· T A B L E: O F“CO N T E N T S. Ou t of the Ch u r ch ofTo-day, Preface, Preliminar y Work,...

1784 1794 1894

P R O C E E D I N G S

A T T H E

C E L EB RAT IO N

OF T H E

UNEHUNDREU AN D S IXTIETH ANN IVERSARYOF T H E

[1 in rin yt eriun h u r t;

A N D T H E

ON E H U N D RED TH AN N I V ERSARY

OF I TS E X I S TE N CE A s A S E PA RATE CHAR GE ,

N ove mbe r l0t h ,1 1 t h , 1 2t h an d 14t h ,

1894.

H A R R I S R f S CH E N CK ,E d i t or .

CH AMB ERS B U RG , PA

T H E REPOSITOR Y . PRESS.

1894.

T A B L E: O F“CO N T E N T S .

Ou t of the Ch u r ch of To-day ,

Preface ,Pre l im inary Work ,Order of Serv ices ,Dr . N iccolls ’ Address : Ch u r c h and H ome On e H undred Years A go ,

J . W . Sharpe ’s Address o f We lcome ,Dr. Craw ford ’s H i storical S ermon ,Dr .Hibben ’s Paper ,Dr . Craw ford ’s Persona l R emin iscences ,Dr. N iccolls ’ Persona l Remin iscences ,Mr. Schenck ’s Paper : Persona l H istory of the Pastors ,I . R e v. Samuel Caven , 1 739- 1741 ,I I . R e v. James L ang , 1767—1 793I I I . R e v . W i l l i am Speer , 1 794— 1797,l V . R e v. David Denn y ,

1800—1 838,

V . R e v . W i l l iam Adam , 1 840- 1841 ,

V I . R e v . Danie l McKi n le y ,D. D 18-1 1 - 1850,

V I I . R e v . Joseph Clark , 1852—1857,VII I . R e v . L ambert S u y dam Fine , 1858-1 859,I X

,R e v. Samue l Jack N iccol ls , D . D . , 1860

—1864,

X . R e v . Joshua B l ackwood H owe l l J anewa y , Ph . D . , 1 866 ,

X I . R e v. John Agnew Craw ford , D . D . , 1 867—1 887.

X I I . R e v. John Grier H ibben , Ph . D 1 887—1 891 ,

X II I . R e v. H arris Rogers S chenck , 1892M r . Bel l ’s Paper : Greeting from the Greencastle Ch u rch ,Mr . Mackey ’ s Paper : Greeting from the Centra l Church ,Dr. Platt ’s Paper : H is tor y of the Session ,The Charter , Fo r the Deed , see pageMr. Mc D ow e ll’s Paper : The H is tory of th e Trustees ,Mr . Mc I lvai n e

’

s Pap e r : Sketch of the Sabbath S chools ,Mrs. R eed ’s Paper : H istor y of the Miss ion ary Soc i et i es ,Mr . Reed's Paper : H istory of the Christian Endeavor Soc i ety ,

The Officers of the Church , of the Congregation , and of t h e Soc ie ti es ,Form of Reception of Members.Extracts from the Presb y terian Standards , as to the Ch urch and its Members ,Roll of Communicants ,M e mbe r sh i p e ach y ear since A pri l 1 , 1 822,The Baptiz ed Members and their re lations to the Ch u rch .R ol l of Bapti z ed Members ,Closing Words , by the Editor ,

P R E F A CE E l.

As a true man loves his home,and a t r u e patriot h i s country

,

so a true Christian loves his Church . Home and countr yand C hurch are the Christian

’s dearest earthl y inheri tances .

Neither pride of ancestry,nor idolatry of stone an d mortar,

can be mistaken fo r genuine fruit-bearing love of Zion ’s“towers and bulwarks and palaces . (Ps .

“A

people who take no pride,

” says Macaulay,

“in remembering

and recording the deeds of their forefathers,will not be l ikely

to do an y thi n g worth y to be remembered or preserved byposteri ty .

” And a godly an cestry is more to be desired than

a great o r weal th y . Thomas Guthrie once wrote,

“Through

mv ancestry,as t ar as I can trace them

,I can claim to be the

seed of the righteous,a higher honor than the blue blood of

which some boast . ” And Wm . Co yvpe r well sang :

M y boast is n o t that I deduce my birth

From loins enthroned,and rulers of the earth

But higher far m y pro u d pretensions rise,

The son of parents passed into the sk ies .”

The chief value of a stud y of the past i s that we are there

by incited to the work of i mproving upon that past . I tbehooves the children of godl y men to pass on to the i r

children ’s children a record in which the latter shal l rejoice

6

as fully we rej oice in what i s “the past to us . No betterprayer can be offered than this

God of our fathers $ be the God

Of their succeeding race .

”

The a u thors of the addresses contained in th is volume

will feel that their efforts have not been in vain,i f the

youth of today shal l be s tirred to s ti l l b e tter,nobler l ives

and deeds .

So far as possible,t h e proof-sheets have been read by the

respective authors .

The editing of the volume has been a labor of love by one

who counts i t an honor to be a loyal so n of the Presb y terian

Church,and a j oy as wel l to be the minister of “The Fall ing

Spring Presbyterian Congregation .

”

H . R . S .

PRELIM INARY WORK .

At the monthly meeting of the Session of the Fal l ing

Spring Presbyterian Church,held at the Manse

,June 4,

1 894, attention was cal led to the fact that just one hundredyears ago this church was separated from the Lower E astConococheague Church at Greencastle

,and from that date

has had an indep e ndent history. In view of th is fact,the

Session unanimously appointed the Pastor and Elder Platta Committee to cons ider the advisabil ity of celebrating this

centennial . This Committee reported to the Session at i ts

meeting, July 2 , 1 894, recommend ing. th at such a celebration be held

,with some suggestions as to the programme .

The Session thereupon unanimously adopted the r e com

m e n dat i o n s,and approved of the provisional programme .

On August 6,1 894, the Session enlarged the Committee by

the addition of Elder W . G . Reed,and gave the said Com

m i t t e e full power to make al l further arrangements . (Lateron

,the Pastor

'

and Elder H . A . Riddle were made a Commi t t e e on Publ ication . )At the request of the Committee

,a joint meeting of the

Session and Board ofTrustees was held at the house of Mr .

T. B . Kennedy. Th ere were present : Harris R . Schenck,

Pastor ; Geo . F. Platt,Wm . B . Reed

,H . A . Riddle

,Elders ;

T. B . Kennedy, J . M . M c D ow e ll

, j ohn Stewart and Wm . B .

Reed , Trustees , (the last named being also an Elder . ) Atthis meeting the following Committees were appointed

O N SOCIAL REUNION : M r s. R ose S e n se n y , M r s. A . N .

Pomeroy, Mrs . A . Buchanan,Mrs . T. M . Nelson

,M r s.

Wm . Kenn edy.

8

O N MUS IC : H . A . Riddle .

O N SUBSCRIPTIONS : j . M . M c D ow e ll,W . B . Reed.

These Committees worked throughout in close harmony

with the Session ’s Committee,and t o their indefatigable

e fi o r t s and their un ited in t erest,the complete success of the

celebration is due . To the members of the choir the heart

iest praise is also due . The following were i ts members

Musical D 1 r e c t o r,H . A . Riddle ; Organist, Miss Anna W .

Stewart ; Sopranos , Miss Mary S nider and Miss Sall ie Nelso n and Miss Mary Stewart ; Altos , M r s . John S . Kennedy

and Miss Els ie K . Stewart ; Tenors , H . A . Riddle and D .

O . Gehr ; Basse S , E. B . VV i e st li n g an dWalter Holler .

The Music Committee of the Y oung People's Society of

Chr i st i an Endeavor,under the chairmanship of Miss Madge

Nelson,also added to the pleasures of the occasion by a

carefully prepared programme of sacred music on Sabbath

evening .

The decorations both in the Church and Chapel were

very elaborate and beautiful,thanks to the skill and taste of

the Ladies Committee and the Flower Committee of the Y .

P . S . C . E . and i ts chairman,Miss El izabeth A . M cKn igh t .

Some interesti ng rel ics were exh ibi ted,incl uding mann

script sermons of former Pastors,portraits of

'

former Elders,

hymn-books in u se in the first years of the organization of

the choir,about 1 830 ,

and in later y ears,and many other

rel ics l oan ed fo r the occas ion .

Portraits of all the former pastors except the Rev . Samuel

Caven,the Rev . James Lang

,and the Rev . W il l iam Adam

were hung upon the walls of the Chapel as a permanent

col lection . Pictures of the Church as it was in 1 803 , 1 850 ,

1 857 and 1 894, were also a part of this collection .

Thus the h istory of the past wil l be frequently brought tomind . May that history inci te us to larger thought and

l ife in the coming y ears .

ORDER OF SERVICES .

SATURDAY,NOVEMBER 1 0

,1 894, P. M .

Anthem— “Praise Ye the Father,

Gomzoa’.

Doxology .

Invocation,

R E V . HARRIS R . SCHENCK,1 892

Scripture .

Prayer,

R E V . J . A . CRAWFORD,D . D .

,1 867

- 86 .

Hymn— No . 575, I love thy Kingdom ,Lord .

Address— “Church and Home One Hundred Years Ago,

REV . S . J . N ICCOLLS,D . D .

,1 860— 64.

Prayer,

REV . HARRIS R . SCHENCK .

Hymn— N o . 569, Oh where are Kings and Empires n ow ?Benediction . REV . S . J . N ICCOLLS

,D . D .

Social Reunion in the Chapel,from to P . M .

Words ofWelcome, J . W . SHARPE , E S $ .

Letters from Absent Friends .Music .

COMM ITTEE OF RECEPTION .

The Pastor and Mrs . H . R . Schenck,

Mrs . Jane K . S e n se n y ,Mrs . T. B . Kennedy,M r s. JOS . Clark

,

M r s . M . C . Washington,Mrs . Ell en Culbertson

,M r s.

Wm . M cL e llan ,M r s. J . F . Kennedy

,Mrs . Abigail Cham

bers,Mrs . Benj . George

,Mrs . Margaret King

,Mrs . W. G.

Reed,Miss Mar y King

,and Mrs . O . N . Lull and M r S. J .

W . Craig of the Central Presbyterian Church .

S A BBA’

I‘

H,NOVEMBER I I

,1 894, I I A . M .

Anthem— “Gloria , M oz ar t .

Pray er,REV . T. J . SHERRARD

,Pastor Central

‘

Pres . Church .

I O T H E FALLING SPRING

Scripture , REV H . R . SCHENCK .

H y mn— N o . 373 , Let Children hear the Mighty Deeds .Offering .

“O Saviour of the World,

”6 05 5 .

Historical Sermon,

REV . J . A . CRAWFORD,D . D .

Pray er, REV . S . J . N ICCOLLS,D . D .

H y 1 n n — \ o 435 , Our God, Our Help 1 11 Ages Past.

Benediction , REV . J . A . CRAWFORD,D . D .

P . M .

Hymn— NO . I , Ye Servants ofGod, y our Master proclaim .

Scripture .

Prayer,


H y mn— NO . 3 1 2 , My Jesus , as T h ou wilt .

Sermon , 2 Cor .-

4, REV . S . J . N ICCOLLS , D . D

Pray er , REV . J . F . KENNEDY,D . D .

H y mn— NO . 474,Nearer

,my God

,to thee .

Benediction , REV . S . J . N ICCOLLS,D . D .

P . M . IN THE CHAPEL .

S ERVICE OF SONG A N D PRA IS E .

YOUNG PEOPLE ’S SOCIETY OF CHRIST IAN ENDEAVOR,1 888.

Duet,Jesus

,Loy er Of my Soul , F. Campa/m.

MISS S . J . NELSON AND W . F . HOLLERSolo

,Sun Of my Soul ,

MISS ELS IE K . STEWART.

Solo,Hol y Father, Hear Us , fl$ . F.

MISS S . J . NELSON .

Solo,Ashamed ofJesus ,

MISS GRACE CU R R I D E N .

H y mn,by the Society .

Solo,He giveth His Beloved Sleep , F r an z A bl.

W . F . HOLLER .

H y mn,by the Society .

Prayer,

REV . H . R . SCHENCK .

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . I

P. M .

Anthem— “Send out Thy Light,

Gozz/zoa’.

Scripture,

REV . T. J . SHERRARD .

Prayer,

REV . H . R . SCHENCK .

Hymn— No . 964, The Church’s One Foundation .

Offering.

“Sweet is Thy Mercy,

B o r /zov.

Reminiscences, (paper read by H . A . RI D DLE)

REV . J . GRIER HIBBEN,PH . D .

Reminiscences,


Reminiscences,

REV . S . J. N ICCOLLS,D . D .

Hymn— No . 808,Hol y Father $ Thou has t Taught Us .

Prayer,

REV . H . R . SCHENCK.

Hymn— No . 597, Blest Be the Tie that Binds .

Benedictus .

MONDAY,NOVEMBER 1 2

,1 894,

P . M .

Anthem— “The King of Love m y Shepherd is, Gozn zoo

’.

Scripture .

Prayer,

REV . SAMUEL MCLANAHAN of Baltimore,M D .

H y mn— NO . 570 ,O Lord Of hosts $ How lovely is

,The

Place w here Thou Dost Dwell .

Paper— “The Personal Histor y of Former Pastors,

REV . HARRIS R . SCHENCK .

Hymn— N O . 583 , How Beauteous are the i r Feet.Brief Addresses

On behalfof the Greencastl e Church, (formerly Lower East

Conococheague,) REV . L . CARMON BELL

,Pastor .

On behalf of the Central Presbyterian Church,a child of

this Church,1 868— 1 894. ELDER W . H . H . MACKEY .

Prayer,

REV T . J . SHERRARD .

Doxolog y .

Benediction , REV . H . R . SCHENCK .

1 2 T H E FALLING SPR ING

WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 1 4, 1 894, P. M .

Hymn .

Scripture, REV. H . R . SCHENCK .

Prayer,

REV . T. J . SHERRARD .

Brief Addresses

On behalfof the Session,

ELDER PLATT,Clerk

,1 864

On behalf of the Trustees,

MCDOWELL,Secretary pr o low .

On behalf of the Sabbath School,

J . S . MCILVA INE,Assistant

On behalf of the Missionary Societies and Bands,

M R S . W . B . REED .

On behalf of the Y. P. S . C . E. M R . W . B . REED .

Hymn .

Benediction,

REV . J . A . CRA WFORD

Vl r . MCI L V A I NE was unab l e to be p resen t

CHURCH AND HOME ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO .

B e love d B r e t /i r on of l/zo Falli n g Spr i n g C/zzu 'ok

The unique occasion , which has called us together, has fo r

me,a special interest. The history of th is venerable church

holds a period of my l ife which I can never forget . I t sohappens that I am o n e Of the l inks in a chain

,which binds

the events of a remote past to this present.

I t is my happy lot to be o n e in the l ine Of pastors who

ministered to this church since its independent l ife,on e

hundred years ago . I regard i t as an h onor,and a privi

lege,to have a place I n such an apostol ic succession . No

happier years of l ife have ever come to me than those which

I spent here,with the people of my first love

,to whom my

heart stil l cl ings with u ndying afTe c t i o n . The dreams of

night have often carried me back to these scenes of mv

earl iest labors in the gospel ministry,and in th e m I have

again become your pastor,and have heard the familiar

voices,and seen the dear faces of those who more than a

quarter of a century ago,gave m e their confidence and their

love.

As I now look upon these famil iar surroundings,the

venerable church,the rushing waters of Fall ing Spring

,and

the green God ’s Acre,in which Slumber in peace so many

that are dear to u s,—memories are awakened that carry me

away as with a flood . This present scene grows dim and

Shadowy,an d behind i t in colors of l ife I see the past .

There come before me the grey haired fathers,the men and

women,the boys and girls

,of thirty years ago . What a

goodly company My heart leaps to be among them they

1 4 THE FA L L I N G SPR ING

l ived in n o common years,fo r the atmosphere then was

electric,and the day s big with destiny fo r our country

,and

fo r the race . Some Of them stil l remain,but transformed

black locks have whi tened,and once erect forms bend under

the burden of ve ar s . Ruddy-faced youths have become

s talwart men ; and sweet-faced, laughing girls are statel ymatrons . But the majority have passed to that land from

which no answer comes,either to our entreaties or to ou r

sobs . Sweet is their memor y , and blessed the ministry of

their l ives

But I must not l inger upon that which l ies within t h e

compass of my memory . The event which we comm e mo r

ate demands a wider range of thought . I t is wise fo r u s to

reflect upon the past,and to mark those springs of influence

whos e streams water$

and make glad the present . There is

no such things as isolation in human affairs . Human l ife

is a continuous stream,and we can n o more escape the past

than we can the future . We build upon what the fathers

have done . We are rich or poor according to the legacies

they have l eft us but alas we are n o t always wise in our

valuation of what we have i nheri ted,and we barter price

l ess heirlooms for new fashioned and tawdry ornaments of

l i ttle worth .

M y theme takes u s out of this noisy,bustl ing and boast

ing i 9t h century , to the close of t h e 1 8th . I t is difficul t toreal i ze what the backward stride of a century means . I ttakes u s to a period when al l the great inventions , which

have had so much to do with human progress and civil iza

tion during the present century,were unknown . Railroads

and telegraphs and telephones were n o t even dreamed of.

Roads were fe w and poor,and the means of t r aV e l rude and

primitive . Intercourse between different parts of the countrywas difficul t , and each community l ived by itself. The first

steamboat did n o t move o n American waters until 1 807, nor

PRES BYTER IAN CHURCH . 5

h ad

.

the now obsolete stage-coach begun i t s course across the

mountains . The homes of o n e hundred y ears ago ,in this

fair val le y,had l ittle of what we cal l the comforts of l ife .

Matches had n o t y e t taken the place of the tinder box,n o r

stoves supplanted the huge op e n fi r e -plac e s . There were

stil l in use the primitive methods of spinning and weaving ;good wives

,l ike Solomon ’s virtuous woman , laid their hands

to the distaff,and men were content to wear su its of home

spun . Silks and broadcloths were the rare badges ofweal th .

The transformation of the primitive log houses into build

ings of stone and brick,had j ust commenced . The prime

val forests , from which the savage Indians had onl y recentl ybeen driven

,sti ll stood in their native grandeur and beaut y

,

their edges rent and torn with “clearings,

” which heralded

the incessant war which was being waged fo r their de st r u c

tion : the streams swarming with fish,and the thickets with

game,made a h u nters ’ paradise . I t was i n short

,a commu

n i t y lay ing the foundations o f a new civi l ization . The

larger world,to which the inhabitants of th is valle y were

related,was then slowl y emerging from the shadows of t h e

middle ages . 1 794 was the time of the Reign ofTerror in

Franc e,and the effects of that wild

,mad

,and ti tanic strug

gle for l iberty o n the part of a br ave people were being fel t

throughout the civil ized world . In E ngland , George I I I ,insane by turns

,was o n the throne

,and the great statesmen

,

Pitt and Fox and Burke,were moving the pieces on the

chess-board of the nations . In o u r ow n cou n try the revered

Washington was president,serving his second term ; the

Republ ic,dating its organization from the inauguration of

i t s first pres ident,was only five y ears Old . Adams

,Jefferson

and Frankl in were al ive . Such princes in the world of

letters as Gibbon,Voltaire

,Cowper and Burns

,had either

j ust passed away,or were stil l l ingering in t h e weakness of

old age . It was no time of quiet . The great nations of

1 6 THE FALLING SPR I N G

Europe were at war with each other. N e w ideas,which

since then have embodied themselves into new states,laws

and customs , were abroad among the people fermenting and

begetting revolutions . The signs of the times indicated

that great changes were at hand,and m e n then

,looked to

the incoming 1 9th century with as much interest and hope

as we do to the 20 t h , now at hand . I t i s under such circu ms t an c e s and in such relations

,that we find our auces

tors,o n e hundred years ago . They

,o r their fathers

,had

come to this fairest val ley of the new world,to find homes

fo r themselves . They were not l ike o u r modern emigrants,

searchers aft e r gold,or speculators in land they came with

their wives and children to plant the family ; and while

with their ideas of thrift,they were not ind i fferent t o fortune

,

their first care was to use the axe and plow to secure the

welfare of home .

The condi tions of society then were such as to intensify

the l ife of home . The members of the family were mutual ly

dependent on each other ; not only common blood , but

common toil and common purposes bound th em together.

Channels of trade and commerce were n o t open to any great

extent,i n a val ley so remote from the seaboard as this .

There were n o large factories,or shops

,o r houses of trade

to furnish employment and attract the vo u t h from home .

The great revolution in society,so porten tous and far

reaching in I t s effects,which modern machiner y has made

in the 1 9th century , had not as yet begun . The chief

industries were home industries . The chief market was

th at of home each family raised its own flax an d wool,and

spun the yarn and wove its ow n garments . Each had itsow n flocks and herds ; each was its ow n butcher and baker ;from their ow n fields they gathered the grain or corn their

horses carried to the nea r est m il l and back again what wasneeded for meal o r flour

,and the surplus found transforma

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1 8 THE FALLING SPRING

I do n o t refer to the “log-roll ings,

” “huskings,

o r muster

days,the times of coarse frol icking

,when drunkenness and

fighting were n o t uncommon,and Scotch - Irish pugnaci ty

manifested i tsel f in many unseemly ways ; but rather to the

friendly gatherings of the neighbors in each others houses .

I t is n o t difficul t to imagine o n e of these evenings at home .

The family is gathered around the open fireplace,in which

the burning logs crackle and spark as with sympathetic joy .

The rudd y flame roars up the black- throated chimney,and

the shadows dance and Chase each other over the well-swept

and uncarpeted floor . Suddenly,footsteps and a loud knock

ing,an n o u n c e

'

t h e coming ofvisitors,and the circle around the

fire is enlarged to give them a place in the genial heat and

l ight . Another,and another come ; fathers and mothers

arrive bringing the y oung folks,and the c ircle grows wider ;

another log is added to the fire,and i ts flames dance and

leap more merri l y . The men talk,as me n do now

,of the

news of the day,mainly neighborhood matters ; the women

of household affairs,and the children drawn together by the

sweet freemasonry of childhood,start their games

,o r l isten

br e at h le ssy to the oft - told stories of some O ld soldier of the

war of Independence , o r of a bold Indian fighter and his

hair-breadth escape from savage fo e s . There is no restrain t

or formali ty . There are j okes,and repartee

,and laughter

,

n o t nicely modulated , but hearty and loud . The good wife

at last brings o u t from the household store the refreshment

fo r her guests ; hickor y —nuts an d walnuts , apples , pies and

cakes fo r drink there is Cider,n o r do the men fail t o take

that w hich every well furnished house contained , whiskey ,j udged necessary t o keep out the cold in winter , as well as

the h e at i n summer . They return early, and ten O’clock

finds all in bed,and the fire 0 1 1 the hearth slumbering qu ietl y

u nder i ts blanket of ashes .

A short time ago in a home west of the Mississippi , I

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . I9

came across a volum e in which we r e some old letters written

by a Chambersburg girl,which gave some interesting

gl impses into the home l ife of o n e hundred years ago . One

dated Chambersburg,December 1 7th , 1 793 , addressed to her

mother,reads ;

“Last Saturday we set o u t in a sleigh , amidst a vol ley of

snowballs sent after us by Mr. Dunlop,to visi t Dr . and Mrs .

Johnson . Fo r several miles no persons were ever better

pleased with themselves and each other. Nature smiledin her white ve s t i n e n t s,

'

pt n'

e as innocence and peaceful as

ourselves ; but alas $ a fateful stump , as i f t o teach us the

mutabil ity of human happiness , proved fatal to Ou r progress ;in an instant we were al l thrown out and enveloped i n

snowdrifts . One part of the sleigh remained with us the

other attached to the horses was proceed ing to the Doctor’s

as though the Furies were driving. Mr. Calhoun set off as

soon as h e could disengaged himself t o overtake them,and

i f possible be in at the “brush .

” I t would have been asevere “brush” to u s

,but fo r a l i ttle -one horse sleigh

,that

but a fe w moments before had afforded u s a subject fo r the

greatest merriment. After a hearty laugh at o u r expense,

i ts owner took us in and conveyed us t o ou r destination .

”

The winter,then

,because of enforced cessation from toil

i n the fields,was specially the time for social enj oyment ,

but i t was not by any means a time of idleness . The loom

and spinning wheel were busy,and varied domestic duties

gave ample employment for the household . Summer

brought its toi l in planting and reaping,but i t was stil l

family work,in which al l had a share .

I t was in the main,home l ife among agricultural people

,

a l ife of S i mpl icity,frugality an d ho n est toil ; but we would

sadly misconceive it,i f we supposed it

,a hard and joyless

one . I f those early homes had less of what we call the

adornments and the comforts of l ife,i t is certain they h ad

20 T H E FALLING SPR ING

as much,i f n o t more

,of true happiness ; fo r that does n o t

depend upon carpeted floors,costly furni ture and the u p

h ols t e r e r s’ art. Those who have reached ease and plenty

through toil and self-den ial,can testify that some of their

happiest days were those of their earl ier years,when they

were struggl ing in hope of something bet ter,and found a

sweet conten t i n their l i ttl e gains .

Happiness can si t at the humble fireside; clad in homespu ngarmen ts

,and be as truly herself

,as when robed in si lks

,

adorned with j ewels,and dwell ing in a palace : nay

,oftener

does sh e come with her smil i n g face to the lowly home

where honest thrift,daily toil

,and uni ted aims bind the

ho u sehold together.

The pride of fathers and t h e j oy ofmothers in their ch il

dren were j ust as great a hundred years ago as now ; the

wine of l ife was then as intoxicating to youth,and young

maidens knew as much of the sweetness of love,when to

the merry hum of the spi n n ing wheel,they l istened to their

lovers ’ tender words,as do the modern ones re sting o n

damask cushions,and hearing the sweet old story

,t o the

accompaniment of the piano .

Nor was home l ife the n al l Arcadian simpl ici ty andunbroken content alas

,there is no

_happy valley o n earth

within whose compass men can find p e rfect peace,and satis

faction for al l their aspirations . I t could not be said of al l

who l ived in this val ley then,that ;

Along the cool,s e questered vale of l ife

,

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way

There was then as now,a larger world beyond

,whose

influence was more or less fel t,and whose charm fel l o n

some with del ight .

The letters to which I have already referred,give some

gl impses of i t . One,dated

,Philadelphia

,February 25 t h ,

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . 2 I

1 795 , gives us a description of the celebration of Washing

ton ’s birthday,and of a reception t o the President .

“The morning of the 2 2 n dwas ushered in by the discharge

of heavy arti llery . The whole ci ty was in commotion,

making arrangements to demonstrate their attachment to

our beloved President. The Masonic,Cincinnati and the

mil itary orders uni ted in doing him ho n or. H appy R e pu b

l ic,great and glorious

“Mrs . Cadwale de r was t oo indisposed to attend the ball ;Mr. and Mrs . Jackson with Dr. Spring called for me in their

coach . Dr. Rodman met us at the door and conducted us

to M r s . Washington . She half arose as we made our pass

ing compliments . She was dressed in a rich silk entirely

without ornament,except t h e animation her amiable heart

gave to her countenance. Next her were sitti ng the wivesof foreign embassadors , gl i ttering with ornamen ts from the

floor t o the summit of their head dress . One of the ladies

wore thre e large ostrich feathers . Her brow was encircled

by a sparkling fil let of diamonds . Her neck and arms were

almost covered with j ewels,and t w o watches were suspended

from her girdle,

: al l reflecting the l igh t from a hundred

directions . Such sup e rabundance of ornaments struck me

as injudicious . We look too much at the gold and pearls

t o do j u stice to the lady .

T h e seats were arranged l ike those of an amphitheatre,

and cords were stretched o n each side of the room about

three e e t from the floor,to preserve sufficient space for the

dancers . We were not long seated when General Washington entered an d bowed to the ladies

,as he passed around the

room .

“He comes,he comes

,the hero comes

,

” I i n volu nf‘arily and softly exclaimed. When he bowed to me

,I could

scarcely res ist the imp u lse of my heart that almost burs t

through my bosom,to m e et him . On this eveni n g

,my

dress was white brocaded silk,trimmed with si lver and

2 2 T H E FALLING SPRING

whi te silk,high heel sho e s embroidered with silver

,and a

l ight blue sash,with a silver cord an d tass e l tied at the left

side . My watch was suspe nded at the right,and my hai r

was in i ts natural curls . Surmounting al l,was a small

white hat,and white ostrich feather confined by a bril l ia nt

pin and buckle .

”

But there is s ti l l another feature of the hom e l ife of o u r

fathers,which must not be overlooked . I t is i ts rel igiousness .

Whatever we may think of the piety of that age,o r what

ever may h ave been its defects,i t was profoundl y seriou s

and earn e st. I t made its e lf fel t in al l the reg u lations ofhome. I t set u p a famil y al tar , with its morning and even

ing sacrifice of prais e and pray er. I t made the B ible t h

supreme law of the household,and men

,t o the best of their

abil i t y , set their consciences by i t, as they did their clocks

by t h e sun , de e ming both infall ible , in all their d irections .

In their simple faith,they looked upon children as gifts

from God,the more the better

,and they trained them in the

nurture and admonition of the Lord . The admonition was

at times made humanl y severe and r i gorous , but i t was ever

true t o the end in V iew . Family government was n o t then

in the hands of the children,but with the parents

,according

to God ’s Ordinance . The catechism had t o be learned,n o r

was attendance upon t h e sanctuar y an optional matter with

the ch ildren . The infant in the mother’s arms,and the

eldest born,reaching his majority

,were al ike brought to the

Sabbath services . The family as a unit was expected to

attend,nor was any day in the family l ife more marked than

the Sabbath . I ts sancti ty was not to be violated by anyneedless work

,n or by social visi ting, nor by an y loud speech

o r boisterous mirth . Whistl ing was an impropriety,an d

the play ing of an y musical instrument a serious offense .

Eve n the preparat ion of food allowable o n other days,or

walking idl y abroad , was forbidden . The playfulness of

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . 23

children was repressed,and an air of solemni t y pervaded the

house. The day stood alone , reminding them of the awful

pr e sence of the invisible God , and of their obl igations to

Him . I t was o n e of the most important educators of home

life,and i t can easily be seen how it made a deep impression

upon character. I t is quite common to sp e ak of the old

time Sabbath Observances with a sneer,as a remnant of

Jewish bougage,or as creating a distaste for rel igio n . They

have been describ e d as sombre and awful day s,lacking in

the freeness and sweetness of the gosp e l d ispensation . Some

did feel them to be a restraint and a burden , but not al l .

There are those t o whom ,in after years

,the i r memory was a

del ight . Let our young lady from Chamb e rsburg testify onthis point. This is what she writes in the year 1 81 8 : “Oh ,that we could rightly estimate the privilege of having one

seventh of o u r tim e secluded from the busy world . I yetrecollect a Sabbath evening walk at Loudoun . The dayhad passed in retirement and useful reading and conversa

tion,when o u r mo t her proposed a walk to the hills . Bella

and I accompanied her,and we pursued a path through a

meadow,around a gentle hill

,an d crossed a stile

,coming to

a forest . Here we paused . On the opposi te side of the

meadow was a broad c'

re e k n o t disturbed as o n o ther days,

by the wheels of diffe rent mil ls,reflecting o n its smooth

,

clear surface the luxuriance of i ts bank . All nature seemed

to enjoy its Sabbath all was sti ll . The distant houses in

View were closed,the cattle grazed undisturbed

,and M ount

Parn e l l ’s summi t rec e ived the brill iant rays of the decl ining

sun . Our dear mother,aware of the importance of early

rel igious impressions,said to us : ‘How subl ime wi ll be an

eternal Sabbath .

’ The stil lness of the air,the grandeur of

the trees,the notes of the evening bird

,and the conversa

tion with our m other,occasioned an un u sual seri ousness .

She spoke of-the evil pr opensities of the heart,the necessi ty

24 THE FALLING SPR ING

of virtuous principle , the importance of revelation as an

infall ible guide,assu r ing us that no mere personal advantage

could secure o u r happiness . ‘I t i s ’ said sh e ‘the rel igion

of Jesus alone that can give peace and eternal fel ici ty .

’

Then kneel ing,with o n e of us o n each s ide of her , sh e

prayed . I look upon this as the mos t sublime momentofmy l ife . I fel t myself introduced to God .

Certai n i t is that out of such hom e s,and from such train

ing,came men and wome n who fel t as none other

,their

obl igations to God. Their rel igious convictions were clear

and strong. Life to them was a serious affair ; but therewas a high and solemn gladness in it

,l ike the j oy of angels

,

fo r the y fel t that in al l i ts confl ict,sorrows and temptations

,

they w e re serving God,and could have His smile of

approval .

