample, 358.
Growth of Presbytery in one hundred
years, 437.
BI.
Halsey, Rev. Job F., D. D., sketch,
330.
Hamil, George, in Edge Hill, 424.
Hamill, Robert, and his descendants,
207; elder in Norristown, 331.
INDEX.
491
Harlow, Mr., sketch, 198.
Harlow, Rev. James I, organizing
Bristol church, 359.
Harper, John, sketch, 290.
Harris, Rev. Franklin D., in Bristol,
Harrison, Mrs. Benjamin, ancestors of,
231.
Hartpence, Rev., at Holmesburg, 386.
Hatfield, Rev. Edwin, D.D., on the
Great Awakening, 134; on the
churches' loyalty, 192.
Helffenstein, Rev. J. C. Albertus,
sketch, 28, 247.
Helffenstein, Rev. Albertus, Jr., sketch,
249.
Helffenstein, Rev. Jacob, D. D., sketch,
248; family of 249.
Hendrie, W. L., M.D., sketch, 263.
Henry, Rev. Alexander, pastor of
Hermon, 405.
Henry, Joseph, and family, 207.
Henry, T. Charlton, and family, 316.
Hereditary piety, lesson of the years,
457; how it can be proved, 458; this
Presbytery the best-known instance
of, 460; families in proof of, 460;
in family of the Blairs, 460; is posi-
tive, 460; benefits of, 461 ; the su-
preme lesson of our history, 462.
Herman, Rev. Leibrecht, sketch, 29,
248.
Hermon church, sketch, 404; build-
ings, 404; pastors, 405.
Hickey, Rev. Yates, in Torresdale, 418.
History of the Presbytery in detail,
43; epochs of, 43; a thesaurus, 5,
431; why we write it, 11; what we
would commemorate, 12; how we
would write, 13; what we have
written, 431.
Hodge, Rev. Archibald A., D.D., first
schools all Calvinistic, 305.
Holmesburg church, sketch, 384; Rob-
ert Pattison founder of, 384; offshoot
from Frankford, 384; buildings,
384; pastors, 386; elders, 386.
Howard, Rev. William D., D. D.,
sketch, 288, 316.
Huntingdon Valley church, sketch,
399; colony of Abington, 399; build-
ings, 401; pastors, 401; elders, 401.
I.
Impartiality in our work, 193.
Increase in churches in Presbytery,
435.
Influences, power of the first, 57.
Intrusions into other churches, 164.
Ireland, persecutions in, 37.
Irving, Rev. Leslie, sketch, 374.
Irwin, Rev. Nathaniel, sketch, 226.
Ivyland, chapel, 236.
J.
Jeffersonville church, sketch, 354;
buildings, 354; pastors, 355; elders,
356; change of name unwise, 357.
Jenkintown, Grace church in, 422.
Jenks, Alfred, coming to Bridesburg,
348; sketch, 348.
Jenks, Barton H., built Bridesburg
church, 346, 347.
Jenks, Rev. William A., sketch, 348.
Jones, Rev. Malachi, sketch, 208.
Jones, Rev. William E., sketch, 230.
Junkin, Rev. George, D. D., sketch,
312.
E.
Kennedy, Catharine, sketch, 118;
comes to America, 119; real founder
of Log College, 119; immense influ-
ence, 120; her name to be placed
highest of all, 121.
Kennedy, Rev. Mr., sketch, 68.
Knox, Rev. J. H. M., D. D., in Ger-
mantown, 314; in Bristol, 360.
Krewson, Rev. Jacob B., in Forrest-
ville, 371.
L
Lady Huntingdon and the Great Re-
vival, 133.
Landis, Rev. Robert, D. D., sketch,
204.
Langhorne church, sketch, 428; on
site of Bensalem, 428.
Lawndale church, sketch, 429.
Lawsuits among brethren condemned,
189.
Lee, Rev. Henry F., sketch, 368.
Leidytown church, sketch, 427.
Leverington church, sketch, 419.
Location of the Presbytery, 47.
Loch, John W., Ph.D., elder in Nor-
ristown, 392.
Log College not duly appreciated, 66;
focus of first movements of the
Church, 67; Presbytery should pre-
serve its memory, 67; origin of, 71;
design of, 71; founding of 73, build-
ing of 74; description, 75; location
of 75; site of, 76; Whitefield's de-
492
INDEX.
scription, 76; smallness at first, 77;
first students of, 77; daily life of,
77; Log College evangelists, 78; in-
debtedness of Presbyterian Church
to, 79; training at, 79; inestimable
value of 79; Alexander on, 79; spe-
cial work and description, 101; em-
inent sons of 117; germ of Prince-
ton College, 121, 127, 128; influence
on all our institutions, 130; White-
field on, 147; Whitefield's influence
on, 151; our first ministers from,
158; great men trained at, 166;
monument needed, 239; Oakland
Female Institute from, 334.
Log College evangelists, work of, 101.
Long, important family, 320.
Long, Rev. A. W., in Lower Merion,
415.
Long, Morgan, sketch, 319, 321.
Lots used in former times, 187.
Lower Merion church, sketch, 415.
Lowrie, Rev. Samuel, D. D., sketch,
214; at Jenkintown, 422.
Loyalty of Presbyterian Church in
the Revolution, 191.
Loyalty to Christ, lesson of the his-
tory, 480; secret of success and per-
petuity, 481 ; of our Church, 191.
M.
Macalester Memorial church, sketch,
418.
Maclean, Rev. John, D.D., LL.D., on
relation of Log College to Prince-
ton, 128.
Mallory, Rev. Daniel G., in Norris-
town church, 391.
MacKellar, Thomas, Ph.D., elder in
Germantown, 317.
Makemie, Rev. Francis, sketch, 53.
Manayunk church, sketch, 335; be-
ginnings of, 335; buildings, 337;
pastors, 337; present prosperity, 339.
Mann family, 216.
Mann, John, sketch, 263.
Market Square church, sketch, 239;
epochs of 240; Dutch Reformed at
first, 240; beginnings of 241; Sup-
plied by Classis of Amsterdam,243;
Zinzendorf ºrp.; 244; fine build-
ings of, 245; log building at first,
245; pastors, 247; elders, 250;
Washington worshiping in, 251;
enterprising, 251.
McAskie, Rev. Joseph, in Norristown,
391. *
McCosh, Rev. James, D. D., LL.D.,
common schools originated with
Presbyterians, 462.
McCurdy, J. C., elder in Lower Mer-
ion, 416.
McDowell, Robert, elder in Slating-
ton, 383.
McFetridge, Rev. N. S., D. D., in
Wakefield, 414.
McHenry, Rev. Francis, sketch, 252;
very prominent, 257; epitaph, 258.
McIlvaine, Bishop, tribute to Dr.
Biggs, 287.
McKeen, Thomas, elder in Easton, 375.
McMonagle, Rev. M. D., sketch, 338.
McMurray, Rev. Joseph, sketch, 198.
McNair, family of 272.
Miller, Rev. Samuel, D. D., on Sam-
uel Blair, 91.
Milliken, Rev. Samuel J., sketch, 269;
in Ann Carmichael church, 417.
Milner, William W., elder in Tacony,
427.
Ministers, need of, at first, 72; whence
came the first, 158; piety in, to be
cultivated, 191; falls of 475.
Miracles, Tennent's trances were, 111.
Mitchell, Joseph B., elder in German-
town, 316.
Mitchell, Thomas D., M.D., in Frank-
ford, 291.
Morgan, Rev. J. J. A., in Bridesburg,
347.
Morris, Rev. Robert D., D.D., in New-
town, 269.
Morrisville church, sketch, 397; Tren-
ton should care for, 398.
Mount Airy church, sketch, 421.
N.
Nassau, Rev. C. W., sketch of 206,
328.
Nationalities, countries from whence
came, 161; commingling of 265.
Neill, Rev. William, D. D., sketch,
313.
Nesbit, Rev. Joseph, D. D., in Con-
shohocken, 365; in Norristown Sec-
ond, 372.
Neshaminy of Warminster, sketch,
235; buildings, 235; chapel at Ivy-
land, 236; pastors, 236; elders, 237.
Neshaminy of Warwick, sketch, 219;
founded 1726, 219; in Old and New
School troubles, 220; admirable di-
vision of the property, 220; pastors,
222; elders, 230; old graveyard, 284;
memorable events, 234; Old and
New Light division, 254.
INDEX.
493
New birth, controversies about, 163.
New England germ in the Presbytery,
31
New Lights, what meant by, 163.
New Light Schism, what was it? 155;
conditions of the Church then, 157;
time of, 156; tendencies leading up
to, 158, 162; no doctrinal differ-
ences, 158; specific causes of, 163,
165.
Newportville church, sketch, 195, 197.
Nimmo, Rev. Gershom H., sketch,
237.
Noble, Rev. William B., D. D., in
Norristown, 330.
Norristown Central church, sketch,
390; buildings, 390; pastors, 391;
elders, 391.
Norristown, First church, history of,
325; Old and New School troubles,
326; buildings, 327; pastors, 328;
revivals, 329; elders, 330.
Norristown Second church, sketch,
371; buildings, 372; pastors, 372;
now reviving, 373.
Norriton church, sketch, 202; first
trace of Presbyterianism is here,
202; commenced 1714, 203; great
revival in, 204; eminent families
from, 204; pastors, 204; elders, 206.
Nottingham Academy established by
Dr. Finley, 97; eminent group at,
97.
O
Dakland Female Institute and Dr.
Ralston, 332.
Old and New Light Schism, what was
it? 155; tangled events of, 341.
Organization of General Assembly,
need of 297; epoch of 297, 299;
the four years of, 300.
Organization of Presbytery, need of,
54; effected, 55.
Osbourne, Rev. Truman, sketch, 249.
Owen, Rev. Roger, D. D., founder of
Chestnut Hill church, 378.
P.
Pacificator, Gilbert Tennent's, 175.
Palatinate, persecutions in, 38.
Pastors should work up neighborhood
of their churches, 468.
Pattison, Robert, elder in Holmesburg,
384, 386.
Pº, Rev. Philip R., in Frankford,
286.
Penn, William, and the Dutch Re-
formed, 200.
People, special, of this Presbytery,
449.
Pequa Academy, importance of 89.
Periods of the history, 45.--
Period of Reunion, 407.
Period of confirmation, sketch, 295.
Persecuted, all the germs of Presby-
tery from the, 35.
Persecutions of Scotch-Irish, 36; of
Germans, 38; of the Puritans, 39;
in Holland, 39; of the Welsh Cal-
winists, 40; benefits from, 41.
Pew-rents must be paid, 189.
Plumsteadville church, sketch, 402.
Port Kennedy church, sketch, 357;
elders, 358; pastors, 358; brighten-
ing prospects, 359.
Port Richmond church, sketch, 362;
in this Presbytery first, 362.
Potter, Thomas, elder in Chestnut
Hill, 381; built Ann Carmichael
church, 417.
Pottstown church, sketch, 366; build-
ings, 367; pastors, 367; elders, 368;
schools in, 369.
Powel, Joseph B., elder in Port Ken-
nedy, 359.
Preaching of pastors to be reported
on, 191; the truth alone, 465; the
Scriptures only, 478; sensational,
abominable, 479.
Preaching the word only, lesson of the
history, 477; why? 478; if not,
what ? 478.
Presbyterianism began in this country
with founding of Presbytery, 53;
persecuted at first, 51; tested by its
effects, 441; imperishable, 447; trials
it has passed through, 448; for the
people, 449; and education, lesson,
462–465.
