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for the Upper New River Valley of North Carolina and Virginia
It is with many misgivings that this little volume is committed to the press. Its author claims no special importance for it. It does not pretend to be a complete and connected history of our Church, either in the period of which it treats, or in the territory to which it relates. He is fully aware of its fragmentary and imperfect character, and of the very limited interest that will be taken in its pages. His excuse for offering it to the public, already surfeited with books, is the fact that its publication has been insistently urged by judicious friends, who have some knowledge of its character. It is, moreover, his own conviction that such facts of our Presbyterial history as he has here tried to rescue from oblivion, should be put in a form most likely to secure their preservation. Though others have explored the field in which he has labored, and have made most valuable contributions to the early history of our Church, he is persuaded that some particulars are here given that will be new to most of his readers, and that will have a special interest for the people of The Northern Neck.
Notwithstanding the care taken by the proofreader, a few typographical errors have somehow escaped his watchful eye. Such as have been discovered are noticed in the "Errata" at the close of the volume.
IT is proposed, in this unpretending volume, to gather up, so far as we have been able to obtain them, the facts relating to the Planting of Presbyterianism in the territory originally covered by the Presbytery of Winchester, down to the time of the organization of that Presbytery. This proposal excludes the attempt to write a history of the Presbytery itself. It limits our inquiries strictly to the period which precedes our Presbyterial existence. If this limitation should prove a disappointment to any reader of this book, our defence is that the materials for our history, as an organized body, are carefully preserved in our Presbyterial Records and are readily accessible; while the facts relating to our antePresbyterial existence are to be sought from sources more difficult of access, many of which have already passed, and others are rapidly passing, beyond our reach.
In the prosecution of this purpose, our work will be but the enlargement, in a more correct form, of statements presented in the Historical Address delivered at Shepherdstown, W. Va., September, 1894, at the celebration of our Presbyterial Centennial.
The work here undertaken is not an easy one. To write the early history of our churches at all is difficult; to write it with absolute completeness and to the entire satisfaction of the reader, is impossible. That history is involved in the greatest obscurity. The most diligent and painstaking research is not able now to dispel the darkness that broods over it. It must be remembered that Presbyterianism here is older than our Presbytery, and that in our efforts to trace its earliest introduction, the records of Winchester Presbytery afford us no help. Our inquiries go far back of the organization of our Presbytery, and the material for this history must be gathered from sources not easily accessible, and not very satisfactory in the information furnished when access is obtained.
But while the fact is to be deplored, that our knowledge of the early history of our church is so scant and imperfect, it is gratifying to know that neither the General Assembly nor the Presbytery can be held responsible for the absence of this knowledge. Two years after the Assembly was organized (viz: in 1791), it enjoined upon the Presbyteries, then 17 in number, to gather up and forward to the Assembly all the material that could contribute to a full and accurate history of our church from the time of its first introduction into this country. Successive Assemblies, through a number of years, repeated this injunction, with which the Presbyteries very generally complied; and in 1804 Dr. Ashbel Green and Mr. Ebenezer Hazzard were appointed a committee to embody the facts that had been collected into a history of the Church. For several years this committee reported progress in their work; but the difficulties, which from the first were formidable, were found at length to be so great that, in 1813, the committee reported the work to be impracticable, and at their own request were discharged. But the Assembly, unwilling to abandon the undertaking, appointed Rev. Samuel Miller D.D. to receive the material in hand, and complete the history. In 1819 he, too, asked to be relieved and Dr. Green was appointed to assist him. But in 1825 these gentlemen reported their inability to do the work and asked to be relieved from their appointment. While their request was granted, so important did the Assembly deem the work to be, that another and larger committee was appointed to continue and complete it. This committee reported from time to time; but at the Disruption of the church in 1838, the history was still unfinished, and from that period, so far as we have discovered, the matter disappears from the minutes of the General Assembly.
The Presbytery of Winchester displayed equal zeal for the preservation of its history. One of the first things it did, after its organization in 1794, was to order its ministers to prepare a historical account of the origin and growth of its respective churches, and when these several accounts were presented to Presbytery, the Rev. Moses Hoge was appointed to compile from them a detailed history of Presbyterianism within our bounds, and in 1804 the manuscript volume he had prepared was forwarded to the General Assembly.
And yet when the present writer, many years ago, enquired of the proper authorities concerning Dr. Hoge's history, he was told that no definite information in reference to it could be given; that while there was a mass of manuscripts nominally in possession of the General Assembly, in the absence of any provision for their care, they had been deposited in the basement of some building in Philadelphia. Some of these manuscripts, it was supposed, had already perished, and if Dr. Hoge's History of Winchester Presbytery still existed, it would be impossible to find it, except at the expense of more time and labor than anyone could afford to give.
Since that time " The Presbyterian Historical Society " has been formed and is engaged in a most commendable effort to rescue and preserve all papers bearing upon the history of the church. But the recent death of the librarian, while collating and arranging these papers, and who alone was thoroughly acquainted with the contents of his shelves, has prevented us from learning whether the history in question is still in existence or not.