Th e ir moral Opinions were as stalwart as their bodies . I tmay have b e e n Sparta n discipline that they received , but i t

made heroes . There is no factor more potent in soc i e t y fo r

good or i ll,than home l ife . I t is the fountain head of both

C h urch and State,and gives character t o each of them . I t

is n o t too much to say that the old,God-fearing homes of

the Cumb e rland Vall ey have affected most powerfull y thecivi li zation of our country : Their d e scendants

,mul tipl ied

into mil l ions,s til l feel and perpetuate the pious influences

of their ancestral home .

The other part of my theme relates to the Church . The

rel igious bel iefs of a people are the supreme forces in devel

Oping their social and national l ife . They ultimately modify

and control laws,customs

,education

,in short al l that enters

into their civil ization . According as their bel iefs are pure

and true,o r corrupt and superstitious

,the people rise o r fall

in the scale of nations . I t is a well known fact that theearly settlers of th is val ley were almost exclusively Scotch

Irish,and Presbyterians in their fai th . They hearti ly


l ooked upon al l men as ruined an d lost under the pow er of

s in,and none m i ght hop e fo r salvation save through the

operations o f sovereign grac e,saving according to i ts own

good pleasure . But this doctrine was not preached or held

as a grim fatal ism,manifesting itself in arb itrary decrees

which bound men as in chains ; on the contrary , i t was

insisted that the soul of man was ever free,that he was

always re sponsible for his actions , that in accordance with

the divine commands an d promises,this saving an d so y er

e ign grace was to be sought after, and that i ts reception

meant pe r s e r ve r an c e in righteousness . I t was a faith thatinspired and compel led action . The men of that day

bel ieved strenuously,not i n man ’s fore-ordination

,but i n

God ’s ; so their chief care was to hold themselves i n har

mony with H i s decrees . This gave a strength and boldness

to their convictions which nothing could crush . They did

not Change th eir characters or their conduct with their

circumstances . They would do o n earth,that which would

pass inspection at the Supreme Court in Heaven . The

sense of duty grew stron j , rugged an d unyieldi n g as iron,

in the l ight of the doctrine of divine sovereignty,as revealed

in the written Word . While i t set their consciences free

fromall the commandments and traditions of men,i t also

made them uncompromising in fol lowing what they bel ieved

t o be the teachings of Hol y Scripture . They were an

impractical sort of people to those who wished to guideconduct by expediency

,or gain peace by compromise.

Perhaps they were sometimes over-scrupulous,and d id

n o t always distinguish between their prej udices and their

consciences . Admit that they were at times angular and

exacting but i t was by such men that the foundations of a

great republ ic were laid,and who wil l fi n d fault with the

granite block because its corners are not smooth as S ilk,and

soft as wool ?

PRES BYTERIAN CHURCH . 27

This same Calvinisti c faith developed within them,as i t

h as done everywhere , the possibil i ties of self government .

I t made the atmosphere most favorable fo r true freedom .

The men whose consciences would not permit them to

kneel t o any object or being, other than the l iving and

invisible God,were already free men and fi t for a free

government . So i t was when o n the 4t h ofJuly , 1 776 , the

L iberty el l in Ph i lde lph i a rang o u t the tidings that the

colo n ies had declared their independence,in this val ley the

hearts of the people responded in jo y as the heart of o n e

man . Nowhere did patrio tic fervor burn higher o r more

brightly than among the Presby erian Scotch-Irish . Fromthis very place a company marched to Boston and took part

in the famous struggle on Bunker Hill an d i t was in this

ve r y C h u rch th at an attempt was made , through excessive

zeal,to discipl ine a m e mb e r b e cause i t was susp e cted that

his sympathies w er e n o t wh oll y with t h e pat riotic ca u se .

The teaching from the pulpit o n e hundred years ago,while

van ge li cal, was strongly doctrinal in its character. Special

emphasis was given to the distinctive features of Calvinism,

and its famous five points ofdoctrine found long elucidations

and fervent appl ications . The instruction given was sys

t e mat i c,an d in a direct l ine with the doctrinal teachings of

the Westminster catech isms,and as a resul t

,the people

knew What they believed . There were also systematic

exposi tions of Scripture,general ly a series of discourses o n

particular books of the sacred volume ; a kind of expository

preaching which has fallen largely into disuse at the presentt ime . N o r were the church-goers of those days afraid of a

long sermon . They expected an hour,o r even more

,to be

spent in opening up the Word . They cared not so muchfor exhortation as for sol id instruction

,and they got i t.

They wanted strong meat not milk fo r babes . There was

also a stern simpl ici ty in the manner ofworship,which was

28 THE FALLING SPRING

strikingly in accord with their faith . A century nearer t orefo r mation struggles than we are

,they had an intens e

aversion to anyth ing l ike forms,ceremon ials

,ri tuals o r even

decorations in the church . All these seemed to them t o

savor of popery .y I t was someth ing that tended to obscure,

rather than reveal spiri tual things . Their houses of worshipwe re severel y pla in and unadorned . Stained glass

,e spe c i

all y i f marked by some sacred s y mbol,or even by the s ign

of the cross,would not have b e e n tolerated . Organs would

n o t have been allow ed in the servi c e of praise . T h e

psalmody used was the old ru gged Rouse ’s version . The

singing of hymns was objected to as the offering of strange

fire upo n the al tar. The communion was celebrated at

long intervals,and was i n troduced by a fast day , and special

services . The communicants partook of i t seated at a table,

an d i t was nec e ssary to receive a token from the elders in

order to participate in i t . At that time there was n o l i ttle

complaint upo n the par t of som e pious souls,of formal ism

and coldness in the church . The weekl y pra y er meeting

had not as yet becom e t h e cu s t om,o nor was the Sunday

school in exis tence . Years ago i t was my privil ege to read

the manuscript containing the consti tution and rules of the

firs t S u nday school organized in this church . I ts accountswere k e pt in po u nds

,shi ll ings an d p e nce. Each Sabbath

t h e r e .was a new sup e rintenden t, and the instruction cons is ted

largely in reciting the catechism,and repeating portions of

the Scriptures . The churches,especial l y 1 1 1 the new settle

ments,were struggl ing fo r existence , and there was n o t as

yet any foreign missionary spiri t among them . The times

of refresh ing from the Lord had not yet come . The Gen

eral Assembly of 1 799“laments the decl i nation of the vi tal

spiri t of rel igion and the abundance an d boldness of impiety

and immoral i ty i t said : “a vain an d pernicious philosophy

has I n many i nstances spread i ts infection over Europe and


America,and the introduction of a mul ti tude of l icentious

and unprincipled writings have po isoned the sourc e ofmorals

in certain classes of society,o r in particular districts of the

church .

” I t called earnestly upon its ministers t o exertthemselves to resist the progress of vice and profaneness

,and

to advance the principles and practice of virtue and piety .

Drunkenness was the prevail ing Vice of the time,greatly

fostered by social customs,and the prevail ing type of unbe

l iefwas of the gross,ribald school of Tom Paine . The

Pfe sby t e r ian ministers of that period were unquestionably

the foremost in influence,scholarship and general cul ture .

The y were fo r the most part l iberally educated , and they

became the leading teachers as wel l as preachers in the

community . Tru e to the genius of Presbyterianism,they

were strenuous advocates of popular education , and the

academies an d col leges of that period were in the majority

of cases,organized and establ ished through their i n s t r u

mental ity . The pastor of this church one hundred years

ago,Rev . Will iam Speer

,was a fair representative of the

ministry of that dav . His piety was ardent and self deny

ing,and his preach ing solemn and practical . His zeal in

the missionary cause led him to resign his ch arge after three

years ’ service and go to Chill icothe,then in the terri tory of

the Northwest. Subsequently,on acco u nt of domestic

affl ic tion,he return ed to Western Pennsylvania and became

the pastor of the churches of Greensburg and Uni ty . One

of these churches I attended in my boyhood,and the memory

of th is godly man was stil l cherished in the traditions of the

people . After him,in the year 1 80 0 came the Re v. David

Denny,who remained in thi s pastorate fo r 38 years . When

I came among y o u in 1 860,t h e r e

'

w e r e those l iving who had

enjoyed his ministrations,and who held h im in affectionate

remembrance . He was a type of another class in the

ministry of that period . He was n o t a bril l iant orator, but


his fidel ity as a pastor,and the man i fe S t si n cerity of h is

Christian character gave more than the power of eloquence

to his discourses,which were plain

,systematic and direct

presentations of the gospel . He wore well,and enjoyed in

a more than ordinary degree,the esteem and affection of the

whole community. In addition to his pastoral labors,he

taught i n the academy which still exists among you .

Time fails me,nor does i t fal l with in the l im its of my

subj ect to speak of his successors . One of them was Rev.

Daniel M cKi n le y , D . D .

,who preached and labored wi th

the zeal of an apostle,and who was known in al l the

churches fo r his consecration and his success in his Master ’s

ser vice . Another was Rev . Joseph Clark,able and scholarly

,

who labored here with great acceptance unti l 1 859, when

he resigned his church o n account of fail ing heal th .

We have taken but a brief glance at the state,of affairs in

t h e church 1 00 years ago . We have seen earnest and heroic

men and women toil ing in build ing up the kingdom of

Christ. Their work at best was incomplete and imperfect .“Through the ages o n e i ncre asing purpose runs ,

” and the

best any generation can do,i s to hasten the fulfil lment of

that purpose a l i ttle by its to i l , and to leave an unfin ished work

to its successor. But the completion is sure to come,and

the day wil l dawn when the top stone shall be laid with

shoutings of “Grace,grace unto i t.”

W i thin the l imits of a century there is room fo r advance

and we ought to notice some progress . In some th ings weare better than our fathers . At least we have some betterthings granted to us

,fo r which we must thank God . There

has been a$

change in theology,n o t i n i ts great essential

doctrines,but in their perspective and arrangement. I t has

become more Christo -centric . Less emphasis is placedupon distinctive doctrine

,and more upon the person of

Christ. There is less of denominational zeal and more of

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . 3 I

missionary fervor . The fires of ecclesiastical controvers y

that once burned so fiercel y , have largely died ou t . There

is less importance attached to different shades of doctrinal

opinion,and more to the direct appl ication of the gospel to

the needs of man . Christianity has become more genial

and sympathetic,an d concerns itselfmore about the sorrows

and sufferings ofman in this l ife . The church has awak

ened more fully to her missionary service , and feels as never

before her obl igations to preach the gospel to the whole

world . The air at the close of the 1 9th century i s n o t that

of the close of the 1 8t h . There is more of the subtle power

of spring,more warmth and sunshine in i t ; the l ight of a

brighter hope shines o n us .

B u t i f there is gain , there may also be loss . All forward

movement is n o t progress . The age ofwhich I speak hadits defects

,bu t so has o u r own

,and i f increasing l ight makes

greater responsibil ity,o u r defects are the more serious . I f

our fathers emphasized in excess the divine sovereign ty in

their theology,their View at least made them strong men

,

with inflexible principles . I f they insisted strenuously upon

t h e teachings of sound doctrine and were intolerant of any

deflection from orthodoxy,they had at least clear and posi

tive convictions of truth,and were not driven to and fr o by

ever y idle gust of opinion . However i t might be with

others,they never lost sight of the deep and eter nal dis

tinction between right an d wrong. I f,as charged

,they

were at times narrow and intolerant in their opinions,those

opinions had depth and strength and made their l ives serio u s

, dignified and forceful . I f they were rough and angular,

the y were at least granite l ike men , fit to be the foundations

to support the mighty superstructure that was to the rearedo n their ach ievements ; what they were in fai th and endur

ance made possible the better days to come. I t is t o befeared that we have lost some of the qual ities that made


them great and strong. I f we are more l iberal and tolerant

in our views of doctrine,th ere is danger that they w i ll

degenerate into indifference t o error. Insistence u pon the

divine love as the central fact in theolog y may lead us to

forget the divine j ustice,and the holy demands of inexorable

law . A revol t against doctrinal preaching may lead to the

obscuring of the great essential facts of redempt i on,and the

preach ing ofwhat is called a simple gospel,be nothing more

than the proclamation of vapory sentiments which have no

power to save men . We are in danger of exal ting o u r

boasted l iberal ism over the authority of the Word of God,

and ofmaking the gospel a mean s of securing prosperous

l iving in this world,rather than eternal l ife in the world to

come .

A revival of the spiri t of o u r fathers in their u n compr o

m i s i n g loyal ty to Christ and His church , w ould not hurt,but rather help us . I t would lead to a sharper separationbetween the church and the world

,the better observance of

the Lord ’s day,a higher standard of morals

,a truer valna~

tion of sound doctrine,and t o clearer testimony fo r the truth .

There are also perils besetting us which did n o t face our

fathers these grow o u t of the changed conditions of societyou t of i ncreased luxury and the hurry and exci tement o f

modern l ife. The old isolation which while i t may have

led to narrowness of t hought,stil l intensified i t

,h as gone .

The general dissemination of education,and modern i n ve n

tions have made us sharers i n the l ife of the world . The

thoughts ofmen,Christian and anti-Christian

,the convie

tions and opinions of al l lands are mingled in the intel lectual

and moral atmosphere whi ch we breathe. The demands of

modern l ife give us l i ttle time for discrimination , fo r medit at i o n and devotion . We are in danger of being secularized

and have already lost much of the intensi ty that charac

t e r i z e d the pi ety of former days . The philosophic theology

ADDRESS OF WELCOME .

We have gathered here fo r the purpose of c elebrating an

anniversary,and the exerc ises of this even ing are an intro

duction to the exercises that are to follow and be continued

fo r several days . That the object of this anniversary had

an honored existence is evidenced by the fact that we have

gathered to celebrate i t as we are accustomed to celebrate

only those l ives o r existences in which we can take a just

pride and have a pleasure in recall ing.

The subject of th is celebration has had an honored exist

ence,and we should come with joyous hearts

,deeming i t a

privilege to partic ipate in the exercises which commemorate

the 1 60 t h ann iversary of the founding of“The Falli n g S pr i n gChurch” and on the rounding of the ful l century mark as

a separate and independent organization . When a man h as

l ived a l ife that distinguishes h im among his fel lows and

honors cluster around his head,t h e measure of whose days

is ful l of deeds of loyal service and devotion to the cause of

humanity,the day that brought him into this world is some

times recognized and se t apart fo r the purpose of extol l ing

his virtues and singing h i s praises . When nations become

great they glory,o n stated occasions

,to celebrate their pros

pe r i t y . Those ofus who attended the Columbian Expositionsaw the United States celebrate the discovery of the contin

ent ofwhich i t formed a part,0 1 1 a scale of magnificence and

grandeur,the l ike of which the world had never seen . And

wel l i t might so celebrate,for no celebration

,however mag

n i fice n t,could approach in grandeur the good that the land

of the Stars and Stripes has conferred on man .

These are but human insti tutions,and i f i t i s proper to


celebrate the day and y e ar that gave them birth , how much

more appropriate to recognize the time . when a Divine

Inst i tu tion was given to the world .

I t is the continued existence of such an insti tution that

we are commemorating. More than a centur y and a half

ago God plan ted his viney ard o n t his Hill . Generation

after generation has passed away yet notwithstanding the

changes of years and despite the ravages of death the l ight

o n th is Z ion ’s Hil l has been steadi l y burning, reveal ing the

cross pointing heavenward and proclaiming that Jesus

Christ died to save sinners . And how t h e Lord has watered

this vine y ard and nurtured an d blessed it ; what precious

fruit the V i nes have born and what rich vintage the Lord

has gathered from time t o time to himself.

But I must stop . I t is not my province to lead y o u

into this viney ard so full of historic interest— that field has

been assigned to others .

We have with us those,who

,in the y ears gone bv

,have

had charge of this vineyard,labored I n i t and watered it

with their p rayers , and perhaps their tears . Tender mem

o r i e s stil l cl ing about their persons and with the feel ings

of afle c t i o n and esteem s t rengthened by absen ce,

o n

behalf of the flock they used t o feed,I am t o express t o

them the intense satisfaction and pleasure i t gives their old

congregation t o again have them in their midst .

To them and to all those who have been identified in the

past with The Fall ing Spring Church and ar e n ow with us,

I extend a most cordial welcome . I t is earnestl y hoped thatthe years intervening since the y left us will be blotted out

and they will feel as though they were on e of us again .

We trust that these anniversary exercises may increase

o u r interest i n and devotion to this dear old ch urch,and

quicken ou r zeal and love fo r the Lord who n o t only planted

this vineyard but h as continued it and blessed it so richly .

H ISTOR ICAL SERMON .

DEUT . XXXII . 7, 9.

“Remember t h e day s ofold , consider theyears of many generations : ask thy father

,and he will

shew thee ; thy elders , and they wil l tel l thee. For theLord ’s portion is his people ; Jacob is the lo t (cord) ofhis inheritance .

”

JOB VIII . 8- 1 0 . Inqu ire,I pray thee

,of the former age ,

and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers : (fo r weare but of y esterday ,) Shal l n o t they teach .

We turn to-day to front the Past,to look into a sect i on of

i t which,fo r us as a congregation

,has great attraction and

S ignificance . I t would go ill wi th u s,and wi th the whole

church as well,were we shut away from the past

,from God ’s

great past,august

,majestic as i t is

,and with the white of

the eternities upon it .

Men th ink of i t as perished utterly or as dim with the

dust of the ages so that i t cannot be seen,or as a buried

thing w i th no possible resurrection .

But nothing is more real . Only i t has register,an d chron

i cle . Only it holds the lamps that do not go o u t,and the

springs whose waters fail not . The present,to which w e so

s trangely cl ing,and in wh ich we think we l ive

,is nought

to the past,fo r what is i t : but the me r est point

,an

unseen mystic pivot 0 1 1 which th ings revolve and by which

they are turned over to the al l e n gulfing past. What we

think we have lost we shal l find in it. A n d when we are in

search of the real i ties,when we would know God

,and find

the mystic cross,and learn what is meant by the baptism of

the Hol y Ghost, or when we would see the cloven tongues

of fire,we must n eeds go back into God ’s great Past. I t only

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .

is historic : and n o t th is alone but prophetic t oo ,showing

us the types and hints of that w hich is stil l to be .

We are here therefore to look into it , t o l isten t o i t . we

are here to “ask of days that are past ,” to learn what we

may of the Beginnings of our l ife and exp e rien ces as a

church .

The history of our church is so woven with the history of

our town that t o g i ve the o n e we must , t o some extent , give

also the other . In the y e ar 1 736 the region l y ing west of

the Susquehanna was purchased of the Indians . As earl yindeed as 1 682 grants had been made by Wm . Penn to parties

in England,Ireland and Scotland

,and in the following

century numbers of these came over and settled in this region

before the actual purchase of the land . Among them were

four brothers by t h e n ame of Chambers w h o establ ished

themselves at Fishing Creek o n the Susquehanna,in what

is n ow Dauphin County,about 1 726

—7. They took up a

large tract of land and buil t a mill . The Indians who werel iving in what is now the Cumberland Val ley traded freelywith them . H avi n g l earned from the Indians of‘ the fe r

t i li t y and beauty of the particular section where o u r town

now stands,two of the brothers

,Benjam in and Joseph

,

came here ; the latter returned presently to Fishing Creek ,Benjamin remaining permanently . This was in the year

1 730 . Thos . Blu n s t on,the agent of the “Proprietaries

,

”

gave to Benj . Chambers l icense to take up four hundred

acres . He put up a log house near the spot where we n ow

are,and gave the name of Fall ing Spring to the settlement

,

so-called because here the brook which n ow goes by that

name falls into the creek . Buildings began to multiply,

and in 1 764 a town was laid o u t and named Chambersburg.

The settlers who had located along the waters of the

Fall ing Spring were almost al l Presbyterians . They were ,therefore

,not contented to remain long without the means

38 THE FALLING S PRING

of grace , and the establ ished ordi n ances of the church .

They were chiefl y Scotch -Irish,and the y showed the peen

l iar traits of that remarkable race,in tegrity

,tenaci ty of pur

pose , high courage , intell igence , resp e ct for law ,self-respect

,

and above al l a firm attachment to what they took to be the

truth ofGod and the order of his house. With them the

church was first,as y o u may suppose .

And therefore Col. Chambers ve r y earl y set apart fo r

church purposes,fo r a burial place , and for a school house

,

the acres here which are n ow the property of o u r congre

gat i o n . In 1 739, in the same y ear in which the Rev . Mr .

Caven,the first pastor

,was instal led

,there was put up a smal l

log building which s e rved fo r school purposes and for publ ic

ship . I t was a plain structure,of course

,with a ’ door in

the eastern side,and one in the southern . I t was l ighted

,

we are told,by long narrow windows the width of t w o small

panes of glass,and reaching from o n e end of the bui lding

t o the other . When the congregations were large the over

flow was accommodated i n a saw-mill which stood o n what

is n ow known as the island , where the Fall ing Spring entersthe cre e k . This log building remained until about the

y e ar 1 767, when o n e larger and of better material was ou t

up . I t was seventy feet long by th irty-five wide,and was

replaced in 1 803 by this stone bui lding in which we worship

n ow . This,as some of y o u will remember, had a small

porch in front . During the pastorate of the Rev . Jos .

Clark changes were made in the building . The porch dis

appeared,the vestibule was made part of the audience room ,

and the two towers were erected . Thus i t remained until

the y ear 1 868when , finding ourselves again in want of room

and wishing to improve sti l l more the appearance of t h e

house,the vestibule was removed

,together, of course, with

the small gal lery at the eastern end . The front door was

converted in to a window,and the entrance was by the

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . 39

towers . The ceil ing w as made n e w . The “ pr e s e n t ,h an d

some pulpit and communion table— the gifts of Mr . and

Mrs . T . B . Kennedy— were placed in the church , the stained

glass was put in the windows , and the bui lding took o n the

appearance which i t has n ow . In 1 876 the old stone wall

which ran along the eastern edge of o u r church grounds

was replaced by the present iron rail ing . This improve

ment,which is largely due t o the energ y of honorable

women of the church , w as made at a cos t of about 1 0 80

dollars . The stone steps at the gate were the gift of Miss

Susan Chambers .

In 1 768, just one year after the erection of the second

building which,— as h as been stated— took the place in 1 767

of the original log building , Col . Benj . Chambers conve y ed

t o the trustees these valuable and beautiful grounds . The

deed runs thus“DEED for ground of Fal l ing Spring Church , dated Jan

uary 1,

1 768 from Benj . Chambers , and Jane his wife , to

Patr i ck Vance , Matthew AV i lso n , E dward Cook , Robt. Pat

terson,Wm . L indsay

, Jr .

,\V m . Goss

,and Wm . Brotherton

,

in tr u st for the Presbyterian Congregation of Fall ing Springn ow professing and adhering to , and that shall hereafter ad

here to and profess the T

vV e s tmi n s t e r Confession of Faith , andthe mode of Church Government therein con tained ; w i t

nesseth that the said B . Chambers,and Jane his wife

,as well

fo r their regard to the true rel igio n of the blessed Redeemer

Jesus Christ the S o n ofGod, and fo r and in consideration of

their regard to the interest and advantage of said congrega

tion,and in consideration of the rents

,convey to the trus

tees yielding and paying therefore and thereout unto the

said B . Chambers,his heirs or assigns , at the said town of

Chambersburg o n the first day of June next first after this

dates,the yearly rent o r consideration of o n e Rose

,i f r e

quire d .

”


This was duly attended t o,as we learn

,a rose being every

y e ar formall y brought t o CO1 . Chambers .

I come n ow to speak of the organ ization of o u r church

and to gi ve such account as I can from the meagre materialat command .

I t i s n o t possible t o fix $ the date of i t s origin . The earl ier

minutes of the Donegal Presbytery,under whose care al l

the Presbyterians in the Valley originally were,make no

record of the planting of any of the first church es . The

cal l s given,and the pastoral relations consti tuted are r e

corded , but not t h e organization of the churches . We

cannot therefore from an y sources of information now open

to us make sure of these distan t dates .

The earl iest reference which I have found in the minuteso r Presbytery to our people in this part of the vall ey is in

1 735 , and the record is

Apri l 4t h ,a suppl ication from the settlement over the

river desiring suppl ies . The Presbytery appoints Mr. Alex

ander Craighead to supply said peopl e the next two ensu ingSabbaths . Mr. Thompson also is appointed to supply at

least t w o Sabbaths before the next meeting of Presby tery .

”

June 1 0,

1 735 .

“Mr. Craighead and Thompson have

suppl ied the p eople over the river as appointed .

” Whether

this phrase,

“the people over the river,

” appl ies to the

Presbyterians of th is section,o r to those only who l ived in

what is now Cumberland County,I cannot determine. The

presumption is that i t includes them all .

The next reference in the M inutes t o the people of th is

region is September 2d,

1 736 .

“I t being represented byThos . Brown from Conococheague that Mr. Will iams

latel y from England , who was rej ected by our Presbytery , is


that the people of Fall ing Spring are about to encroach on

Hopewel l church . Ordered,that representatives from both

attend our next , that the Presbytery may j udge of said com

plaint.” Mr. Craighead was afterwards appointed to visi t

these congregations and see what could be done .

I t seems to me therefore perfectly fair to infer from allthis h istory

,and from the wel l-known attachment of these

earl iest settlers to their ow n church,and to i ts pecul iar form

of worship , also from the reference to the preaching of Mr.

Will iams in 1 736 , from the dispute as to the boundaries of

Fall ing Spring and Big Spring which Col . Chambers r e

ferred to Presbytery in 1 738— from al l th is i t seems a fair

inference that as early at l east as 1 734 o r 1 735 there was an

organized congregation here . And we may , I th ink , take1 734 as the year of the birth of this church .

At a meeting of Presbytery held at Pe qu a, LancasterCounty

,October 6

,1 737, a y o u n g li ce n t iat e

'

fr om the church

of Ireland,Mr. Samuel Caven

,appeared before the Pres

by t e r y , and having produced suffi cient testimonials and

preached t o the satisfaction of the Presbytery,was received

under its care.” About a month later M r . Samuel Th ompso n

,also from Ireland

,was received . I t was “ordered that

Mr. Thompson supply at Pennsboro , and Mr. Caven at

Conococheague al ternate months unti l our next . ” At the

spring meetin g,April 8t h ,

1 738, held at Donegal , these

young men reported that they had given the suppl ies .

Pennsboro asked for the moderation of a cal l for Mr. T h ompso n and Mr. Caven was sent again to supply Co n oco

ch e agu e .

Of a meeting held at the Forks of Brandywine in June ofthe same year

,1 738, the record reads thus

“Two suppl ica

tions were presented to Presb y tery by the people of Cono

coch e agu e , vi z : one by Benj . Chambers , desiring that am inister be appointed to moderate a cal l fo r Mr. Caven ;


the other a suppl ication from Thos . Brown,desiring that a

m inister be sent to baptize children and t o inspect the d is

orders of the congregation . Presb y tery spent a pretty deal

of time consul ting as to these matters , and after al l ordered

Mr. Black t o go upon this expedition about the beginning

ofAugust,and do wh at he can to answer the end of both

suppl ications . ” Mr. Black fulfil led his appointment and

this is the record on the books Of Presb y tery :

“August 3 1 , 1 738, Hanover. The affairs ofConococheague

resumed,and several papers being read

,and a pretty deal

said by several p e rsons o n the affair,at last the Presbytery

understanding that the people of the East and West s ide of

the cre ek hav e agreed among th e mselves to divid e into t wosocieties

,and that those o n the East s ide have presented fo r

Mr. Caven t o be their minister, the Presbyter y taking these

things into consideration do,in the first place

,considering

the circumstances,approve of the division

,though we think

they have acted somewhat precipitately in separating with

o u t consent of Presbytery , and have l ikewise presented the

call of the East side to Mr . Caven ,which he has taken underconsideration til l our next . ” In the meantime he has to su pply both E ast and West Conococheague .

At the meeting in October Mr . Caven asked to be excused

until the next meeting from making answer to the call .Presbyter y met

,again in December at Paxton

,when he

del ivered a homil y on Matthew v . 8,

“Blessed are the p u re in

heart,

” etc . At this meeting the people of Fal l ing Springpeti tioned that Mr . Caven may be forwarded in his trials forordination

,and t hat they might have his answer to their

cal l,and he was allowed unti l next meeting to make answer .

In April 1 739 Presbytery met, when Mr . Caven del ivereda Lecture on Psalm 1 3

“Behold h ow good and how pleas

ant i t is for brethren to dwell together in unity ” -which was

approved. He also read a discourse upon the perspicuity


of the Scripture which was approved . Presbytery then

requiring his answer to the cal l from Fall ing Spring he

accepted i t.At a meeting in June he opened the sess io n s with an ex

e r c i se on Romans vi i i . 8,

“So then they that are in the

flesh cannot please God” “accordin g t o appointment,which

is approved as part of trial .” He was appointed to del iver

at next meeting a Popular Sermon o n Heb . xii . 1 4,“Fol low

peace with al l men” etc .

,which he did September 4, 1 739

at the meeting at Chestnut Level .At the meeting October 1 0

,1 739 a Committee consisting

of Messrs . Anderson,Boyd

,and Craighead was appointed to

ordain and instal l Messrs . Caven and Thompson . T h e

Committee met at Si lver Spring, 2. a ,Lower Pennsboro

,

November 1 4th , and ordained and instal led Mr. Thompson .

On the 1 6 t h they met here. The Committee consisted of

Messrs . Anderson,Boyd

,Craighead and Sam ’l . Thompson

j ust ordained . On their meeting at the church,

“the Rev .

Mr. Boyd having publ ished an edict at the door in the hearing of both parties

,Thos . Brown appeared and declared

that i f said societies are will ing to h ave Mr. Caven ordained

among them he would make no obj ection against i t. Mr.

Anderson then preached fr om 1 Tim . V L . 6 “But thou,O

man ofGod,flee these things

,

” etc,and presided in the ordina

tion of Mr. Caven . He was also install ed as pastor of this

church,thus becoming the first pastor of the East Con oco

ch e agu e charges a,of Fal l ing Spring and Greencastle,

November 1 6 th,1 739.

There i s no record of the parts taken by the other members of the Committee in these services . “I t was agreed atthis meeting that the other house of worship should beat Fal l ing Spring.

’

We have said that Mr. Caven was the first pastor of our

church . The author of the book cal led “The Chu r ches of


the Valley,

” in view of the following which appears in the

Minutes of Presbytery , concludes that Mr. Samuel Thompson

must have preceded him here . This is the record : “Richard

O . Cohen , Jos . Armstrong, Benj . Chambers , and Patrick

Jack,have publicly engaged to pay Mr . Sam ’ l . Thompson

the su m of £ 1 S 5 at o r before next meetin g of Presby

t e r y as being the whole of arrears due him by the pe ople at

Conococheague .

” I t has been inferred from this th at Mr.Thompson was pastor before Mr. Caven . But the Minutes

make no mention of th is . As stated already Mr. Thompson

and Mr. Caven were both appointed to supply al ternately at

Pennsboro and Conococheague,and these arrears were due

to h i m,no doubt

,as supply .

When 'M r . Caven ’s settlement had been agreed upon,the

Commissioner, Jas. Lindsay

,was asked by Presbytery what

provis ion they had made fo r h i s sustenance among them .

He said th at the subscription “amounted t o 46 which

they will increase,and what can be had over and above shal l

be al lowed him,and that they will do what they can to pro

cure him a plantation t o l ive upon .

” He stated also that

the people had agreed about the bounds between them and

the West side of Conococheague .

Mr. Caven remained pastor until July 2 , 1 741 when he

resigned .

H é was called then t o Goodwill,Orange Cou n ty

,N . Y .

,

and,after laboring there fo r some time

,he came back to th is

region . I cannot learn whether he was settled as pastor of

Goodwil l or was simply what we now call a stated supply .

On returning to this section he seems to have itinerated fo ra time

,to have then gone to Virginia

,and finally to have

preached at S ilver Spring in Cumberland county,where he

died and was buried N ovember 2 , 1 750 , at the age of44.

Our church se ems to have made no attempts fo r a long

time to secure a pastor after Mr. Caven left it . I t had had,


however,a fair measure of suppl ies . A great misfort u ne

befel l the Presbytery many years ago in the loss of a vol umeof i t s Minutes

,covering the period from October 1 750— 1 759.

I t was loaned by the Stated Clerk to a minister in the Southbefore the war

,and has never been returned . Of course we

can learn nothing of our church during those nine years .

Referring to the Minutes again we find that i t was sup

pl ied from 1 741- 1 750 by Presbytery , an d by some ministers

who came to itinerate within i t s bounds Messrs . Craighead,

Thompson,M c D ow e ll

,Sankey

,Black and Caven

,are men

t i o n e d as having suppl ied o u r congregation . I t wil l be r e

membered that Mr. Caven gave up the charge in 1 741 , and

l ived until 1 750 . The next reference to o u r church appears

in the M inutes of a meeting held at Upper Marsh Creek,

Au gust 1 2,1 760 .

“Suppl ication fo r supply was brought in

from East Conococheague,Fall ing Spring

, West Con ococh e agu e , etc . Accordingly Mr. Will iamson is appointed to

preach at Fal l ing Spring. In October Mr. Thompson isappointed to preach .