Presbytery, the, cradle of the Presby-
terian Church, 5; characteristics of,
18; important history, 18; location
of, 19; mother of churches, 20; dis-
cipline it has received, 21; germs
from which it grew, 25; place and
time of its organization, 46; vicissi-
tudes of, 132; changes of 173; vari-
ous names of, 173, 174; focus of our
Church’s first movements, 181; same
with Abington, 183; as it entered
the General Assembly, 185; no new
churches from 1770 to 1810, 293;
early growth of 296; strength of, at
time of disruption, 351; boundaries
of 351; various names of, 407; vicis-
494
INDEX.
situdes, 407; at time of Reunion,
407; epochs of, 408; lineage of, 409;
certainly the original first Presby-
tery of Philadelphia, 409; bird’s-
eye view of, 410; Old and New
School amalgamated, 410; elements
of, at Reunion, 411; present strength
of, 431; increase in numbers, 434;
increase in churches, 435; growth
in a hundred years, 437; fair field
for trying it, 441; seminaries and
schools in, 464; no error ever in,
466; responsible for its field, 467;
loyalty to Christ the secret of its
prosperity, 480.
Preston, Rev. William K., sketch, 230.
Princeton College sprung from Log
College, 121; and Log College same
object, 122; commenced as Log Col-
lege closed, 123; Log-College men
at founding of 124; spirit of Log ||
College in, 125; should follow spirit
of Log College, 129.
Principles of Church and State the
same, 305.
Progress in the Presbytery, 433; in-
crease in numbers, 434.
Q.
Quakers a germ of the Presbytery, 34.
R.
Ralston, Rev. J. G., D.D., LL.D.,
sketch, 332; and Oakland Female
Institute, 332.
Ramsey, Charles, a founder of Brides-
burg church, 346, 349.
Records of churches, preserving, 442;
value of 443; loss of, 443; Presby-
tery should care for, 443; sugges-
tions for, 444.
Redeemer, church of, sketch, 428.
Red Hill church same as Tinicum,
275.
Religious movements when Presby-
tery organized, 50.
Reunion after New Light Schism, 174;
terms of 174; after Old and New
School disruption, 407.
Revivals under preaching of Rowland,
107; in Pennington, 106; in Law-
renceville, 106; in Great Valley
church, 107; of our early history,
133; our Church founded in, 149;
perversions of 160; dangers after,
160.
Revolutionary times, trials of 189.
Reynolds, Herbert, a founder of
Bridesburg church, 346.
Roxborough church, sketch, 387; at
first Dutch Reformed, 387; pastors,
388; elders, 389.
Runkle, Rev. John William, sketch,
30, 249.
e º S.
Same time, Church and government
formed at, 303.
Satan perverting revivals, 160.
Schlatterer, the missionary, 240.
Schofield, John, marvelous conversion
of, 429.
Scotch-Irish element in our Church,
27; who were they? 36; persecu-
tions they suffered, 36.
Scotland persecuted by Charles II., 36;
home of public schools, 463.
Scott, John, family of 233; ancestor
of Mrs. Harrison, 233.
Scott, Rev. James, sketch, 385. -
Second Presbytery of Philadelphia,
period, 340; tangled events of its
formation, 341; acts constituting,
342; of the Synod, 343; final action .
touching, 344. -
Separation period, 351; state of the
Presbytery then, 351; parties utterly
distinct then, 352; composition of
then, 352. -
Shields, Rev. Edward P., D. D., in
Bristol, 361.
Short pastorates, evils of, 469.
Slack, family of 270.
Slatington church, sketch, 382.
Smith, eminent ministerial family,
90.
Smith, Rev. Randolph A., in Norris-
town, 329.
Smith, Rev. Robert, D. D., commences
Pequa Academy, 89.
Snowden, Benjamin, M.D., in Hunt-
ingdon Valley, 400.
Snowden, Colonel J. Ross, sketch, 201.
Snowden, Miss Rebecca, in Hunting-
don Valley, 400.
Sources of information enumerated,
15.
Spayd, Rev. Henry E., in Forrestville,
370
Springfield church, sketch, 389; pas-
tors, 389.
Stages of God's plan enumerated, 295.
Stated clerks, list of 345.
State of the world when General As-
sembly organized, 298.
INDEX.
495
Stead, Rev. Benjamin, D.D., in Brides-
burg, 347.
Steel, Rev. Robert, D. D., sketch, 213;
commenced Huntingdon Valley
church, 399; also Jenkintown
church, 422.
Stewart, Rev. Calvin, D. D., descrip-
tion of Pequa Academy, 89.
Stewart, Rev. William B., D. D., in
Pottstown, 368.
Swiss element in our Presbytery, 281.
Synod, constituted, 58; acts constitut-
ing the first, 58.
Synod of Delaware, formation, 343.
T.
Teachings of the ninescore years gath-
ered up, 6; chapter on, 440; inval-
uable, 441.
Tendencies leading to the New Light
Schism, 158, 160, 161.
Tennent, Rev. Charles, sketch, 86.
Tennent, Rev. Gilbert, sketch, 80;
Whitefield on, 81 ; preaching of
81; greatest preacher of the land,
82; A. A. Alexander on, 82; in
private life, 83; in the Great Schism,
165; healing the schism, 175.
Tennent, Rev. John, sketch, 85; death
of 86.
Tennent, Rev. William, Jr., sketch,
83; trance and other marvels, 84,
111; trial for perjury, 110.
Tennent, Rev. William, Sr., sketch,
68; arrival in this country, 60, 96;
four sons of 70; character, 70; en-
ergy of 257; visits Whitefield, 145;
described by Whitefield, 147; con-
ference with Whitefield, 148; pas-
tor in Neshaminy, 158, 160, 161.
Tennent, Rev. William M., D. D.,
sketch, 206, 211.
Tennent school at Neshaminy, 234.
Tennent's upper congregation? what
was, 252.
Territory of the Presbytery, 352;
keeps up our identity, 407.
Test of Presbyterianism, 441.
Testimonies that the Log College was
the germ of Princeton, 126.
Thesaurus of the Presbytery, 5, 14.
Thomas, David, elder of Catasauqua,
377.
Thompson, Rev. John C., D. D., in
Pottstown, 368.
Thompson, Thomas M., elder of Sole-
bury, 324.
Thompson Memorial church, sketch,
322; pastors, 323; elders, 324;
change of name condemned, 325;
now reviving, 325.
Time of organization of Presbytery,
48
Timicum church, sketch, 274; minis--
ters in, 277; buildings, 277; pastors,
277; elders, 278; sad declining of,
279.
Tobacco, minister's supply ordered,
189
Torbert, family of 271.
Torresdale church, sketch, 418.
Transferring churches, 284.
Treat, Rev. Richard, sketch, 211.
Tremont Seminary and Prof. Loch,
392.
Truth, adherence to, a lesson of the
history, 465; stick to it alone, 467.
Turner, Rev. Douglas K., testimony
that Log College was germ of
Princeton, 126; sketch of 229.
Tustin, Rev. Septimus, D. D., sketch,
313.
Tyreman on Whitefield, 144.
V.
Vanarsdalen, family of 272.
Vandegrift, family of, 201.
Van Dyke, Rev. Henry J., D. D., in
Germantown, 313.
Van Vleck, Rev. Paul, sketch, 198;
in Germantown, 241.
W.
Wakefield church, sketch, 413; build-
ings, 414; pastors, 414; elders, 414.
Wales, great revival of 33.
Waller, Rev. Wm. B., in Norristown,
330.
Wanamaker, John, built Jenkintown
church, 422.
War injurious to religion, 294,403.
Warring against the Church, lesson of,
472.
Welsh Calvinistic element of the Pres-
bytery, 33, 34; Whitefield leader of,
139.
Wesley, John, and Whitefield, 137;
Whitefield's appeal to, 138; sermon
on Whitefield, 144.
West Jersey churches connected with
us, 185.
Whitefield, preaching of 32; on Gil-
bert Tennent, 81; visit of, 132;
sketch of 135; mission of, 135;
joins the Oxford Methodists, 136;
496
INDEX.
associates with the Wesleys, 137;
his preaching, 137; visits America,
137; Edwards on, 138; his deep
piety, 138; his appeal to Wesley,
138; a Calvinist, 139, 142; mission
and qualifications for, 139; descrip-
tion of 140; Franklin on, 140; and
Chesterfield, 141; persecuted, 141;
Dr. Patterson on, 141; at Lady
Huntingdon's, 141; effect on Phil-
adelphia, 145; activity of 143;
thirteen times across the Atlantic,
143; death of 143; visits Nesham-
iny, 145; Tyreman on, 144; Wes-
ley on, 144; Tennent visits, 145;
preaching at Neshaminy, 147; de-
scription of Log College, 147; con-
ference with the Tennents, 148; re-
vivals under, 149; the Log College
prepared for him, 150; wonders of
his short visit, 151; imbued our
Church with the spirit of the Ox-
ford Methodists, 152; his spirit
spread through our whole Church,
152; child of Providence, 153; for
the crisis in our Church, 154.
White, Rev. William P., in Mount
Airy, 421.
Whiting, Francis, elder in Jefferson-
ville, 356.
Williams, Henry J., Esq., elder in
Chestnut Hill, 381.
Wilson, Rev. Henry R., D.D., sketch,
236
Wilson, Rev. James P., Jr., D. D.,
sketch, 325.
Withrow, Rev. John L., D. D., in Ab-
ington, 214.
Wissinoming church, sketch, 429; off-
shoot of Frankford, 429.
Wood, Rev. Chas., D.D., in German-
town, 315.
Woods, Rev. A. Miller, sketch, 238.
Work, Rev. Wm. R., founding Potts-
town church, 366, 367.
World, state of, at organization of
Presbytery, 49.
Wright, Rev. John E., D.D., in Mar-
ket Square, 250.
Wright, Hon. Richardson L., statistics
furnished by, 434.
Wylie, Rev. A. McElroy, in Newtown,
270.
Wyºp remarkable family of,
273
Wynkoop, William, elder in New-
town, 274.
Y.
Yerkes, family of 215.
Yost, Hon. Jacob, founding Pottstown
church, 366; sketch, 368.
Yost, Mrs. Jacob, founding Pottstown
church, 366, 368.
Z.
Zinzendorf, Count, sketch, 243; in
Market Square, 244; various rec-
ords of his visit, 244; his mission
like Whitefield's, 244.
A BE2IB N DIX.
CELEBRATION OF THE FOUNDING OF THE LOG
COLLEGE, SEPT. 5, 1889.
FOLLOWING the preparation of this volume, and growing out of
it, there was held on September 5, 1889, the year which is the cen-
tennial anniversary of the organization of the General Assembly, a
Gelebration which was so extraordinary in every respect that the
author was persuaded to delay the issuing of the book until a
description of that noteworthy event could be prepared as an
appendix. The commemorative occasion was marked by so many
favoring providences; it drew together such a vast assembly; it
was so cordially advocated by the public press; it was honored by
the presence of so many distinguished people; it had with it such
hearty good-will from all classes, all parties and all denominations,
—that it cannot but be regarded as a most remarkable and signif.
icant event. It was the more noteworthy in that such results were
entirely unanticipated. In the beginning its friends had no higher
purpose than an ordinarily important reunion, and all its vast pro-
portions were developed as the work of preparation progressed.
The celebration grew out of the continued study of its history
which had been undertaken by direction of the Presbytery. As
that study progressed and led to the minute investigation of points
in the history which had not come in the way of previous explorers,
certain new and striking facts were discovered. How should these
important facts be rescued from oblivion and brought to the atten-
tion of those who are interested in the cause of religion? Evidently
Some extraordinary thing must be done for that purpose. This was
the first impulse that prompted to our wonderful celebration. What
else would be so well adapted to awaken the attention of the Chris-
tian public to our strangely interesting history?
It became more and more manifest to us at every step that we
were following the leadings of Providence. Plans of preparation
32 497
498 APPENDIX.
opened up to us which were not of our contriving, friends volunteered
us aid for which we did not look, and prosperity met us for which
we had not dared to hope. All these things cheered us with an
increasing assurance that our undertaking was from God and that
the effects of our work would be for his glory. This conviction
gave firmness to every step we took, and bore us onward even when
we encountered many things to discourage.