In 1 76 1 , April 28, suppl ications came from Fal l ing Spring

for suppl ies,an d Messrs . D u ffi e ld and Beard are sent. So in

1 76 2 , i n April and November, suppl ications both writtenand verbal came from our Church . In 1 763 a Mr. M cGaw

was sent to preach . In 1 764 a Mr. Slemmons was appointed

o u r supply. In 1 76 6 came a request to Presbytery fo r su p

pl ies fro rn Rocky Spring and Fall ing Spring and fo r aminister to ordain elders sometime before t h e administr ation

of the Lord’s Supper. In October 1 4th , is another reques tfo r supplies

,and I find n o other reference to our church

until the y ear 1 771 . By this I mean that the name ofFalling Spring does not appear in the l ist of churches seeking .

suppl ies . The name of East Conococheague frequently appears

,and it may be that we come in with Greencastle under

that name .


The church was thus suppl ied in their irregular way unti l

the year 1 769when the Rev. Jas . Long o r Lang took chargeof these two congregations . The following minute appears

in the record of the meeting of Presbyter y June 20 , 1 764.

“Mr . Jas . Long a l icensed candidate from the 2d Presbyteryof Philadelph ia asked to be taken under the care of th is

Presbytery. His credentials from the 2d Presbytery read

and approved,and upon his promised subjection to u s in the

Lord,the Presbytery cheerfully receive h im under o u r care

,

and appoint him to open our next Presbytery.

” This he did

October 23d with a sermon from 2 Co r . V . 2 1 ,“He hath

made Him to be si n fo r us” etc . Th e next year he was i n

vi t e d by the churches of York and Shrewsbury to supply

them fo r o n e year,which he agr e e de d to do , and he was ap

pointed by Presbytery as the ir supply until the close of the

Presbyterial year in April 1 767.

In 1 765 the Donegal Presbytery had been divided , and

that of Carl isle consti tuted fo r a part of i t . This arrange

ment lasted but a y ear. By the act of Synod in 1 786 the

old Donegal was again divided into the Presbyteries of

Baltimore and Carl isle . The ch u rch was much disturbed

by these new arrangements,and feel ing ran very high . Mr.

Lang seems t o have been dissatisfied,and t o have either

labored l i ttle in this region,or to have gone

,for a time

,

elsewhere. The only reference to him from 1 767— 69 i s to

a sermon preached by him here,July 1 768, on Gal . 1 1 . 2 1 ,

“I f righteousness come by the Law then Christ i s dead invain .

” In the Minute of 1 769 we have this ,“Rev . Jas .

Lang being present d e clared his desire to be received as amember of this Presbytery

,according to the terms granted

by Synod at the last meeting,and having renounced

his decl inature,as specified in the Synod’s Minutes

,

respecting that affair as far as he was concerned in i t,

he i s admitted as a member. I find no record of


h i s call to our ch urch,or of h i s instal lation as pastor.

But the statement is made by one o r two authors in writingup th is ancient history , that he was instal led pastor of

East Conococheague and Fall i ng Spring,thus div iding his

time between Greencastle and u s,he l iving in Greencastle .

In 1 770 the record i s, that Mr. Lang had not fulfilled hi sappointments at the last Spring meeting

,and regretting that

t h e people had been disappointed,he declares h is resolution

to be more punctual for the future . In April 1 771 he waschosen Moderator fo r the year. The record of a meeting

held in August in Tuscarora,Virginia

,is “Mr. Lang is

n ow come, and takes h is seat as Moderator. H i s Elde r i sMr. Wi ll iam Cross . ” I quote this because i t is the first

reference to the presence in Presbytery of an Elder of h i s .

Whether he came from Greencastle or from this church is not

stated . I t may be noted,as an item of interest here

,that

Presbytery met i n our church June,1 776 , j ust o n e month

previous to the Declaration of I n dependence.Mr. Lang continued to serve the East Conococheague

charge until 1 793 . In the M inutes of Presbytery,session

at Lower Marsh Creek,October

,1 792 , in this record ,

“A

su ppl ication was presented by the united congregations ofFal l ing Spring and East Conococheague requesting thatMr. Speer be appointed fo r si x months statedly to supply

them,in rotatio n with their pastor. Mr. Lang declares

h is hearty consent to this .” Accordingly,

when suppl ies

were appointed we read,

“Mr . Speer to supply Mr. Lang’sCongregation three months between this and next spring

meeting.

” I t is of in terest t o observe, in passing, that at

th is meeting the name of David Denny first appears,he

having been appointed to give suppl ies in different parts of

the Presbyte r y . While Mr. Speer was considering this i n

vi t at i o n to labor fo r s ix mo n t bs in connection with Mr.Lang

,a meeting of Presbytery was held and the following

i s part of i ts record .

50 THE“

FALLING SPR ING

the church until 1 80 0 when i t sec u red the services of Mr.

David Denn y . The minute in his case reads thus : “Octo

ber,1 790 , Session at Fall ing Spring .

“Messrs . M cL an e , Boyd and Denny appeared and proposed

themselves to be taken under care of Presbytery o n trials for

the Gospel m inistry . Presbytery found that they had ob

t ai n e d a regular college education had spent some time instudy of divinity ; were of unblemished moral character ;and , having conversed with them to a considerable length

with regard to their v iews,and their experience of rel igion

o n their own souls ; agreed to take them on trial. ”

Mr. Denny was l icensed October 6 t h,1 791 , at the meet

ing at Rocky Spring. In April,1 793 , he was called to

Path Val le y,and was ordained and installed there April

,

1 794. At that meeting Mr. Speer accepted t h e cal l to ourchurch . In October

,1 800

,Mr. Denny was called to be

pastor of Fal l ing Spring and was installed on the last

Monday of November . In the service Dr. King presided,

Dr. Cooper preached,and Mr. Francis Herron (later Dr.

Herron of the F irst Church,Pittsburg) gave the charges .

Mr. Denny continued pastor until 1 838, thus making the

long pastorate of 37 years . Dr. W ing in his sermon saysof him

,

“he was manly and conservative,candid and si n

cere,always found at the post of duty

,and beloved to the

last by his grateful people.” The Session during his

pastorate consisted ofJohn King,David Lytle

,Moses Kirk

patrick,W . S . Davis

,Robert M cCr ack e n ,

Samuel Blood ,Samuel Cooper

,Samuel M cElr oy , Robert Sharpe. I have

not found any l ist of trustees .

In 1 878, Tuesday , May 28, a two-storied brick building

H al l id ay , John Craw ford , and Wm . B rotherton , Commissioners from said congr e

g a t i o n , ag reed to d ism iss h im , and Mr . Speer is h ereby d ismissed .

”

L IS T OF COMM U NICANT S IN JO H N CRAWFOR D 3 DI S TRICT IN R E V . M R .

SPEER'S CONGREGAT ION , OCTOB ER 1 6 , 1795 .

— John Craw ford , A n n Craw ford , E dward Craw ford , El i z abeth Crawford . A lex. McKe an , E l i z abeth McKe an . E fi i e

Hil l, Joh n Beard , M a rth a Beard , David Morehead , Marth a Moreh ead , James

Mcw i l l i ams , Mary Mcwi l l i am s , John Mcwi l l i ams .

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . 5 1

which had long been used fo r Sabbath School purposes,and

for a Lecture room ,gave place to the stone chapel which

was built in the same year and at a cost of

There was for many years a mission school made up of

the colored people of t h e town which met in the basement

o f the old Lecture room . I t was under the care largely of

Mr . W . G . Reed,and prospered t o a remarkable degree.

The teachers were chiefly from o u r ow n church,though a

number came from the other congregations of the town .

Some time after the old bu ilding had been torn down,the

church rented the basement of the Bethel church which

stands at the western end of $ ueen stre et o n the Western

Maryland railroad,and the school met there. In Decem

ber 2 1 , 1 890 ,we put up the neat frame bui lding in which it

is taught now 0 11 West L o n do n street .

I t is with great pleasure that we have with us to-day theCentral Presby terian church of the town

,and i t will be in

place here to refer to its origin .

Finding in 1 868 that w e n e e de d more church room the

question arose whether we should enlarge this building orcolonize. Many were opposed to making any gre at Change

in o u r venerable house of worship,while some favored it .

These brethren who did so sent a peti tion t o Presbytery fo r

a se cond organization which was granted . On the ‘

I 5 t h of

August the Session gave 28 ce r t ficat e s of dismissal,and o n

the same day (Saturday) the Committee appointed byPresbytery arrived and the church was

.organized . The

committee was composed of the Rev. Dr. Thos . Creigh,R e v.

W. A . West,an d Elder Craig M cLan ah an .

Messrs. J . C. Austin and James Reside were chosen

Elders,and were ordained on the Sabbath

,Dr. Creigh

preaching in the morning and Mr. West in the evening.

Their church has been greatly blessed of,God , arid I speak

fo r us here of the mother church when I say that we wish


i t wel l with al l our heart,and that we ask of the Saviour fo r

i t the best He has to give .Thus has the Lord led on our church and we look back

n ow over the chequered way with gratitude . For a ce n

tury and a half at least has the l ight been sh ining on thishil l . So long has the standard fo r the truth been l ifted uphere. This ancien t church h as kept the faith once del ivered

to the saints . I t has so happened— so far as I can fin dthat the men who have preached to i t and watched i t fo rGod

,have bel ieved the doctrines taught i n the Confession of

Faith . I do not think that this church and S '

ession wou ldtolerate any man in this pulpit who wou ld preach anotherGospel than that which has always been preached here.“Thus sai th the Lord

,stand ye in the ways and se e ; and

ask for the old paths where i s the good way, and walk

therein and ye shal l find r est for your soul .” Jer. V I : 1 6 .

“Now unto H im who i s able to keep y o u from fall ing

and to present you faul tless before the presence of H i s glorywith exceeding joy ; to the only wise God our Savio u r beglory and majesty

,domin ion and power

,bo th now and

ever.” Amen .

T H E R E V . J . G . H IBBEN ’S PAPER .

To fi l e Con g r egat i on of t /z e Falli n g Spr i n g C/ nn f e /z :

This is the season which by common consent we con se

crate to memory . The pictures of the present with their

weal th of meaning,the richness of their coloring, the inter

mingl ing of l ight and shade, their subtle suggestions to ou rhope

,and to ou r love

,al l th is is owing to the fact that we

are laying the past under migh t y tribute to the present.

The actual is thus ever ideal ized by the after-glow whichstreams upon i t from the fires of the past . Living as y oudo at the close of this century of l ight

,standing in the fore

most files of time,possessing the heritage of a noble history

,

both civil and ecclesiastical,th is becomes n o t only a time

of congratulation and thanksgiving but an occasion also

replete with inspiration . I t is the privilege of each o n e of

y ou to exclaim w i th that rare German poet

My inheri tance,how wide and fair

,

Time is my vast se e dfie ld; ofTime I ’m heir.

That I have had a part,however small

,in your h istory

,

I have always regarded as a privilege and honor. An d ou r

relation as pastor and people has a special significance for

me,i nasmuch as this has been my fir st

,and always will be

my only pastoral charge . I t is to me personally a matterof special interest that I was ordained in this church

,and

inducted into the pastoral ofli c e by the Presbytery,ofwhich

a hundred years ago my great-great-grandfather,Dr. Cooper

of the Middle Spring Church,was a l ife-long member. Thus

I am united to you by ancestral as well as ecclesiastical ties .53

54 THE FALLING SPRI N G

But there are ties far stronger than friendship . And to you

with whom I worked in a common cause fo r four years , Iam bound with cords that neither time nor space can Sever.

Among all the memories of this Church,the most grateful

is the consciousness that I have friends firm and true,whose

love and sy mpathetic interest I cherish ever as a pricelesspossession . When I th ink of you

,and o u r past together ,

my heart is warmed . A S the odor of a flower will often

make vivid and real some far away pas t,so n ow

,the fr a

grant flower of friendship brings to me with i t s rare per

fume a rush of thought t hat r e -establ ishes fo r a while t h e

days that are gone,and recal ls with an old time distinctness

‘

the scenes endeared by a thousa n d strong associations .

So muse I of old times,old homes

,old friends.

Old friends,the uni ting of those words h as borne

M y fancy backward to the gracious past,

The generous past,when al l was possible

,

Fo r al l was then untried ; the years between

Have taught some sweet,some bitter lessons ; none

V Ji se r than this— to spend in al l th ings else,But of old friends to be most m i se r lv.

”

Always,and at a time of reunion especially

,do we miss

the many whose friendship h as become to us a holy thing,

because they are with God. We claim them stil l as ours ;for we are God ’s

,as they are H i s . We feel their presence

near. The very insistence of our desire makes them real to

o u r hearts . The memory of their sweet strong li ves stirs

within u s hallowed feel ings of a solemn jo y . Many of you

through th is celebration may have had some such e xpe

r i e n c e as that of the aged man who found himself o n e time

upon the banks of the Rhine,at a Spot which had been

pecul iarly associated with two companions ofhis earl ier days,

and who as h e crosses the river,s its deep bowed in reverie

,


u ntil reaching the Opposite shore , when he exclaims

Take,O boatman

,thrice t h y fe e ,

Take,I give it will ingly ;

For,invisible to thee

Spiri ts twain have crossed with me .

I t is easy to shut the eyes and with memory’s inner vi sion

,se e old forms

,and old faces along these aisles and in

these pews ; and to recognize perchance, the touch of a van

i sh e d hand,o r the sound of a voice that is sti ll .

We are thus ever and again reminded that the brotherhood of which w e are al l members

,persis ts through all

separation,be it even that of death .

I t is to me ever a grateful thought, that though call ed towork in other fields

,I am stil l on e with you in your labors

here,fo r ours is one work— the search after the truth

,and

the endeavor to promote the cause of righteousness alway

and everywhere . And we feel constrained at such a time

as th is,to dedicate ourselves anew to its high behests and

sacred trusts . While celebrating this festival which com

me mor at e s the h istory of th is Church fo r a hundred years

and more,i t seems to me well t o recall to mind

,that we are

members of a stil l greater brotherhood,— the holy catholic

church of Christ . All denominational and local pride is

merged in that larger loyal ty,and freer

,broader Spiri t of

fraterni ty which spring up in o u r hearts with the thought ,that ours i s the Church whose history stretches back throughthe centuries to the Manger of Bethlehem

,when the Shep

herds fe d their flocks by n igh t hard by upon the hills of

David ; and whose future will reveal a stil l more glorious

destiny,in i t s progressive march towards that

“One far off,divine event

To which the whole creation moves .


I t i s meet therefore,that real iz ing the splendor of our

heritage,we j om heart and vo r ce in ascribing unto Christ

Jesus,the Head of the church u niversal

,al l honor and glory .

“For thou, O Christ , art the King of Glory ; Thou art the

everlasting Son of the Father. Heaven an d earth are ful l

of the maj esty ofThy glory ; The glorious company of the

Apostles praise Thee ; The goodly fellowship of the pr oph

e t s praise Thee ; The noble army of martyrs praise Thee ;The Holy Church throughout al l the world doth ack n owl

e dge Thee .

58 THE FALLING SPR ING “

this country shared in it . I well remember t h e state of

things in my ow n church in southern Ohio,and the many

who turned to the Lord . But I cannot now account for thegeneral interest which in 1 876 began to show itself all over

our land in the cause of lost men . There was plainly some

blessed power at work and our churches here were consciousof i t. You will remember that meetings were held by ourtwo congregations in the Central church and in our ow n by

turns . The R e v. Dr. Caldwell was pastor then of the

Central . Fo r weeks the meetings were continued,and the

resul t was that fift y -seven uni ted with our own church on

profession of their fai th . Of these ten were heads of fami

l ies. The session appointed a meeting ( 1 ) fo r the young menby themselves

, (2) fo r the young women , (3) for the heads offamil ies . So that when the Sabbath of Communion came

there was the large number which I have j ust given applying for admission . I t was a time of great joy to us al l .

Some came back to the Lord who had wandered away.

Family altars were set u p in many a home, and the meet

ings fo r prayer were often crowded . I t was del ightful towatch the i ncreasing change in the manner of l ife of some

of those who at that time came into the church . N o t only

were they in their seats in the meeting for pray er,but many

of them,in a tim id yet a manly Christian way , began to

take a part i n the services . When opportun ity was givento Speak or to offer prayer i t was seized by one and another.

I remember with what interest I l is tened as they spoke tou s

,or t o God for us . I t must have b een a great trial to

some of them who were n o t used t o publ ic speaking. And

we were e difie d.

In the cases Of some of these brethren there were pointsof great interest . I wel l remember the experience of on e

of them . He was a man of great intel lectual force , very

logical and acute . His heart must needs be reached

PRESBYTER I AN CHURCH . 59

th rough his head . He would have been glad to get to theLord in a merely logical way had that been possible

,and to

find Him simply by the Reason . I fel t myself embarrassedin talking with him . I did not doubt h is sincerity . Icould se e his spiritual uneasiness ; that he was weary of

himself and of his methods as on e who was seeking to be

saved . I remember h ow we walked the pavement in thenight

,he pressing me to make things plain i f I could .

'

This state of th ings continued until I began to think thathe never would be the Lord ’s

,and come to Him o n His

ow n terms . But finally he did . I t must have be en that theSpiri t taught him and powerfully persuaded him

,— for I

was at my l imit. And I am sure that t o-day he would n o t

fo r al l the world be back at his old halting place of doub t,

n or take any oth e r way to the sk y , even supposing o n e

could be opened,than the one he did take of S imple

,be

l ieving submission to God.

I recal l the case of another,and he t oo a man of mind .

He was of a reverent spirit,S incere

,conscientious . But he

could not make up h ismind . I had several interviews andprayers with him

,and he was ready to confess the Lord .

But he al lowed the opportuni ty to pass,hoping to se e more

clearly than he did in his twil ight,and finally he came.

I remember— perhaps it was about this time— that Ipreached a sermon

,and which because of the interest which

the curious theme had for me,I h ave

'

some t ime s thoughtthat I would repeat

,on the words in 2 Kings V I I : 7,

‘Where

fore they arose and fled in the twil ight . ’ The theme was

that i f we fly fo r safety at al l we must run with the twi

l ight V iews we have . Some of you may recal l the text i fn o t the sermon .

In the revival time of the winter of seventy -si x and the

spring of seventy -seven we had in the old Lecture-roomsome most enjoyable and precious seasons . I remember the


meetings for the young men,our kneel ing and prayer

together. Then they h ad meetings conducted by themselves and on which nei ther pastor nor elder intruded .

The Rev . Geo . B . N e e dh am,an evangel ist

,came on iny i

t at i on of the churches and spent some time in preaching theGospel

,his wife leading Bible readings with the ladies .

They were good people,we thought

,and we put no hind

rance in their way,bu t gave them every opportunity to

do good .

We had a fine opportunity in the sess ion at that timewhen so many as fift y -seven were inquiring for the way , tol earn what i t was that led those who came to seek the Lord .

And we could se e and did se e by how a seemingly smal l

circumstance a man ’s eternal fate may be determined .

Some traced their firs t good impress ion t o a sermon , or to acasual occ u r an c e

,or to some word of Scripture. Some

could give no connected account of the beginning of their

n e w experience. I t mattered not. The Holy Spiri t was

plainly at work along h i s ordinary l ines and the b l essed r e

su lt s were reached .

REMARKS OF TH E R E V . S . J . NICCOLLS,D . D .

(The fol lowing i s a summary taken from the local papersas reported at the time

,Dr. N iccolls having wri tten that

he was unabl e to furnish a copyDr. N iccolls said , he Was invited to supply the church in

1 860 . After preaching o n two Sabbaths he was extended acall . He found he was in h i s right place

,and thought

there never was a charge so dear. I t was h i s first charge .

The church was one of pecul iar standing. Here were the

leading men of this community,men prominent in the

state,foremost at the bar and in the practice of medicine.

The circumstances which led to the first revival after h i s

coming were singular. He desired one evening to speak

to a member of the choir on spiri tual matters,but was pre

vented by a rehearsal . .While talking to a young lawyer,

who afterward entered the ministry (the R e v. Dr. Orr,) a

message came to him that a man had been injured on theCumberland Val ley Railroad. He went to the old stationt o se e the . man . On entering, he saw on the wall the S u

pe r i n t e n de n t’s order

,

“Passengers must purchase ticketsbefore starting.

” He wondered i f the man,who in the

morn ing,boastful of h i s great physical strength

,had r e

viled rel igion,had procured his ticket ; he found he had not.

He preached a very plain funeral sermon over the man ’s

remains . The discourse had much cfle c t,and a revival be

gan . Services were held night after night,and as a resu l t

some fifty were gathered into the church . Among other

things growing out of this revival was the increased ac

t ivi t y of the young people. The best

definition of faith he ever heard waS ' fr om the l ips of an old61

6 2 THE FALLING SPR ING

colored woman here ° “God said h e would save me andI ’m a-boldin ’ Him to it $” Dr. N iccol ls said : “Could Iput events in their true h istorical sequence the resul t wou ldbe e n fr an c i n g in its harmony— the music of God’s peopl e

moving forward .

” Dr. N iccolls il lustrated the value of

prayer by this Incident : After the fire when i t was r e

ported that rebels were returning,and people were fleeing

from the town,he was left alone with h i s wife and his only

daughter,w h o was so i l l that a ride o n the train wou ld

almost certainl y cause her death . He took the l i ttle ch ild inhis arms

,went into h i s study

,and prayed t h e |L or d to give her

strength to be removed from town on a train which was tol eave several hours afterward . Then he replaced the child in

her carriage. Fo r a fe w moments She Sl ept,and then

awoke and tried t o get ou t of her carriage . She was not

interfered with,and presently cl imbed from it

,and walking

to her toys began to play with them .. H e knew then that his

prayer had been answered,and they left Chambersburg that

afternoon . Dr. N iccolls concluded as fol lows“The true genius of the child ofGod is to walk in the hopeof better times . Your best days are before you . No truech ild of God turns to t h e past and moans and groans overwhat has gone from him . More thrill ing days are beforeus . The twentieth century has more glory to unfold to u sthan the marvelous n ineteenth .

”

PERSONAL H ISTORY OF THE PASTORS .

R E V . SAMUEL CAVEN,1 739To 1 741 .

Samuel Caven,the first Pastor of the Fal l ing Spring

Church,was born in 1 70 6 , and came to this country from

T e mple r e a, county Tyrone, Ireland , not long prior to 1 737.

The earl iest reference to him in the Minutes of the Presby

fery of Donegal,which then included the territory of ou r

Church,bears the date of October 5 , 1 737. O n that day

Mr. Caven , in company with Mr. John Elder, a l icentiateof New Castle Presbytery

,

“having produced suffi cient t e s

t imon ials and having preached to the satisfaction of

Presbytery,an d adopted the Westminster Confession of

Faith,and Catechism

,as the confession of their faith , and

promised obedience to Presbytery,were taken under its

care.” Mr. Caven was at once appointed to supply the

people of Pe n n sbor o u gh (now Silver Spring) the firs t three

Sabbaths of October. On November 6,1 737, Presbytery

sent him to Conococheague or Clear Water Settlement,

“embracing what is now Fal l ing Spring,Upper West Co n

ococh e agu e , (Mercersburg) , East Conococheague, or Greencastle

,and Lower West Conococheague

,or Welsh Run .

”

He acted as supply fo r these four Churches and the

Churches of Pe n n sbo r ou gh (al ternating ever y four Sab

baths with M r . Samuel Thomson), until April 1 2 , 1 738,

when Presbytery was requested to arrange for Mr . Thomsonto be cal led to both the societies of Pe n n sbor o u gh . Fo r the

balance of two years,Mr. Caven suppl ied the Co n oco

ch e agu e churches alone, when those four churches were63


separated by Presbytery into two charges . At the same

time he was appo inted by Presbytery to supply at UpperHopewell and Middle Spr ing

,at the meeting of Presbytery

April 20 , 1 739. Mr. Caven having received and accepted a

cal l from the E ast S ide,comprising the present Fal l ing

Spring and Greencastle churches , he was ordained and i n

s talled November 1 6,1 739. On N ovember 1 7, Presbytery

ordered that he should supply Upper Hopewell or MiddleSpring on certain Sabbaths in December

,1 739, and Feb

r u ar y and March , 1 740 . On June 1 8,1 740 , he was ap

pointed to supply Great Conewa’

go,and Lower Marsh

Creek o n the first Sabbath of Ju ly and “ to preach there on:

a week day and inquire into the state of both these settlements and make a report at our next.” And in September

,

he was appointed to supply again on fixed days . During the

win ter of 1 740—41 , he V isited the Churches and settlements

on the South Branch of the Potomac. On the z u d of Jul y,1 741 , at h i s ow n request

,he was dismissed from the Fal l in g

Spring charge. During the summer he spent some time atAntietam (o r Hagerstown) , Marsh Creek , Ope qu h o n ,

and

on the South Branch .

I t was while he was sti l l Pastor at Fal l ing Spr i ng , thatthe famous Craighead Case came before the Synod of

Philadelphia,in May

,1 741 . I t would be a long story to

tel l . S u fli ce i t to say , as we are confined to the pe r son al

h istory of the Pastors of th is Church,that Mr . Caven was

one of the twelve signers of the Protes tation presented to

Synod on June I st . And the Protes tation was the final

o ccas ion of the rupture of 1 741 , when the Synod was

divided into Old Side and New Side, a rupture which Dr.Charles Hodge (Constitutional History, Vol . 2 , pages 1 58characteriz es as “a disorderly rupture, when not even theforms of an ecclesiastical , much less of a j udicial proceeding

,were observed .

” That rupture appears to have been


and the greater .VV h i t e fie ld sought to revive the church and

bring S inners to Chr ist .

Mr. Caven on l e aving this field,as I have already said

,

while w i thout a regular charge from 1 741—9 i tinerated in

various places under appointment by Presbytery . I t appears that in May

,1 743 , he was cal led to the Church at

Goodwil l,N . Y .

l

H e also visited vacant Churches in

Virgin ia and other States . He occasional ly suppl ied the

Fal l ing Spring Church and the ‘

Greencastle (then LowerEast Conococheague) , and was invited to t h e latter ChurchNovember 6

,1 744, but decl ined the call . On April 4, 1 749,

he was called to the Lower Pe n n sbo r ou gh (now SilverSpring) Church , and

“ their vacancy fo r four years had pr odu ce d such a desire for the settlement of a Pastor that they

sent with the call a suppl ication,earnestly requesting Mr .

Caven ’s speedy acceptance Having accepted the cal l,he

was install ed at S ilver Spring,August 5 , 1 749, the Rev.

Richard S an ck e y presiding and preaching from the text,Prov . I I : frui t of the righ teous i s a tree of l ife

,

and h e that winneth souls is wise .

” Mr. Caven ’s pastorate

was brief. He died November 9, 1 750 ,aged 44 years . A

tombstone marks his resting-place in the S ilver Spring

burying-g r ound .

Tradi tion says that Mr. Caven never married .

From the date of Mr. Caven ’s release from the Fall ing

Spring charge,July 2 , 1 741 , unti l the installation of Rev.

James Lang,i n 1 767, we know l ittle or noth ing of the

ministers who preached in this Church . Mr. Caven was

appointed at times,as June 1 0

,1 744, to suppl y the pulpit.

The Records of Presbytery,fo r the years 1 750

—59 have

been lost . I t would seem that no settled Pastor laboredh e re during that period . At any rate

,we must pass 0 11 and

notice briefly the l ife and work of

R E V . JAMES LANG,1 767 To 1 793 .

Mr. Lang was born in Ireland in 1 737, and came to this

country in early manhood. In 1 764 he was married to

Margaret Helm,of Lancaster

,Pa .

Mr. Lang’s pastorate here covered the entire period of

the American Revolution . Some facts of interest in r e

gard to his pastorate have been preserved to us . The Old

and N ew Sides having reunited in 1 758, peace fo r a time

reigned . So much so that Mr. Lang,an Old Side sympa

t h i z e r,could be Pastor for twenty-S i x years of a Church

which had h ad s t r o n g New Side leanings , as this had whenMr. Caven

,also of the Old S ide

,was released from the

charge twenty-six y ears earl ier . Yet the old spirit of differ

ence was stil l present . The Presbytery of Carl isle,com

posed mostl y of New Side men,was erected by the Synod

in 1 765 and had a brief existence. The dissatisfaction was

not q u ieted or removed . In 1 766 the Old Presbytery of

Donegal was revived . Peace d id not yet come. In 1 767,

the records Show,some dissatisfied brethren proceeded to

form themselves into a separate body,and to act in a Pres

by t e r ial capaci ty. One of their earl iest acts directly touched

this Church . For this independent Presbyter y ordainedJames Lang and instal led h im Pastor of the East Co n ococh e agu e (or Greencastle) and Fall ing Spring Churches $Thus it came about that the second Pastor of this Church

was ordained and put in charge by a self-constituted body

of men acting in rebell ion to the Synod,me n who were

representatives of the Old Side element,and now exercis ing

authority in a church which had formerly compell e d an

Old Side minister to resign his charge $ Such are the

changes which come over Churches in the course of years .

And Synod,at the same meeting in 1 767, adopted a resolu


tio n that th is self-consti tuted Presbyter y must not now beconsidered members of th is body .

” And in the l ist of

ministers named,Mr. Lang’s name is not found . In June

,

1 767, the Synod’s Presbytery of Donegal adopted similar

resolutions against the i n de pe n t e n t Presbytery of Donegal .

In 1 768, however, Synod,“fo r the sake of peace author

i z e d i ts Presbytery of Donegal to receive Messrs . Thomsonand Lang

,

“provided they apply for admiss ion the first conve n i e n t opportuni ty .

” A S imilar provision was adopted as

to the other m inis ters concerned . April 1 1,

1 769, Mr.

Lang,at his ow n request

,was so received and enrol led by

the. Donegal Presbytery. Thus i t came about that bothSynod and Presbytery recognized the ordination ofMr. Lang,al though done by a self-consti tuted and rebell ious body .

Mr. Lang remained Pastor of this Church from 1 767

u ntil November 4, 1 793 , residing in Greencastle , andpreaching here once in two weeks . On the latter date he

was released from this charge . The r e ason ,for his leaving

the pastorate of th is Church was that charges against h im

had been presented in Presbytery,by members of this

Church,al leging that he was accustomed to u se l igh t and

trifl ing language in his sermons. He was acqui ted of these

charges,but offered his resignation . He stil l retained his

posit ion as Pastor of the Old S ide portion of the LowerEast Conococheague or Greencastle Church , which itselfhad some time before divided into Old and N e w Side. Inthe Old S ide portion of the latter charge he remained

Pastor unti l November 26 , 1 800 . D u ring his pastorate at

Fall ing Spring,he was with others appointed in April

,

1 775 , to supply some of the vacant and new churches inthe Presbytery. During his pastorate this congregation

was incorporated , March 25 , 1 785 , by the name of “The

Trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Fal l ing Spring,in

the County of Frankl in .

”


One item of interest has been brought to l ight, i n seeking fo r information about our Church during this period.

Prof. J . W . Mears,D . D .

,i s our authori ty for the statement

,

as he gave it i n an address on “The Presbyterian El ementin Our National L ife and History

,

” before the old Synodof Central New York

,at Watertown

,October 1 8

,1 876 .

In that address Prof. Mears shows how Presbyterian ismall ied itself

,identified itself with the cause of free govern

ment , and goes on to say :“of the Scotch— Irish race in

America i t i s said i t is perhaps the only race of al l that

settled in the western world that never produced one Tory .

The nearest case to i t -ever known was that of a man who

was brought before a church session in Chambersburg,and

tried upon the charge that he was not sincere in his pro

fe ssi o n of h i s attachment to the cause of the Revolution .

”

I t has not been so far possible to discover the name of th is

man . Perhaps it is just as wel l to let it rest in obscurity .

Prof. Mears makes another statement which will interest us,

when he says : “ I t i s claimed that General Washington,

when making a long and disheartening retreat,was asked

where he expected to pause. He repl ied,that i f h e was

obliged to cross every river and every mountain to the

l imits of civil ization,he would make his last stand with

the Scotch— Irishmen of the frontiers,there plant h is banner

an d stil l fight for freedom .

”

We are indebted to the Rev . J . P . Barbor,of Burl ington

,

Kansas,a great-grandson of Mr. Lang

,for the following

most interes t ing information“ I have a dozen of my great-gr andfather’s manuscript

sermons preached at Fall ing Spring Church,also the S ilk

stockings he wore when he was married to Margaret Helm

in Lancaster City in 1 764, when they wore knee-breeches .

I have,also

,a description of him by a man who taught in

his famil y and who very greatly esteemed him . He r e pr e


sents him as having been in appearance l ike Andrew

Jackson and a fine preache r . His oldest daughter,Mary

,.

was married to John Park , a stepson of Colonel Johnson .

John Park secured a large tract Of good land in Indianacounty

,where wi th Colonel Johnson he had been surveying

for the state , an d there he l ived and died somewhat prema

turelv in 1 844. His W ife,my mother’s mother

,was a grand

old woman and l ived to raise a large family of her ow n and

several adopted orphans . I th ink it is stated that fo r fifty

years She did not miss a Communion at the old Gilgal

Church where sh e belonged,t h ou gh

~ i t is four miles away .

“One of the sermons of which I have written waspreached on the first Thanksgiving day after the R e volu

t i o n ar y war and another was preached on the day of h u mi li

ation and prayer obser ved after the death of General

Washington The former has been publ ished and a copy

of i t fil ed among the archives of the Fall ing Spring Church .

Mr. Lang frequently suppl ied this pulpit for several yearsafter the relation as pastor was dissolved

,April

,1 797.

The R e v. Mr. Barbor has two manuscript sermons

preached by Mr. Lang in this Church,one on John 20 : 29,

The Nature of Saving Fai th,

” preached the second Sab

bath of September,1 768 ; the other on Luke 9: 55 ,

“The

Necessity of Knowing Ourselves,

” preached the second

Sabbath of April,1 781 . Mr. Lang died at h is home about

three m iles n orthwest of Greencastl e in 1 81 8. Ten years

previous to his death he lost h is eyesight entirely.

WILLIAM SPEER,1 794 To 1 797.

We have n ow reached a point where more definite and

detailed information is at hand . For much of th is I amindebted to the Rev. Will iam Speer , D . D .

,ofWash ington

,


Pa.

,grandson of the first Pastor of this Church as a separate

charge,and the third in the h istory of the Church .

Will iam Speer was born September 1 5 , 1 764, at the Gap of

the South Mounta i n , eight

mi le s .w e s t of Gettysburg.

H i s father,James Sp e er,

came from the nor t h of

Ireland in 1 759, with h i s

family,accompanied by

two brothers . E l izabeth ,a daughter of James

,was

married t o James Buchan

an,merchant

,of Mercers

burg . James , one of her

sons,became President of

the United States .Will iam

,the subject of

t h i s s k e t c h,was the

youngest son of James

Speer. He b e g a n the

s t u d y of L a t i n at the

school of the Rev . Alex

ander Dobbin,i n Getty sburg. (Mr. Dobbin l ived in a

house at the foot of Cemetery Hill,within the battle-fie ld

of July . 1 — 3 , Young Speer was received into the

membersh ip of the Lower Marsh Creek Chur ch,probably

under the pastorate of the Rev . John M cKn igh t , Whichbegan in 1 783 . He was graduated from Dicki n so n College

,

May 7, 1 788, and studied theology there in a class taught

by the celebrated Rev. Dr. Charles Nesbit,whom Dr.

Witherspoon,when first invited from Scotland t o the presi

deney of Princeton College,recommended instead of himself

,

fo r that position,as the most suitable person within his

knowledge . Mr. Speer was a favorite student of Dr . N esbit.

72 THE FALLING S PR I N G

June 9, 1 791 , he was l icensed to preach by the Presbyteryof Carl isle

,with permission to labor in New York

,w here

he was fo r a fe w months associated with the Rev . Dr. John

Rodgers and the Rev . Dr. John M cKn igh t i n the Col legiate

(First) Dutch Reformed Church , which embraced the V i al lS treet

,Brick

,and Rutgers Street Churches . O n l eaving

this work,he made extensive evangel istic tours during

1 792—3 , as far as northern New York and Charleston , S . C.

,

preach ing also in New Jersey and Pennsylvania . He r e

fused cal ls to Edisto Island,S . C.

,and Plattsburg

,N . Y .

In 1 793 , before h is ordination as a minis ter, the General

Assemb ly appointed him as “Missionary fo r two months

from New York to the East Branch of the Susquehanna,at

a salary of a month .

About the close o r the year 1 793 , he was called to theFal l ing Spring Ch urch

,at a salary of 1 60 pounds sterl ing

per annum,afterwards

,before his acceptance of the cal l

,

increased to 1 75 pounds . He began to preach regularlyfor th is people January 24, 1 794.

“The communities of

Carl isle and Chambersburg and of that portion of the state

were composed ofp eople of much intell igence and r e fi n ement. As Scotch— Irishmen

,they held to the o ld truths of

their Church,yet some fe w were infected with t h e French

infidel ity and general irrel igious spirit which prevailedamong that class in the t ime before the Revolutionary Warand the ‘Great Revival of The language of the Pastoral Letter of our Gen e ral Assembly in 1 798 describes t h e

condi tion of society and of the Churches then as fearfully

derel ict in rel igious principles and fil led with immoral i ty.

”

Coming here in 1 794, Mr. Speer preached his first sermon

from the text,Eph . 6 : 1 0

,

“Be strong in the Lord and inthe power of His might.” Mr. Speer ’s piety was ardent and

self-denyi n g, and h i s s tyle of preaching most search ing and

solemn . Fortunately we have,from memoranda kept by

74 THE FALLING S PR I N G

son,one of w h ose so n s is ex-President Benjamin Harrison .

Another sister,Jane F. Ramsey , became the wife ofW . H .

Harrison, Jr. She presided over the Executive Mansio n

during the brief presidency of her father - i n -law,Wm . Henry

Harri son , Sr. )Mention is made in Mr. Speer’s memoranda of sermons

o n spec ial subjects,June 7, on John

“That they al l

may be one,that the world may bel ieve ;” Ju ly 1 9 and 26

four sermons on baptism,from Matt. 28: 1 9

— 20 ; Nov . 8,

on Luke 1 4: 1 0,Chris t’s lessons from a wedding ; October

1 8,being Communion Sabbath

,on Isa. 53 .

Nov. 1 9, 1 796 , a so n,James Ramsey Speer

,was born .

This so n was graduated from Washington Coll ege m 1 81 6

began the practice of medicine 1 81 9, and went to Pittsburg

1 825 . He i s represented as a leader in humane and variouspubl ic enterprises . Died in the ninety-sixth year of h i s age

,

September 6,1 891 . Two daughters

,Mrs . Rev . A . O . Pat

terson and Mrs . John Riddel l were born els e where . I t ish is son W i lliam who has furnish ed us with much of ourinformation .

What th is grandson,Dr. Speer

,says of Mr. Speer’s work

i n a later charge , i s evidently true of his work here.“The

texts used reveal the grand centre and the impell ing andregulating force of al l h i s teaching and labors

,— the grace of

the Lord Jesus Christ,the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ

,

the priceless gift of pardon to us and to the whole world

through H i s blood,the love of the Holy Spirit , and the

heavenly riches which He has to bestow,the personal and

the world-wide,the spiritual and the material bl essings of

the Kingdom ofGod among men .

” Dr. Speer writes as fol

lows : “A preacher whose sermons and influence were steepedin the spiri t of Jonathan Edwards and Whitefield and theTennents

,as you will eas ily discern from the topics of the

sermons already given,would faithfully warn men of their


s ins while he pointed them to a mercif u l and omnipotent

Redeemer. H i s sermons,eminently spiri tual

,and thus d is

tas teful to many who were will ing to conform to outward

observances but hated tru th and admonitions which pierced

with the sword of the Spirit,aroused implacable opposition .

As even the seraphic Edwards was driven from N or t h amp

ton ; i t i s not strange that Mr. Speer’s ministry at Cham

be r sbu r g lasted only three years . But the fru i ts of i t inmany forms remained and have been a blessing there untilthis day .

”

Mr. Speer was released from this charge April 1 2 , 1 797,by the Presbytery of Carl isle. His farewell sermon

,on Acts

—35, a review of “three years” of labor

,was

“a solemn

and tender admonition,long remembered by some present. ”

In the following June,Mr. Speer went o n a m issionary

tour to the West and South . October 5 he was dismissed

from the Presbytery of Carl isle t o that of Transylvania,

which embraced parts of Kentucky and Southern Ohio .

Coming with some excel lent famil ies to Chil icothe,Ohio

,

(made by Congress , Nov. 3 , 1 80 0,the capital of the North

west Territory,) he establ ished the present Church there ,

and became the first chaplain of the infant state of Ohio .

He also establ ished the church ofM t . Pleasan t,Ohio

,in the

Presbytery of Chil icothe. He took a prominent part in the

great revival in Southern Ohio and Kentucky .

Much sickness in his family and domestic affl ictions, (the

death of a ch ild,) compell ed him to leave Chil icothe , and to

return to Pennsylvania in November,1 80 1

,for a stay at h i s

old home near Gettysburg,from which place he was invi ted

October 1 0,1 802, to preach at Greensburg, Pa. He was

soon called to the two Churches of Uni ty and Greensburg,

Presbytery of Redstone. The formal acceptance of this call

was given in Presbytery,April 1 9, 1 803 . From the Fal l of

1 80 2 until released from his charge , Apri l 8, 1 829, h i s l ife


was spent in those congregations . He died April 26 , 1 829.

Mr. Speer was the gr andfather of the R e v. Wm . Speer,D . D .

,

now of Washington,Pa.

,who was from 1 846

—50 a Foreign

M i ssionary and later Secretary {of ou r Board of Education .

Of Mr. Speer’s fervent spiri t , his intel lectual abil ity, h i scareful scholarship

,h is influence in Western Pennsy lvania,

his interes t in educational matters,his share in the removal

of the P r e sby t e r ian B an n e r to Pittsburg,his gr eat work in

developing both Home and Foreign Missionary work,his

part i n the establ ishment of the Western Theological Semi

nary at Alleghany in 1 827, and h i s position as i ts first V icePresident

,h i s efforts to arouse an opposition t o the growing

power of Free Masonry as then constituted , and his confl ic twith the infidel i ty then so powerful in his region

,and

above al l,his in tense and untiring zeal in the “Great Revival

of 1 800 ” and in subseque n t revivals , of all these an account

is given in a most interesting sketch of his l ife on pages

37—54, in the volume recounting the Centennial Celebra

t i o n'

of the Greensburg (Pa. Church,o n April 1 4— 1 7, 1 888,

a copy of which volume i s herewi th presented to o u r

Church by Mr. Speer’s grandson,t h e Rev. Will iam Speer

,

D . D .

,of W'

ashington,Pa .

R E V . D AV I D DENNY , 1 800 TO 1 838.

Permit me to say , in the beginning of this sketch of Mr.

Denny ’s l ife,that I am especially indebted to two persons

w h o wrote of Mr . Denn y from personal knowledge . The

extracts given are from their pens . One was the late

Will iam C . Lane,M . D .

,of our tow n

,the other was the

late Rev . J . A. Murray , D . D .

,of Carl isle .

Dr. Murray says “During the second quarter of the last

century the Denny family Came from the mother country to


Pennsylvan ia and settled in Chester count y . About 1 745 the

two brothers,Will iam and

Walter Denny , removed

from Chester to wh at i s

now Cumberland county .

Will iam l ived and died in

Carl isle,and had been r e

pe at e dly appointed to of

fli c e by the Supreme Executive Council — i n 1 768,

1 769,&c . He married

Agn es Parker,of the val

l ev,and they had two sons

a n d five daughters a n dhence the Dennys of Pitts

burg. Walter settledabout

two miles south ofCarl isle ,where he owned a large

tract of land . When the

Revolutionary W a r h a d

begun he raised and commanded a company,but was

killed at the battle of Crooked Billet (a branch of the

N e sh aman y in Bucks county) , when his eldest so n ,fighting

at h i s side,was captured by the enemy and kept three

mont hs on board a Jersey prison ship . There is a letter in

the Pennsylvania Archives,volume 6

,page 470 ,

from

Brigadier—General Lacey to President Wharton of the

Supreme Council giving an account of th is battl e in May ,1 778. L ike a true woman M r s . Mary Denny br ave lv met

the responsibil ities of her widowhood and endeavored to

discharge lovingly and faithful ly a mother’s duties to her

children,n ow bereft of their father. Of these sh e had s i x ,

five sons and a daughter .“Of these David , the subject of this sketch , was the


third in b irth order . After sui table preparation he en tered

Dickinson Col lege,whence he was graduated in 1 788, and

it was the second class graduated from this time-honored

insti tution . The Rev . Dr. Charles Nesb i t was Principal ofi t,and it was under h im also that Mr. Denny studied Di

vin ity . I t has been well said,that the sources of the phil

osophy an d the theology at that ‘day were neither so copiousnor accessible as at present

,and the acquisi tions of the stu

dents were consequently earned by severer toil and appl icationthan the facil ities of learn ing now exact. The lectures of

Dr. N e sbi t were del ivered in such a man ner that the members of his class could reduce them to writing as they fel lfrom his l ips ; and Mr. Denny left several quarto volumes

of t hese lectures , in h i s own very legible handwriting, and

they form a respectable body of metaphysics and theology .

Mr. D e n n v was a great admirer of his distinguished pre

ceptor,and often narrated anecdotes il lustrative of h i s art ,

learning,and accompl ishments .”

He was l icensed to preach the gospel o n October 6,1 791 ,

by the Carl isle Presby tery , and April 9, 1 794, was ordainedand installed Pastor at Upper Path Val ley and Lower PathValley

,where he continued u ntil October 9, 1 800 , in the e n

joy m e n t of the esteem and affection of a much loved people.

November 24, 1 800 , he was instal led Pastor of the Fall ing

Spring Church,which he retained until the termination of

his publ ic ministrations,April 1 1

,1 838, when he was r e

leased by the Presby tery. He died December 1 6,1 845 .

“For a period of 38 years Mr. Denny carefully watchedover the interests of his people . Our earl iest recol lections

of rel igious worsh ip,

”

(wrote Dr. Lane in are as

soc iat e d with th is faithful minister and his handsome

Church . Many a weary Sabbath hour of our ch ildhoodwas passed within those Church walls

,l istening to the

message of the venerable man,whic h o u r y outhful m ind


could not comprehend . We were taken there by kind and

endeared friends,now

,alas $ no more . In imagination

,we

can yet se e the man of God,with his locks si lvered by the

snows of many winters , del ivering his message of love to

his attentive hearers,and urging them to accept the salva

tion purchased by the blood of the Redeemer,which he

,as

H is special ambassador,was empowered to offer them . We

can V e t se e the famil iar form of our old teache r,Mr. Blood

,

as he stands in front of the congregation,to raise the song

of praise . We se e,too

,the faces of many of our old

ci tizens,then members of the congregation

,who with their

beloved Pastor,are now real iz ing in the heavenly world

,

that ‘i t is no vain thing to serve the Lord .

’ Mr. Denny

was,in al l respects

,a faithful shepherd

,and watched with

zealous care,over the Spiri tual welfare of his flock. Under

his ministry,were brought up many of the most consistent

and worthy Christians of our town,and they will unite

with us,in a feeble attempt to commemorate the exalted

worth 0 1 their aged and revered friend and Pastor.

He was a man of commanding intel lect,deeply versed in

theology,and possessing a classic and cul tivated taste

,e n

riched by his extensive acquaintance wi th the pol ished pro

du c t i o n s of Greece and Rome,with w hich his vocation as

teacher for many years made him famil iar. Yet he was

humble and I i n afle c t e d ; and h i s mild an d courteous deportment pointed to one who had deeply imbide d the lovely

virtues of h i s Divine Master. To the young he was e s

pe c ially devoted ; and in eloquent, persuasive tones , oftenwarned them to forsake the devious paths of si n ,

and walk

in the narrow,yet peaceful path of wisdom

,which e ve n t u

ally leads to ineffable del ights i n the heavenly world . To

the poor and il l i terate,as wel l as to the cultivated and opu

lent,his e ar was always open

,and the burdened heart never

was unlocked in vain,but always departed soothed by the

80 THE FALLING SPRIN G

kind assurance of sympathy and the consolations of Christi

an i t y , which he was so wel l abl e to impart. During his

long connection with the Church,his prominent desire was

to advance the spiri tual welfare of his congregation ; and

his long l ife was a lovely e x e mplificat i o n of the hallowing

effects of the Religion of Jesus Christ. Of him we may

tru thfull y say ,

He sought not praise,and praise d id overlook

His unobtrusive meri t ; but h i s l ife

Sweet to h imself,was exercised in good

That shal l survive his name and memory .

’

While pastor in Chambersburg,and during a series of

years,he served fai thfully an d acceptabl y as teacher of the

learned languages in an academy in the place ; and many a

youth was inspired with a love of knowledge u n der h is capable instruction

,and al l the better prepared for his su bse

quent career and l ife work .

”

(Dr. Murray . )There sti ll remains a part of the old orchard

, (now onthe property occupied by M r s. M . S . King

,at Third and

Market S treets,) then the property of Mr . Denny

,from

which,say s Dr. Lane

,

“we schoolboys often fill ed our

pockets with the ‘for bi dde r i fruit. ’

Mr. Denny was very happil y married , Jul y 25 , 1 793 , to

Margaret Lyon,eldest daughter of Will iam Lyon by his

second wife,A n n Fl eming

,of Carl isle

,Pa. She died about

the time of his retirement from h i s mi nistry .

“She was a

lad y of superior wor t h , and fond partner of h i s pilgrimage .”

Dr. Murray concludes his notice of Mr. D e n n v i n the fol

l owing appreciative words

I t has bee n truthfully and beautifully said of h im,that

h is person,cast in the finest mold for strength

,activi ty and

symmetry,was well adapted to the air of dignity which

nature herself had impressed upon i t. His mind was of a

strong and discerning order,always governed by candor and


and ardent lover of truth,and always open and candid in

the expression of his V iews . His style of preaching wasnoted fo r i t s s impl ici ty and earnestness

,rather than fo r

rhetorical finish and ornament. Modesty and humili ty

were inherent traits of h i s character,and he was tender and

sympathetic in his feel ings fo r the sick and the affl icted , the

poor and the suffering.

During Mr. Denny ’s time,the Sabbath S ch ool was founded

about 1 81 6,a history of which will be give n th is evening .

Mr. Denny left seven sons and three daugh ters,o n e o f

whom became the wife of the Hon . Nathaniel Ewing,of

Uniontown,Pa . This lady’s granddaughter is the wife of

Prof. J . J . Stevenson,of New York City. Two other dau gh

ters ofMr. Denny res ided here until they died , n o t many years

ago,l eaving a memory fragrant with good works . A sister

of Mrs . D e nny,Miss Al ice Lyon

,became the wife of the

Hon . George Chambers . Her descendants are with u s to-day .

The Assembly ’s Minutes for 1 825 , the first year in which

statistics are given in detail,show that during that year

,

the membership was 1 1 0,that 52 infants were baptised , and

seven adul ts ; that we re given to Foreign Missions

and to Theological Seminaries .

But one member now remains on our Church rol l of

those w h o were received into the Church during those

years,Mrs . Jane Senseney , who was received May , 1 838,

j ust a month after Mr. Denny was released from this charge

by Presbytery .

R Ev. WILL IAM A D AM,1 840 To 1 841 .

Mr. Adam was born in Glasgow,Scotland

,May 1 5 , 1 800

being the son of John and Agnes M into Adam,and a de

sce n de n t of the elder so n of S ir Gilbert Ell iot M into , lat er

PRESBYTER IAN CH U RCH . 83

Lord Minto,well-known as a statesmen of abil ity and e mi

n e n ce in Great Britain from 1 774 to 1 81 4. Mr. Adam

early uni ted with the Rel ief Presbyterian congregation of

A n de r st o n,Glasgow. His boyhood ’s Pastor

,the Rev .

Gaven Struthers , D . D .,wrote

,on the occasion of Mr.

Adam ’s coming to America , that he had been a lad of highly

respectable attainments and of irreproachable character.

And the Rev . James Thomson,D . D .

,the Professor of

Sacred Theology i n the Rel ief Divinity Hall,wrote at the

same time that Mr. Adam had maintained an excellent

character from his earl iest years . His appl ication to the

studies preparatory fo r the ministry was the resul t of his

ow n choice . He received his education in the Languagesand Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. While

there he received a medal “for superior merit in the Jun i or

Mathematical Class,1 823

” He entered the Rel ief Di

vinity Hall in Au gust, 1 825 , and attended lectures there

for four successive sessions,where he showed himself to be

a young man of good ab il i ti es . Dr. Thomson “was much

pleased with his piety,dil igence and progress in his

s tudies . ” Dr. Thomson some years after that,April 1 8

,

1 838, recommended Mr. Adam to American Presbyterians“as a man of unblemished reputation

,sound in the faith

,

apt to teach,and a highl y useful and acceptable preacher of

the Gospel . ” He had a long period of probation,but for

two and a half years he was off the List of Preachers,and

seems to have been out of connection with the Rel ief Church .

On October 7, 1 834, he was received back at h i s own r e

quest to communion and to h i s place as a Probationer.Augu st 27, 1 837, Mr. Adam was ordained and instal led by

the Relief Presbytery of Dumfries,as Pastor of the Rel ief

Presbyterian Church of Dumfries , on which occasion theRev . Archibald T u de h ope , ofAnnan , known to some in o u r

*Th is meda l may be seen in the Chape l.


church as having come to America with Mr. Adam,and

later Pastor of the N inth Church,Philadelphia

,

“stated the

progress of e ve n t s,

'

pr opose d the usual questions , and or

( It may be mentioned in passing that the Rel iefPresbytery and Synod of Scotland

,which seceded from the

Establ ished Church in 1 75 2 , held the doctrines of t h e

Westmins t er Confession of Fai th,with the exception of

the chapters relating to the power of the magistrate in r e

ligi o u s matters . In 1 847 i t uni ted i tself with the Assoc iate

Church,thus forming what h as s ince been known as the

Uni ted Presbyterian Church of Scotland . )Another reason given by Mr. Adam fo r desiring to be r e

l eased was that he had long cherished a desire to come to

America,regarding i t as a field of usefulness more su ited to

his abil i ties,and he fel t that the time had come when this

hope could be gratified .

The Rev. Robert Small,D . D .

,of Edinburgh

,thus wri tes

Dumfries congregation had been greatly inj ured by Mr.

Adam ’s predecessor going over to the Establ ished Church,

and taking a good part of the people with him . The stipend

promised Mr. Adam was 5 80 ,with

76 2 at each communion

and the possession of the Manse at the following W h i tsun

dav . But before Whitsunday came Mr. Adam tendered his

resignation,March 1 3 , 1 838. He had lost all hopes of doing

good in Dumfries,and bel ieved that the interests of the Rel ief

Church there would be promoted by the induction of another

minister. The congregation in repl y complained that he

had not given Dumfries a long enough trial,that he had not

tested h is abil ities i n the way ofvisi ting those who were under

h i sministry o r friendly disposed to the Rel ief cause , while theystated that h i s labors among them had been very highly e s

teemed and appreciated . They could not understand how their

*Ext rac t from Mi nu tes of B e li e f Presb y tery o f D u m fri es , attes t ed , A pri l 1 9,1838, by H en r y Patte rson , Presby tery C lerk.


interests could be promoted when he was throwing them into

the greates t confusion . This was at a meeting held April

3 , 1 838. They left the matter in the hands of the Presby

t e r y , and the Presbytery that day“ loosed Mr. Adam from

his charge,and agreed to give him a ministerial certificate . ”

Just before leaving his Dumfries charge , the followingpaper was adopted by his Church and congregation : “Our

esteemed Pastor,the Rev. Will iam Adam

,being about to

leave th is country fo r America,we cannot al low him to de

part without expressing our unqual ified approbation of him

as a man,a Christia n

,and a minister. He came among us

with a character unspotted as a man,serious as a Christian

,

and eminent as a preacher,and he leaves us with the same

high character. Under his ministry we progressed muchexternally

,and we trust also internally . Consequently h i s

departure from among us is a matter of deep sorrow and r e

gret. We earnestly wished his continuance wi th us , and

did everything in our power to retain him . But having

se t his affections on America,and looking on i t as a better

and more extensive sphere of Christian usefulness,we

could not prevail upon him to comply with our ardent

wishes . Our prayers attend him,and we feel assured that

go where he may he shal l prove himself a di ligent,a faith

fu l,and an acceptable minister of Jesus Christ.

Signed in name and by au THOMAS MOFFAT,Clerk .

t h o r i t v of the Session . JAMES V JEL S H ,Elder .

Signed in name and by au THOMAS DOBB IE,Preses .

t h or i t y of the DAVID REDMOND,Treas .

Rel ief Church,Dumfries

, 28t h March , 1 838.

At the time of his release from his charge,April 3 , 1 838

his Presbytery adopted the following : “At the date hereof,

the R e v. Mr. Adam,to the surprise and grief of al l the

Brethren,having from conscientious motives

,formally ten

Trustees.


dered h i s resignation of the charge of his congregati on,an d

given reasons for so doing,stil l peti tioned that his demis

S ion might be accepted .

“The Presbytery did therefore,with deep regret

,entertain

the above appl ication,and dissolve the pastoral relations su b

s isting between him and his people ; but, at the same time ,gladly embrace the opportuni ty ofbearing testimony to the n u

b lem ished moral and rel igious character and deportment oftheir respected brother ; to h i s evangel ical and Scriptural

views of divine things ; and to h i s zeal and fidel i ty in the

work of the min istry,for the good of immortal souls .”

The Rev . Alex . Neilson,Minister of the Rel ief Church

,

Carluke,also testified tha t Mr. Adam was

“ possessed of al l

the qual ities wh ich consti tute the gentleman,and the h igher

qual ities which form the Christian . No o n e,

” adds Mr.

N e i lson,

“ I bel ieve,h as ever left the rel igious denomina

tion to which I belong with more ardent admirers of h i s

character, and I doubt not but that he will secure friends asaffectionately attached to h im

,wherever he may go .

”

The Rev. R . Wilson,minister of the Partick Rel ief

Church near Glasgow,wrote of him

,among other things

As to the vigorous and faithful discharge of Pastoral du ties

there are none in whom I'

cou ld repose greater confidence.”

The Rev . Gaven S truthers,already quoted

,wrote : “Mr.

Adam quits h i s native country without a stain . The breathof suspicion h as never breathed upon his reputation . He is

universal l y esteemed as a Christian minister. He has muchof the spiri t of his Master, and all h is discourses are not

only tasteful and well constructed,but full of unction , sweet

ness and winning appeals . ”

I t is not surpris ing that on such testimonials as I havequoted from

,Mr. Adam was readily received under the care

of the Presbytery of Carl isle,when h e :

pr e se n t e d his dis

missal from the Rel ief Presbytery of Dumfries,October 2


and 3 , 1 839. A s i s the custom w i th ministers coming from

other bodies,he was examined o n Experimental Rel igion

,

Theol ogy , Ecclesiastical History and Church Government,and he having signified h i s approval of the Standards of

our Church,his examination was su stai n ed .

Meanwhile,early in 1 839, Mr. Adam began to supply the

pulpit of this Ch urch . H e was appointed by Presbytery to

preach the opening sermon at i ts session in Carl isle,o n the

second Tuesday in April,1 839. On the 26 t h of September

he was called to be Pastor of th is Church , at a salary of

eight hundred dollars per annum,in regular half—yearly

payments,on the first Mondays of April and

He continued to supply the pulpit from September 1 839

unti l May 2 , 1 840 ,when he was regularly i n stalled Pastor.

He was released from this charge,April 1 3 , 1 841 , being

compelled to resign o n account of a serious throat trouble.

On that same day he was dismissed to the Presbytery of

Huntingdon . He then went back to Scotland fo r a visi t,

returning somewhat improved in heal th . He was received

by the Presbytery of Huntingdon,May 24, 1 842 , and ac

c e pt e d calls to t h e Churches of Sinking Creek and Spring

Creek,in Penn ’s Val ley

,Centre Co .

,Pa . He was installed

there May 25 , 1 842 . He was released from that charge

October 7, 1 845, and given permission to labor outside the

Presbytery . He was dismissed to the Presbytery of Balti

more,April but there i s no record of his having

presented his letter to that Presbytery .

Mr. Adam ’s voice failed him fo r many years previous to

his death,which obl iged him to give up preaching. He

then opened a book— store on Pennsylvania Ave.

,Washing

ton,D . C.

,where he sold only books of a rel igious nature.

He attended the New York Ave. Church for many years,

an d later connected himself with the Central Church,be

*From the origina l ca l l i n t h e possession of Mr. Adam ’s h e i rs .

88 THE FALL I NG SPR I N G

longing to the Southern Presbyterian Church,wh ose Pastor

was and stil l is the Rev. A . W . Pitzer,D . D .

An intimate friend ofMr. Adam ’s,Mr. Will iam Bal lantyne

of W’ ashington,D . C.

,writes that in the year 1 852 Mr.

Adam kept the book—store above mentioned on Pe n n sy l

vania Avenue,and attended the sam e church with Mr.

Ballantyne. “After a fe w years he retired from business,

having accumulated a moderate fortune. H is heal th was

always poor. He l ived in comfort,but very quietly

,and

was most regular i n h is hab i ts . For years before his death

no o n e was more regular in his attendance upon the DailyPrayer Meeti ng. He made

'

bu t fe w friends,and those he

had were very dear. Having never married,he boarded in

a private family. When o n his death—bed he was attended

by a sister who l ived in Norfolk,Va .

” He also left a

brother,Mr. Richard Adam ,

of Richmond, V a.

,to whose

widow we are greatly indebted fo r much information .

He i s described by those here who remember h im,as a

man of social nature,and as a most gifted sermonizer.

Toward the end ofMr. Adam ’s l ife he su fle r e d much from

heart d isease and a compl ication of troubles that rendered

him an inval id for several years . He died in Washington,

D . C.,July 28, 1 883 . H i s remains were taken to Rich

mo n d, V a.

,by a sp e cial request made to h i s brother some

years previous,and now s ide by s ide the t wo brothers res t

i n the beautiful Hollywood Cemetery .

I close this sketch of Mr. Adam with a brief sta t ement

made by himself in M ay,1 876 .

“Having on the fifteenth

day of th is month entered upon the seventy-seventh year of

my life,and bel ieving that I cannot much longer be a

sojourner here below,I desire to state to you my prospects

for another. I trust and bel ieve there is a better world beyond the grave. And here at the commencement of thi scommunication I would state clearly and expl ici tly that I


ministry. He entered Dickinson Col lege,and was graduated

therefrom in 1 824 under

the presidenc y ofthe R e v.

Dr. John M . Mason .

The history ofthe Pres

by t e r y . of Carl isle con

tains in part the fol lowing

sketch of Dr. M cKi n le y :“From the beginning

ofhis rel igious l ife he was

a great lover ofm inis ters,

missionaries and the cause

of missions,and the bur

de n ofhis prayers was that

God w ould raise up andsend forth more laborers

into the harvest. During

h i s course in DickinsonCol lege , that extensive

revival of rel igion took place,which arose in connection

with the death and funeral services of the so n of Dr. John

M . Mason,and which pervaded the College and the Church

at that time an d i n the promotion ofwhich young M cKi n le ytook an active and most effi cient part

,and whose efforts

,in

connection with this work,were untiring and most valuable .

Dr. D u ffi e ld is known to have referred frequently to h i slabors at th is time

,and to have remarked that he had rarely

or never known one of his years so competent and successfulin the matter of directing inquiring souls to the Saviour.”

He took a ful l course at Princeton Seminary,and was

licensed by the Presbytery of Carl isle,September 29, 1 826 .

O n October 30 , 1 827, he was ordained and instal led Pastor

of the Presbyterian Church at Bedford , Pa.,Dr. D u fli e ld

preaching the ordination sermon . He remained at Bedford


until he was released by Presb y tery , S e ptember 28, 1 83 1 .

“In this Church he labored earnestly and successfu l ly fo rfour years

,when he was compelled

,by reason of the de

ve lopme n t of a bronchial affection , which proved to be the

plague of al l h i s after l ife,to seek a dissol u tion of his

pastoral relation and to desist from ministerial duties for a

period of about two y ears . The church at Bedford,while

not blessed with any special season of grace,was steadily

strengthened and buil t up under h i s faithful and zealous

ministry,and he became greatly endeared to the people as

their Pastor,and it was with the deepest reluctance that

they yielded to the necessi ty fo r the dissolution of the pas

toral relation .

“ I t was at this time,in 1 833, that the Second Presby

ter i an Church in Carl isle was organized . The attention o f

this people was at once turned to Mr. M cKi n le y , and as he

had become encouraged by the improved state of h i s health,

a call was made out fo r his services,which he accepted

,and

was dul y instal led Pastor of this Church on August 7, 1 833 ,and remained until July 3 1 , Among the eldersh ip

were several who had been h i s Sabbath School teachers .

In this reversal of positions,they never failed to accord

him full honor and devotion . Here as elsewhere he was r e

garded with peculiar love by the young. Th ey recognized

how much he had their good at heart,how earnestly he

longed to see them “remember their Creator in the days of

their y outh ,” and they often of their own accord sought

his counsel and help . Many still l iving can rise up and cal lh im blessed

,while many more n ow j o in with him i n the

new song sung around the throne of the Lamb . In thesick chamber his sympathy and pray ers always brought

comfort to the sufferer. In the inquiry room the HolySpirit so inspired his words and prayers that many were

won to make choice of the Saviour. “He continued in


this relationsh ip fo r about five years . His ministr y was

earnest,zealous and eminently s u ccessful . Special seasons

of rel igious interes t occurred at diffe rent intervals,and dur

ing his pastorate of five years seventy-s ix were added to t h e

Church on profession of their faith . The Church had be

come firmly establ ished under his ministr y , and he left i t in

a heal thy and prosperous condition,having greatl y endeared

himself to the people,and won the respect and confidence

of al l classes in the comm u nity.