As the celebration itself will doubtless become historical, and
will prove to be a climax and a landmark in the way in which
God is leading our branch of his Church, we enter somewhat
minutely into its events and give some of the more important
elements of our success. Among them we place on record (1) The
deep feeling that we had an important object before us—an achieve-
ment that would bring honor to the name of our Lord through the
promoting of his cause and the strengthening of the credit of his
Church. (2) The assurance growing stronger and stronger that
the favor of God was with us, that our many prayers were being
answered, and that a wisdom higher than our own was our reliance.
(3) A very strong conviction, which our prolonged researches had
awakened, that we were working a new mine of our history—a mine
the very existence of which had scarcely been imagined before. This
gave to our whole work the charm and the impulse of novelty. (4)
The perfect harmony which from first to last prevailed among those
of us who were busy in the work. There was perfect acquiescence
in every effort. Very great difficulties and diversities of opinion
were sometimes encountered, but individual preferences were soon
yielded, and all were united in heart, aim and work. Without
envying of any kind every one cheerfully took up the part of the
work which lay in his way and for which he had qualifications.
The writer has had one source of uneasiness. He feels that he
has received more credit for the success of the great undertaking
than is his due, while other brethren whom he dearly loves have
worked as hard as he and accomplished things which he could not
have done, and yet their names are not even mentioned. He had
prepared a few paragraphs for insertion in this Appendix in which
acknowledgment should be given to such by name; but those self-
denying brethren positively refuse him the privilege of So doing.
They will not allow their names to be used lest it might seem to
ignore other brethren of the Presbytery, some of whom did aid
efficiently, and many of whom would have worked just as hard
had there been more time to organize all our forces.
APPENDIX. 499
Our celebration has been successful beyond our utmost expecta-
tions or imaginings—beyond our dreams. Every view we can take
of it gives us this assurance. The gathering was probably the
largest ever witnessed in this land for a religious purpose. Five
different estimates by five different and independent parties—esti-
mates undertaken for the express purpose and carried on systemati-
cally—put down the attendance at not less than twenty-five thousand.
So far as we can ascertain from all quarters, the satisfaction is ex-
ceedingly great and very general. The deep conviction established
in the most thoughtful minds is that results must follow that will
be of lasting importance to the cause of Christ in this land.
A description in detail of the great event is generally demanded
by those who participated in it and imbibed its spirit, as well as by
its historic importance. The brethren best qualified to give that
description by reason of their having been the leaders in their
respective portions of the work have been requested to furnish the
material needed, and have kindly done so.
THOMAS MURPHY.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE GREAT GATHERING.
Thought precedes action. Prearranged plans must lead up to
the accomplishment of all worthy purposes. And the celebration
of September 5th was not the expression of sudden impulse. On
Oct. 3, 1888, the Presbytery of Philadelphia North, at the sugges-
tion of the Rev. Thomas Murphy, D.D., took the initial step toward
such a gathering on the site of the old Log College, as should
emphasize an appreciation of the fact that the foundations of Pres-
byterianism, as an organized and aggressive force in America, were
laid within our territorial limits. The proper committees were
appointed to carry out this determination, and their several chair-
men were constituted an executive board, as follows:
Thomas Murphy, D.D., Chairman of Committee on Speakers
and Programme; the Rev. D. K. Turner, on Selecting Place;
Wm. Wynkoop, Esq., on Finance; the Rev. Chas. Collins, D.D.,
on Advertising and Invitations; Chas. B. Adamson, Esq., on Rail-
roads; the Rev. G. H. Nimmo, on Entertainment; John L. DuBois,
Esq., on Music.
Mr. Adamson's resignation on account of illness was accepted
With great regret. A most acceptable and energetic substitute was
500 APPENDIX.
found in Hamilton Disston, Esq., who kindly gave influence and
effort when and where they were most required.
Wm. Wynkoop, Esq., was also prevented from serving, because
of absence in Europe. This was a sore discouragement, and was
acquiesced in only through necessity. The writer was subsequently
designated as his successor, and acted in that capacity.
On April 30th, at a general conference of the committees, it was
decided to invite the President of the United States, Postmaster-
General Wanamaker and Gov. Beaver of Pennsylvania, each of
these distinguished officials holding the office of ruling elder in the
Presbyterian Church. Dr. Murphy and President Knox of Lafay-
ette College were instructed personally to convey this invitation
and urge its acceptance. Their mission was successfully accom-
plished. Gov. Green of New Jersey was also asked to partici-
pate, and agreed to do so if public duties permitted. Unfortu-
nately, he was not able to attend.
From this time forward the entire scheme attracted great interest,
and public opinion accorded it an importance which even its ear-
liest advocates had hardly claimed. Divine Providence was con-
spicuously propitious, and it was shown how “when God wills all
winds bring rain.” The newspapers lent their influence, Christian
brethren of other denominations offered aid and encouragement,
and success became assured.
A delicate and difficult duty was the selection of speakers. These
were chosen according to the rule that each must represent some
historical interest. J. Addison Henry, D.D., represented the Board
of Trustees of Princeton College; the Rev. D. K. Turner repre-
sented the venerable church of Neshaminy (Warwick); Joseph
Beggs, D.D., came as the present Stated Clerk of the “mother-
Presbytery;” R. M. Patterson, D.D., LL.D., one of the successors
of the distinguished Rowland in the Great Valley Church, was
designated as the proper person to discourse on the “Log College
Evangelists;” President Patton of Princeton would have represented
that institution but for a sad affliction: the dean of the college, Dr.
Murray, came instead; Richard McIlwaine, D.D., LL.D., who pre-
sides over Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, was the well-quali-
fied spokesman for the South, where the influence of the Log Col-
lege was so potential; Charles A. Dickey, D. D., appeared as the
representative of the Presbytery of Philadelphia; Dr. Ebenezer
Erskine embodied the excellencies of “Presbyterians in the Cum-
berland Valley;” S. A. Mutchmore, D.D., stood forth as the stal-
APPENDIX. 501
wart champion of the Scotch-Irish; and Dr. Knox told of the
heroic struggles, so similar to those of the Log College, which,
under God's favor, made Lafayette what it is to-day.
Simultaneously with these Presbyterial arrangements a great
popular interest manifested itself. Preparations were made to
extend a suitable welcome to President Harrison and those who
should accompany him. All classes and creeds became interested.
On Sept. 4th a telegram was received announcing that the Presi-
dent and Mrs. Harrison, Postmaster-General Wanamaker and Pri-
vate Secretary Halford would arrive at Jenkintown at 7 o'clock
P. M. Gov. Beaver, who had previously arrived, was notified, and
at the appointed hour gracefully welcomed the Chief Magistrate to
Pennsylvania. The following-named gentlemen were present to
extend the greetings of the Presbytery to President Harrison as
he entered the limits of “Philadelphia North:” the Rev. Richard
Green, Jenkintown, chairman; the Rev. L. W. Eckard, Abington;
Capt. Nicholas Baggs, Abington; J. M. Colton, Esq., Abington;
Theodore Glentworth, Esq., Abington; Roberts Stevenson, Esq.,
Abington; A. H. Baker, Esq., Jenkintown.
As the assemblage at Jenkintown was very large, the committee
decided not to detain the Presidential party. They therefore drove
to the residence of Mr. Wanamaker, where Mr. Harrison was to be
entertained. There a suitable opportunity was soon presented, and
the appreciation of the Presbytery in Mr. Harrison's presence was
cordially expressed and as cordially responded to.
It is simple justice to say, just here, that the President came at a
great sacrifice of time and personal comfort—greater, indeed, than
can be well expressed. It should be noted, as well, that obstacles
which at times seemed simply insurmountable were overcome by
the unequaled energy and kindly effort of the Postmaster-General,
who gave himself unreservedly to the task of ensuring success.
Sept. 5th was a pleasant day. At an early hour the roads were
blocked by vehicles of all descriptions. Soon the special trains
from the city brought their multitudes, who had been attracted by
the announcement of the ovation prepared for the President along
the road which he must drive over to reach the Tennent farm.
Montgomery county never before witnessed such an outpouring of
people or such widespread enthusiasm. At 8.30 the Presidential
party entered carriages in the following order: President Harrison
and Mr. Wanamaker; Mrs. Harrison and Gov. Beaver; the Rev.
Dr. Scott and Mrs. Wanamaker; the Rev. Dr. Lowrie and Mrs.
502 APPENDIX.
Dawson Coleman; Private Secretary Halford and Mrs. Lowrie.
The journey up the Old York Road at once began. The Rev.
W. A. Patton, on behalf of the Presbytery's Committee on Recep-
tion, accompanied the party. Jenkintown, half a mile away, was
quickly reached. There the flags fluttered from houses and stores,
and amid the din of ringing church-bells and cheering throngs the
residents waved their welcome from every window and doorway.
Noble Station was the next point. Hither the drum corps of the
First Regiment Band of Philadelphia had been sent by the Recep-
tion Committee of Abington. They made a striking effect in their
Scarlet uniforms, and led the way to the village, where the greatest
demonstration on the entire route was made. For two miles flags
lined the road on both sides. Telegraph-poles, fences, trees were
blazoned with the tricolor. Houses and barns were covered with
bunting. At the Abington church three hundred children stood
on the lawn, each holding a flag. Over the entrance was an arch
bearing the legend, “Abington Church, founded 1714. Greetings
to our Ruling Elders who rule our country.” Just opposite the
graves of Finley, Gilbert Tennent and Wm. M. Tennent were
suitably marked. Farther up the village was a colossal arch with
a span of sixty feet. On the right was a grand-stand accommo-
dating seven hundred ladies.
A pleasing incident here was the offering to each of the ladies of
the Presidential party of choice flowers on behalf of the Abington
Committee, the bouquet given Mrs. Harrison being composed of
exceptionally rare orchids.
Another stand was occupied by the First Regiment Band, forty-
two pieces. At this point it seemed to be a wilderness of colors,
“Iris and Aurora blended,” and none who saw will forget the sight.
The President halted three times and acknowledged the honor paid
him with evident pleasure. There were now fifteen hundred car-
riages following his, and the grand procession passed on to Hatboro’,
where similar scenes were re-enacted, although on a less elaborate
scale. The most pleasing feature was the reception tendered the
Presidential party at the residence of Hon. I. Newton Evans. G.
A. R. Post No. 101, under the command of Major Rorer, preceded
by a mounted guard led by Capt. Abram Slack and Marshal Philip
Fretz, had met the President just as Hatboro’ was reached. They
were accompanied by a band. In front of Dr. Evans's the Post
was halted and a way opened for the President to enter. Many
were here personally presented to Mr. Harrison.
APPENDIX. 503
From this point onward the Grand Army men did service for
which too much praise cannot be accorded. They cleared the road,
protected the President from all annoyance and materially facili-
tated the progress of the party. Under their guidance the Presi-
dent reached the grounds at last, again to be greeted by the twenty-
five thousand there assembled.
It was a memorable morning. When the Presbyterians of this
vicinity forget it, their piety will have languished and their patriot-
ism been lost. Quod Deus avertat.
I. W. ECKARD.
ARRANGEMENTS ON THE GROUND.
The celebration was held on historic ground formerly owned by the
Rev. William Tennent, and not far from the site of the Log College.
Mrs. Cornelius Carrell, the present owner of the farm, very gener-
ously offered to the Presbytery a beautiful field of twenty-five acres
for such uses as were desired. This field is located just west of the
house in which Mr. Tennent lived in Warminster township, about
half a mile below the village of Hartsville, eighteen miles north of
Philadelphia and nine miles from Jenkintown. The site selected
for the celebration was most convenient for all purposes. The field
was dry and had a hard sod. It was accessible both from the front
and rear, having two entrances from each quarter.