“I t was at this time that the Board of Foreign Miss ions

was organized,a n d efforts were then being made to arouse

the Churches to a l iberal and general support of this agency

of the church fo r the evangel ization of the heathen world ,and Mr. M cKi n le y , o n acco u nt of his known zeal in the

missionary cause,and general fitness for the work

,was se

le c t e d as the person to act as general agent and was urged

accept the appointment . This he consented to do,and was

released from his pastoral charge accordingl y , on July 3 1 ,1 838, and for more than three years , (unti l he plead

the cause of Foreign Miss ions with great zeal,earnestness

and success . His efforts in this connection contributed

greatly to the advancement of the cause and made a deep

and lasting impression upon the Churches of his own Pres

by t e r y as wel l as i h e Church at large. He laid special

emphasis upon the duty of professing Christians laying

aside every week,according as the Lord had prospered

them,and of contributing systematical ly a certain propor

tion of their income to the cause of Christ. He became

thus one of the pioneers in the matter of systemat i c

be n e fic e n ce .

“ In the fal l of 1 841 , Dr. M cKi n le y was called to becomethe Pastor of the Fal l ing Spring Church

,which cal l he ac

c e pt e d, was installed November 5 , 1 841 , and continued in

charge of the same fo r about nine years . He returned to


the pastoral work with great zeal and earnestness . He was

a faithful and pungent preacher of the gospel , and an affe c

t i on at e and devoted Pastor . In about a year after his i ns t allat i o n a gracious and powerful revival of rel igion took

place in the congregation,the resul ts of which were perma

nent and most salutary in the Church and community . At

the ensuing communion thirty-two were added to the

Church o n profession of their faith,and a great impulse

was given t o vital rel igion in the congregation . His pas

t or at e in this Church was eminently faithful and successful,

and during the nine years of i ts continuance,o n e hundred

and four were added to the church on profession of faith .

”

In 1 846 , he was very instrumental , in connection with

the late Robert Black,of Fayettevil le

,in arresting “ the

downward tendency” of the work of o u r Church at

Fayetteville “October 2,1 850 ,

he asked t o be released

from the Fall ing Spring Church, [and was dismissed to the

Presbytery of Ohio,$ in order to take charge of a new e n

t e r pr i se in Pittsburg, the Sixth Church , and one which it

was thought would be a field fo r which he had special

adaptedness . In this,however

,his expectations and those

of his friends were not fully real ized . Owing to the general

discouragements incident to new organizations,at the end

of the first year’s labors there,he asked to be released and

returned again to the Presbytery of Carl isle,October

“The Church at Middletown had been recently organized,

and the Presbytery enlisted the services of Mr. M cKi n le yin its behalf

,and he was ind u ced to vis it the Churches and

sol ici t aid for its establ ishment,and

,by reason of h i s per

sonal ministry in that congregation and the contributions

he secured for i ts advancement,that Church gave promise

of soon becoming one of the self-sustaining congregationsof the Presbytery. This expectation however failed to be


real ized,and largely i t i s bel ieved fo r want of unity of feel

i ng and co -operation upon the part of some of i ts offi cers

and members .

After spending a year i n this service Dr. M cKi n le y was

induced to become agent and itinerant missionary for the

Board of Hom e Missions. This was a t wo-fold work fo r

which he had special qual ifications,had his heal th bee n

sufficient for i ts earnes t and V igorous prosecution . As i t

was the Board , with melancholy pleasure , bore their uni tedand recorded testimony to his eminen t piety

,zeal and use

fulness,as one of their most efficient and devoted agents

,as

he had been previo u sly a devoted and useful Pastor.“His zealous labors as an evangelist and as an agent fo r

the Board,together with the exposure to which he was con

t i n u ally subj ect, in a shor t time developed and brought o n

again with increased severity,his old bronchial trouble.

“ In this,his last sphere of mi n is terial labor

,he was

,

however,instrumental of great good . He knew not how to

spare h imself when seasons of spiritual awakening i n theChurches took place. He was active and zealous in a number

of extensive revivals of rel igion in several of the Presbyt e r i e s of the Synod of Philadelphia

,espec ial ly in the

churches of Waynesboro,Newton Hamilton

,Sinking and

'

Spring Creek,Lower Tuscarora

,Lewistow n and other

Churches of Huntingdon Presby tery, and also in a numberof churches in Donegal and N e w Castle Presbyteries . Inthese revival scenes he took great interest. He was always

,

in every sphere of ministerial labor, zealous and active, an d

always exerting himself beyond his strength,but in these

revival scenes he was unwil l ing to desist whilst there wasany evidence of the special presence and saving e fli cacy of

God ’s Spiri t. He was very kind,and attentive

,and attrae

tive to inquiring souls,and greatly blessed in directing

them into the way of peace an d holiness . His services at


such times were always eagerly sought an d highly prized by

his brethren and greatl y enjoy ed by the people.“ In the spring of 1 855 , by reason of his arduous labors

of the preceding winter, and o n account of the retur n of

his old bronchial affection , aggravated by other painful and

seri ous maladies,his heal th

,under the progress of his

disease,which bafli e d the best medical skill

,steadily de

cli n e d during the summer. H i s bronch ial affection during

the later stages of his sickness,almost entirely prevented

his engaging in conversation . But through all his S ickness

and suffering he gave unmistakable evidence of resignation,

and fai th,and hope

,and his last end was peace. He had

gone to Ch ambersburg in the hope of being able to attend

the meeting of the Synod of Baltimore,which was

“

to con

vene there in October,but here

,by reason of his rapid

decl ine, he was detained to die, and to enter upon h i s eternal

rest,and the enjoyment of h i s gracious and glorious r e

ward .

” He died on his birthday,December 7, 1 855.

“Dr. M cKi n le y was a man whose heart , al l h is l ife long,was thoroughly enl isted in the great work of extending

Christ ’s kingdom . He was a man of eminent piety , and of

a pure and consecrated l ife.” “He gave every evidence of

a truly good man,according to the high standard of the

Christian call ing. In all places wherever h e was known,

among saints and sinners,there h as been but one opinion

as to the depth and fervor of h i s piety— a pie t y which

evinced i tself i n very early youth . He was ki n d,afle c t i o n

ate and attractive in aspect and address . He had large

views of the duties of the Church,and of society.

“He was in h i s day a practical and pungent preacher of

the gospel,a zealous and ardent advocate of the cause of

missions,both home and foreign . He was a firm bel iever

in revivals of rel igion,and labored and prayed that he

might be instrumental in their promotion . In every de

96 THE FALL I NG SPRING

par tme n t of ministerial labor in which he engaged,he

general ly had the seal and approval which comes from the

blessing of God .

” To the very close of his l ife,his se r

vices were i n demand wherever there were indications of

a revival . A brother minister remarked that his coursethrough Carl isle Presbytery as well as other Presbyteries

could be traced not only by increased gifts but by a largeharvest of souls .

In 1 844, th is Church had enrolled 1 30 communican ts , and

in 1 850 ,this number had grown to 1 70 .

Dr. M cKi n le y’s remains l ie buried in the old graveyard

at Carl isle,under a stone erected to his memory by the

members of the Fal l ing Spring Church .

“O n May 3 1 , 1 827, he was uni ted in marriage to Miss

Mary Wyeth,of Harrisburg

,Pa.

,who died January 1 5 ,

1 892 . By her he had two daughters,one

,the intel l igen t

and accompl ished wife of the Rev . James F. Kennedy,D . D .

,

the other died in early childhood .

R E V . JOSEPH CLARK,1 85 2 To 1 857.

For the facts about Mr. Clark I am mainly indebte d tonotices publ ished at the time of h i s death .

Mr. Clark was born near Carl isl e,Pa.

,October 1 1

,1 825 .

He was a l ineal descendant of Joseph and Margaret Clark

Scotch— Irish Presbyterians,who came to this country from

Ireland in 1 739, and settled in the vicinity of Carl isle.

Robert Clark,the grandson of Joseph

,was twice married .

By his second wife there were three sons,the oldest of

whom was the Rev. Joseph Clark,the subject of th is sketch .

He had the advantage of being reared in a Christian family,

and at the early age of s ixteen united with the Second

Presbyterian Church in Carl isl e,then under the pastoral


unfinished,as i t would have endangered h i s l ife to h ave

proceeded any further .

Mr. Clark then sought to recrui t his shattered heal th and

gain a l ivel ihood by engaging in a mechanical pursuit . He

erected and managed a planing mill,showing the same

Spiri t of enterprise and energy as formerl y he did in his

ministerial work . Though ou t of real sympathy with this

secular work,and regarding it as a providential necessity

,

he sought to be satisfied with i t,doing what he had found

to do with h i s might,and continued in the active pr ose c u

tion of his business unti l the week of his death . When

ever his strength permitted,and he was called upon to do

so,he preached the Word . With improved general heal th

Mr. Clark longed to return to the direct employment of his

mental gifts in the service of Christ . He could hardly hope

to sustain the tax and strain of regular preaching and pas

toral work . He therefore conceived the idea of establ ish inga Theological and Scien t ific Review for the defence and

p romulgation of truth . He planned and prayed,he labored

and talked and wrote in the interes t of such a journal . But

al l in vain . For his appare ntly premature death brought

al l those plans to an end .

Almost the last work of his l ife was to prepare an address

for the national day of humil iatio n and fasting,— an address

which i t was n o t permitted him to del iver, for the h an d

that penned i t was soon after crushed,and the voice that

was to have del ivered i t was hushed in death . He met

with a painful accident,Monday

,June 5 , 1 865 , and on the

following Frida y June 9, death came , unexpectedly to all ,even to himself. On the following Sabbath morning

,im

pressive funeral services were held in this Church,on which

occasion the Revs . B . S . Schneck,I . N . Hays

,and W . A .

West paid fi tting and touching tribute to the memory oftheir departed brother.


Mr. Clark ’s death was a loss not full y measurable , to the

Church,and to the world of l etters as well . When a bo y

he gave evidence o f great and diversified talents . Even asan under— graduate h e was counted a bril l ian t essayist. He

was thorough,n o t merel y in some, but in al l the branches

of study in the col lege course. The ease with which he

gained and retained and used knowledge,gave him a repu

t at i o n both with fellow— students and professors . His read

ing and study embraced books outside th05 e used in the

course,and he frequentl y wandered off into broader fields

of science,l i terature

,and art . His mind

,vigorous and

well— trained,digested and held available what he learned .

Thus he could “bring out of his treasures th ings new and

old.

” His mind has been characterized as o n e of u n com

mo n power and original i ty, and of fearless independence ofthought and action . Those who l istened to his preaching

describe his sermons as being “ solid as granite and clear as

a block of ice,

” ful l of earnest logical thought,and fresh

and interesting treatment,occas ional l y breaking out into a

strain of rugged,pecul iar eloque nce which had a charm all

its ow n . And Mr. Clark n o t only preached man y good ser

mons ; he made addresses before l i terary insti tutions , and

furnished learned criticisms and bril l iant essays fo r the most

prominent reviews and journals of the land,winning the

highest praises from the wise men of his day . He del ighted

to grapple with abstruse theories and doctrines . In someof his inves tigations he startled what he was pleased to cal l“ the orthodox camp

,

” by the boldness and original i t y of

his Views . Yet in al l his speculations,such as men who

think for themselves must at times indulge in,there were

visible evidences of strong rel igi ous convictions and abid

ing faith in the truth of God ’s Word . Yet,while firm and

fearless when he fel t he was right,there w as a certain modesty

that made him shrink from making himself conspicuous .

1 0 0 T H E FALLING SPR ING

The fol lowing is a partial l ist of some of his publ ications

in the P r i n ce t on R e vi e w of 1 86 2 o n e article o n “The His

tory and Theory of Revolutions ; and in 1 863 , o n e on“The

Skepticism of Science , ” both of‘

which attracted consider

able attention at the t ime ; in the Mercersburg R e vi e w

Baile y ’s Festus,Eureka

,Persecut i on of Philosophy

,Francis

Jeffrey,The Strong Character

, S ome of Our Popular Amusements

,Two Funerals

, Co n y be ar e’s L ife of St . Paul

,Cony

b e are ’s Epistles of St. Paul,H is torical Pretensions of Free

Masonry,Chief Justice Gibson

,Hugh Mill er

,Hugh Mil ler

as a Geologist . *

Those who knew Mr. Clark describe him as gentlemanly

in al l his deportment,and kind in al l h is relations to his

fellowmen . He never seemed vain of his superior talents

and learn ing, nor uncharitabl e to others . His il l heal th did

not make him irritable or impatient. While an earnest

thinker,he was not morose. He was reserved without

being cold . In the circle of his famil iars,he was exceed

i n gly companionable and pleasant.

As a Christian,he real i zed that wi thout saving faith

,

there could be no strong,symmetrical character. Withou t

this,talent and genius are ei ther dangerous o r perverted

gifts,or both . And wi th h im

,gr e at n e ss and goodness could

be uni ted only in t h e'

man of strong head an d p u re heart,

both renewed by the Holy Ghost.

Mr. Clark ’s heart was i n th is Church , his first and on ly

charge . He sought its welfare in every possible way . He

lent his skil lful hand and active brain . The Church was

enlarged during his ministr y by adding to i ts front the ve s

t i bu le s and several feet to i t s l en gth . Mr. Clark h imself

was so eager and interested in this,that he used the hammer

upon many a stone . To him also we are indebted fo r the

*Th i s l is t i s scoured th rough the k i ndness o f the R e v . W. C. Cremer , o f ourtown .

1 0 2 T H E FALLING SPR ING

VII I .

R E V . LAMBERT SUYDAM FINE , 1 858 To 1 859.

Mr. Fine was born at Ogdensburg, N . Y .

,in 1 832 , and

was graduated from Hamilton College,N . Y .

,in 1 854.

He took t h e fu l l three years ’ course in Princeton Seminaryand was graduated therefrom i n the spring of 1 858. He

began to preach here January 5 , 1 858, was received by the

Presbytery of Carl isle,as

a l icentiate from the Pres

by t e r y of Philadelphia,

April 1 4, 1 858, and on

May 1 9, 1 858, was o r

dained and instal led Pas

tor of the Fall ing Spring

Church,r emaining as its

Pastor until released by

Presbytery,J u n e 1 5 ,

1 859. His ministry here

ceased October 3 , 1 859.

He was dismissed to the

Presbytery ofGeneva,N .

Y .

,Oc t obe r 3 , 1 860 .

[Heserved the Presb y terian

Ch urch at Penn Yan,N .

Y .,as Stated Supply

,

during the winter of 1 859— 60 ,and unti l November 2 1 , 1 860 ,

when he was received into the Geneva Presb y tery by letter

from the Presbyter y of Carl isle,and instal led Pastor of the

Church at Penn Yan . He was released from that Church

by his Presbytery,June 1 1

,1 86 1 . He suppl ied fo r a time

the Churches at Sonora,Cal Liberty

,Ohio

,and Paris Hill

,

N . Y .

,and at Troy

,Pa. He died at the last named place ,

March 5 , 1 869, of pneumonia brought on by over-exer t ion


at a fire . On June 9, 1 868, the Pre sb y tery of Geneva

adopted the following resolutions : — $Whereas , the Rev. L .

S . Fine, a member of this Presbyter y“, has , since our last

Stated Meeting,bee n cal led from this l ife , we hereb y express

o u r humble recognition of t h e divine hand in this bereave

ment ; o u r appreciatio n ofh i s kindly and Christian character ,and o u r thanks to God fo r th is i l lustration of His recovering

and sustain ing grace.

Resolved,That we hereb y tender our deep and hearty

sympathy to the widow of o u r de par t e d brother in her great

bereavement,and pray that the God of al l comfort may ever

have her and h e r orph an children in His blessed and holy

keeping.

”

During Mr. Fine’s short pastorate here , he and his family

made many dear friends,who cherish the m e mor v to-dav of

the kindly relations existing between them .

For the years 1 858 and 1 859 the membership stood at 2 1 7.

Special mention i s also made of colored communicants,two

in 1 858, and four in 1 859.

For the year ending April 1,1 860

,during most ofwhich

time the pulpi t was vacant,the number of communicants

reported was 2 1 6 .

We come now tothe pastorates of brethren who are stil ll iving

,honored and beloved by their friends in this Church

and congregation . You wil l understand the embarrassmentof attempting to give more in their presence than the

barest outl ines of their l ife and work among us . May the

day be long distant when it shal l be incumbent upon any

one to write more fu l ly and freely of their noble work andfaithfu l labors while here $

1 04 THE FALLING SPRI N G

R E V . S AM UEL JACK NICCOLLS,D . D .

,1 860 To 1 864.

Mr . N iccoll s was born August 3 , 1 838, on what is known

as the Greenfield Farm,in Westmoreland county

,Pa.

,being

the onl y child ofWi l l iam Todd and E l iza (Jack) i\l i ccolls .

His preparator y studies were finished at the E lde r s r idge

Academy,and his col lege

education was completed

at J e ffe r s o n C o l l e g e,

whence he was graduated

in 1 857. He took the

full three y ears ’ course at

the Western Theological

Semi n ary at Allegheny

Pa.

,leaving that i n s t i t u

tion in the spri n g of 1 860 .

He was l icensed t o preach

by the Presby tery of R e d'

stone in 1 859, and in July ,1 860 . was cal led t o the

pastorate of the Fal l ingSpring Chu r ch . He com

m e n ce d his labors here

September 1 4, 1 860,was

received into the Presb y

t e r y of Carl isl e,by letter from the Presbytery of Redstone

,

October 3 , and o n November 20 , was ordained and installedthe Pastor of this Church

,in which office he remained unti l

released by Presb y tery , November 1 6 , 1 864, o n which day

he was also d i smissed to the Presb y ter y of St. Louis , to

become Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in that

ci ty , where he entered upon his ministry in January , 1 86 5 .

There he stil l continues,an honored and beloved Pastor ,

and abundantl y blessed in his labors .

T H E FALLING SPR ING

1 857 ; took the full three years’ course in Princeton Semi

nary,and was graduated thence in the spring of 1 86 1 May

7, 1 863 , he was ordained and instal led by the Presbytery of

Raritan,as Pastor of the

Amwel l First PresbyterianChurch

,N . J.

,where he

remained through part of

t h e year 1 864. He was a

Chaplain in the UnitedStates Arm y , from 1 864‘

to 1 866 . Mr. Janeway

suppl ied this pulpit from

January 1 4, 1 86 6 , to Sep

tember 30 , 1 866 , but never

brought his letter to the

P r e s b y t e r y of Carl isle .

While here his heal th

which was seriousl y i n

j ured by his l ife in the army,

was n o t greatly improved .

On leaving here, Mr.

Janeway acted as Stated Supply of the Presb y terian

Churches at Pennington,N . J.

,1 867

— 68 ; was pastor of

the Second Church, Cr an bu r v, N . J.

,1 870

—75 ; l ived in

Trenton,N . J. ,

1 868—70 ; i n Philadelphia,1 870

—75 ; and

in 1 875 became actuary fo r the Presbyterian M inisters ’

Annuity Fund (or Life Insurance in which posi tion he

remained for some years . From Philadelph ia he went toDen ver

,Col .

,Emporia

,Kansas

,and San Diego

,Cal . He

was in 1 889 and fo r some years fol lowing a teacher in N ewYork City

,wh ere he resides at present. He is a member of

the Presbytery of Boulder,Col .

There were reported to Presbytery,April

,1 866

, 245 com

mu n i can t s,and in April

,1 867, 295 .

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . I O7

R E V . JOHN A G N Ew CRAWFORD , D . D .

,1 867

— 1 887.

From Nevin’s Presbyterian Encyclopaedia and othersources we glean the following

Dr. Crawford is the oldest so n of the R e v. S . W . Crawford

D . D who was born in

South Carol ina in 1 796 ,

and became a distin

gu i sh e d minister of the

Reformed Presbyterian

Church . Another so n

was the late General S .

Wiley Crawford,w e l l

k n o w n in connection

with the fal l o f F o r tSumter and the battle of

Gettysburg. Dr. Crawford

,the father

,was suc

c e s s i v e l y p a s t o r o f

Churches ofthe Reformed

Presbyterian denomina

tion in Conococheague,

near Chambersburg,and

the Secon d and FourthChurches in Philadelphia . He was eminent as an educa t or,being for many years Principal of the Academical Depart

ment of the Universi ty of Pennsylvania,as well as Professor

in the Theological Seminary of the-Reformed Presbyterian

Church . He died at Allandale,near Chambersburg , in 1 876 .

His so n,the R e v. J . Agnew Crawford

,y our former Pastor,

and our well-beloved and honored friend,was born in Phil

adelphia in 1 822 , was educated under his father’s care , and

entered the Univers ity of Pennsylvania,whence he was


graduated in 1 841 . His theological course was taken at the

Seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church,in Phila

delphia . He was l icensed to preach by the Reformed

Presbytery of Philadelphia,Aug. 1 5 , 1 844. In 1 847 he

was ordained and installed pastor of the Reformed Pres

by t e r ian Church at Milton , Pa . He was later on Pastor of

the Reformed Presbyterian Churches in X enia,Ohio

,and

Brooklyn,N . Y . While in X enia , Dr. Crawford also taught

the languages,and one of his former pupils

,the Rev.

J . A . Worden,D . D .

,recently told me that he learned more

of the beauty there is in Greek poetry from Dr. Crawford

than from any other teacher he ever had .

Dr. Crawford was received by letter from the Reformed

Presbyterian Church (Nor th) , by the Presbytery of Carl isle,July 9, 1 867. On July 1 0

,he was instal led Pastor of the

Fal l ing Spring Church,i n which charge he remained as

Pastor until January 1,1 887, when he was released by Pres

by t e r y and was made Past or E me r i t u s,and stil l continues

so to be . For some years he has taught Philosophy and

Greek in Wilson Col lege . He has also fo r many years been

Permanent Clerk of the Presb y tery of Carl isle. He received

the degree of D . D .

,from the Univers i ty of Pennsylvania

in 1 876 .

Under Dr. Crawford ’s long and faith ful pastorate thischurch steadily advanced in numbers , I n benevolence

,in

missionary zeal,and in ge n eral effi ciency. The Young

Ladies ’ Missionary Society was organized February 2 1 , 1 881 ,under his leadership

,and has been persevering and gene r

ous in noble deeds and gifts,and I s now the banner Band

of the Presbytery. The following were the original mem

bers,as found in the l ist given in the Chapel

Sarah Ege r y Reed , Sall ie Reed , El l ie Chambers , ClaraM iller

,Jean Agnew Crawford

,Susie Monroe Crawford ,

Annie Chambers,Emma Chambers

,Annie M . Linn

,Bel le


physical inabil i ty to meet what he bel ieves to be the r e

qu i r e me n t s of the congregation under present conditions,

has tendered a resignation of h i s pastorate,and has ex

pressed a desire that the congregation unite with him in a r e

quest to Presbytery to dissolve the relation which now exists,

“R e solve d,That the congregation hereby expresses i ts

assent to and acceptance of the resignation of Dr. Crawford,

and unites with him in the request to Presbytery fo r dissolu t i o n of the pastoral relation .

“But in doing so we desire further to give expression o f

our S incere regret fo r the existence of these conditions which

have influenced h i s action in this regard . For Dr. Crawfordthis congregation entertains cordial and undiminished affe ction

,esteem and regard

,inspired and main tained by hi s

uniform Christian conduct and fel lowship and constant

fai thfulness in his high offi ce,an d we recal l wi th gratefu l

recollection the efficient service he has rendered u s as a con

gr e gat i on and as individuals thereof.“R e solve d

,That as a testimonial of our affection and re

gard for Dr. Crawford,we invite him to become Past or

E me r i t u s of this congregation , and that he be paid an an

n u i t y of ou t of the congregational funds,so long

as he rema ins without an active charge .

”

These resolutions were seconded by Mr. Benj . Chambers,

whose address at the time expressed the feel ings of the

whol e congregation toward Dr. Crawford,and their appr e

c iat i on of his work both as a preacher and pastor. This

address and the above resolutions are to be found i n ful l i n

the Session Records . Remarks were also made at th at

meeting by Mr. Wm . G . Reed,Rev. John Edgar

, John M .

M cD ow e ll,Esq.

, John Stewart, Esq ,and Geo . Chambers

,Esq .

The fol lowing statistics speak for themselves,as to our

Church ’s growth in the grace of giving during Dr. Craw

ford ’s pastorate : In 1 868,the Church contributed to Home

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . I I I

Missions in 1 886,

To Foreign Missions

and and to other obj ects in

Of the large number received into the Church during Dr.

Crawford ’s pastorate, there stil l remain enrolled with us , 5 1who were received by letter, and 57 by confession .

Permit me a personal word just here. Dr. Crawford has

shown himself to me a kind and e ve r helpful friend , and Ibut express the wish ofmy own heart

,and I bel ieve ofmul

t i t u de s in ou r Church and town , that he may be long sparedto dwel l among us

,and to be cherished by u s.

L .

R E V . JOHN GR IER H IBBEN , PH . D .

,1 887

— 1 891 .

Mr. Hibben was born in Peoria,I l l .

,Apr. 1 9, 1 86 1 . He

is the great-great-grandson of the Rev . Robert Cooper, D .

D .,who came from Ireland and settled in Lancaster Co .

,Pa.

,

and who was Pastor of the Church at Middle Spring from

1 763— 1 797. Mr . Cooper’s second daughter

,El izabeth

,

married Rev. Isaac Grier,whose third son

,John C. Grier

was Mr. Hibben ’s grandfather on his mother’s S ide. Mr.

Hibben was graduated from Princeton College,i n 1 882 ,

entered Princeton Seminary in 1 883 , and was graduated in

1 886 . He was l icensed by the Presbytery of Peoria,July 2 ,

1 885. He was elected Pastor of this Church at a congrega

t i o n al meeting held Jan . 3 , 1 887; was received as a l icentiate

by the Presbytery of Carl isle,Apri l 1 3 , 1 887, and was

ordained and instal led as Pastor,May 1 9, 1 887, remaining

in charge unti l released by Presbytery in April,1 891 , hav

ing been compelled o n account of impaired heal th to resign,

very much to the regret of th is people,to whom he had so

greatly endeared himself by his faithful and earnest work .

*The Comm un ion Service now in use was gi ven to th is Church a fter the fi r e ,

by the Fi rst Presby ter ian Ch urch o f P ittsburg , Apri l 1 4, 1864.

I I 2 T H E FALLING SPR ING

The fol lowing is them inute of the Session

meeting,

Feb . 2 1 , 1 891 ,

at wh ich Mr. Hibben first

introduced the matter of

h i s resignation of the pas

t or at e here “A l l t h e

Elders present expressedtheir deep sorrow that

their beloved friend and

Pastor had reached such a

decision,and all thought

i t best that he should r e

main as lo n g as he fel t

able and wil l ing. They

b o r e testimony t o h i s

faithfulness and success as

apast or , and were unanimous in the Opinion that the Church was now more h armo

nions,stronger

,and in better condition than when he

assumed the pastorate four years ago .

At the n ext meeting of the Session,March 2 ,

1 891 , i t

was decided to cal l a co n gregational meeting o n April 6

1 891 , at 3 P . M .

,to take action upon Mr. Hibben ’s resigna

tion . At that meeting the following resolutions were unani

)mou sly adOpt e d :

“That while we as a congregation deeply deplore the

causes that necessi tate such a step on the part of o u r be

loved Pastor,yet recognizing that absolute rest i s essential

to h is restoration to heal th and strength,we reluctantly and

sorrowful ly accept the resignation tendered,and wil l join

with h im in his request to Presb y ter y to sever the close r e

lat i o n s existing between us as Pastor and people . Be i t ~

resolved further,that we as a congregation ar e n o t satisfied


poor,too degraded

,but

,i f they cal led u pon him

,he tendered

to them his kindly offices . The Chapel inWolfs t ow n stands

as a monument to testify to his love fo r humanity for h umanity ’s sake .

“Not only his departure,but also

,that of h is esteemed

w ife,who has been such an earnest and effi cient co -worker

i n the various avenues of rel igious work,wil l be universal ly

regretted . A s a congregation,we shal l miss his presence

from the pulpit ; and the communi ty , the benefit of his teach

ings and his l ife . Those too whose hearts are weighed down

by sorrow , who refuse to be comforted because the grave has

closed over al l that is mortal of those who,in l ife

,were dear

to them,will m iss our Pastor. I t was when the soul was

passing through the troubled waters of afldi c t i o n,that he was

abl e to bring the sweet consolations and comforti ng hopes ofthe Gospel to cheer the grief— stricken soul and to cal l i t backto i t s allegiance to its Maker

,causing it to exclaim through

i ts tears ‘Thy wil l be done .

’

“But he shall be missed most of al l i n the chamber of

sickness and of death . He brought with h im i nto the s ickroom the same fai th that was his own gu ide and comfort inl ife . He encouraged the su fle r i n g to bear with pa t iencetheir cross

,and strengthened the dying to enter without fear

the dark val ley and shadow,for be y ond death and the grave

were the rich promises of the Risen Lord .

“The se ve r e n ce of our relations with our Pastor would besad under any circumstances , but the causes that make thisactio n now a necessi ty bring with them added sorrow and

deep regret. Our hearts go out to h im in sympathy in thissore trial

,for a trial i t is

,to be compelled

,thus early in h i s

minist r y,to suspend his l ife work . But we know upon

whom he leans,and that the support wil l never fail h im ,

fo r

‘L O I am with you alway , e ve n unto the end of the world .

’

“We shal l fol low with deep interes t his future, and retain

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . 1 1 5

fo r him a warm place in our affections . We shal l remember

him in our prayers,that he may soon be restored to heal th

and strength,and again resume the work he is now laying

down,a work he loves so well

,for i t i s in the service of his

Master. That Master caused the scales to fal l from the leper,

and said to the dead Lazarus ‘Come forth,

’ and i f i t is fo r the

best he can heal our Pastor. In the care of Omnipotent

Power we leave h im .

”

Mr. Hibben preached his farewell sermon May 24,1 891 .

He was elected Instructor in Logic and Psychology inPrinceton Col lege soo n after leaving Chambersburg. He

is now Ass istant Professor in Logic. I I I June,1 893 , he r e

ce ive d the degree of Ph . D . from Pri nceton College .

During Mr. Hibben ’s pastorate he was successful in com

ple t i n g the organization of the Wolfst ow n Mission Sabbath

School,about which time the present chapel was buil t for

that school at a cost of

The history of the Industrial School connected with thischurch goes back to the y ears immediately fol lowing the“F ire of Fo r two years it was in a ve r y flourishing

condition,under the care of M r s. Thos . B . Kennedy and

M r s. Ellen Culbertson,M r s. M . C. Washington and others .

I t s meetings were held in the old Lecture Room . After

being suspended for a number of years , i t was revived and

organized June 2 , 1 890 , when a fe w ladies rented first one

room,then two

,in Y e sse l’s new brick house at Wolfst ow n .

I t met o n Mondays,beginning with about half a dozen

scholars,and four or five teachers . June 1 8

,1 890 , the

school already registered 80 scholars. Sept. 8,the day was

changed to Saturday. When the n e w Chapel atWolfst ow n

was opened and dedicated,Dec . 2 1 , 1 890 , the scholars r e

moved th ither,being at the time under the superintendency

first Of M r s. Hibben,then of M r s. Thos . B . Kennedy .

Among the ladies then teaching i n the school were Mrs .

1 1 6 THE FALLING SPR ING

Al ice Grier,Miss Lizz ie Wallace

,M r s. Thos . Wallace

,

Miss Emma Smith,Miss Arie Kenned y

,and Mrs .

Wm . B . Reed . While in Y e sse l’s building,boys began to

a t tend,and the constant wonder was and is that they prefer

the Industrial School to the streets o n a Saturday afternoon .

The attendance of both sexes , though variable, has been over

1 0 0,with about a doze n lady teachers . The obj ect is not

to teach fancy work but to do plain and practical sewing,taking special care that the work done be both neat and

strong. Flannel i s furnished at half— rate to grown scholars .G ingham fo r aprons is free to al l . The smaller scholars are

fu rnished al l materials free . Merits are earned by prompt

ness,good behaviour

,and careful sewing

,and

.

by these

merits the scholars purchase the clothing.

The main,underlying purpose of all th is work Should not

be overlooked,namel y , the bringing of the scholars

,and

especially the boys,ofl the street

,and u nder the sound of

the Gospel . To this end,at every session there are hymns

,

Scripture,prayer

,and a short talk upon some intensely

practical subject. These influences,under the faithful

,ener

getic,generous efforts of the Superintendent

,Mrs . Kennedy

,

assisted by noble,self— denying teachers

,c oupled with the

School on Sabbath afternoons,by the blessing of God

,

have resul ted in a most marked improvement i n man yhomes

,and in the orderl iness of the whole n e igbor h ood.

Mr. Hibben also organized in this Church the first Christ

i an Endeavor Society in Frankl in Co .,which

'

i s now so

great a help to our y oung people , and a joy to the . present

Pastor,and of which Mr. W . B . Reed will give u s an account.

During the years ofMr. Hibben ’s pastorate, the membership increased from 232 in 1 887, t o 283 in 1 891 ; and the

contributions to Foreign Missions from to

I t is a cause of S incere disappointment to u s al l not to

greet Dr. Hibben at this time. He made a place for him

GREETING FROM T H E GREENCASTLE CHURCH,

BY THE R E V . L . C. BELL,PASTOR .

On behalf of the Presbyterian Church of Greencastl e,I

have the honor to present to the Fall ing Spring Presbyterian Church their heartiest congratulations on your reach

ing the advanced age of one hundred and s ixty years,and

the one hundredth as a separate charge. We note with the

greatest pleasure that the signs of age,contrary to those of

human l ife,are your increased and increasing strength with

al l the evidences of buoyant l ife . We congratu late youupon the abl e and godly character of those who have stoodin your pulpit ; u pon the representatives of this Church , who

h ave ru led i t, and the number and influential Character of

i t s membersh ip. We wish that Fall ing Spring Churchmay have many more centen nials and continue to be aspring of gr aCI Ou s influences

,pouring ou t upon saints and

S inners the water of salvation .

The sister ch urch desires to present y o u,I n token of her

good wishes,a rel ic of former days

,before the breaking up of

the Conococheague church family— a cross made from a

piece ofwood taken from the “Old Red Meeting House,

”

which stood near “Moss Spring” about three quarters of amil e east of Greencastle . I t was bu i l t about the year 1 767,and used as a church until 1 827. The rel ic is inscribed as

follows : “Presented to Fal l ing Spring Presbyterian Churchof Chambersburg, Pa.

,Nov. 1 2 , 1 894, by the Presbyterian

Church ofGreencastle,

“H 0 LOGOS H O TOU S TA U R OV

TO I S M E N A POLL U M E N O I S MOR IA ESTI , TO I S DE S OZOM E N O I SHEM IN DUNAM IS T H EO U ESTI .” ( I Co r . I :

I t is impossible for me to give an y personal reminiscencesn s

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . I 1 9

of the “Lower East Conococheague Church ,” as my personal knowledge extends over but two years . The pastors ,S ince the time of the separation from the same charge

with the “Upper East Conococh eague Church ,” have been ,according to records extan t, twelve in number, as fol lows

Rev. Robert Kennedy , Apr. 1 3, 1 803 to Apr. 9, 1 81 6 ; R e v.

James Buchanan,1 81 6 to Oct. 1

,1 839; Rev . Jn o . T. M .

Davie,Nov.

,1 840 to Apr. 9, 1 845 ; Rev . T. V. Moore

,D .

D .,Oct. 1 5 , 1 845 to Oct. 7, 1 847; Rev. Wm . M . Paxton

,D .

D .,Oct. 4, 1 848 to Dec . 5, 1 850 ; Rev. Edward Emerson

,

Sept. 1,1 852 t o Aug. 1 4, 1 860 ; R e v. Wm . T. Beatty, May

1 6,

1 86 1 to Apr.,1 863 ; Rev. J . W . Wightman

,Nov. 1 2 ,

1 863 to Oct. 4, 1 870 ; Rev. D . K . Richardson , Feb . 1 0,1 872

to Aug.

,1 877 ; Rev . Jas . H . Stewart, Dec . 1 3 , 1 877 to May

1,1 883 ; R e v. J . D . Hunter , Apr. 29, 1 884 to May 1

,1 892 ;

Rev. L. Carmon Bell,Dec . 20 , 1 892

GREETING FROM THE CENTRAL CHURCH ,

BY ELDER W. H . H . MACKEY.

I t aflo r ds me great pleasure to stand before you to-nightto represent the Central Church as a child of the Fall ing

Spring Ch urch . For the reason that the mother has always

been very kind to the child,we have under all circumstances

fel t at perfect l iberty to ask any favor we desired , and have

appreciated the freeness and kindness with which the favor

was granted .

Separations are generally attended with friction,but in

th is case the separation was similar to a parent’s parting

with a loved child,going to another part of the country

with an obj ect in V iew for the advancement and welfare of

both child and parent. In th is case,i t was thought better

for the advancement of Presbyterianism in our ci ty to sepa

1 20 THE FALLING S PR ING

rate . I think God ’s hand was in it,as much as i t was in

the separation of Paul and Barnabas for the bu i lding up of

H i s Church,or in the separation of Joseph from his father

fo r the preservation of the l ives of the people . The separa

tion has more than doubled Presbyterianism in Chambersburg. Presbyterianism had had a marked and steady

growth in the mother church,u ntil many thought the

bu ilding too small to accommodate i ts members ; and in the

early spring of 1 868,when there seemed to be no prospect

for a n e w bui lding,or fo r an addition to the old o n e

,

thirteen of i ts members prepared a peti tion favoring a new

organization . I t was signed by them ,and presented to t h e

Presbytery of Carl isle by the Rev. James F. Kennedy,D .

D .,at a meeting held

'

in Duncannon, June 9, 1 868. This

peti tion was considered by Presbytery,and i t appointed a

committee of three,consisting of the Rev. Thomas Creigh

,

D . D . , the R e v. W . A . West,and Elder J . Craig M cLan ah an ,

to visi t Chambersbu rg and organize a second Presbyterianchurch

,i f the thought i t best to do so .

The committee met in the Fall ing Spring Church,A u g.

1 5 , 1 868,with the pastor

,elders and congregation . After

a ful l interchange of views , they decided to organize a second

Presbyterian ch u rch . The Session of the Fal l ing SpringChurch granted certificates of dism issal to twenty— e I gh t of

i ts members,who desired to form the new organization .

These certificates being accepted by the committee,the

formal organization was accompl ished . To complete the

organization,an election was held for rul ing elders

,when

James C . Au stin and James A . Reside were unanimously

chosen to that office .

S ix weeks after the organization of th is Church,the Rev .

Isaac Newton Hays was called to be the firs t Pastor,and he

was installed Dec . 1 1,1 868. He was released May 5 , 1 874,

to accept a call to Junction City Kan . The Church was

1 22 T H E FALLING SPR IN G

or private members ; hence the names of the worthy men

who served in the eldership dur i ng those years are los t to

u s.

* In 1 82 1 the Rev. David Denny made a l ist of the

then e xisting members . The Rev: Joseph Clark in 1 852 ,

prepare d a Register in to which he copied those names,and

w herein have been wri tten the names of all who have S ince

j oined the Church . In that Register we find the fol lowing

names of those who were elders at or before that date,and

the date of their death or dismissal,but not of their election

Sam u el Blood,dismissed to Alleghany

,1 839 John Colhoun ,

died Jan .

,1 822 : Alex. Scott

,died Sep t

,1 82 2 ; Joseph

Graham,died Aug .

,1 823 John Lindsay , di ed Sep t ,

1 825 ;

Andrew M cCor d, dismissed to Ohio , (n o date) ; Jas . B . Ross,

dismissed,

1 828 ; Archibald Fleming, dismissed to OhioMar. 25 , 1 832 ; Robert M cCr ack e n ,

dismissed to the wes t

Sept. 1 4, 1 837 John King, died July 8, 1 835 ; Moses Kirk

patrick,died June 6

,1 846 ; Samuel Cooper, d ied Sept . 28, 1 853 .

We find t h e following wi th date of election as well as deathor dismissal . Wm . S . Davis

,elected Dec . 3 , 1 826 , died Apr.

24, 1 837 ; David Ly tle, elected Dec . 3 , 1 826 , died July 1 858

Samuel M cE lr oy , elected Aug . 1 843 , di e dJan . 1 4, 1 855 ; Robert

Sharpe,elected Feb . 3 , 1 849, died March 1 1

,1 858 ; Alex .

Thompson,elected 1 840 , died Aug, 2 , 1 848; Stewart Kenned y ,

elected Aug . 7, 1 843, died March 1,1 852 ; R 0bt . Black

,e le c t e d

Sep t,1 849, dism issed to Fay e t t e vi lle ,Nov . 27, (no y e ar given) .

I t is greatly to be regretted that when the town was burnedin 1 864, the sessional records were al l destroyed , hence we

have no account of their proceedings prior to that time .

My first remembrance of the rul ing elders in this Churchwas of t wo gentlemen of hoary locks and solemn mien ,

walking up and. down t h e '

ai sle s,each having in his hand a

long rod to the end of which was attached a bag fo r the r e

*From th e f th a t th e Presb y ter y Records state t h Lt Col. Benj . hambe i son A u g.

‘moved to t h e Pr esby tery , &c , i t wou ld seem t h l $ (‘

ol Chambers wasLa member of PI e sby t e r y , and therefore a Ru l i ng,r El de r — E D I I OR

PRESBYTER I AN CHURCH . I 23

ce pt i o n of the weekly gifts of the worshipers . These

honored men,Messrs . Holmes Crawford and John Cree

,

w ere at that time the onl y members of Session . Mr. Craw

ford was of a modest, ret i r i ng disposition , so much so that

his voice was never heard in prayer or exhortation,either

in publ ic or social worship,but he served the Lord with

great earnestness,and by the weight of his Christian char

acter commended the rel igion he professed . He served as

clerk until June,1 864, when , pleading the i n fir mi t i e s of age ,

he asked to be rel ieved,and at his urgent r q

'

I e s t his r e s ig

nation‘

was accepted . About a month after the burning'

of

the town,he took up his abode i n t h e Country , and thence

forward was unable t o take an active part in the affairs of

the Church at home,o r to repres e nt the Sess ion in the

higheri

Ch u r ch Courts .

Having “served his ow n

g e n e r a t i o n” fo r more

than four score years,he

“fel l o n sleep and was

gathered to his fathers”

in Fe b,1 874. He w as

elected elder in 1 840 ,

hence was in office about

34 y ears .

Mr. John Cree was born

in 1 805 , came to Ch amb

e r sbu r g in 1 826 , and was

ordained an elder Feb . 3 ,

1 849. He was S u pe r i n

tendent of the Sabbath

School for 1 6 years,and

w a s e v e r a c t i v e a n d

zealous in the work of

his Lord and Master,j oi n ing in the publi c prayer and in

JOHN CREE .


the social worship . In the spri ng of 1 86 2 he moved to

P i ttsburg. On h i s return to this town a fe w years later,he

fel t i t h is duty to cast in his lot with the then feeble and

struggl ing Central Church , and served as a member of itsSession during the rest of his l ife . Feb . 2 1

,1 890 , he

“came to h is grave in a fu l l age l ike as a shock Of corncometh in in his season .

” So long as he l ived he did

not cease t ox

t ak e a deep interes t in the welfare Of the Fal l

ing Spring Church and Sabbath School .

In the autumn of 1 86 1,Messrs . Wm . G . Reed

,Jas . C .

Eys ter, Frederick Byers , and Geo . F . Platt were chosen

elders . Messrs . Eyster and Byers decl ined the honor,and

the other two were ordai n ed an d instal led on Dec . 7, 1 86 1 .

In those troublous war times many changes took place inChurch as well as i n S tate

,and the Session of t h e

i

Falli n g

Sp ring Church was not an exception to the general rule .

As already said,Mr. Cree left in 1 86 2 . Soon after

,I enl isted

as a soldier. Not very long after my return from the army,the burn ing of the town occasioned the retirement of Mr.

Holmes Crawford . A l ittle later,the resignation of the

R e v. S . J . N iccol ls left the Church without a Pastor,and

with only two rul ing elders in charge. Although the Rev.

J . B . H . Janeway accep t ed a call and was with us fo r several

months,he was n ever installed n o r did he join the Presby

tery of Carl isle,so that the Church was without a Pastor

until the installation of Dr. J . A . Crawford in July,1 867.

I was young and inexperienced,had been reared in a Churc h

of radical ly di fle r e n t pol i ty, had never been a member of

any other Presbyterian Church,and joined this one less than

si x months before my election to office . I therefore deferred to Mr. Reed in matters pertaining to the interests of

the Church,and that prosperity and harmony prevailed to so

great an extent throughout those years of unrest,is largely

due,under God

,t o h i s wise and discreet management. Mr .


In 1 883 , Dr. Shumaker was chosen Principal of the

Academy at Blairstown,N . J.

, and left us in September of

that year. T h e Session placed on record i ts great regret at

parting with a brother beloved and honored in the Lord,

and bore testimon y to h i s great worth as a Christian and as

an office bearer . In the fal l o r 1 892 , he returned to our

town and was warmly welcomed by his many friends . After

weary months of intense suffering,he was called up higher

Feb . 7, 1 894. Session placed on record a brief sketch of his

l ife and labors and added t h e following : “We thank God

that while he l ived he helped to mould the characters of so

man y young men who have since attained to eminence in

their various call ings in l ife,and that thus h is influence

w ill be fel t for good fo r man y y ears to come. We honor the

memory ofo u r departed brother because of h is personal char

acter an d record,and becaus e ofhis fidel ity to the varied and

responsible duties which fel l to his lot. We pay our tributeof affection to the sincere lovi n g friend , the cheerful com

panion,the earnest consistent Christian . w e extend our

warm sympathy to the bereaved famil y,especially to her

who fo r more than forty years has shared h i s inmost joys and

sorrows,and pray that s ince her dearest earthly friend is r e

moved,sh e may be able to trust wholly and entirely in that

F r iend who hath said,

‘Lo,I am with y ou alway, even to

the end of the world .

’ ‘I am the Resurrection and the L ife . ’

At a congregational meeting held March 1 5, 1 885 , the

following were elected rul ing elders : Henry A . Riddle,Wm .

B . Reed,John S . M c I lvai n e

,Robert E. Coyle

,and John G .

Orr. Mr. Coyle decl ined to serve and the others were i n

stalled o u Sept . 1 2 , of that ye ar. All were at that time

active in the Sabbath School and the prayer meetings,and

have ever s ince discharged their ofli c ial duties with a faith

fulness and zeal worth y of the highest praise.

On Sept. 1 1,1 885 , Mrs . Susa n M . Crawford presented to

PRES BYTERIAN CH U R CH . I 27

the Church through the Session a handsome pulpit Bible

containing both the Authorized Version and the Revisionof the New Testament.On March 1

,1 886

,in response t o the desire of a good

many temperance advocates , and fol lowing the example of

many other churches,a majority of the S e ssion voted to

cease the use ofwine at communion,and t o substi tute there

for the unfermented ju ice of the grape .

On Jan . 1,1 891 , Elder J . S . N ixon met with an accident

which twelve days“later

terminated h i s earthl y

l ife . The fol lowing is a

p a r t o f t h e m i n u t e

adopted relating to h im“ I t i s n o t the length of

years we would e mph a

s ize,n or yet the number

of posi tions he held,but

the fact that al l th e s

years were fil led with

l o v i n g thoughts,with

large service,and with

efficien t deeds ; and that

his ofli c ial duties were

discharged w i t h s u c h

rare fidel i ty an d earnest

zeal as to prove a co n

stant inspiration to al l

about h im . Every department of Church work fel t the impulse of his strong personal i ty. He exerted a marked

influence upon the l ives of o u r young people by a sincere

and genuine interest in them,to which also h e ever gave

happy expression ; to those w h o were bearing the burden

and heat of the day , his cheering and helpful presence gave

J . S. NIXON .

1 28 THE FALLING SPR IN G


c e i ve and hold such charitable donations and bequests,as

may from time to time be made to their society, and vested

w i th such powers and privileges as are enj oyed by other

rel igious Soc i eties who are incorporated in this S tate .

A N D WHEREAS i t is j ust and right,and also agreeab le to

the true spiri t of the Consti tution,that the Prayer of the

said petition be gr anted .

BE I T THEREFORE enacted,and it is hereby enacted by

the representatives of the Freemen of the Commonweal thof Pennsylvania , i n General Assembly met

,and by the

authority of the same,That Patrick Vance

, E squire,Benjamin Chambers

,Senior

,Ma tthew Wilson

,Esquire

,

Josiah Crawford,John Boggs

,Esqu ire

,Edward Crawford

Junior,the Reverend

,James Lang and James Moore

,and

their successors,duly elected and appointed in such manner

as hereinafter is directed,be

,and they are hereby made

,

constituted and declared to be a Corporation and bodyPol itic in law and in fact

,to have continuance forever

,by

the name,style

,and title of “The Trustees of the Presby

teria 11 Church of Fal l ing Spring in the County of Frankl in .

A N D BE I T FUR THER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid,

that the said Corpor ation and their successors,shal l forever

hereafter be persons able and capabl e in law,as well t o take

,

receive a n d hold all and al l manner of lands , tenemen ts ,rents

,annuities

,franchis es and other hereditaments , which

at any time heretofore have been granted , bargained , sold ,e n fe ofle d

,released

,devised or otherw ise conveyed to the

aforesaid congregation of Fall ing Spring now under thepastoral care of the Reverend James Lang o r to any otherperson or persons to their u se

,or intrust for them and the

same lands,tenements

,rents

,ann uities

,franch ises and other

heredi taments are hereby vested and establ ished in the said

corporation and their successors,for ever, according to their

original u se and intention . And the said corporation and

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . 1 3 1

their successors are hereby declared to be seized and possessed with such estate and estates therein

,as in and by the

respective gran t s bargains,sales

,e n feoffments , releases de

vises,or o ther conveyances thereof

,is or are declared l imited

or expressed,as also that the said corporation and their su c

ce sso r s, at all times hereafter shall be able and capable to

purchase,have

,hold receive and enjoy in fe e Simple

,or of

any other less estate or estates an y lands tenements,rents

,

annuities,l iberties

,franchises and other heredi taments by

the gift,bargain

,sale al ienation

,e n fe oflme n t

,release

,con

firmat i on or devise of any person or persons,bodies pol i tic

o r corporate capable and able to make the same,and further

that the said corporation,and their successors

,may take o r

receive any su m or sums of money , or an y .por t i on of goods

or ch at t le s that shal l be given t o them by any person or

persons bodies pol i tic or corporate,capable of making such

gift or bequest,such money

,goods and ch attels

,to be laid

o u t and disposed of for the use and benefit of the aforesaid

congregation , agreeably to the intention of the donors .

A N D BE I T FU RT H H R ENACTED by the authority aforesaidthat the rents

,profits

,and interests

,of the said real and

personal estate of the aforesaid church and corporation,

shal l,by the said trustees

,and their successors from time to

time be appl ied and laid out fo r the maintenance and su p

port of the gospel ministry in said congregation fo r repair

ing and maintaining their house of publ ic worship,lots of

land and other bu i ldings,burial ground

,and such pious and

charitable uses,as shall be agreed 0 1 1

,and determined by a

majority of the congregation at large called together on due

notice to give their free vote in such case.A N D BE I T FURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid

,

That when and as often as i t may be necessary to rebu i ldenlarge or otherwise alter or repair the house of publ ic

worship,or any other buildings belonging to the aforesaid

1 32 THE FALLING SPRI NG

church and corporation,or t o erect any new building

,or to

make any new purchases fo r the use of said congregation,

then and in s u ch case,i t may be lawful fo r the aforesaid

trustees and their successors,to make sale Of or otherwise

dispose of such part o r parcel of the said estate real or

personal,as a majority Of the regular members of said con

gr e gat i o n shall by their vote direct the money aris ing fromsuch sale or disposal to be laid out and appl ied agreeabl y to

the vote of the aforesaid majori ty .

A N D BE I T FURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaidThat the said trustees and their successors Shall not by deedor any otherwise grant al ien

,convey or otherwise dispose

of any part or parcel of the estate real or personal in thesaid corporation vested

,or

'

to be hereafter vested,or change

or incumber the same to any person or persons whatsoever,

except in the manner and fo r the purposes herein beforementioned .

PROVIDED NEVERTHELESS,that no deed or other convey

ance made by the said trustees o r their successors bo n afie dand for valuable considerations for any part of the real e s

tate of the said church and corporation in case the possess ion thereof pass immediately to the purchaser and continuein him his heirs or assigns

,shal l be cal led in question or

inval idated fo r want of the consent of the majority of the

regular members of the said church,unless the same be

done with in seven years from and after the sale and de

l ivery of possession of such real es tate to such purchaser o r

purchasers thereof.A N D BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaid ,

That the said trustees or their successors,or a majority of

them,may from time to time meet

,as Often as they may

think necessary fo r the benefit of the said corporation,

either o n their OW I I adj ournments or on publ ic notice fromthe pulpit

,the preceding Lord ’s day immediately after divine


the trustees of the Presbyterian Congregation of Fall ing

Spring in the County of Frankl in shal l be abl e and capablein law to su e and be sued plead and be impleaded in an y

court,or before any judge or j ustice in all and al l manner

of suits,complaints

,pleas

,causes

,matters and demands of

whatever kind,nature or form they may be ; and all and

every matter or thing therein to do in as full and e fle c t u al a

manner as any other person or persons bodies pol i tic or cor

por at e within this Commonwealth may or can do .

A N D'

BE I T FURTHER ENACTED by the authority aforesaidThat the said corporation shal l always consist of eight

members cal led and known by the name of the Trustees of

the Presbyter ian Congregatio n of Fall ing Spring,and the

said members Shall at all times hereafter be chosen by bal lot,

by a majority of such members,met together of the said

congregation as shal l have been enrolled,as stated wor

sh ippers with,and yearly contributors to the support of the

said congregation,for at least the space of one year.

PR OV D E D ALWAYS , that the pastor or minister of said con

gr e gat i on for the time being shal l be enti tled t o vote equal lywith any member of said congregation ; and also , that all

and every person or persons qual ified to vote and elect asaforesaid

,shall and may be also capable of being voted and

elected a trustee as aforesaid,provided he or they be not

more than two years in arrear fo r pew rent,due the said

church and congregation .

A N D BE IT FURTHER ENACTED by the authori ty aforesaid,

That the said Patrick Vance Esquire,Benjamin Chambers

Senior Matthew Wilson Esquire,Jos iah Crawf ord

,John

Boggs Esqu ire,Edward Crawford Junior

,the Reverend

James Lang and James Moore,the first and present trustees

hereby incorporated Shall be and continue trustees until r emoved in manner fol lowing viz : one fourth part in the

number of said trustees,being the fourth part herein first

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . I 35

named,shall cease and discontinue and their appointment

determined on the first Monday of April,which wil l be in

the year of ou r Lord seventeen hundred and eighty— six ;and the second fourth part herein mentioned

,shal l cease

and discontinue and their appointment determine on the

first Monday in Apri l which will be in the year o n e thous

and seven hundred and eigh t y— seven and in l ike mannerthe appointment of the third fourth part herein mentioned

shal l cease and determine on the first Monday in Apri l

which shal l be in the year seventeen hundred and eighty

eight,and the appointment of the las t fourth part shall

cease and determine o n the first Monday in April which

shall be the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty'

nine ; o n which days in each of the aforementioned y ears

respectively new election shall be held of other trustees,i n

stead Ofthose whose appointments shal l have ceased and deter

mined ; which manner of discontinuance determination , newappointments or election shall be continued on the first

Monday of April in every year hereafter forever, so that no

person shal l be or continue a trustee longer than four yearstogether without being reelected ; which may be done whenever and as often as the members of said congregation

qualified t o vote,as aforesaid described , shall think fit .

PROVIDED ALWAYS,That w h e r i e ve r any vacancy shal l

happen by the death refusal to serve , or other removal of

any one o r more of the said trustees,or in case the mem

bers of the said church shall neglect to meet o n the first

Monday of April,in any year

,an election shal l be held

,as

soon as conveniently can be done,and some fit person o r

persons chosen and appointed as before directed,to supply

such vacancy ; and that the remaining trustees have power

to cal l a meeting of the electors of said congr egation for

that purpose .

PROVIDED ALWAYS,an d i t is hereby enacted by the au

1 36 THE FA LLING SPR ING

t h o r i t y aforesaid , That the clear yearly value interest o r

i n come of the lands , tenements , rents , annu i ties o r other

heredi taments and real estate of the said corporation shall

not exceed the su m of three hundred and fifty pounds of

gold or silver money,at the curren t val ue thereof in the

Commonweal th of Pennsylvania,exclusive of pew rents and

other free contributions belonging to the aforesaid congregation

,which said money shal l be received by the said trustees

and disposed of by them,for the purposes and in the man

ner hereinafter described and directed .

Signed by order of the House

JOHN BAYAR D Speaker .Enacted into a law at Philadelphia o n Friday the twenty

fift h day Of March in the year of o u r Lord,o n e thousand

seven hundred and eight y — five .

SAM ’L . BRYANClerk of the General Assembly .

Enrol led 2 1 s t July A . D . 1 785 .

THE H ISTORY OF THE TRUSTEES ,

BY JO H N .M . M

’D OWE LL , ES $ .

To the writer h as been assigned the duty of speaking on

behalf of the Trustees of the Fal l ing Spring PresbyterianChurch

,and of writing the history or an account of the

different buildings and property of said Church . From the

somewhat meagre data attainable by the writer he offers thefol lowing :

Col. Benjamin Chambers , the founder of Chambersburg,

about the year 1 730 , settled o n o r near the Fall ing Spring,

or between that stream and the Conococheague near theirj unction . Others soon followed him

,forming what he

PRESBYTER I AN CHURCH . 1 37

called “The Fall ing Spring Settlement. ” Col. Chambers

and most,i f n o t al l the pioneer settlers in this valley ,

were

Presbyterians o r Blue Stockings . Among the first build

ings erected by o u r forefathers,after putting up log cabins

to Shelter them from the heat,cold and rain

,were small log

buildings fo r S Ch ool houses and places for worship . The

ch urch and the schoolhouse went together, generall y ,at

first o n e house being used fo r both purposes . Col. Chambers

early gave the romantic cedar grove on the bank of the

Conococheague Creek for a grave y ard , schoolhouse and

church . In this grove , near the spot wh e re the presentchurch stands

,was erected at a very earl y date

,certainl y be

fore 1 739, and very probabl y about 1 737, a smal l log build

ing which was used as a schoolhouse and place of worship .

I t was buil t of rough logs,with doors o n the east and

southern sides,and l ighted by two long narrow windows

,

of the width of two small panes of glass,

“running the e n

tire length Of the northern and western sides of the build

ing. This building was small and exceedingly plain .

When this building,or

“study— house ,” as it was cal led ,would n o t hold or accommodate the congregatio n

,i t is said

that in mild weather,they would resort t o the saw— mill of

Col . Chambers,which he had erec t ed o n what was called

the “ Island,

” near the junction of the Creek and Fal l ingSpring

, just across the latter from the present woolen mill

and south of the residence of James E . Elder. On the

green sward surrounding the saw —mill,the congregation

would sit o r stand,an d l isten t o the minister preaching

from the saw—mill as a pulpit and shel ter . I t is thoughtthat prior t o the building of the “study— house” or first logchurch

,preaching was had at this saw—mill

,as the congre

gat i o n was organized and had suppl ies sent them fromDonegal Presb y tery before 1 737.

In 1 767, this old rough log building gave place to a


larger an d more pretentious edifice built of hewed logs,

which was about thir t y— five feet wide, and seventy feet long .

I t stood upon the same spot as the present church occupiesthe front of the building facing east. The fol lowing agree

ment was made and executed by the Trustees of the con

gr e gat i o n to the builder of the Ch urch“We

,in the name Of the Fall ing Spring Congregation

,do

promise to pay or cause to be paid to James Shanks or his

assig n s,the s u m offorty—five pounds of t h e currency of Penn

sylvania,fo r the building of a meeting house at the Fall ing

Spring,and when said house is b u il t and suffic iently done, the

money is to be paid,as witness our ha n ds and his

, 5 t h day

of July,1 767.

“Benjamin Chambers,John Dixon

,Richard X Venabl e

,

mar k .

Matthew Wilson,Wm . Gass

,Patrick Vance

,Benjamin Gass

,

Robt. Jack,Thomas Burney .

Test,

George Latme r ,Archibald Brown .

. This better church cost then in our money aboutBut l i ttle though it seems

,the Trustees wou ld not pay for

i t unti l “su fli c i e n t ly done .” N O advance payment when

under roof or during the progress of the bu ilding,as i s gen

e r ally provided fo r now in building contracts , bu t no moneywas to be paid unti l the “house is buil t and suffi ciently done.On January I

,1 768, Col : Ch ambers donated the cedar

grove and tract of land 0 11 which the church was buil t,to

the congregation,and he and his wife Jea n executed a deed

therefor,which is re corded in the Recorder’s ofli ce of Frank

l in County,in Deed Book Vol . A

,pages 2 1 0 , 2 1 1 and 2 1 2 .

(See this History, p . The consideration me n tioned in

*Fo r th is agreement and m uch other i n fo r mation , I am indebted to an articl epubl ish ed in 185 1 i n the V alle y S e n ti n e l, and wri tten by the late D r . W i l l iam C.

L ane . The origin a l agxe e me n t was b urned i n the fi r e o f 1 864.

1 40 THE FALLING S PRING

building was erected o n the southeast corner of the church

property,extending ove r o n land belonging to the H o n .

George Ch ambers an d given by him to the congregation so

long as this build ing should be used fo r rel igious purposes .

On August 25 , 1 842 , the H on . George Chambers donated

to the congregation,as an addition to the cemetery

,a lot o n

the southern side of that port i on of the grant by Col. Benj .

Chamber s used as a burial ground,and a lot on the northern

side of said burying ground . This deed is recorded in

Deed Book, V ol. 33 , page 1 04.

In 1 857, during the Rev . Joseph Clark’s pastorate

,the

church building of 1 80 3 was enlarged and altered , as seen

in the pic ture . A large door was put in the centre of the

front wall,where the window n ow is

,leading into a vesti

bule,from which entrance was made into the audience— room

through two doors at either side,and from which stairs led

up to the gal lery over the vestibule,where the c hoir sat

unti l 1 866,when it was brou ght down to the back part of

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH . 1 4I

the church . The congregation gradually increased in numbers and more pews were wanted . In August

,1 868

,i t was

determined to make the following alterations and improve

ments : The cupola was taken off,the gallery removed

,

the vestibule thrown into the church,t wo doors made

,one

in each tower,a large window put in

,in place of the front

door,stained glass windows put in

,a platform o r raised

floor placed in front of the large window fo r the choir,and

the ceil ing removed and the present o n e put on ; and in 1 869

a new and handsome walnut pulpit was placed in the

church by Col. and M r s.

Thos . B . Kennedy at their

expense,and a p u l p i t

t a b l e presented by Mr.

Leonard B . K i n dl i n e .

No record is made of the

cost of these i m p r o v e

m e n t s,al though a su b

scription was t a k e n up

therefor .

A ft e r the r e v i v a l of

1 876 t h e o l d L e c t u r e

R o o m o n the c o r n e r

seemed inadequate to ac

commodate the increased

attendance at the weekl y

meetings of the congre

gat i o n . On October 1 8,

1 876 , a Building Com

mi t t e e was appointed to

invite and receive bids fo r T H E DENNY MEMORIAL.

a “new Lecture— room and Sabbath— School Building.

After a number of joint meetings of the Trustees and the

congregation to consider the quest ion of a new building,


the present chapel was decided upon,and erected in 1 877

—8

at a cost of

The old Lecture—Room was torn down,sold

,and removed

,

and part of the land on which it stood reverted to the heirsof i ts donor.I I I the fall of 1 883 a new furnace was put in the church

at a cost of $341 . 52 .TIn 1 885 a pipe organ was purchased from Hook Hastings

,

of Boston,by a committee (appointed by the Organ Associa

tion , which had been in existence some time raising funds for

T H E THOMSON MEMOR IAL.

th i s purpose,) and placed

in the annex which was

buil t in the rear of the

church by the Trustees,

the church was painted

inside and out,new glass

placed in the windows,a

new slate— roofput o n,the

church wai n scoat e d, pews

lowered,&c .

,at a total

cost of the cost

o f t h e o r g a n beingthe repairs and

annex the balance.

Frank Thomson, E sq ,

of Philadelphia , in 1 889

made a donation to the

church of which

was by the Trustees set

apart as a nucleus fo r aI n an se fund . This was

added to by legacies from

*Fo r p ictu res of'th e Ch u r ch and C hape l as th ey a re to day , see f r on t i spi ec e .

t Two m emoria l w indows h ave been p laced in t h e Ch u rch , t h e D e n n y M emor i a li n 1887, and the Th omson Memori a l i n 1892.