A partition fence was run in this lot, enclosing about ten acres.
This portion was reserved for holding the exercises of the day, and
no teams were allowed within the enclosure. Here three large tents
were placed, affording seats for five thousand three hundred persons,
and during the exercises not less than three thousand more were
standing outside close by, listening to the speeches. The platform
erected under the middle tent was twenty-four by sixty-four feet.
On it were seated the speakers and invited guests, also the large
choir of more than one hundred voices. The patriotic and floral
decorations of the platform and tent were very beautiful.
At a proper distance from the tents were two luncheon-stands
conducted by authorized persons. These furnished refreshments
to many thousands during the day. Several similar stands were
placed on the adjoining fields, owned by other parties. All did a
large business. A booth for receiving and checking various articles
was erected. Here many persons deposited their satchels, lunch-
baskets, etc. Three water-stands were placed at convenient points
504 APPENDIX.
and supplied every few minutes with pure, cold water from wells
near by. A hospital department was provided having three cots.
This was in charge of Dr. J. B. Carrell. A dining-tent was erected,
floored and carpeted, under which an elegant collation was served
to about one hundred distinguished guests. Twenty-nine thousand
feet of lumber were required for the various structures and for
seating.
In the portion of the field outside the enclosure a large number
of hitching-posts were planted. Twenty-five hundred teams were
accommodated and fed on this part of the ground. Fifteen hun-
dred more were tied in adjoining fields, making four thousand in all.
The day chosen for the celebration was fair and beautiful, the sky
clear, a refreshing breeze blowing from the south-east all day, and
the Sun not oppressive. As early as six o'clock in the morning car-
riages began to arrive on the grounds. An hour later all roads
leading to the place were filled with vehicles; an unbroken proces-
sion extended up from Jenkintown, and another as long came down
the York Pike. The Reading Railroad Company offered lower fare
to all who wished to attend, ran many extra trains during the day,
and conveyed two thousand eight hundred persons from Philadel-
phia and the parts of Pennsylvania adjacent—from Delaware, from
New Jersey, and not a few from New York. The large number of
conveyances running from Johnsville Station to the grounds was
ably directed by Mr. J. B. Larzelere of Jenkintown.
President Harrison and his party arrived about 11.30 P.M. After
a brief rest at the house of Mrs. Carrell, they were driven to the
grounds, where they were most cordially greeted by the assembled
thousands.
A multitude so vast as this is difficult to number, but the attend-
ance was estimated by those who were competent to judge at not
less than twenty-five thousand. Constables and detectives were
appointed to preserve order during the day, but their services were
not required. The crowds were well-behaved; no disturbance of
any kind occurred. An apple-orchard in an adjoining field laden
with choice ripe fruit was not molested.
An invitation to attend the celebration had previously been given
in the newspapers of Bucks and Montgomery counties to all minis-
ters, church officers, congregations and professional gentlemen. This
invitation was accepted by clergymen and laymen of every denomi-
nation.
It is a remarkable fact that so large a number of teams were
APPENDIX. 505
driven into the field, and so many thousands of persons were con-
veyed to and from the grounds on that day, without a single acci-
dent or an injury to man or beast.
The favor of Divine Providence was granted from the beginning
of the preparatory work to the close of the celebration, and to God
be the praise for all the joys and blessings of the notable day.
G. H. NIMMO.
THE EXERCISES.
The Executive Committee requested the writer to act as marshal
during the exercises of the Log College Celebration. He had for
his assistants forty young men from Neshaminy of Warwick,
Neshaminy of Warminister, Doylestown, Abington, Jenkintown,
Frankford, Falls of Schuylkill, Huntingdon Valley and Ash-
bourne Presbyterian churches and from the Reformed (Dutch)
churches of Churchville and Richboro’. Too much credit cannot
be given to these young men for the faithful way in which they
performed their difficult and trying duties. These aids wore a
yellow badge stamped with the words “Old Log College Celebra-
tion, September 5, 1889.”
A large choir of more than one hundred voices, under the direc-
tion of Professor J. R. Sweney, and accompanied by a full orchestra,
occupied the left of the stage and led the singing. The right of
the stage was reserved for the speakers, committees and invited
guests. The front part of the main tent was reserved for the mem-
bers of the Presbyteries of Philadelphia North, Philadelphia and
Philadelphia Central. s
At the hour of commencing the exercises every available seat was
occupied, the aisles were crowded and numbers were pressing upon
the outer edges of the tent. It was an enthusiastic and patient mul-
titude. As the ovation to the President was without political signif.
icance, simply the loyal welcome to the Executive of the Nation, so
the observer of the vast multitude could not but be struck with its
character. It was a Presbyterian celebration, but its significance
clearly had been recognized as wider than any denominational lines.
While, of course, a large majority of the people were from our own
churches, all denominations were represented. The sister Reformed
(Dutch) Church, so strong in that community, and whose sturdy
orthodoxy and fervid evangelical spirit have done so Inuch for the
Log College neighborhood, was largely represented. In the gather-
506 APPENDIX.
ing also were Methodist, Baptist, Reformed (German), Lutheran
and Protestant Episcopal clergymen and laymen of the neighbor. "
hood and from Philadelphia. Many members of the Society of
Friends were also present. The addresses were listened to with
close attention and enthusiastically applauded. Especially was
this observed at every reference to the old-fashioned orthodoxy
of our Church and predicted progress not away from, but along,
the old lines of truth.
Of course the presence of the President and of one of his Cab-
inet and of Pennsylvania's popular governor drew many to the cele-
bration, but that the occasion itself possessed the chief interest was
shown in the afternoon, when, after the President had retired, a
still larger audience crowded the huge tents and patiently endured
the heat until the programme was completed. The addresses were
worthy of the occasion, and it is to be regretted that they cannot
all be given in full in this Appendix.
One of the exceedingly pleasant features connected with the cele-
bration was the widespread interest shown in it. The secular papers
of Philadelphia and vicinity spared no pains to secure full and
accurate reports. Every one of our denominational papers devoted
a great deal of space to it, and through their editorial columns
called the attention of their readers to its significance. Not only
is this so, but nearly all the other denominational papers made
special mention of it in most complimentary terms; the New York
Independent may be quoted as expressing the sentiment of all:
“We have special reference to the celebration of the founding of the
Old Log College, which was the occasion of one of the greatest gather-
ings of Presbyterians this country has ever seen. We may simply say
that what the landing of the Pilgrims was to Congregationalism in this
country, the founding of the Log College has been to Presbyterianism.
The after-influence of the small and slender institution was not over-
estimated last week, and the vast throng, which included the President .
of the United States and the dean of Princeton, was not over-enthusiastic.
The event merited it all.”
MORNING SESSION.
At eleven o’clock, Rev. Thomas Murphy, D.D., who had been
appointed to preside by Presbytery, called the gathering to order
and introduced J. Addison Henry, D.D., of Philadelphia, who read
the hymn, “All people that on earth do dwell.” Joseph Beggs,
D. D., of Falls of Schuykill, read the Scriptures. The Rev. L.
W. Eckard of Abington offered prayer:
APPENDIX. 507
PRAYER.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth ! Heaven and earth are full
of the majesty of Thy glory. Grant unto us, just now, the spirit of
grace and supplication, and enable us to draw nigh to Thee in the full
assurance of faith. *
We give thanks for Thy goodness and the multitude of Thy mercies
in that Thou hast created us in Thine image, redeemed us by Thy Son
and sanctified us by Thy Spirit. Thou hast made us, who had nothing,
to inherit all things. Blessing and honor and glory and power be
ascribed unto Thee for evermore.
We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what
work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. Thou didst establish
a covenant with them, and didst-cast the lot of their inheritance in this
New World. We praise Thee that here Freedom was proclaimed—that
here Faith was established—that here God Himself built up Zion.
And to-day we would make mention especially of Thy favor, O Lord,
in sending to this place where we are assembled one who was permitted
to establish an institution of learning, a school of the prophets, which
became so beneficent to Thy Church, so useful to the land we love. For
all thus accomplished, for all the impulse here given to truth and right-
eousness and effort for God’s cause, we praise Thee.
And for Thy care as well over that great branch of the Church catholic
with which we are connected we offer thanks. It was as an handful of
corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains. Lo! the fruit thereof
now shaketh like Lebanon.
May our pastors and people continue to enjoy Thy governance, and,
clothed upon by Thy power, evermore discharge their several duties
according to Thy pleasure. Bless Thy heritage; purge from it all error
and corruption; confirm in it all that is right; build it up yet more and
more, Thou Holy One of Israel.
We commend to Thee our country. Make it Immanuel's land. Es-
tablish here Thy throne, King of kings. Bless Thy servant the President
of these United States and his Cabinet counselors and the governors of
our several commonwealths. May these all receive the spirit of wisdom
and so be led to seek Thy honor and the welfare, peace and happiness of
all who dwell within our borders. God bless the Church I God save the
State |
And now unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God His Father, to
Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The hymn “Praise the Lord; ye heavens, adore Him,” read by
the Rev. Charles E. Burns of Manayunk, was then sung.
At this point the Presidential party arrived. They were escorted
508 APPENDIX.
by the ushers to the platform, and received by the large audience
standing and with cheers.
The Rev. D. K. Turner of Hartsville read a paper on “The Log
College.” He said:
Rev. William Tennent, Sr., the founder of “Log College,” was an
Episcopal clergyman in Ireland, who married Miss Catharine Kennedy,
daughter of a Presbyterian minister in that country. In 1716 or 1717
he crossed the Atlantic. In 1718, being dissatisfied with the doctrines
and government of the Episcopal Church, he united with the Presby-
terian Synod. For more than six years, from May, 1720, to September,
1726, he was pastor in Bedford, N.Y., and in Stamford, Conn.
In the autumn of 1726 or the spring of 1727 he removed from Bedford.
It is possible that Mr. Tennent did not come to Neshaminy till 1727, for
he was not present at the Synod of Philadelphia, September 21, 1726.
In the graveyard-wall of the Neshaminy church of Warwick there is an
ancient stone, with the date cut on it “1727,” which was in the old
church and was carefully preserved when that building was taken down.
So far as can be ascertained, that was the year when the first house of
worship was erected in this neighborhood.
The precise spot at which Mr. Tennent resided and conducted his the-
ological seminary the first eight years is unknown. September 11, 1735,
he bought one hundred acres of land, on a part of which we now are,
of John White of Philadelphia. During the last ten years of his life he
occupied these acres now around us. His residence was on this side of
the “York Road,” and the building in which the young men studied
and recited was just opposite on the other side, only a few rods off.
The school-house was of log, about eighteen by twenty feet in size and
erhaps two stories high. In it the students spent most of the day, and
odged at night with their preceptor or with families in the vicinity.
The house which stands where his dwelling formerly stood may properly
be spoken of as his dwelling rebuilt; the west end, containing a large
stone chimney, is standing now much as it was when he resided here.
Within the fireplace of that chimney there was, until a few years since,
a wooden crane, large and strong, on which it is commonly believed the
pots and kettles hung wherein the students' dinner was boiled, and their
mush was cooked from corn grown on the ground under our feet. Be-
fore the logs were all decayed Rev. Robert B. Belville, for a long period
astor here, had a cane made from one of them and presented it to
§ººl Miller, D.D., of Princeton College.
Besides Mr. Tennent's sons, the names of the following persons have
come down to us as having been under his instruction in theology:
Samuel Blair, John Blair, Samuel Finley, D. D., Hamilton Bell, John
Rowland, William Robinson, Charles Beatty, James McCrea, John
Campbell, John Roan, William Dean, Daniel Lawrence, David Alexan-
der. Whitefield in November, 1739, spent a night with Mr. Tennent on
this property, and wrote thus concerning the seminary: “From this
despised place seven or eight worthy ministers of Jesus have lately been
sent forth; more are almost ready to be sent, and the foundation is now
laying for the instruction of many others.”
The church-edifice in which old Mr. Tennent preached is not now
standing. It was on ground which is at present included in Neshaminy
Cemetery, near the house of worship of Neshaminy congregation. His
remains lie in the graveyard, a few rods from the site of the meeting-
house in which he held forth the word of life. On the large flat marble
APPENDIX. 509
slab covering his grave it is recorded that he died May 6, 1746. His
will was made in February, 1745, and he died shortly after.
“Log College Evangelists” was the title of the address of R. M.
Patterson, D.D., LL.D., of Philadelphia, as follows:
The cautious Dr. Archibald Alexander has declared: “The Presby-
terian Church is not more indebted for her prosperity and for the evan-
gelical spirit which has generally pervaded her body to any individual
than to the elder Tennent.”
The founder of the Log College deserves that transcendent commenda-
tion because—
1. He began the movement that thoroughly Americanized and Pres-
byterianized the Presbyterian Church in America.
2. He insisted that the first and the essential qualification for a true
minister of the gospel is vital piety.
3. He held that when God bestowed extraordinary gifts upon a man,
he was not to be kept from preaching the gospel because he could not go
through a college curriculum.
4. Accepting the birthright membership of the children of members
of the Church, he contended that for full communion they should exhibit
the evidences of regeneration in the fruits of piety.
5. He believed in revival and awakening seasons.
The “Log-College evangelists” whom William Tennent trained for
the ministry leavened the whole Church with these views.
Gilbert Tennent was first a º in New Jersey. He then settled in
the Second church, Philadelphia, and left his impress on that city, which
is the metropolis of Presbyterianism in the United States.
John Tennent, spiritual and seraphic, a Robert Murray McCheyne,
died when twenty-five years of age, after a pastorate of only seventeen
months in Freehold, N. J.
William Tennent, Jr., through whose life one can scarcely resist the
conviction that there ran a line of the supernatural and the miraculous,
ºd his brother in Freehold, and continued the influence begun
y nim.
Charles Tennent, at White Clay Creek, Delaware, and Buckingham,
Maryland, helped quietly to mould what has ever since been a strong
Presbyterian region.
Samuel Blair, profoundly learned and deeply pious, labored for four
years in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, and then in Fagg’s Manor, Pennsyl-
vania, for twelve years, establishing there a classical school from which
went such men as Samuel Davies and John Rodgers. He and Gilbert
Tennent were the ecclesiastical leaders of their party in maintaining
the Log-College principles through the unhappy internecine struggles
of the Church.
John Blair, the brother of Samuel, first settled in the Cumberland
Valley at the Big Spring or Newville; then followed Samuel at Fagg’s
Manor as preacher and teacher; afterward becoming professor of the-
ology in and vice-president of Princeton College.
Samuel Finley, after itinerating as an evangelist through Southern
New Jersey, settled in Nottingham, Maryland, for seventeen years, and
instituted an academy there in which some of the most distinguished
men in the Church and State were educated, and then was the president
of Princeton College.
William Robinson, the son of an English Quaker, entered the ministry
510 APPENDIX.
from the Log College and devoted himself to evangelistic labors among
the poor and outlying populations, and during the short period of hiº
life of five years in the ministry was “the instrument in the conversion
of as many souls as any minister who ever lived in this country.”
John Rowland, a fervent Welshman, was the man whose licensure by
the Presbytery of New Brunswick against the diploma rule of Synod led
to the Schism. He too was a powerful awakening preacher; under his
ministry were wonderful works of grace wrought first at Maidenhead and
Hopewell, New Jersey, then in Eastern Pennsylvania. The elders of the
Great (Chester) Valley church, intensely Old Side in the Schism, shut
its doors and barred its pulpit against him one Sabbath morning, and
turned him into the fields to preach; the pastor of that church here
pronounces an unstinted eulogy upon him
Charles Beatty’s life was in some respects the most versatile of all.
Entering as a student and graduating, he became the successor of its
founder in the Neshamimy church, was a missionary to the Indians,
preaching the first Protestant sermon on the site of Pittsburgh, and was
the ecclesiastical diplomat of the day.
Thus these ten men, so multiform in their gifts, covered the whole
Church from New York to Carolina.
Their principles are now commonplace among us. But they were
bitterly opposed in the beginning and middle of the eighteenth century.
The Log-College men in maintaining them became in part the innocent
occasion and in part the guilty cause of a division of the Church which
lasted from 1741 to 1758.
It was the day of small things for the American Presbyterian Church.
In 1726, when the Log College was opened, there were only twenty-seven
ministers in the denomination. In 1743, on the consummated division,
there were only fifty-one. At the reunion there were only ninety-four
ministers. But the unhappy strife ended, and the Log-College principles
prevailing, the Church began to grow rapidly.
That growth, however, met with a severe check from the Revolutionary
War. Presbyterians to a man were patriots. We have not, with back-
ward step, to cover the Tory nakedness of any of our ecclesiastical
ancestors. And the destroying havoc of war surged specially over the
section of the land in which our congregations were located. The
enemy particularly hated them. These congregations were, therefore,
fearfully crippled. Comparative data show that there were not in
the whole land at the close of the war ten thousand members of our
Church. In 1807, the first year we have the official figures of com-
municants, there were only 17,871, with 330 ministers and 598 churches,
in a general population of about seven millions. There are now, in all
the branches of Presbyterianism in the land, over 10,000 ministers,
nearly 13,000 churches, over 1,500,000 communicants, fully as many
Sabbath-school members, with 26 theological seminaries, 46 colleges
and universities and academies, and schools without number, controlled
by them. Here is the Ramah of the American Presbyterian Church.
Bere began our schools of the prophets.
The same heavens are over us to-day that were one hundred and sixty-
five years ago. The same green pasture-fields (Naioth) where the sons
of the prophets abode are around us. The old beautiful scenes of Nature
are still here. But the little rustic log building, eighteen by twenty feet,
has disappeared. From it, however, were developed not merely Prince-
ton College and Seminary, Lafayette and Hampden-Sidney, which are to
be heard from to-day, but all the colleges and theological seminaries
which are training the young men of the Church for its ministry. It
APPENDIX. 511
still lives in each and all of them. And its site is still here. Verily it
is sacred. The place whereon we stand is holy ground.
President F. L. Patton of Princeton College, who was to have
been the next speaker, was prevented from attending by the death
of his little son. His place was taken by the Rev. Dr. J. O. Mur-
ray, dean of the faculty of Princeton College. Dr. Murray said
that although he was unable to trace the exact connection between
the two, he was sure Princeton owed very much of what it is to-day
to the beginning of things at Neshaminy. He liked the modesty
of those early teachers. They called their institution “Log Col-
lege,” and not “Neshaminy University.”
We owe more to the founders of institutions than to those who carry
them on. They endure the self-sacrifice of meagre salaries and attend-
ant labors. For their successors ample endowments and special depart-
ments make toil far easier.
He was glad to say that Princeton College is largely perpetuating the
spirit of the Log College. It has seventy sons of clergymen on its roll
and seventy candidates for the ministry, and contributes in free tuition
not less than ten thousand dollars a year.
No institutions are more long-lived than institutions of learning.
Roundhead and Cavalier have disappeared from English history; Oxford
and Cambridge, which looked down on their conflicts, flourish more
vigorously than ever. Such a university as that of Bologna has seen
kingdoms rise and fall and has taken a new lease of life. The work
of the men who started Log College, which resulted in the founding
of Princeton and other colleges all over our country, can only be
measured when the life of those great institutions has been fully
developed and their history fully written.
The hymn, “Come, Thou Almighty King,” read by the Rev.
Richard Montgomery of Ashbourne, was sung, after which the
Rev. Richard McIlwaine, D.D., LL.D., president of Hampden-
Sidney College, Virginia, read a careful and comprehensive paper
on “The Influence of the Log College in the South.”
He alluded to the migration of those Pennsylvanians who had come
under the influence of the Log College into Maryland, Virginia, and
North and South Carolina. He traced the visits of the Rev. William
Robinson and his successor, Samuel Davies, to those localities. and re-
ferred to the work of John Roan, Samuel Finley, the Tennents and the
Blairs in that region. He dwelt particularly on the success of Davies,
who was termed the “Apostle of Virginia,” and in quoting from a sketch
of that pioneer of the Church, said, “To no one man, in a religious point
of view, does the State owe so much. No one can claim a more affection-
ate remembrance by Christian people. If the Log College had done
nothing more than lend this incomparable man to Virginia, it would
be entitled to the everlasting gratitude, not only of the South, but of the
world, for it was through his instrumentality, in part, that the principles
of human freedom were first formally acknowledged and enacted as fun-
512 APPENDIX.
damental law. He laid particular stress on the number of institutions
founded by men who were the product of the Log College. He referred
principally to Washington College, now Washington and Lee University,
and Hampden-Sidney College, the Alma Mater of President William
Henry Harrison, and traced the history of these institutions, showing
the progress they have made under the principles of Presbyterianism.”
Concluding, he said: “And thus does the influence of the Log College
survive in the institutions it originated and in the hearts and lives of
the men it has helped.”*
Dr. Murphy, introducing President Harrison, said:
We cannot utter the weight of obligation we are under to the Presi-
dent for being with us to-day. He is here at a great sacrifice of time,
and had we known the burden that presses upon him we would scarcely
have had the heart to ask him to be here.
He suggested that the audience manifest its gratitude to the
President for his presence, which suggestion was promptly taken
up by the entire audience rising and cheering.
The President rose and bowed his acknowledgments, and Dr.
Murphy further remarked that as the President was suffering from
fatigue he would call upon him to speak at once, so as not to detain
him into the afternoon. He introduced him by saying:
“One of the sublimest sights this earth ever can afford is that of the
Chief Magistrate of sixty millions of people taking part in a religious
gathering such as this.”
President Harrison came forward amid prolonged applause. The
audience, responding to the impulse of the moment, gave three
hearty cheers.
MY FRIENDS: I have had illustrated here to-day one of the conspicu-
ous traits of the Presbyterian Church. Nothing, I assure you, short of
a robust embodiment of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints,
in the person of our distinguished brother who presides over these exer-
cises, could have overcome the difficulties which seemed to be in the way
of my meeting with you to-day. I have had also illustrated, I regret to
say, another trait, which I have observed in the non-ecclesiastical world
more than once, and very much to my discomfort, and which I thought
would be absent here. And I must trace it, I suppose, to the same
responsible source. I never, at any time, promised to make an address
on this occasion. (Laughter.) I have authorized no one to say so.
(Laughter.) Indeed, among those direful incidents which accompany
the Presidency of the United States, and which have been so graphi-
cally described by Dr. Murphy, there is none more embarrassing than
this of being constantly associated upon the platform or at the banquet-
table with gentlemen who have manuscripts in their pockets. (Laugh-
ter.) It is altogether unfair, and I expected in this great meeting of my
Presbyterian brethren more hospitable treatment. (Applause.). And yet
I have pleasure in being here, for every impulse of honorable pride
* It is to be regretted that through absence from home Dr. McIlwaine was
prevented from furnishing a fuller synopsis of his admirable paper.
APPENDIX. 513
which stirs your heart moves mine. I am glad to stand at the source
of a great movement. I have seen the Mississippi River pouring out
its great torrent into the Gulf and opening a way inland for an enor-
mous commerce, and I was glad to stand a few years ago where the
Gallatin, Jefferson and Madison combine to form the Missouri and send
it on its great course to the sea. On this spot, about which there are
gathered so many historical associations, we celebrate one of those great
impulses born of God and that will do God’s work until the world shall
cease to move. (Applause.)