The revenue Of the Church fo r pay ment of Pastor’s salar y,

l ight and fuel,se x t o n

,

~

an d other expenses,has

,I th ink

,

been derived from the rentals of the pews ever since the

second log church was erected . These rentals have been

pay able quarterly,except during the y ear 1 876 , when the y

w ere paid weekl y by envelopes . S i n ce January 1,

1 877,

they have been payable quarterly . I I I 1 866 the rentals from

pews amounted to In 1 868 they were increased,

amounting to $25 i f all the pews were rented . In1 876 all the pews were assessed an addi tional ten per cent ,and in 1 882 they were increased twenty per cent more . The

revenue from pe w rents has rarely been suffi cient to meet

the annual expens e s , l eaving a defici t every fe w years , to be

made up by voluntary subscriptions from the congregation .

All buildings,improvements and repairs have generally been

paid by subscrip t ions . The church proper is now free from

debt,and has been thus free for several Except the

last year o r t w o,the church has generall y had a debt

,large

o r small,r esting on I t . When Dr. J . A . Crawford was

called in 1 867, h e was given a salary of and house

rent. In 1 868,his salary was increased to per

annum,and has co n tm u e d at that figure ever since . In

1 887 Dr . Crawford was made Past or E me r i t u s at a salar y

of

All the records having been burned,I have no means of as

ce r t ai n i n g the names and time of service of the Trustees from

1 768 to 1 864, except from the memory of the older members

of ou r church , and as fe w of our present members can name

the present Trustees,so our older members can give me but

fe w names of those serving the church prior t o 1 864. I haveappended hereto a l ist of all the names of Trustees that Ih ave been able to collect . From the building agreement o f1 76 7 I get the names of the nine Trustees signing that

*T h ere is s t i l l a mortgage on t h e Manse

Born in Frank l in Co ., Pa Jan . 1 2, 1789. E lected a Ru l i ng E lder i n 1 840.

Superintendent of the Sabbath Schoo l for some y ears prior to 1846.D i ed A u g . 2, 1848.


was a Trustee of Fal l ing Spring Presbyterian Church fo rten

,twenty

,or fifty years

,as the case may be . More i n

t e r e s t should be taken by o u r church members in the

electio n and annual meeting of the Congregation . I haveattended nearly every annual meeting for the past twenty

years,and do n o t think I have seen tw e nty persons present

at any one meeting . T h is should not be. At the annual

meeting held last April a resolution was adopted ,

asking the Trustees to cal l the next and subsequent annual

meetings in the evening,instead of early morning as here

tofore . This wil l be done,and we trust a better attendance

will thus be s e cured,and the interest and prosperi ty of this

dear Old chur ch advanced,and many precio u s souls be here

saved and enrolled among its members .

In addition t o the Trustees in service in 1 767, as named

on page 1 38, and in 1 768, and those named in the charter,as found on page 1 30 , all we know of the Trustees prior

to 1 864 i s as fol lows

Col. Benjamin Chambers was r e — elected in 1 786 . Whether

others also were,we have no means of ascertaining.

The Hon . George Chambers served from 1 81 4 until 1 864,when he resigned . Joseph Chambers served to the date of

his death in 1 85 1 . Dr. Samuel D . Culbertson,John Cree

,

and J . Smith Grier were Trustees in 1 857, how much earl ier

is not known .

The following is a list of the Trustees since 1 857 : Col .

Thomas B . Kennedy,1 857 W . H . M c D ow e ll, 1 86 1

— 65 ;

James C . Eyster,1 86 1 —70 ; WI I I . L . Chambers

,1 86 1 — 76

1 881 —89 ; Wm . G . Reed,1 86 1 —83 ; Dr. Edmond D . Culbert

son,

1 86 1 —76 , 1 882—83 ; Samuel M . Linn,1 865 Dr.

George F . Platt,1 86 5

— 66,1 870

—74 Wm . M cL e llan ,

1 86 5—81 ;

James C . Austin,1 866— 6 8 ; J . S . N ixon

,1 868— 91 ; John P .

Culbertson,1 874

— 82 Benjamin Chambers , 1 876 Robert

*Benj amin Chambe rs , E sq , d i e d Apri l 4, 1895 , a fter the above paper was read


E . Coyle,1 876

— 81 Daniel O . Gehr,1 881 — 83 Wm. B . Reed

,

1 883 John L . Grier,

1 883 John M . M c D ow e ll,

1 883 Hon . John Stewart,1 889 Josh ua W . Sharpe

,

1 891

The fol lowing h ave served as Presidents of the Board , as

far as k n o w n : H o n .

G e o r g e Chambers,for

man y y ears prior t o his

resignation in 1 864 ; Col .

Thomas B . K e n n e d y,

1 864

The fol lowing have

served as Secretaries of

t h e B o a r d : Wm . L .

C h am b e r s,

1 86 4—76 ;

Benjamin C h a m be r s,

1 876

T h e following have

served as Treasu rers of

the Church : W . H . Mc

Dowell,

1 864— 6 5 ; J . S .

N ixon,1 86 5

— 6 6 Wm . G .

Reed,1 866—Jan . 3 , 1 876 ,

when he resigned ; J . S .

M c I lvai n e ,1 876

— Jan . 1 3 , 1 877, when he resigned ; Wm . G .

Reed,1 877

The following have served as Sextons of the Church :

John S ch ofie ld, fo r some time prior to 1 864 ; Allen Smith ,1 864 to Feb . when he resigned ; Josiah E. Scho

field,1 868— 1 877 ; Peter Helfrick , 1 877

BENJAM IN C H AMBERS .


SKETCH OF THE SABBATH SCHOOLS ,“

BY J . S . M’I LV A I N E .

In the year 1 81 6— or thirty— five years after Robert Raikesfounded the first Sunday-School in England

,— t h e godly

women of Chambersburg seeing many of the youth of the

town growing up in ignorance and in utter disregard of the

Lord ’s Day,resolved to organize a Sunday-School for their

spiri tual and mental improvement ; and a meeting for ' the

purpose of considering the question was called,of which

Rev . David Denny was the Chairman . I t was resolved,

that a school be immediately started ; and Miss El izabethRiddle and Miss Catharine Crawford were appo inted to actj ointly as Superintende n ts .The school at first was for girls only

,and was cal led the

Female Sunday-School,

” and was held in the Academy.

Soon after,a school for boys was started in another room of

the same bu i lding by Mr. Blood , Mr. Ross, Mr. W intersand a fe w other gentlemen . F inding t h e boys hard t o

manage without the persuasive influence of the feru le andb irch

,which were so potent in the control of the week—day

schools of that period,their zeal flagged and the school was

disbanded. Some of the bo y s,however, were persuaded t o

attend the girls’ school . The school was undenominational,

and teachers and scholars represented all churches ofthe town .

After some years denominational schools were organized,

and the original school,which from the first was composed

largely of the members of the Fall ing Spring Church and

congregation,became the school of that Church . Both

white and colored children were admitted to the school,and

this practice was continued unti l the organization of the

Colored Mission School . The colored children at first were

mostly slaves,and in one class taught by Mrs. Cree there

were three slaves owned by the Hon . George Ch ambers .


school . In the spring of that year an infant class was organi z e d under the care of M r s. El iza Aston

,but fo r some reason

was for a time disbanded . Some time after,i t was r e o r gan

i z e d,and

,under the management ofMiss Fannie Reed

,flo u r

i sh e d,and has continued ever since to be o n e of the most

interesting and hopeful departments of the Church . Miss

Reed resigned o n her marriage to Rev. Frank Newton,and

has been serving the Lord faithfully in the Mission work inIndia since 1 870 . This department has s ince been in

charge,successivel y

,of Mrs . Rose S e n se n y ,

Miss EmmaSmith

,Miss Maggie Chambers

,Miss Emily B . Lane

,Mrs .

Rebecca Pomeroy,M r s. Martha Orr

,Miss Sall ie Reed

,and

is n ow under the care of o u r Pasto r ’s wife,Mrs . Schenck

,

with Miss Madge Nelson as her ass istant .There is connected w i th the school a colored Mission

school which originated as fol lows : In the early part ofthe war a large number of colored people

,tak ing advantage

of the opportu n i ty of escaping from slavery,

fled north,and

man y of them stopped here . R e v. Henry Reeves,who

then had charge of the Rosedale Seminary , moved with pity

fo r them in their wretched poverty and ignorance, conceived

the idea of gathering them , with t h e o t h e r colored people

of the town,i nto a Sabbath-School . He first organized the

school in his academy,and h i s lady teachers soon became

deeply interested in the scholars,as they made such rapid

progress an d were so hungry for knowledge.

About the year 1 863 Mr. Reeves removed to Philadelphia ,and in 1 864 Mr. Will iam G . Reed

,w h o had been o n e of his

assistants,took charge of the Mission and i t was transferred

to the Chapel of the Fall ing Spring Church,and continued

there until the Chapel was torn down . For some time after,

the school met in the basement of the Baptist Church at

the foot of $ ueen S treet. One of the great features of this

school was the s inging ; many of the refugees having fine

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . 1 5 1

voices,and the melody of 200 voices or more poured forth

with the heart,i f not with the understanding, in the beauti

fu l hymns of Moody Sankey,aroused them to the highest

pitch of e n t u siasm and drew crowds ofappreciative l isteners .This Mission sch ool died o u t fo r some y ears , but was r e

vive d,o r rather a new organization was formed during th e

ministry of Rev . John Grier H ibben , w h o , with h i s estima

ble wife,took a deep interest in the wretched condition of

the people l iving in what is know as Wolfs t ow n,and were

instrumental in building what is known as the “Wolfst ow n

Mission Chapel” of the Fall ing Spring Chu rch , and in starting the school which has continued since 1 890 , to pour

fourth i t s heal ing balm upon the festering wounds which

sin has made,bringing jo y to many sad and sorrowing hearts .

This school has been fo r the last three years under the

effic i ent Superintendency of Mr. John M . M c D ow e ll. The

present school is composed of 52 scholars in the senior depart

ment, 2 1 in the primary class , with 1 2 teachers , and 2 offi cers .

The following are the officers and teachers of our Church

school to—day : Dr. George F . Platt,Superintendent ; John

S . M c I lvai n e,Ass ’t. Sup ’t. ; Frank M . Duncan

,Sec’y . and

Librarian ; Thos . H . Wallace,Assistant ; Mrs . N ell ie B .

Hoopes,Organist ; Mrs . H . R . Schenck

,Principal of the

Primary Department . Teachers : Mrs . James F . Kennedy,

Mrs . M . C. Washington,Mrs . T. M . Nelson

,Mrs . J . W .

Sharpe,Mrs. Alice Grier

,M r s . H . W . Spessard

,Miss Emma

Smith,Miss Nana Stewart

,Miss Mary Craig

,Miss Scott

King,and Messrs . W . B . Reed

,H . A . Riddle

, J . M . McDowell

,A . Nevin Pomeroy

, J . W . Sharpe,Will iam Lusk

,

J . S . M c I lvai n e and Samuel T. Clifton .

In this brief and rapid sketch of the Fall ing Spring

Sabbath-School,we cannot stop to dwel l upon the work of

the many faithful teachers who have served in this most de

l ightful and profitable field of the Church,and have gone


up to their rest and to their reward ; we may , however ,without i nvidious distinction name a fe w of those who werefirst i n the field and did pioneer work. In connection withMiss Riddle and Miss Crawford

,the first superintendents of

the original Sun day-School,should be named— Miss Margaret

Plummer,Miss Rebecca Riddle

,Miss Mary M c D ow e ll

,Miss

Mary Peach,Miss Eli zabeth Ross and Miss Susan Chambers

,

all of whom gave of their time, hearty sympathy and prayers

to the cause . Some years later,among the sai n tly women

who served the Lord in this field was M r s. Frances Culbertso n

,wife of Joseph Culbertson

, E sq ,famil iarly known as

“Aun t Frances .” She was one of the most fai thful earnest

and self-sacr i fic i n g women of her time . She was i n stant

in season and out ofseason her heart over-flow e d with sym

pathy fo r the poor and the outcast ; sh e was t h e friend of thecolored people of the town , and was a teacher in their

‘

M i s

s ion school for many years . ~ She was fi l led with a consumingzeal fo r the spread of the gospel in heathen lands

,organiz ing

the first Female Missionary Society in Carl isle Presbytery , and

gave her two sons to the ministry,one of whom

,the Rev.

Simpson Culber t son,was a miss ionary in China for eighteen

y ears ; his dust reposes in the midst of the people to whomhe gave the translated Bible

,and the best part of h i s l ife.

But we must not trespass further upon your time andpatience

,for i t were vain for mortal pen to attempt to write

the history of al l these seventy -eigh t years ; only God knows ,and Eternity alone can reveal the resul t of these long yearsof labor in this most frui tful garden of the Lord .

H ISTORY OF THE M ISS IONARY SOCIETIES .

BY MRS. WM . B . REED.

In this,the one hundredth an n ive r sar v of our beloved


bers,Treasurer ; and Mrs . J . S . N ixon

,Secretary

,an offi ce

sh e held,and the duties of which sh e most faithfully per

formed I or more than twe n ty years unti l her death,when

sh e heard the Master’s “Wel l done .

” The dues were fixed

at one dollar a year,and eight col lectors were appointed ; of

that number Miss Lizz ie G i lmore and Mrs . Alice Grier aresti l l serving.

But it was not until 1 876 that regular meetings were held .

A t that time there was a change of offi cers,and i t was de

cided to hold regular meetings opened with devotionalexercises . These have been continued either monthly orbi -monthly unti l the present time. In 1 878, the Presbyferial Society was organized . Our Society then becameauxiliary to that, and since that time there h as bee n a steadygrowth . The members n ow number 63 , and the amountraised has yearly increased from an average of the

first fe w years,to in 1 894. The offi cers have been

since organization : Presidents,M r s. Aston , M r s.Robt. E .

Coyle,Mrs . T. B . Kennedy

,and M r s. Jas . F. Kennedy ;

Vice-Presidents,Mrs . M c I lvai n e , Mrs . M . R . Alexander ;

Secretaries,M r s. J . S . N ixon

,and M r s. Alice Grier ;

Treasurers,Miss Margaretta Chambers

,Miss Lizz ie Mc

Dowell,Miss Emma Smith

, an d Miss Mary Bard.

Of the Home Mission work there is no record of a formalorganization until 1 885 , but soon after the war the work of

preparing boxes fo r missionaries was again taken up , andever y year with fe w exceptions

,one and sometimes two

boxes were sent,the value of these boxes ranged from

to In 1 885 , the present Woman’s HomeMissionary Society was organ ized as auxil iary to the Presbyt e r ialSociety

,with M r s. El len M cL e llan ,

Presiden t ; M r s. RoseS e n se n y ,V ice-President ; M r s. J . S . M c I lvai n e ,Recording Secr e t ar y ; Mrs . Jas . F. Kennedy

,Corresponding Secretary ; and

M r s. J . G . O r r , Treasurer. I t was dec ided , however, that

PRESBYTER I AN CHURCH . 1 55

the O ld l ine of work should be continued,an d that the

annual dues should go toward the preparing of the boxes,

al l other mon ey raised to go through the Presbyterial

Society . This h as been done with the exception of o n e

y ear, when no box was sent, and the money was given to

ward the building of a chapel in Wolfs t ow n,a part of the

town where Gospel work was very much needed . Regular

monthly or bi -monthly meetings have been held,and the i n

t e r e st in this work is each year increasing . The Soc i ety

now numbers sixty members,and the amount raised the

past year was,cash

,value of box

,to t al

,

The only chan ge in Offi cers u n til 1 894, has been

that of Treasurer,Mrs . Chauncey Ives now holding that

offi ce. In 1 894, Mrs . M cL e llan resigned , and Mrs . R ose

S e n se n y was elected President , Mrs . Harry Riddle , V icePresident

,the other officers remaining the same.

On the afternoon of Feb . 2 1 , 1 881 , Dr. Crawford called a

meeting of the young ladies of the Church,and twenty-nine

responded . He tried to impress upon them the need of the

Church fo r young workers,and their dut y to the Church

,

and especially to the work of Foreign Miss ions,so dear to his

own heart . The seed then sown was watered by an address

by Miss Loring,given at the annual Presbyterial Meeting

held at Greencastle,and attended by on e of o u r young

ladies,Miss Anna L inn

,who on her return cal led a meeting

at her home,which resulted

,March 3 1 , 1 881 , in the organi

z at i o n of the Young Ladies ’ Branch fo r Foreign Missions ,with 25 members .

* The following offi cers were elected

Mrs . W . B . Reed,President ; Mrs. Dan Kennedy , Vice

President ; Miss Maggie Chambers , Secre t ary ; and Miss

Anna Linn,Treasurer. Besides the giving of annual dues

,

the members have taken orders fo r work of any kind that

they could do,t o r ai se money fo r the cause

,and their faith

*Th is l ist of members wi l l be found on pages 108and 1 09.


has been strengthened and their zeal increased by seeing theirwork prosper . They now have a membership of forty-nine

,

and a yearly increase in the amount raised from the

first year to in 1 894. A very pleasan t feature h asbeen the annual Th an koffe r i n g, which was started by themI n 1 885 , and since fol lowed by the other societies withgreat success . I t i s largely due to the encouraging wordsand deeds of Dr. Crawford

,who started them on the way

with the motto : “Let us not be weary in well do ing : forin due season we shal l reap

,i f we faint not

,

” that they have

held from the first the pos ition of the Banner Branch of

the Presbytery . The offi cers S i n ce'

o r gan i z at i on have beenPresident

,M r s. W . B . Reed ; V ice-Presidents , M r s. Dan

Keg

n n e dy , M r s. M . R . Alexander,M r s. Wm . N ixon

,and

Mrs . Nevin Pomeroy ; Secretaries , Miss Maggie Chambers ,M r s. Theo . Shumaker

,Miss Grace M cLan ah an ,

Miss NettieKing

,Miss N ana Stewart

,and Miss Mary Platt ; Treasurers ,

Miss Anna Linn,Miss Annie M c D ow e ll

,and Miss Al ice

M cKn igh t .

In 1 883, M r s. Wm . M cL e llan s tarted a band among thel i ttl e girls

,called the “Busy Bees .” This was in the inter

e st of Foreign Missions . They worked so wel l that for a

number of years they were the Banner Band Of the Presbyt e r y . In 1 887, M r s. M cL e llan was obl iged to give it up

,

and for about a year nothing was done. I t was then takenby M r s. Hibben and Miss Sall ie Reed

,and was changed

from a Foreign to a Home Band. A scholarship was then

taken at a year,and this pledge h as been fai thfully

met each y e ar . They have also done a great deal at Christmas

,in sending boxes away

,the one sent las t year being

valued at and also do ing work at the same time forfor the Mission school at Wolfs t ow n

,thus bringing Christ

mas cheer to those who otherwise would have l i ttle. The

band is now under the direction of Mrs . Joshua W. Sharpe

1 58 THE FALLI NG SPRING

H ISTORY OF T H E YOUNG PEOPLE’S SOCIETY OF

CHR ISTIAN ENDEAVOR,

BY WM . B . REED .

For the past fe w days we have been deal ing with theearly history of this Church

,and the further back we could

go,and cal l up an honored and glorious past

,the better. I t

cannot be so with my theme t o-night. For t h e YoungPeople ’s Society of Christian Endeavor cannot boast of i t sgreat age

,but as the youngest child of the Church must

,

notwithstanding its youth,ask a place side by S ide with any

of the subjects before considered .

Many of the ways of Church work of to-day would seemvery strange indeed to those whose l ives and deeds we are

now celebra t ing. But an advance in Christian work is only

in keeping with a l ike advance al l along the l ine of the ac t iv

it ies of the age in every direction . A s i n the natural world,

the world of business,the methods employed now could

n o t have been even dreamed of or predicted fifty years ago,

so the methods of Christian work to-day must at least keepstep with the same advance i n other directions . Along this

l ine is the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor.I t is bu t 1 3 years s ince Dr. Clark , the Pastor of a Congre

gat i on al Church in Portland , Maine, feel ing the needs of a

more active w ork among the young people of his Church,

called a meeting fo r the purpose of considering the subj ect,

and from that meeting resulted the formation of the first

Y. P . S . C . E. So well adapted was i t to the wants of the

young,and so heartily did they fal l in with the work , that

from the first the growth in numbers,power and influence

was such that the l ittle spark became a flame,and spread

until the torch thus l ighted shone from town to town in NewEngland

,from state to s tate

,from land to land

,until to-day

i t is acknowledged to be o n e of the evangel iz ing forces of

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . 1 59

modern times,yes

,the most wonderful world-wide Christian

movement of the age. Who will say God’s smile does not

res t upon i t ? Verily i t i s no work of man ’s,or long since

would it have come to n aught ; “but i f i t be of God, ye

cannot overthrow it.”

fO u r Session very often in its meetings Spoke of the n e

c e ssi t y of a l ike Society in our Church , and at its meetingon January 9, 1 888

,after earnest discussion of the subj ect

appointed a committee,consisting ofour Pastor Mr. Hibben

,

John G. Orr and Will iam B . Reed,to look into the

matter and take such action as they might deem best. This

Committee conferred with a number of the active workers inthe Church and reported favorably to the Session

,Feb . 6

,

and as a resul t we have the organization of o u r YoungPeople’s Society in March of 1 888

,the firs t Society in o u r

ci ty,i f not in the county. Our first ofli c e r s were : Mr. T.

M . Nelson,President ; Mrs . Wm . G . N ixon

,Secretary. The

“ Ironclad Pledge” was adopted,and the Society was

launched with great interest. From the firs t,we found the

work pleasant and well suited to our young people,and they

have e ver resp onded nobly to any calls for Christian workasked of them .

We met at first on Friday evenings for prayer,but th is

was afterwards changed to Sabbath even ings before Church

services,at wh ich time we stil l meet . We started with

about 25 members , and now have on our rol l 5 1 active and

7 assoc i ate members . The work was not without oppositionat first

,but now we feel that ou r peopl e general ly are heartily

in sympathy with it. Our average attendance now is per

haps 50 to 60 every Sabbath evening. The meetings are

interesting,and the pledge is

,I think

,faithful ly kept. The

work does n ot consist of merely a meeting for prayer, butthe several committees

,Lookout

,Prayer-me eting

, Ex e cu

tive,Social

,Floral

,Music

,and Good Li terature Committees


give plenty of work for all our members . And while al l

these committees have been very faithful,I think the Floral

Committee deserves great credi t for i t s work . These beautiful flowers we se e on the pulpi t

,and these decorations we

have from time to time,are their work

,and tel l of their

faithfulness . Special commendation must be given to thecommittee now in charge , whose Chairman , Miss Bess ieM cKn igh t , h as never failed S ince her appointment, to give

some flowers each Sabbath,i f they were at all to be had .

These flowers,after serving their purpose in the Church

,are

sent with messages of love and sympathy to the sick , andmany a sick room has thus been cheered by the ministrationsof this committee. The Social Committee has also given

u s some pl e asant entertainments . Among these may bementioned three very interesting lectures

,one by the Rev.

David H . Riddle on “Lord Macaulay,

” one by the R e v. John

K . Demorest, D . D .,on “Mary $ ueen of Scots

,

” and one

by one of our worthy Presidents , Joshua W . Sharpe, Esq ,

on “Egypt.Thework , while not what we should l ike to have it, yet

we trust is such that we are making some progress. Of ourpresent membership

,at least 2 2 have been won from associ

ate membership,and have united with the Church

,and are

now enrol l ed as active members . And thus are we developing and keeping up an interest in Church work among theyoung. O u r present l is t of offi cers is as follows : President

,John G . Wi e st li n g ; V ice-President, Miss Arie Kennedy ;

Second Vice-President,

-Miss Mary Craig ; CorrespondingSecretary

,Miss Bessie M cGowan ; Record ing Secretary ,

Frank M . Duncan .

We are glad to be a part of the mighty host whose numbers have reached the grand total

,according to the report at

the Cleveland Convention last July of Soc ieties,with

a membership of from whose ranks,says the

1 6 2 THE FALLING SPR ING

Term Expi res 1897.

Thomas B . Kennedy,Prest . Samuel M . Linn .

Term Expi res 1 898.

John L . Grier,

John M . M c D ow e ll, E sq .

Tr e asu r e r .

Will iam G . Reed, 447 East Market Street.

[Mu s i cal D i r e ct or .

H . A . Riddle .

Org an i st .

Miss Anna W . Stewart.‘

S upe r i n t e n de n t of Cbu r c/i S abbat n S c/zool.

Dr. George F. Platt.

S upe r i n t e n de n t of M i ssi on S abbat h S clzool.

John M . M c D ow e ll.

S upe r i n t e n de n t of I n du st r i al S cbool.

M r s. T. B . Kennedy .

P r e s ide n t of Woman ’s For e ign M i ssi on ar y S oci e ty .

M r s. James F. Kennedy .

'

P r e si de n t of Woman ’s H ome M i ssi on ar y S oci e ty .

M r s. Rose S e n se n y .

P r e side n t of Y ou n g L adi e s’ E r an c/z for For e ign M i ssi on s .

M r s . Will iam B . Reed .

P r e s ide n t of G i r ls’ “B u sy B e e s” M i ssi on B an d.

M r s. Joshua W . Shar pe.

S upe r i n t e n de n t s of B oy s’ H ome M i ssi on Ban d.

Miss Mary Clarke and Miss Scott King.

P r e s ide n t of Y ou ng P e ople’s S oci e ty of Ch r i st ian E n de avor

John G . Wi e st li n g .

S upe r i n t e n de n t of L i t t le L ig /z t B e ar e r s.

Miss Bessie S . M cGowan .

S e x t on .

Peter Helfrick,80 We st King S treet.


FORM OF RECEPTION OF MEMBERS .

N OTE — I t is to be rem embered th at the admiss ion of members is committedt o the Sess ion o f the Church . Bes ides th is P RI V ATE admiss ion i t is our customto cal l upon new members to make the fo l lowing p u bli c avowa l of the ir fai th i nChrist and the i r engagement to be th e L ord ’s. O f course those absen t fromthese occasions , by vo luntar i l y remaining i n our membersh ip . renew th is covenant as so lemn l y and as tru l y as i f present , and are bound by the i r hol y vowso f Obed ience and he lp ful ness and attendanceTh is p ledge wh ich we take unto God is so lemn in i ts nature and serious in itsc onseq uences .

BELOVED IN THE LORD

The Sess ion having already received and enrol led y ou as

a me mbe r of th is Church, y ou are now to be publ icly recog

n i z e d by giving y o u r assent to the substance of Christian

faith as follows :

The Church of God i s not of man ’s appo i iI tme n t . The

great Head of the Church and Creator of al l men formed

bel ievers into the Household of Fai t h .

a Our Lord badeHis disciples “confess” Him “before men

,and the Holy

Ghost,speaking through the apostle Paul , declares that

“ i f

thou shalt confe ss w i t h t h y mou t h the Lord Jesus , and shal tbel ieve in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the

dead,thou shal t be

Being moved,as we trust

,by the Holy Ghost, to join

y ou r se lf to the people of God, you have now come to makepubl ic ack n owle ge me n t of this y o u r desire and purpose .

We bel ieve in o n e l iving and true God,Father

,Son and

Holy Ghost,Creator and Ruler of all

,infinitely perfect and

worthy of love,worsh ip and obe di e n ce f

We believe in one Saviour,Jesus the Christ

, God mani

fest i n the flesh,who in H i s l ife fulfill ed the Law

,and by

His death atoned for our sins and makes us worthy , by H i s

grace,of fellowship with H im .

dl

Eph . 22, 23 ; C0 1 . Eph . 27, 32.

M t. 33 ; R om.—1 0.

Deut . 1 Co r . Mt . 2 Co r .

John 14; 1 T im. M t . 1 Peter 20; 1 Tim . 1 Co r .£1

0

6

97

THE FA LLING SPR ING

We bel ieve in o n e Holy Spiri t,who convin ces of si n

,r e

news the heart,and transforms the l ife .

e

We bel ieve in one Rule of doctrine and duty, t h e Holy

Scriptures,the divinely inspired and infal l ibl e guide .

f

We bel ieve in one condition of salvation,faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ,manifest in godly sorrow for si n

,and in a

godly l ife . g

We bel ieve in o n e Church of God, embracing all who areunited to Christ by saving faith and divine gr ace.

h

We bel ieve that the holy Sacraments of the Christian

Church are Baptism and the Lord ’s Supper ; the for me rsignifying an d seal ing our union with Christ

,the forgive

ness of o u r s ins,and our engagement to be the Lord ’s ;

k and

the lat t e r by giving and receiving bread and wine according

to Christ’s appointment,

‘ showing forth His death and the

communion of His people with Him by faith,and giving

spiritual nourishment and growth in grace to those whoworth ily receive it .

We bel ieve that the Christian Sabbath is to be keptholy to the Lord by abstinence from all works except thoseof necessity and mercy

,and by proper attendance upon

divine worsh ip as due to God alone .m

We bel ieve in the Resurrection of the dead .

n

We bel ieve in a coming j udgment for all mankind,when

men wil l be judged according to t h e deeds done in the body ,and when the wicked shall go away into eternal punish

ment,and the righteous into eternal l ife. °

Confess ing this as your faith, y ou are now to enter into

formal covenant with God and this Church .

2J (Til-ii

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—1 5 .

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Y o u do now give y ou r se lf up , soul and body , time andtalents

,powers and possessions

,your business and your

pleasures,al l that y ou have , are , o r shal l be

,unto Jesus

Christ,to be H i s and serve Him forever

,and at H i s sovereign

disposal in al l th ings .

Y o u promise,i n r e lian ce on D ivi n e g r ace

,to continue in

communion wi th God ’s people,by a regular attendance o n

the Word and ordinances,by a walk and conversation as

becometh the Gospel,and by submitting to the discipl ine

of the Church as here adminis tered .

To this covenant do y o u give y our cordial and hearty

consent,promising by God ’s help to keep your consecration

unto t h e end ?

[ADDRESS To THOSE RECEIVED BY LETTER $Having already publ icly confessed Christ

,you to-day r e

new your covenant with God and transfer your relations tothis Church . May God give you grace to renounce theworld

,to honor God

,and to promote the spread of the

Gospel,the peace and good name of the Church

,and the

salvation of souls .

To this end do you therefore,in the presence ofGod

,give

y our hearty and cordial assen t to the covenant of this

Church,as j u st read ?

[ADDRESS To A LL T H E N EW MEMBERS $Do y o u ,

relying only upon God ’s grace , promise to be

faithful t o the in terests of th is Church ; to labor with i t in

all works of Christian well-doing ; t o attend upon all i ts or

di n an c e s so fa r as y ou may be able ;q to submit to its d i sc ip

l ine ;r and in al l things to study its peace

,i ts prosperity

,i ts

usefulness,i t s good name

,and i ts upbuilding 0 11 the most

holy faith ?

Do y ou promise to i ts Pastor , i t s Elders , and to its memq H e b .

—25 .

r I Thess . —13 ; H e b . 2Th ess . 10— 1 5 ; Ti tus — 1 3 ; Mt . - 18.


bers severally the offi ces of kindly affection with s brotherly

love ; of sympathy , hospital i ty and charity ; and that y o u

will in all things study t o promote their welfare in spiri tual

things,to the end that we may mutually grow in grace and

in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ?

[Here let the church-members ris e $In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ , we the officers and

members of this Church,do now affectionately welcome y o u

to ou r membership and fel lowship in this Household ofFaith .

And we,on ou r part

,while solemnly renewing hereby ou r

own covenant,engage to wal k with you in all lowl iness of

mind,and to watch over y o u as an h e i r with us of a com

mon grace and hope .

We promise to y ou ou r brotherly sympathy,counsel and

help,so long as y ou shal l continue with u s as a me mbe r of

the body.

of Christ.

We humbly pray fo r Divine help,that God would enable

u s,by His Grace

,t o fulfil l the solemn covenant which we

have taken o n our souls,and that we may be faithful to each

other,and together seek the present and eternal welfare of

our fellow disciples,and “do good unto all men

,especially

unto them who are of the Household of Faith .

”

And n ow,beloved

,I charge y o u every on e before God and

the Lord Jesus Christ,who Shall judge the quick an d the

dead at His appearing and H is Kingdom,that you walk

worthy of your high vocation,adorning the doctrine ofGod

your Saviour in al l things ; l iving henceforth no longer unto

yourselves,but unto Him w h o loved you and gave Himself

for you . And now unto Him w h o is able t o keep y o u from

fal l ing and to present you faultless before the prese nce of

H i s glory with exceeding joy,to the only wise God ou r

Savi our,be glory and majesty

,dominion and power

,both

now and ever. Amen .

[Wh i le stand ing , let th e Ch urch sing , B lest be the tie that b i nds.


R OLL OF COMM U N I CA N TS .

The list given herewith embraces only the names of those

persons more o r l ess actively identified with the Church onN ov. 1 2 , 1 894. A number of names appear on the records

of Session which are names of persons eithe r unknown tothe Session o r who have passed beyond the jurisdiction of

the Session,o r who have been retired from active member

sh ip for reasons indicated in the extracts from the Co n s t i t u

tion of t h e Presbyterian Church .

The y ea r ind icates the date of admission to the Church .