I stand awed before the thought of what the great day will reveal as
the fruit of this modest but pious and courageous effort, the institution
of the Log College—the wholesome fruit of faith. Only the eye of God
can follow those tender and imperceptible filaments of mental and moral
influence that touch our lives. If it could be revealed to us to-day, how
many in this great audience, gathered from remote sections of our coun-
try, would see the silver thread by which they had been drawn into the
Church of God reaching back to efforts that were started here ! It is
pleasant to believe that that which is now hidden to our eyes will some
day be known, and that we will be able better to realize what these
men wrought for God and for mankind.
I do not want unduly to exalt the Presbyterian Church, and yet I
think the historians who have been untouched by the partiality of
membership will say that it has been, as a body, magnificently char-
acterized by faithfulness to God and human liberty. (Applause.) If
Some have supposed that it was not a progressive Church, that its creed
was hard, let us not forget that there are times in the development of
affairs, both secular and spiritual, when the rock must be opposed to the
sword of error. We have been progressive toward the truth, and not
from it. Steadfastness our enemies have called obstinacy. Well, even
that characteristic has its occasions and its services. We are to-day, as
a Church, in the most affectionate fellowship with all who revere the
great doctrines of the Christian faith and practice them. (Applause.)
The great period of polemical and acrimonious ecclesiastical discus-
sion has its day and its use. If we are now come into a day when essen-
tials have been magnified and non-essentials have been set in their subor-
dinate place, let us rejoice that we may unite our efforts with those who
would lift up mankind, and, while still loving the Church, the banner
that designates the regiment to which we belong, let us rejoice that we
are one army.
Let me kindly thank you for this most cordial and brotherly greeting.
Let me wish that this day may close under auspices as pleasant as it has
opened. I hope all will carry away from this occasion the instructive
lessons which you have heard from the manuscripts.
The exercises of the morning were concluded with the singing
of the Memorial Hymn, composed and also read by Charles Col-
lins, D. D. :
Father divine, to Thee
Humbly we bow
With reverence, godly fear;
Help us just now.
Subdued each worldly thought,
Our minds with praises fraught,
Thy gracious Spirit sought,
Bless us, we pray.
33
514 APPENDIX.
Here on this festal day,
In calm review,
Brightly through memory comes
The old and new.
Here men of God bequeathed
The “sword of truth” unsheathed
“Faith, Hope and Love” were wreathed;
Rich legacy.
Here on this hallowed spot
Glad songs we raise,
Hearts filled with gratitude,
Songs filled with praise.
Join we the rapturous song,
Now with the blood-washed throng
Saved —let the sound prolong
On this glad day.
Now let the chorus break
O'er glen and hill;
Let every voice resound
With heartfelt thrill.
Inspired be every mind,
With love and praise combined,
To God, supremely kind,
This glorious day.
O God of grace! to Thee
Fervent we pray;
Strengthen and plead Thy cause
Each passing day.
God of our fathers, hear,
Make us through life sincere,
May we our trust revere—
Accept our lay.
Preceded by the mounted escort and the Grand Army Post, the
ushers escorted the Presidential party, the speakers and a large
number of invited guests to luncheon. The blessing was asked by
the Rev. J. Witherspoon Scott, D.D., of Washington, D. C.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The first address in the afternoon was by the Rev. Ebenezer
Erskine, D.D., of Newville, Pennsylvania, on “Presbyterians of
the Cumberland Valley.”
Dr. Erskine, after describing the Cumberland Valley and
showing that its original settlers were almost exclusively Scotch-
Irish Presbyterians, then showed—
APPENDIX. 515
1. Who and what the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were.
2. That nine-tenths of those who came as early settlers of the Cum-
berland Valley were of this people.
3. That the peculiarity of the Presbyterians of the Cumberland Valley
is that here for forty years was to be seen a Scotch and Scotch-Irish Pres-
byterian settlement more universal and extended than was to be seen
anywhere else upon this continent. Their chief peculiarity was due to
the providential and religious training which they had received.
Now, what of the relation of the Log College to the Cumberland Val-
ley? Soon after the withdrawal of the New Side party from the Synod in
1741 the people of Hopewell, which included Big Spring, Middle Spring
and Rocky Spring congregations and the New Side portions of Derry,
Upper Pennsboro’, Conococheague and other parts of congregations,
sent supplications to the New Side Presbyteries of New Castle and
New Brunswick for supplies, and Revs. Campbell and Rowland were
sent to visit them.
Rev. John Rowland was a strong and impressive preacher, and his
ministry was extraordinarily blessed in what is now Lawrenceville and
Pennington, New Jersey. When he came into the Cumberland Valley
he came fresh from these revival scenes, and much in the spirit of White-
field and the Tennents. Mr. Rowland’s preaching is represented as hav-
ing been with great power and marked results through all these congre-
ations.
g In 1742, Big Spring, Middle Spring and Rocky Spring churches united
in calling Rev. John Blair, an alumnus of the Log College and a licen-
tiate of the Presbytery of New Castle, to become their pastor. Mr. Blair
continued pastor of these three congregations probably until 1756. John
Blair, like his brother Samuel, was among the most talented and gifted
ministers of his day. He is believed to have had no superior as a the-
ologian at that time. He was a man of strong convictions with respect
to the doctrines of grace, and preached them with great clearness and
force. In the inscription upon his tomb he is spoken of as a man of
genius, a good scholar, an excellent divine, an eminent Christian, a man
of great prudence and a laborious and successful minister, who lived
greatly beloved and died greatly lamented.
Rev. John Roan, an alumnus of the Log College, was settled over the
united New Side congregations of Paxton, Derry and Conewago in 1745,
and labored there until his death in 1775, and lies buried in the grave-
yard at Derry. On his tomb is inscribed, “Here lie the remains of an
able, faithful, courageous and successful minister of Christ.”
And, finally, Dr. Benjamin Rush and Governor John Dickinson,
upils of Dr. Samuel Finley, an alumnus of the Log College, while at
Nottingham, Maryland, and therefore grandsons of the Log College,
were the founders of Dickinson College.
Few parts of the Church or country therefore received a more direct
or deeper impress from the Log College than the Cumberland Valley.
Mr. William H. Scott read the hymn, “Our God, our Help in
ages past,” which was sung, after which Pennsylvania's Chief
Executive was introduced, and received with hearty applause.
ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR BEAVER.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: These surroundings are as interesting as
the occasion is peculiar. We have met to-day to celebrate the founding
516 APPENDIX.
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. This is
not the spot on which any of the earlier churches were located; this is
not, so far as I know, a special anniversary of the founding of any par-
ticular one of the early churches. We have assembled on the site .Pthe
old Log College and here hold this commemorative service, not because
the college preceded in point of time the founding of the earlier churches,
nor because the first churches in this country were in any way connected
with the college or the locality, but the rather because, until the estab-
lishment of this college, Presbyterianism in the United States had no
solid foundations and no assured future. We speak of the occasion,
therefore, as the “old Log–College celebration,” and couple it with the
founding of the Presbyterian Church in America because the founding
of the college gave assurance of the desire among the people of Penn-
sylvania and New Jersey to secure the perpetuation of a Church which
should be Presbyterian in form and be characterized by the methods,
the principles and the faith which its members had brought with them
from the mother-country.
I am not a son of the old Log College nor of any of the institutions
which have grown directly from it: I claim, however, a right to be here,
because, if we can recognize an ancestry so remote in educational insti-
tutions, I am its grandson, being a son of that other log college which
John McMillan of blessed memory planted on the western slope of the
Alleghanies after receiving his early education from the legitimate and
rightful successor of that here located by Tennent.
The building itself has little significance. You have heard of its plan
and physical features. They were not different from many buildings
used for other purposes in that day. The primitive building of logs
with its exterior chimney and rude accompaniments is not what we
magnify and celebrate on this occasion. Its physical features, except as
they are indicative of the times, have little interest for us. Our cele-
bration to-day has to do rather with the thoughts, the aspirations, the
aims, the purposes and the acts of the men who wrought through this
humble institution and used it for the glory of God and the welfare of
their fellow-men, than with grounds or buildings or surroundings or
mere outward circumstances. Metonymy uses the container for the
thing contained, the sign for the thing signified; and so our purposes
should be, it seems to me, as we meet on this occasion, to determine, as
far as possible, what the Log College stood for. Of what is it the sym-
bol? As we look back upon it how does it interpret the thought and
the life and the hope of the men who founded it 2 Let us forget the
thing, and recall and vivify and magnify the thought. What does the
little log building, diminutive in size, rude in exterior, contemptible in
appearance and perishable in material, symbolize? The answer to this
question would occupy more time than I have at command and more
than is allotted to this entire celebration.
Briefly, however, we recall to-day by this celebration, the love of lib-
erty. Scarcely had the breadth and scope of the Commonwealth which
William Penn proposed to found been made known and been understood
by the world when the fathers, taking advantage of his liberal offer and
cordial invitation, sought Pennsylvania’s hospitable shores to found a
Church based upon representative government—a government distinct
from that of the State, maintaining its own exclusive spiritual jurisdic-
tion, and yet acknowledging the right and the power of the civil author-
ities to rule in things temporal. Penn's government recognized the
right of private judgment and the exercise of the individual conscience in
the worship of God. Is it any wonder, then, that here Presbyterianism
APPENDIX. 617
flourished?—that under such a government its churches were founded
and its first college established? New-England exclusiveness would not
tolerate such independence. There was no welcome and no foothold for
Presbyterianism in the land of the Pilgrim and the Puritan. Our fathers
loved liberty—liberty of conscience, liberty to rule the Church of their
choice in the way of their own choosing, and, with this right established,
the liberty of choosing who should legislate for them in temporal things.
The tap-root of Presbyterianism in America was the love of liberty, and
here its early advocates found what they loved.
The Log College symbolizes the determination of the fathers to main-
tain the character of the ministry of the Presbyterian Church for learn-
ing as well as piety. A ministry which could instruct as well as exhort
has ever been the ideal of the Presbyterian Church. Mental training
as well as the acquisition of knowledge was essential to such a ministry.
Such training could be secured only through years of patient toil and
study. How could the Church be maintained without such a ministry?
How could there be such a ministry without training? How secure the
training without teachers? How teach without the college? Hence
the determination finding expression here and elsewhere in such rude
structures as the elder Tennent founded, built and maintained. But the
college meant more than this: it signified an advance in civilization.
Not only was the ministry to be trained, but men were to be educated
for other pursuits. The times demanded knowledge and mental culture
outside the pulpit. It was not wholly a struggle for bread and physical
existence in this new land. So it was natural that in one of the three
counties into which Penn’s province was originally divided, the one in
which he had his residence, and before a single new county had been
formed, this college should have been established—an evidence, on the
one hand, of the determination of the fathers to perpetuate the learning
of the ministry, and a desire on the part of the community and the
youth, on the other, to secure a liberal education.
But it was a log college, and here we find the symbol of poverty. The
founders loved liberty; they were men of high resolve and patriotic
purpose; but with them the gaining of a livelihood was a continued
struggle. The forest must be subdued, the land must be tilled, the
children must be fed, but the college must also be built. How 2 No
materials could be by them imported from home; no financial help
could be secured from a proprietary government which, whilst it tol-
erated freedom, did not encourage a trained and hired ministry. The
college, if established, must be built here, as elsewhere, from the pro-
ceeds of the fields, the spinning-wheel, the loom, and, shall we acknowl-
edge it, the still ; and so the contributions were made in kind, and the
result was emblematic of the primitive surroundings of the founders. The
boys could not be sent away for their education, not only because their
arents were poor, but because the colleges of New England and the
ſº, did not furnish the kind of education which our Presby-
terian ancestry desired for their children. And here appeared that
sturdy independence of which the college was at once the product and
the symbol. We must be independent of the home-country; we must
be independent of New England; we must found our own institutions
in our own way; we must educate our sons in our way of thinking to
take our places. To do this we must have our own college. So the
fathers thought, so they reasoned, so they acted.
The Log College, moreover, is the symbol of expectation. Hope was
one of its corner-stories. There was no despondency over the smallness
of the beginnings; there were no tears because the college was built of
518 APPENDIX.
logs, no misgivings because the students were few in number. There were
patient toil, honest endeavor and the scant offerings of poverty, because
*here was joyous expectation of the triumphs of the future. This hope
was coupled with strong faith—faith in the cause, faith in the results,
faith on the part of the founders in themselves, and, above all, a simple,
unwavering faith in the God who uses means and directs results.
As we look back upon the eventful one hundred and sixty-three years
which have passed since the college was founded, who shall say that it
is not the symbol of success? Count the institutions which are its legiti-
mate offspring. Count, if you can, the men whose characters have been
moulded in them, and who, because of that moulding influence, have
been a blessing in their day and a help to their fellows. Measure, if
you can, the weighty influences which have been felt as the result of
them in Church and State. Compute, if you are able to do so, the
number and value of the contributions to literature, to science, to liv-
ing thought in every department of intellectual activity which their
devoted sons have made. Take the census of the men and the women
who, through the efforts of men who were trained in the old Log College
and in the institutions which have grown out of it, have lived noble
lives, died triumphant deaths and are enjoying a blissful immortality,
and tell me, is not the old Log College which we celebrate a success?
Now, what is the lesson of this celebration for Presbyterians to-day ?
What does it teach us? Evidently this: multiply the log colleges. Not
the colleges built of logs, but the small colleges for the education of the
young under right influences and pure principles. If Pennsylvania and
New Jersey could not go to New England to educate their sons for the
reasons which we have mentioned, neither should Illinois and Iowa,
Kansas and Nebraska, Minnesota and Dakota, come to New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. We must take the college to them.
One of the wisest and most munificent givers of our generation has
lately died in a foreign country and his remains have just been laid to
rest at his home at Pittsburgh. Was it chance or caprice or impulse
which led him to make the largest bequest, among those given to our
Church charities, to the Board of Aid for colleges? or had he learned
the lesson of to-day, and did he, with wise forecast, see that if the
Church is to be supplied with a learned and a godly ministry, if the
community is to be blessed by the ministrations of such clergy, and if
the country is to be saved from anarchy and Sabbath desecration and
the horde of evils which are crowding upon us from the ignorance and
the superstition and the unsanctified education of other lands, we must
multiply the log colleges?
I do not undervalue, nor would I in any degree minimize, the influ-
ence of our large and flourishing colleges. . I would not discourage the
beneficence which seeks to enlarge the usefulness of our wealthy insti-
tutions of learning, unless by making the rich richer we make the poor
poorer. The great university has its place and its sphere. Give assur-
ance to the one and breadth to the other. But let us emphasize the
lesson of the occasion. Let us catch the inspiration of the day. If the
Church of our fathers is to be perpetuated in its strength and in its
purity; if a learned and pious ministry is to continue as its strong
bulwark and sure defence; if Presbyterianism is to flourish elsewhere
as in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; if we would carry into our newer
States the safe and conservative influences which permeate society in
the sister commonwealths here represented;—if, in short, we would do
the best for our country, the Church and the world, let us plant the
college alongside the church. Let us carry a Christian education, as we
APPENDIX. 519
carry the gospel, to those who need it and will accept it; let us found
and foster the modest but efficient institution of sound learning wher-
ever an intelligent constituency will demand or warrant it. From this
Atlantic coast to the shores of the broad Pacific let the policy and prac-
tice of the fathers find their counterpart in the wise and conservative
action of the present generation. Multiply the log colleges / MULTIPLY
THE LOG COLLEGES 1
The next address was by Postmaster-General Wanamaker, who
received a warm welcome as he stepped to the front of the platform.
He said:
MR. CHAIRMAN AND FRIENDS: It is because I am your neighbor that
I am honored to-day with a piace on your programme. Three months
ago, when my old and dear friend the Rev. Dr. Murphy invited me to
make an address, I said no, but that I would endeavor to attend, though
not to speak. Nevertheless, the compliment is paid me by your com-
mittee of placing my name on your historic programme, which in itself
is a roll of honor. I am too grateful to take advantage of this to make
a long speech.
Permit me to say that I share with you in pride of the good fortune
that fixes our homes close to the Revolutionary glories of Independence
Hall and near by the scenes of Germantown, Valley Forge and Nesham
iny, where the Log College made its mark in the history of our nation.
A lowly spot this seems, to be the birthplace of the momentous move-
ment that set in motion the early educational life of the land, but it is
not the first time that out of obscure places streams of light have shed
brightness over the land—never more so than when the star shone on
Bethlehem's plains and the Light of the world came with angelic songs.
Centuries before, David came from the hidden pastures with the harp
whose melody for three thousand years has been singing on. In later
days, Elisha left the plough for that first day-school of the prophets of
which the Log College was the succession.
When those untitled heroes, in whose ancestry some of you may well
be proud, came nearly two centuries ago to this place to lay the founda-
tions for their college, their path lay through the shining gateway of
faith in God. The bush that flamed at Moses' feet, indicating God’s
presence with his servants, must have glowed again before their rev-
erent eyes. Not in their own strength they came, neither were they
alone; for Joshua and Elijah spoke again through these early teachers,
Isaiah and David with lofty inspiration repeated their message, and the
apostles and martyrs took up the strain, and the word of God had free
course and God was glorified in the widespread beneficence of the insti-
tutions of learning that grew out of this holy ministry.
Few in number, not powerful nor rich, without stone or costly carv-
ings, they built a great cathedral enduring as the truth, its base and but-
tresses, column and capstone, a bemediction to all the land. Not created
by act of Parliament nor fostered by act of Congress, but in simple and
strong confidence in the God whose Spirit led them, they wrought this
work that in the ages to come will continue to manifest the wisdom and
goodness of its founders and give glory to God.
I like Memorial Day that puts flowers on the graves of the nation's
heroes, and I like the thought that gathers us to keep this feast of cele-
bration for the heroes of our faith. While we stand together to-day on
this high level, looking off over the centuries at the true men whose
520 APPENDIX.
work built the institutions we are now enjoying, there comes to me, like
the song of the lark, an inspiration that out of other humble places true
men may come up with God’s blessing to do service in Church and State
for themselves and coming generations, for which the world will rise up
and call them blessed.
Charles A. Dickey, D.D., of Philadelphia, read a paper on “The
Presbytery of Philadelphia,” in substance as follows:
I am asked to convey the congratulations of the mother-Presbytery of
Philadelphia, and to note that exchange of influence which gave the
Christian college the fostering care of the Church, and the Church the
never-failing fruits of the college. The college and the Church have com-
mon interests. Through mutual dependence they have come to present
power and influence. We can hardly believe that the humble Log College
whose memory has inspired our assemblage, and whose history calls
forth our homage, was the germ of so many great institutions. And the
growth of the Church is no less marked or wonderful. When the col-
lege was a humble cabin the Church was a single small Presbytery.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia has become a glorious Church, whose
borders are the sands and rocks of the great oceans, whose Synods are
commensurable with nearly half a hundred sovereign States; whose
larger Presbyteries occupy imperial cities thronged with more people
than composed the nation a hundred years ago. The depth and breadth
and strength of the foundations laid by the noble men whom we honor
to-day clearly indicate that they conceived the glory and greatness of
the edifice that should be built by their successors. God’s promises
were facts to their faith. Their visions were their inspirations. Our
inheritance was their hope. If our statistics show marvelous growth,
let us remember that, under God, we are indebted for it all to that noble
band of Christian ministers who stood at the cradle of Church and State
and covenanted with God to meet responsibility, and to ensure the life
of both by the creation of an educated Christian ministry. Our heritage
is the favor that God has shown to their fidelity. More than a million
strong in our Presbyterian households; represented by more than six
thousand able ministers of the word; our missionary fires kindled
around the globe; millions of substance contributed every year; with
great seminaries and colleges to meet increasing demands; the memo-
rials of the dead and the praise of the living, this is the triumphal
arch under which the procession of the loyal dead passes to-day;
this is the monument upon which we would inscribe their devotion
to truth, to Christ and their country. The Log College trained men to
keep the liberties of the land out of the grasp of tyrants and to free the
gospel from the shackles of ignorance and unbelief. To call the roll of
the Log College would be to name the champions of civil and religious
liberty. To the Presbyterian college and to the Presbyterian Church is
to be credited a large share of the prosperity and stability of this free
Christian nation. The principles for which both have contended have,
in a large measure, determined our national greatness. The Church has
nobly sustained the college, and the college has nobly sustained the
Church, and both have strengthened the nation.
Looking in pride upon the children whom she has nursed to greatness,
the mother-Presbytery pays her homage to the old Log College which
contributed so much to their growth.
I claim no gift of prophecy, no ken to reveal the future, but I know
what I hope. I hope the future may be the past repeated more glori-
APPENDIX. 521
ously. I hope that no court will divorce the old college and the old
Church. I would rather have the crown and covenant safe within the
old logs than an unsanctified scholarship within marble walls. Some
would divorce the college from the Church. There is peril in that
speculation, which would subvert the word of God. I believe the
Church will raise up a ministry that will refuse to remove the old
landmarks or to leave the old paths. The Church will disown the
college that refuses to guide the thoughts of young men by the gospel
of Christ.
We have reached a crisis. We have some grave questions to consider
and settle. There may be a few rough stones in our foundation that
may be polished without great risk. But let us not disturb foundation-
stones upon which we have been building so long and so successfully.
The grandeur of our temple should make us content with our foundations.
We should let alone a Confession whose belief and defence God has
honored with such growth and power. It will not be safe to shift from
the rock that has stood so many storms, and that has shown itself such
a strong foundation. Let the work go on. Let us finish the temple
upon tried foundations. May both college and Church be loyal to
Christ |
S. A. Mutchmore, D.D., delivered an address on “The Early
Scotch-Irish Immigration.” He said:
Blood tells the world over in both goodness and badness: good blood
is well mixed and in it is the world’s progress. ... The English-speaking
world is a grand mixture. God j it in suffering and stirred it up
with pain. The Scotch-Irish, whose sufferings and victories are being
celebrated to-day, had their blood filtered and strengthened by persecu-
tion on account of their faith and their unquenchable love of civil
liberty. The causes of their dispersion may be briefly included under
three heads—Popery, Prelacy and Landlordism. The tide of emigra-
tion to America was strongest from 1670 to 1680, occupying portions
of the territory of five States. Of the character of these settlers Froude
says: “They were of the same metal as those who afterward sailed in
the Mayflower—Presbyterians in search of a wider breathing-place than
was allowed them at home. The Calvinists of Derry won immortal
honor and flung over the wretched annals of their adopted country a
solitary gleam of true glory. Even this passed for nothing; they were
still dissenters, still unconscious that they owed obedience to the hybrid
successors of St. Patrick, the prelates of the Establishment. And no
Sooner was the victory over the papists gained than prelatical spleen
and bigotry were at their old work, until they abandoned the unthank-
ful service and sought a country where the long arm of the prelacy was
still too short to reach them.”
At the request of our honored president, Dr. Murphy, we give at this
point some facts in history. About this time seven families left London-
derry in their own ship and landed at the mouth of the Delaware: the
Bradys, descendants of the first Protestant bishop of Meath; the Mc-
Cunes, the Youngs, the McCombs, the McCaheys, the Jamisons and my own
paternal ancestors, who allied themselves by marriage with the Bradys
and McCunes. The McCunes have been statesmen, ministers, men of posi-
tion in Church and State. Almost within sight of this place Col. Thomas
McCune, a Revolutionary hero and a Presbyterian elder, was promoted
by Washington for bravery in saving the remnant of the troops at the
battle of Crooked Billet, where stands a monument erected by the grate-

522 APPENDIX.
ful citizens of this country. The Bradys were a long line of brave men,
of which were General Hugh Brady of Revolutionary memory and
Captain Sam Brady the famous Indian fighter.