P ” and “C ” indicate resp e ctively that such persons were

admitted o n profession o r by certificate. “T ” ind icates

that t h e person whose name it follows was a teacher either

in the home school o r in the Wolfst ow n Mission,o n N ov.

A supplementary l ist i s added , repeating, according to

years of reception , the names of those who were on our rol lbefore the time of Dr. N i ccolls

,t h e senior ex-Pastor

,and

w h o are stil l o n the roll .

The following extracts from the Consti tution are printed

for the information of the Church .

I . Wh o are the Church .

Form of Government, Chapter I I , Sections I , 2 , 3 , 4

Jesus Christ,who is now exalted far above al l principal ity

and power,hath erected

,in this world

,a kingdom

,which is

His Church .

”

(Eph .

— 23 ; Ps .

“The UniversalChurch consis t s of al l those persons in every nation , to

gether with their children,who make profession of the holy

rel igion of Christ, and of submission to His laws .” (Rev .

Acts 1 Cor . compared with 2 Co r .

“A s

th is immense multi tude cannot meet together in o n e place ,t o hold communion , o r to worship God

, _

i t is reasonable,and

w arranted by Scripture example , that they should be divided

1 70 THE FALL ING S PR I N G

after giving satisfaction with respect to their knowledge andpiety, make a publ ic profession of their faith

,in the pres

ence of the congregatio n ; and there upon be baptized .

”

Digest,803

: “Universal is ts are not to be admitted toseal ing ordinances .

Digest, 80 5“ I t i s the province of the Session to judge of

the qual ifications of candidate s fo r membership in the

Church .

”

Digest,807 In no ordinary circumstances can a person

give good evidence of a readiness to obey Christ in all th ings,

who,having the opportun ity

,does not connect himself with

some particular branch of the vis ibl e body of Christ.

I I I . Jurisdiction over Members .Book ofDisc ipl ine , I V , 1 8 : “original jurisdiction

,in rela

tion to members,pertains to the Sess ion .

”

Bk . of Disc .

,XI

,1 08 : “T h e judicatory

,to which a

Church member belongs,shall have sole jurisdiction for the

trial of offences whenever or wherever committed by him .

”

1 09:“A member of a Church

,receiving a certificate of

dismission to another Church , shal l continue to be a member of the Ch urch giving h im the certificate, and subject t othe j urisdiction of i t s Session (bu t shal l not del iberate orvote in a C h urch meeting , nor exercise the functions of any

offi ce) , unti l he has become a member of the Church towhich he is recommended

,or some other evangel ical Church

and,should he return the certificate, within a year from i t s

date,the Session shall make record of the fact

,but he shal l

not thereby be restored to the exercise of the functions ofany offi ce previously held by him in that Church .

”

x 1 1,1 1 4 :

“When any member shal l remove from one

Church to another,he shal l produce a certificate

,ordinarily

n o t mo r e than one year old , of h i s church-membership anddismission

,before he shall be admitted as a regular member

of that Church .

PRESBYTER 1 AN CHURCH . 1 71

The names of the baptized children of a par e n t s e e k i n gdismission to another Church shall

,i f such children are

members of h i s household and remove with him an d are

not themselves communicants,be included in the certificate

of dismiss ion . The certificate shal l be addressed to a part i cu lar Church , and the fact of the reception of the person

or pe rsons named in it shall be promptly communicated tothe Church which gave i t.”

1 1 6 : “ I f a Church member, more than two years absentfrom the place of h i s ordinary residence and Church connect ions

,applies for a certificate of membership

,h i s absence

,

and the knowledge of the Church respecting h i s demeanorfor that time

,shall be distinctly s tated in the cer tificate.”

V I I, 48

“ I f a communicant,not chargeable with im

moral conduct,inform the Session that he is fully persuaded

that he h as no right to come to the Lo rd ’s Table , the S e ssion shal l confer with him o n the subj ect, and may , ,

sh o u ld

he continue of the same mind,and h i s attendance on the

other means of grace be regular,excuse him from atten d

ance on the Lord ’s Supper ; and , after fu l ly sa t isfying themselves that h i s judgment is not the resul t ofmistaken views

,

shall erase h i s name from the rol l of communicants , andmake record of their action in the case .

”

49:“ I f a communicant

,not chargeable with immoral

conduct, removes out of the bounds of h i s Church , withoutasking for or receiving a regular certificate of dismission toanother Church

,and h i s residence i s known

,the Sess ion

may,within two years

,advise him to apply for such certi

ficat e ; and , i f he fails so to do,without giving su fi ci e n t

reason,h i s name may be placed on the roll of s u spended

members,until he shall satisfy the Session of the propriety

of h i s restoration . But,i f the Session h as no knowledge

of him fo r the space of three years,i t may erase h i s name

from the roll of communicants,making record of i t s action

1 72 T H E FALLING SPRING

and the reasons thereof. In either case,the member shal l

continue subj ect to the jurisdict ion of the Sess ion . A sepa

rate roll of al l such names shall be kept,stating the relations

of each to the Church .

”

50 :“ I f any communicant

,not chargeable with immoral

conduct,neglects the ordinances of the Church fo r one year

,

and in circumstances such as the Session shal l regard to bea se r i q u s injury to the cause of rel igion , he may , after affe ct i on at e visi tation by the Session

,an d admonition i f need

be,be suspended from the communion of the Church unti l

he gives satisfactory evidence of the si ncerity of h i s repentance

,bu t he shall not be excommunicated without due pro

cess of d iscipl ine.”

52“ I f a communicant renounces the communion of

th is Church by join ing another denomination,without a reg

ular di sm i ssmn,although such conduct i s disorderly

,the S e s

sion shal l take no other action in the case than to record thefact

,and order h i s name to be erased from the rol l . I f charges

are pending against h im,these charges may be pr osecuted .

”

[ N OTE— Owing to th e fact th at d i ffi culties of various kinds h ave con frontedthe Session in comp i li ng th is l is t, i t i s n ot un l i ke l y that errors may be found ini t

,notw i thstand ing t h e great care taken . The Sess ion wi l l be grateful fo r an y

correc tions $Alexander

,M r s. Margaret H .

,

C .

Alexander,Milton R .

,

C.

Andrews,Miss

P

Andrews,M r s. Sarah ,

C.

A u gh i n bau gh , Miss Carrie,P

A u gh i n bau gh ,Miss Mary C.

,

C .

Mary E ,

Bard,Miss Lou isa J.

,

P. , T.

Bard,Miss

P

Bard,Miss Mary P.

,

P.

Beatty,M r s. Margaret T .

,

P.

Bickley,M r s. C a t h a r i n e

,

C .

Bitner,Miss Carrie N

P .

M . Blanche,


Clippinger,M r s.M . L .

,

C .

Cooper,Miss Clare T .

,

P .

Coyle,M r s. B l a n c h e B .

,

C .

Coyle,Robert E .

,P .

Craig,Miss Carrie

,C .

Craig,Miss Mary

, C.

,

T.

Craig,Thomas C.

,P .

Crandall,M i s s E l s i e C.

,

P .

Crawford,Miss E llen A .

,

Crawford,M r s . Susan M .

,

C

Criswell,Andrew M .

,

P .

Criswell,Miss Henrietta A .

,

P .

Criswel l,Miss Nancy R .

,

P .

Criswell,Robert T .

,P .

Culbertson,M r s . Ellen K.

,

P .

Culbertson,M r s .Ju lia,

C .

Cu r r i de n ,George A .

,

P .

Cu r r ide n ,M r s. Kate

,

C.

Cu r r i de n , Miss M a r g a r e t

Grace,

P.

,T .

Daniels,Mrs . Agnes C. ,

P .

Douglas,Miss Louisa

, ( 1 85C .

D ow n e v,Mrs . Agnes

,

C .

Duncan,Frank M .

,

P.,Lib .

Duncan,M r s. M a r y . M .

,

P .

Edgar,Mrs . El izabeth

,

C .

Edgar,John B .

,P .

Edmondson,Mrs . Bertha B .

1 88 C .

Elder,Mrs . M a r g a r e t t a

,

P.

Elder , Mrs . Mar y E.

P .

El l io tt,Mrs . Mary H .

,

C .

El l io tt,Samuel B.

,P .

Eyster,M r s. Margaret

,

P .

Fields,Mrs . El iza S .

,

P .

F ields,Miss E l m i r a M .

P .

F inney,Miss El eanor MayP .

Finney,Miss Florence G .

,

P .

Gardiner,Mrs . Alice S . ,

P.,T.


Gehr,Mrs . Isabel R .

,

C .

George,Mrs . Lucy C.

,

P

George,

“Miss Sall ie M .,

P .

Gillespie,Mrs . Annie

,

P

Gillespie,H arry S .

,P .

Gilmore,Mrs . Harriet B .

,

P .

Gilmore,Miss Lizz ie G .

,

P .

Gilmore,Wal t er B .

,

P

Gordon,Cyrus H .

,P .

Gordon,M r s. Mar y L .

,

G r e e n e w alt , Harry C.

, ( I

P.

G r e e n e walt , Miss Jane R .

,

P .

Gr e e n e walt , John C.

,

P .

G r e e n e walt , Miss Margaret

R,

P .

G r e e n e walt , Mrs . M a r t h a ,

( 1 87 P .

Gr e e n e w alt , Mrs . Mary D .,

C .

Gr e e n e walt , Miss Nancy C.

,

Grier,John L .

,P .

*D i ed , N ov . 26 , 1 894

Grier,Miss Mary F.

,

P .

Hall,Mrs . Jennie C.

,

P .

Hambright,Mrs . Frances B .

,

C .

Hambright,G e o r g e W.

,

C .

Hambright,Miss Letitia J.

,

P .

Hambright,Miss Sarah J.

,

Hayman,M i s s K a t e W.

,

P .

Helfrick,Mrs . M a r i a E .

,

P .

Helfrick,Peter

,P .

Hibben,M r s . Je n n e y D .

,

C. {a

Hoke,Clarence J.

,P .

Hoke,Miss Harriet Ethel

,

P .

Hoke, Harry E ., C.

,T .

Hoke,M r s. Mary C.

Hoke,Mrs . Sarah R .

,

P .

Holmes,Wesley B .

,P .

H oofman,Mrs . E l izabeth

,

P .

Hoopes,Mrs . Nel l ie M CI .

C.

Housum,M r s . L u c y S .

,

( 1 855) C .

1 76 THE FALL ING SPR ING

Huber,M r s . E l i z a b e t h

,

C .

Ives,Miss C h a r l o t t e B .

,

P .

Ives,Miss El l en C.

,

P .

Ives,M r s . Emma C.

,

P .

Jacoby,Miss Ella Belle

,

P .

Jacoby,M r s. Susanna

, ( 1 89C .

Johnson,Mrs . Annie C.

,

P .

Jones,George

,P .

Jones,Miss Grace H .

,

P .

Jones,M r s. Mary D .

,

Jones,Thomas B.

,P .

Karper,M r s. Clara G .

,

P .

Kennedy,Mrs . Ariana R .

,

( 1 8 P .

Kennedy,M i s s A r i a n a

,

P .

Kennedy,M r s. Cora H .

,

C .

Kennedy,Miss Helen L .

,

P T.

Kennedy,James S .

,

P

Kennedy,M r s . Louisa W.

,

C., T.

Kennedy,M r s . Margaret C.

,

C .

Kennedy,M r s. Mary,

C .

Kennedy,T h omasaB .

, ( 1 8P .

Ki n dli n e,Leonard B .

,

P .

King,Miss Annetta

,

P .

King,Edward C.

,P .

King,Miss El izabeth M cC.

,

P .

King,Miss Margaretta S .

,

C .

King,Mrs . Mary

,P .

King,Miss Mary S .

,

P .

King,Miss M . Scott

,

P.,T .

King,Miss R . Christin a

,

P

Langdon,Miss A . Jessie

,

P .

Langdon,Averett L .

,

P .

Langdon,M r s. Georgiana

,

P .

Lesher,Ben j amin B .

,

P .

Lesher,Mrs . Till ie N .

,

C .

Lesl ie,Miss Edith

,

P .

1 78 THE FALLING SPRIN G

Mehaffey , M r s. E l l i e C.,

P

M e h afie y , M r s. Marv, ( 1 87

C.

Mell inger,Mrs . Margaret E .

,

P .

Myers,Miss Cora

,P .

Nelson,A . Howard

,P .

Nelson,M r s . A n n i e H .

,

C., T .

Nelson,Miss Margaret M c D .

,

P.,T.

Nelson,Miss S alli e J.

,

P .

Nelson,Thomas M .

,

C .

Nelson,Tom M c D .

,P.

Orr,John G .

,C .

Orr,M r s. Martha H .

,

C .

Platt,Clarence N .

,P .

Platt,George F. , C.

,

Sup t

Platt,Mrs . Mary N .

,

Platt,Miss Mary N

P.

,T.

Pomeroy,A . Nevin

,

C.

,T .

Pomeroy Mrs . Belle M cL .

,

P .

Pond,Miss Jennie C.

,

C .

Ramsay , Mrs . Carrie M .

,

C .

Ramsay , Robert W .

P .

Reed,Mrs . El izabeth S .

,

C .

Reed,Mrs . El iza H .

,

C .

Reed,Frederick B.

,P .

Reed,John H .

,C.

Reed, J . Ross

,P .

Reed , M r s. R e b e c c a L .,

P

Reed,Mrs . Sadie E ,

P .

Reed,Wi ll iam B.

,P.

,

T

Reed,W ill iam G .

,P .

Ritchey,M r s. El la R .

, ( 1 88

C .

Riddle,David H .

,P.

,

T.

Riddle,Miss El izabeth B .

,

P.,T.

Riddle,Henry A .

, C.

,

T.

Riddle,M r s. Martha H .

,

C .

Rosenberry,Miss Elmira M .

,

P .

Ross,Mrs . Annie V .

,

C .

Rote Miss Josephine,

P .

Rowe,Mrs . Annie E .

,

C.

PRESBYTER IAN CHURCH . 1 79

R yerson,Miss Mabel M .

,

C.

Schenck,M r s . M a r y A .

,

C., T.

S e n se n y , M r s. Jane, ( 1 83 P .

S e n se n y , Miss Jean L .,

P .

S e n se n y , Mrs . Rose M .,

P .

Shar pe, M r s. Emma L .,

P.

*

Sharpe,Joshua W.

,

C.

, T.

Sharpe,M r s. Sara

C., T.

Sheller,Daniel M .

, ( 1 89 P.

Sheller,Mrs. Jennie

,

C.

Shively,M r s. M c E l r o y ,

P .

Shumaker,Mrs . El len S .

,

P .

Shumaker,Frederick H .

,

P

Shumaker,Mrs .

,Henr 1 etta

M .,

C .

Shumaker,Miss El izabeth C.

,

C

Shuman,Mrs . Estella H .

P .

S mar sch,Charles F.

, ( 1 887,)P.

S mar sch ,M r s. Jennie H .

,

P .

t D i e d , May 1 3, 1895.

Smith , M i s s Emm a L .

,

P.

,T .

Smith,Mrs . M . M .

,

C .

Snider,M i s s Emm a M .

P .

Snider,Miss'Mary M . ,

P .

Spessard,HarveyW.

,

P T.

Spessard,M r s . S u e W.

,

C., T.

Stevens , Miss El izabeth G .

,

P .

Stewart , Miss Anna W.,

P.

,T .

Stewart,Miss El izabet h K.

,

P .

Stewart , Mrs . Jane L .

, ( 1 86P .

Stewart,M i s s J a n e t H .

,

P .

Stewart,John

,P .

Stewart,M i s s M a r y L .

,

P .

’

S t r y k e , M i s s S a r a h A .,

C

Sudler,Miss Martha V .

,

P .

Thompson,Miss Susan A .

,

P.

Wallace,E l i j a h ,

P .

1 80

Wallace,Mrs .

C .

Wal lace,Mrs . Mary

,

C .

Wallace,Miss M . El izabeth

,

C .

Wallace,Thomas H .

,

C., Lib .

Emma M .

,

Wallace,T h o m a s M c I .

,

( 1 873 ,) C

Washington,Mrs . M . C.

,

P.

,T .

Watson,James C.

,P .

Watson,Miss Marian

,

P .

Watson,Miss Martha

, ( 1 8

P .

We r de bau gh , Miss Margaret

S .

, P .

White,Mrs . El izabeth B .

P .

White, J . Burns

,P .

White,Miss Jane L .

,

P .

V V h i t e man ,M r s . Annie C.

,

C .

Wi e st li n g, Edward B ., ( I

C .

Wi e st li n g,Mrs . Jennie W.

,

P.

T H E FALLING SPRING

Wi e st li n g,John G.

,P.

Will iams,Robert S .

,

P .

Wingert,Jacob F.

,P .

W i therspoon , ,

Andrew H .

C.

W i therspoon,D . Carothers

P

Witherspoon,Miss Emma

,

C .

Wi t h e r spoon ,Joh n E ,

C .

Witherspoon , J o h n W.

,

C

Witherspoon,John W.

, Jr .

,

P .

Witherspoon,Mrs. Mary E ,

O

Witherspoon,M r s . Mary H .

C., C.

Witherspoon,Mrs. Rebecca

M ., C.

,T.

W i therspoon,Mrs. Sarah J. ,

C.

Wolverton,Simon P.

,

P .

Work,Miss Mary E .

,

P .

Wright,M r s. Matilda

C .

The fol lowing persons have been received between Nov.

1 2,1 894, and June 1 3 , 1 895 .

Will iam Cyrus Hambright,P.

,Dec . 9, 1 894.


1 856 .

— W il l iam H . M cD ow e ll, C.

—I .

1 857.— Miss Mary F. Grier

,P.

—1 .

1 858— Miss Kate W . Hayman

,P. ; Mrs . Lucy C . George

,

P.— 2 .

1 859.

— M r s. Louisa W . Kennedy, C. ; Miss Mary P . Bard

P.

— 2 .

1 860 .— M r s. Sarah Andrews

, C.

— 1 .

MEMBERSH IP APR IL 1 OF EACH YEAR ,

A s st at e d i n t h e 67225e R eg i st e r , Or as r epe r t e d i n { li e

i t i e s of {be Ge n e r al A sse mbly ,beg i n n i n g 202212

1 82 2,t /ze fir sl y e a r r epor t e d.

Prof. Cert . Tota l .

1 858;

1 859;

1 860,

1 86 1

1 86 2 ,

1 863

1 864,

1 865 ,

1 866,

1 867,

1 868,

1 869

1 870 ,

1 871 ,

1 872 ,

1 873.

I 874,

1 875.

1 876 ,

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH .

Prof . Cert.

H

H

C$

O

CA

-b

w

ON

O

“

(n\0

I I

3

8

1 3

1 0

1 2

6

I 9

1 3

1 6

8

7

1 2

2

1 2

9

2

Tota l .2 1 7

2 1 7

2 1 6

259

276

284

290

267

254

.295

260

244

250

26 1

280

285

235

243

30 2

Membership,April I

,1 822 ,

Received by profession,April I

,1 82 2 to

letter,

1 83

THE BAPTIZED MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH

The Confession of Faith,Chapter X X V

,Section 2 :

an d t /i e i r R e lai i on s t o t h e Cbu r e /i .

‘“Fh evisible Church consists of al l those throughout

the world,that profess the true rel igion

,together with their

children .

”

( 1 Cor. — 1 3 ; G e n .

— 1 0 ; I Cor .


Acts —39; Rom . Gal . 9, 1 4; R om.

The Confession of Faith,xxviii

, 4 :“The infants of one

o r both bel ieving parents are to be baptized .

”

(Gen . 1 7, 7

1 0 with Gal . — 1 4; Rom . 1 2 ; Acts —39; Acts 1 6

1 4,1 5 , 33 ; I Co r . Mark

Larger Catech ism, $ uestion 1 66 : “Infants descending from

parents,either both or but one of them

,professing faith in

Christ,and obedience t o Him

,are , in that respect , within

the covenant,and are to be baptized .

”

(See referencesabove . Baptism in the New Testament Church takes theplace of circumcision in t h e Old Testament Church

,and as

in the latter infants were circumcised,so in the former i n

fauts are baptized . )

I . The Relation of Baptized Children to the Church .

Book of Discipl ine,Chapter I

,Section 5 : “All Children

born wi thin the pale of the visible Church are members of

the Church,are to be baptized

,are under the care of the

Church,and subj ect to i ts government and discipline ; and

when they have arrived at years of discretion,they are

bound to perform al l the duties of Church members .

D i r cc t o r y fo r Worship , Ch . X,Sec . 2 :

“The years of dis

cretion,in y oung Christians , cannot be precisely fixed . This

must be left to the prudence o r the eldership. The ofli ce r s

of the Church are the j udges of the qual ifications of those tobe admitted to seal ing ordinances ; and of the time when i t

is proper t o admit young Christians t o them .

”

Book of Discipl ine,X I I

,1 1 4:

“The names of the bap

t i z e d children ofa parent seeking dismission to anotherChurch

,shall

,i t such children are members of h i s house

hold and remove with him and are n o t themselves comm u

n i can t s,be included in tha certificate of dismission .

”

I I . The Duty of the Christian Parent to the Baptized Child .

Dir . fo r Worship,VIII

,1, 2 , 5 , 4:

“Baptism i s not to be

unnecessarily delayed ; nor to be administered , in any case ,


Church members,whose children have been dedicated to

God in baptism,is a violation of their vows made in that

ordinance,and a great h indrance to the training up of their

chi ldren in the nurture and admonition of t h e Lord .

”

4:“T h e insti tution of Sabbath Schools does not exon

e r at e ministers and parents from t h e duty of teaching the

Shorter Catechism t o the children of the Church .

”

5 :“Christian train ing at al l periods of youth

,and by

all practicable methods,especial ly by parents at home

,by

teachers in insti tutions of l earning,and by pastors through

catechetical and Bible classes,is binding upon the Church

,

according to the inj unct ion,Train up a child in the way he

Should go,and has a vital connection with the increase of

the numbers and effi ciency of the ministry and of the stabil

i ty and puri ty of the Church .

Digest,834, 3 : Parents and others are most earnestly

reminded “of the duty of catechising children and youth,and

this duty is e njoined upon them,as o n e whose performance

no instruction that children receive in the Sabbath School

or elsewhere,outside the family

,can supersede or supply .

”

Digest,847, 7:

“The attention of the whole Church i s

special ly d irected to this momentous subj ect of t h e duty of

home training,in the full assurance that no part of the work

of the Church is more fundame n tal and important than that

which is performed in the quietness and sancti ty of homes

where Christian parents are the d ivinel y chosen and r e spo n

sible guardians,guides

,examples

,and teachers of their

children,in the way of the Lord ; an d the utmost

dil igence is desired in this work ; that a generation ofGod ’s

people,renewed in heart in their infancy

,may grow up in

the practice ofGod ’s worship and service from their earl iest

years,so that his Church may be more intell igent

,zealous ,

holy and progressive than i n an y former age .

”

Dire ctory for Worship,xvi

,I , 3 , 4, 5 :

“Besides the pub


l ic worship in congregations,i t is the indispensible duty of

each person,alone

,in secret ; and of every family

,by i tself

,

in private,to pray t o

,and worsh ip God. Famil y worship

,

which ought to be performed by every family,ordinarily

morning and even ing,consists i n prayer, reading the Scrip

tures,and singing praises . The head of the family

,who is

to lead in this service,ought t o be careful that all the mem

bers of his household duly attend ; and that none wi thdraw

themselves unnecessaril y from an y part of famil y worship ;and that all refrain from their common business

,while the

Scriptures are read,and gravely attend to the same

,no less

than when prayer or praise is offered up . Let the heads of

famil ies be careful t o instruct their children and servants in

the principles of rel igion . E very proper opportunity ought

to be embraced fo r such instruction . But we are ofopinion,

that the Sabbath evenings,after publ ic worship

,Should be

sacredly preserved for this purpose . Therefore we highly

disapprove ofpay ing unn ecessary private visits o n the Lord ‘s

day ; admitting stran gers into the famil ies , except when

necessi ty or charity requires i t ; or any other practices , what

ever plausible pretences may be offered in their favor,i f they

interfere with the above important and necessary duty .

”

Digest,832 , I :

“Let heads of famil ies be careful t o

instruct their ch ildren and those committed to their care in

the great principles of our holy rel igion . Let their morn

i n g and evening sac r ifice s‘

be dail y offered up in their fami

l ies to God .

”

“Parents,train your ch ildren in the ‘nurture and admon

i t i o n of the Lord ; ’ your houses Should be temples of the

l iving God,in which should ascend to His mercy-seat the

continual incense of your daily sacrifices . Pious parents

can most effectually preach to the hearts of their children

by their affectionate precepts,and their holy example . Your

instructions will best prepare them to receive benefit from


the publ ic ordinances of rel igion . And oh $ can you se e

these dearest portions of yourself ready to perish,without

earnestly reachi n g forth a hand to pluck them as brands

from the burnings ?”

“We have observed with pain , that in some Presbyteries

the duties of family rel igion,and of catechetical instruction

,

are neglected . Truly i t i s shameful in men,who cal l them

selves by the name of Christ,not to honor Him before their

famil ies,by worsh ipping Him statedly . Every head of a

family is responsible for all i t s members to God and hiscountry . How can he expect to fulfil l h i s duty

,i f he does

not pray fo r and with them,and instruct them in the Word of

God ? I f he does not honor God, i t cannot be expected his

family will . And a Christian family l iving without familyreligion is a contradiction . I t argues

,o n the part of such

professors,an awful declension and a criminal derel iction

of duty .”

I I I . The Church ’s Duty t o her Baptized Children,and

theirs to the Church .

Directory for V Jor S h i p, X ,1, 2 :

“Children,born within

the pale of the visible Church,and dedicated to God in bap

t i sm,are under the inspection and government of the

Church ; and are to be taught to read and repeat the Cate

chism,the Apostles ’ Creed

,and the Lord ’s Prayer. They

are t o be taught to pray,to abhor sin

,to fear God

,and to

obe y the Lord Jesus Christ. And,when they come to y ears

of discretion,i f they be free from scandal

,appear sober and

steady,and to have suffi cient knowledge to discern the

Lord ’s body,they ought to be informed it is their duty and

their privilege to come to the Lord ’s Supper. ” (For Section2 , se e page 1 84, above . )Digest

,80 1

,h : “I t is feared that there i s a lamentable

deficiency in respect to the care and instruction of the bap

t i z e d children of the Chu r ch . Let us,as we value that co y

I 90 THE FALLING SPRI NG

Blair ; Gr e e n e walt , Frank L indsa y ; G r e e n e walt,Margaret

Sharpe .

Hambright,Harry Jackson ; Hambright , John Stockton ;

Hambri ght , Grover Cleveland ; Hambright, E bbert Leroy ;Hall , E l eanor Swan ; Hibben , E l izabeth Gr ier ; Hoke , Earle ;Hoke

,Ralph ; Hoke , Bruce ; Hoopes , Helen .

Kennedy , John Stewart ; Kenned y ,M oo r e li e ad Cowell ;

Kenned y , Thomas B . , Jr . ; Kenned y , Thomas B .

, 3d ;‘

Ke n

n e dv,James Co y l e ; Kenned y ,

Mary Louise ; Kenned y ,Stew

art ; Kennedy ,'

\Y i lli am Moorhead ; Kenned y ,Frank Ulrich .

Langdon , Claude A . ; Lesher, Frank Brewer ; L i n dsav,

Frank ; Ludwig, E thyl .Maclay , Charl es Templeton ; Macla y ,

Joseph Pomerov ;Maclay

,David Crawford ; M c D ow e ll, Jane ; M c D ow e ll, John

Clendenin ; M c D ow e ll, Mil ton Grier ; M c D ow e ll,George

Davidson ; M cGowan ,

‘Wi ll iam Chambers ; M c I lvai n e,John

Stauffer , 3d ; M cKn i gh t , Joseph ; M cKn igh t , Edgar S e n s e n y ;M cKn igh t , Arthur Leighton ; M cKn igh t , Mary Jane ;M cL an ah an , S vdn e v Smith .

Nelson , Ann i e ; Nelson , Robert Buchanan .

Orr , Nancy Colwell .Platt , George F isk , Jr . ; Pomerov , W

'

il l iam M cL e llan ;

Pomero y,John Nevin .

Reed , E l izabeth Stickne y , Jr . ; Reed , Mary L indsay ; Reed ,John L indsa y ; Ritchey , Maurice ; Ritchey ,

Frances King ;Riddle

, E dmund Hunte r ; Riddle , Henry Alexander, Jr . ;

Riddle,Robert Forrest ; Ross , fi

'

i n n i fr e d Maria ; Ross , Jen

nie Rebecca ; Ross , Alice Chambers .

Schenck, E ls ie M e r c e i n ; Sharpe , \\7al ter King ; Shumaker

Jacob N ixon ; Shuman , Elmer Kennedy ; S mar sch,John

Albert .

\V h i t e , Samuel E aton ; \V i e s t li n g, Crawford Washington ;Janet Margaret ; E dith Ol ivia :

W'

i therspoon,Samuel Clapham ; W

'

i therspoon,Andrew Car


others ; W’ i therspoon

,Robert Hamil ton ; \V i t h e r spoo n , Mau

rice Marlow ; \V i t h e r spoo n ,Andrew Culbertson ; \V i t h e r

spoon,Laura Al ice ; Witherspoon , David Erskine ; “fi t h e r

spoon, $ u inn Micke y ; W

'

itherspoon , Agnew Crawford ;\V i t h e r spoo n ,

Lawrence Austin ; \V i t h e r spoo n ,Herbert

“u

'

avn e .

BAPT IZED S INCE N ov. 1 2,1 894.

Hoke,Henry Reed

,Dec . 25 , 1 894.

Mehaffey,Will iam Chambers

,Jan . 24, 1 895 .

Kennedy,Francis Atkinson

,M ch . 2 , 1 895 .

Britton,Margaret

,Jan . 9, 1 895 .

Wi e st li n g, E l izabeth , May 28,1 895 .

CLOS ING XK'

OR D S .

BY THE E D ITOR .

In concluding this chapter of o u r beloved Church ’s history

,i t would be ungrateful n o t to remark the loving care

which the Lord hath vouchsafed this “vineyar d which Hisright hand hath planted

,and the branch which He made

strong for Himself. ” (PS . As w e behold two flouri sh i n g churches occupying the same Presby terian territorywhere a S ingle preacher began the work surrounded by afe w Christians who must guard themselves

,even when at

worship , against painted savages , we may trul y say , withJacob ,

“W'

ith my staff I passed over this Jordan,and now I

am become t w o bands $” But ou r Church str ucture cannotcreate o r continue church-l ife . I t can o n lv house it andform a cen t er of influence . I t i s a gross delusion

,r e

marks Guizot , to bel ieve in the sovereign power of

pol itical machinery. And the same is true of ecclesiastical machinery . Men

,highminded

,devoted in heart

,hand

and purse to the service of Christ and the help of thoseabout them

,and “devout women

,not 'a alone

make up a Church . Let the children be the glory of the


fathers . Let us prove that we are not the degenerate succe sso r s of godly and earnest parents .

“We ’re the sons of sires that baffl edCrowned and mitred tyrann y ;

They defied the field and scaffoldFor the ir birthright ; so will we.

The past h as gone before . L e t i t be l ike the stern-l ightsof vessels in whose wake we follow

,to guide us to noble

purpose and practice. Let us love the right and do ourduty . T h e world del ights in earnestness . I t s rewards goto the earnest . In this God and the world are agreed .

When we are fi lled with Christ,our Church will be fil led

with Christians . A strong Church is one in which everymember feels the power of the Divine Spirit in his soul ,and daily l ives that power ; in which every member understands that Jesus Christ and His Church unitedly requireactive service from the Christian Army . Let this Churchand every member thereof be strong in spi r i i u al relationsto the neighborhood and the town . Only so can each member stand with a good conscience before God . Let each bea divine agent in helping to overcome evil and establ ishgood . Our responsibil i ty ,

— the greater because of our giftsand privileges

,— is to increase the sum of human happiness

by decreasing -the sum of human misery .

At the same time,let u s not l ive in the past . The battles

of to-day cannot be fought and wo n with the cross-bow andbattle-axe of Crusader days . We cannot l ive even upon thefaith of last year. Let the stalwart fai th of us Christiansof to-day win battles with o u r modern weapons which shal lmatch those won by our fathers who conquered thesewildernesses fo r Christ. Age is no protection against error .L e t o u r age renew i t s youth , resting upon the historic faithof the past

,and facing the future with confidence unchang

ing,i n the Lord and Head of the Church .

“I S Christ in u s ? Be ours the glorious dowerTo show the Saviour Shining in o u r face ,

A n d thro ’ ou r eyes,faith

,putting His sweet power

To help the weak and wayward with His grace .

Oh let not s i n in u s those windows dimThrough which the world might catch some gl impse ofHim .

· T A B L E: O F“CO N T E N T S. Ou t of the Ch u r ch ofTo-day, Preface, Preliminar y Work,...

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