The men from Scotland and the North of Ireland laid the foundations
of a half-dozen commonwealths. A nobler race never trod the earth—
freer, truer or more heroic never served God nor honored a great country
—men who endured as seeing Him who is invisible, who could stand on
their principles, and on their legs for their principles. It is fashionable
in some quarters to denounce Presbyterian Puritanism. The greatest
of the world have always had to endure the reproach of the meanest.
It is a crime to be above mediocrity. Men attempt to be witty at the
expense of those who conceived and built up a country without a king
and a Church without a bishop. Of such is the strength of a people,
resistless by self-denials rather than forsake their religion. They were
men not only of opinions, but of formulated ideas, who could give a
reason for their beliefs as clear and concise as a demonstration in Eu-
clid. It is by some regarded as a reproach that they taught their chil-
dren the Catechism, as if it had weakened their minds. More minds
are for ever weak for want of such mental and moral distension. It is
also fashionable to denounce their extempore prayers into which they
wove the events, joyous or sorrowful, of every day, which gave signif-
icance and sacredness to each commonplace. Such prayers kept glow-
ing the fires of devotion and raised the spirit of patriotism when the
country was in danger. It is said that the sermons were long, and we
would not dishonor them by denying it. They were long, but not
tedious when men craved knowledge and had not the resources of the
printed page. Minds and souls were enlightened from the pulpit.
Presbyterian Puritans had two cardinal principles: faith in the abso-
lute will of God, and in the absolute equality of all who love and obey
him, and this faith made our ancestors men of endurance, obedient until
obedience became a crime, when they were ready to fight until con-
quering or conquered. But they were withal tolerant; they burned no
witches, caused no exiles on account of conscience. They were perse-
cuted, but never caught the Satanic inspiration. They strove for their
own elevation and that of the race, and their graves are on all our coun-
try’s battle-fields. In the victories of peace they are illustrious. They
brought the love of learning with them, and desired it for their children.
They began with the determination not to have an ignorant ministry,
and in this they lead the host. Wealth has been to them a means to a
better end. Our ancestors have been loyal to God, to country, to the
race and to the sublime hope of a world redeemed for Christ.
The hymn “Glory and Praise and Honor,” read by Rev. W. A.
Patton of Doylestown, was sung.
J. H. Mason Knox, D. D., LL.D., president of Lafayette College,
delivered an address on “Lafayette College:”
Amid the thronging memories and suggestions of this scene and hour
it is easy to speak of Lafayette, a spiritual child of Log College.
In 1726 the Rev. Mr. Tennent instituted the school of the prophets
whose record we recount to-day so lovingly and gratefully. To this he
was moved by the needs of his own sons and the desire to be useful in
furnishing for the Church he loved a godly and faithful ministry.
Just a hundred years later the legislature of Pennsylvania granted
articles of incorporation for a new college, to be called by the name of
APPENDIX. 523
America's friend in her time of need, the marquis de Lafayette, who two
i. before had made a triumphal tour through the land which he had
elped so greatly by his sword and purse to wrest itself from the oppres-
sions of Great Britain. For some time the college existed only on paper,
but in 1831 the trustees elected to the presidency the Rev. George
Junkin, then at the head of a manual-labor school in Germantown.
This election was accepted, chiefly because Dr. Junkin believed that it
opened to him a field in which to carry successfully into effect the work
to which he had devoted his life—viz. to prepare godly young men of
gº abilities, poor in this world’s goods, for the gospel ministry.
So, across the hundred years that separated their lives, William Tennent
and George Junkin struck hands. They were both men of strong per-
sonality. Of the same Scotch-Irish stock, men of force and learning,
their characteristic was their intense conviction of truth and absolute
devotion to the work of furnishing to the Church a ministry well in-
structed and truly spiritual. Valiantly and with great success Dr.
Junkin wrought in the field allotted to him, and from feeble beginnings
Lafayette became a power in the land. After Dr. Junkin's removal
from the presidency the college had a period of depression and fitful
life, but in spite of this it continued to do good work, and under Yeo-
mans, McLean and McPhail maintained well the character impressed
upon it by the genius and devotion of its first president. Then with
the accession of President Cattell came revival and enlargement. Dr.
Cattell brought to his duties fine intelligence, unbounded enthusiasm,
rare tact and tireless effort. He interested in the college men of wealth,
specially Mr. Ario Pardee, and by the means thus afforded him he was
enabled, without departing in the least from the original thought and
design of the institution, to add to it a very complete scientific depart-
ment. And so it is that for years past Lafayette, while continuing, as
from the beginning she has done, to send out men into the older pro-
fessions and callings, theology, law and medicine, has also prepared her
Sons as educated men to take up as their life-work the pursuits which
require training in scientific technics. I count it joy to-day that I pre-
side over a college whose sons are distinguishing themselves in law and
medicine, whose names are pronounced with respect in the busy work-
shops of the land, and which at the same time has not diminished in the
least her zeal in preparing for the Church well-instructed and godly
men to serve in the ministry—that to-day nearly one-third of her grad-
uates in the arts are devoted to the best of all callings in which man can
engage. Lafayette's ministers are about me on this platform and within
the reach of my voice, and they are men to whom she proudly points as
her jewels. They are found in every Synod, and almost in every Pres-
bytery, in our Church. Many are in other churches—Methodist, Re-
formed, Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist—men well behaved and highly
esteemed. More than one hundred at this hour are engaged in the fron-
tier settlements of our land laying there the solid foundations of empire,
while in all foreign-mission countries their voices are heard preaching
the gospel of salvation, and so hastening the day of the Lord.
And whence comes all this? What was it that moved Tennent to the
humble endeavor out of which have come the results so rejoicingly
rehearsed during these hours? It was the Spirit of the Lord. He
stirred the soul of the old preacher of righteousness to build the Log
College. He builded better than he knew. The Log College was the
forerunner of Princeton in New Jersey, of Hampden-Sidney in Virginia,
of Washington and Jefferson, and Lafayette in Pennsylvania. These
certainly the Log College can claim as her children, as begotten of her
$524 APPENDIX.
through the same divine Spirit which gave to her her life and power.
And if we who are here present are here in good faith, appreciating
the spirit of this celebration, then will we see to it that these institu-
tions, so evidently given to us by the grace and loving-kindness of our
own and our fathers’ God, have our sympathy and help—that they may
continue their benedictions upon country and Church till time shall be
no longer.
The following original hymn, composed and read by Thomas
MacKellar, was then sung by the choir and audience:
Strength of our fathers in the day
Thou didst thy saving grace display,
We glorify and worship thee,
O Lord, in hymns of jubilee.
A house for thee they builded well:
Though humblest in all Israel,
Yet thou didst sanctify as thine
The prophets’ school of love divine.
A grain of mustard-seed was sown ;
Nurtured of thee, a tree hath grown
Whose branches overspread the land,
Till thousands in its shadow stand.
Its fruits are knowledge, life and light—
Rnowledge of thee so clear, so bright,
That he whose soul with truth is rife
Shall find in Christ eternal life.
That tree, of verdure fresh and fair,
While mountains stand shall fruitage bear,
And in the garden of the Lord
Perennial blessings shall afford.
Jehovah-iireh l we adore
The Lord whose grace provided more
Than they foreknew who sowed in tears,
And reaped in joy in after years.
Glory to God! our voices sing;
Glory to God! our praise we bring;
Glory to God! let all men cry;
Glory to God I let heaven reply.
Dr. McCosh, the venerable ex-president of Princeton College,
was unable to be present, and sent the following letter of regret,
which was read by Dr. McCloskey of Princeton College:
MoosFHEAD LAKE, Maine, August 28, 1889.
TO REV. DR. MURPHY :
My Dear Friend—Thank God I am nearly restored to my usual health,
but my doctor will not allow me to go down the country until the cool
weather comes in. I cannot tell how much I regret that I am not able
APPENDIX. 525
to take part in your commemoration. The Log College was a well
among the hills from which a great and beneficent stream has risen.
The Log men, the Tennents and Blairs, were heroes, and it is due to them
and for our good to keep alive their memories.
It has not been sufficiently noticed by historians, such as Macaulay,
that there was a difference between the Puritan and Covenanting type
of Christianity. The Puritans contended nobly for liberty and the rights
of the individual. The Covenanters were not satisfied without a common
creed and joint action; they formed themselves into Presbyteries and
proclaimed a solemn League and Covenant, grand in everything except
that it did not contain a doctrine of toleration. The Puritans in Eng-
land had no bond of union and were scattered, though they have a fit
representation in the Congregational churches of New England. The
Covenanting spirit is embodied in the Presbyterian churches all over
the world. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life that I
was enabled in Philadelphia to start that Presbyterian Alliance, which
is yet destined to bring them into closer visible union.
Before the older Tennent established his school in the log cabin the
Presbyterians were somewhat scattered and had no college to train their
young men. They had to depend on Old England and New England for
an ordained ministry. The college in the wilderness insisted on two
great principles: on a native ministry and an educated ministry. This
led indirectly to the establishment of the college at Princeton to give
high instruction both in religious and secular knowledge. The whole
work was watered by Whitefield and the revivals which followed his
preaching. The great Presbyterian Church of the Middle States became
consolidated with its sound creed, its wisely-constructed polity and its
educated ministry. If that Church, so well organized with its theological
seminaries, had more of the zeal of what I may describe as its John-the-
Baptist forerunners, it would spread into every district of our country
and over all lands. We of Princeton College and we of the Presbyterian
Church are not in our prosperity ashamed of our poor but noble ancestry.
I am glad beyond measure to hear that you, doctor, are to give us a his-
tory of the period and thereby transmit a picture of it to instruct and
inspire future generations. Yours,
JAMES MCCOSH.
The Hon. Henry Chapman of Doylestown was also unable to be
present. His letter was read by Rev. A. A. Murphy of Philadelphia:
FROSTERLY, Doy LESTOWN P. O., Penna., August 28, 1889.
THE REv. THOMAS MURPHY, D. D. :
Dear Sir—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the invita-
tion to attend the exercises commemorative of the founding of the Pres-
byterian Church in the United States, to be held on the site of the old
Log College, near Hartsville, on the 5th of September next, and also your
complimentary request that I will occupy a seat on the platform, for
which I beg you to accept my sincere thanks. I regret to say, however,
that owing to physical infirmities I cannot be present on the interesting
occasion: otherwise I should be much gratified to witness the ceremonies
and to unite with the many who will be there to signalize the important
event and do honor to the memory of the learned and good men who
erected the humble, though pregnant with vast results, prototype of
hundreds of religious edifices throughout the land, and, like it, fostered
by and kindred to the Presbyterian Church. I am with much regard,
very truly yours, HENRY CHAPMAN.
526 APPENDIX.
Letters of regret were also received from the Rev. Francis
Brown, Ph.D., D.D., of Union Seminary, the Rev. R. B. Welch,
D. D., of Auburn Seminary, General Horatio G. Sickel, Ex-Senator
Horatio Gates Jones and George H. Stuart, Esq. The venerable
Dr. J. Witherspoon Scott closed the exercises with a few exceed-
ingly interesting remarks concerning his family connection with
the Log-College neighborhood and his interest in thus revisiting
its historic scenes.
“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow” was sung, and the
benediction was pronounced by Dr. Scott.
Thus closed a day long anticipated and thoroughly enjoyed,
whose exercises, we humbly pray, may redound to the glory of God
and the upbuilding of our beloved Zion.
RICHARD MONTGOMERY.

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