But our own Presbytery gave further evidence of its interest in the matter. In April, 1830, it appointed Rev. Drs. Hill and Wilson a committee to collect materials and prepare a history of the rise and progress of our church within its bounds. Two years later Rev. Dr. D. H. Riddle was added to this committee. As chairman, the burden of labor fell on Dr. Hill, and he engaged in the work with great enthusiasm. Considerable progress had been made when the controversy, which disturbed the church at that period, arose. The effect of this was to change materially the character of his work. He decided to re-write it from the beginning, and to publish it in " Parts " at intervals. " Part I " was published in 1839, and is the only portion of his work that ever appeared; and, unfortunately for us, this part, partaking of the spirit of the time, is more controversial than historical, and sheds very little light upon the matters with which we are concerned here. The large amount of material he had collected, and which was intended for publication in the subsequent " Parts " of his history, was never published, and is not available now. This is much to be lamented, as he possessed special advantages for the work he had undertaken. His long residence of nearly fifty years in this region, his opportunities for obtaining the needed information, his personal acquaintance with many of the facts to be recorded, and his acknowledged fitness for the work, all conspire to, deepen our regret that he did not finish the history he was appointed to write.
In preparing the history here presented, every accessible source of information known to us has been laid under contribution. Our chief dependencies, however, has been the Records of the Presbyteran Church, Dr. Foote's " Sketches of Virginia," and the more recent invaluable labors of the Historical Committee of our Presbytery.
BEFORE beginning our investigations, it is important that we have a distinct understanding of the field to which these investigations are to be confined. This is the more important as the bounds originally assigned to the Presbytery have been greatly reduced. In the year 1859 the larger part of its territory was set off to form the Presbytery of " Potomac," and the line of the Blue Ridge was made its eastern boundary. But previous to that year our Presbyterial bounds were substantially co-terminous with what is properly known as " The Northern Neck of Virginia." This " Northern Neck " was a tract of land granted by King Charles II to Lord Culpeper when Governor of Virginia, and of which Lord Fairfax afterward became the proprietor by inheritance. It was a princely grant, extending from the shore of Chesapeake Bay to the summit of the Alleghany Mountains, and embracing all that territory bounded on the northeast and north by the Potomac River throughout its entire length, and on the south by the Rappahannock to its head waters, and thence by a line extending westward to the head spring of the North Branch of the Potomac. This magnificent domain, including twenty-five of the richest counties in the State, was the territory which our Presbytery originally embraced. Our task is to discover, so far as it is possible to do so now, the beginnings and earliest history of the Presbyterian churches in this territory, down to the time of the organization of the Presbytery, December 4, 1794.
But as soon as we enter upon our task, the discouraging conviction is forced upon us that very little is definitely known of the early history of these churches, and that the most careful search can add but little to our knowledge. This is due largely to two facts: First, the very scanty and imperfect records that were made of the earliest effort to establish in this region our system of doctrine, polity, and worship; and secondly, the failure, in most instances, to preserve even such scant records as were made. The official proceedings of Presbyteries and Synods are often so brief and meagre as to give us now no very distinct or satisfactory idea of the events recorded. And, apart from the brevity of such documents as are now extant, whole volumes of Presbyterial records are hopelessly lost, while of sessional records not a line has been produced. For these reasons the Planting of Presbyterianism within our bounds is, as we have intimated, involved in much obscurity, and we are left in great uncertainty even as to the exact period of its introduction.
While there was a settlement on the James River as early as 1607, there is no documentary proof of any immigration to the Valley of the Shenandoah for more than a hundred years later. And when settlers began to enter it, they did not come, as we might have supposed, from the East, across the Blue Ridge, but from the North, across the Potomac. Nor were these hardy pioneers the English Episcopalians, who had so long held Eastern Virginia: they were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and Germans (Reformed) and Quakers, who, having landed at more northern ports, had pushed their way westward across the Delaware, and beyond the Susquehannah, into the Cumberland Valley, and thence southward across Maryland and the Potomac, till they found the home of which they were in search, on the waters of the Opecquon and the Shenandoah. But the date of this earliest immigration is not positively determined.
There is an old tradition that the first white man who took up his residence in this Valley was Morgan Morgan, a native of Wales, who, in 1726, settled at what is now Bunker Hill, in Berkeley County, and "built" (says Dr. Hawkes in his "History of the P. E. Church in Virginia") "the first cabin that was reared on the south side of the Potomac, between the Blue Ridge and the North Mountains." Six years later, viz: in 1732, Joist Hite, in company with sixteen families, came from Pennsylvania and settled at or near what is known as Bartonsville, six miles southwest of Winchester, which, Dr.. Foote says, "was the first regular settlement west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia." Vol. I., p. 101. Three years later still, a colony of much more interest and importance to us, settled in that same neighborhood. William Hoge, the ancestor of the family of that name, which through four successive generations has been so distinguished in the ministry of our church, himself " an exile for Christ's sake from Scotland in the days of the persecution," had come to America some years before, settling first in Amboy, N. J., then in Delaware, then in Dauphin County, Pa., and, removing thence, settled, about the year 1735, near what is now Kernstown, three miles southwest of Winchester. The families of Glass, Vance, White and others, whose descendants are still among us, either accompanied him here or joined him soon after his arrival, and united with him in the organization of the Opecquon Church, "the oldest congregation (says Dr. Foote) west of the Blue Bidge." Their House of Worship was erected on land given for the purpose by Mr. Hoge.
This is the generally accepted account of the earliest settlement of our Valley, and of the introduction of Presbyterianism within our bounds. But later investigations awaken serious doubts as to its correctness. It is at least challenged by the tradition which Henry Howe preserved in his "Historical Collections of Virginia" (p. 192) and which long ago was current in Berkeley County, that "the spot where Tuscarora Church now stands, is the first place where the Gospel was publicly preached and divine worship performed west of the Blue Ridge." But while the claim of Tuscarora to a very early origin is doubtless well founded, tradition of itself is not sufficient to determine a historical fact. Something more reliable must be advanced if we would set aside the long accepted conclusions of Dr. Foote and others. And I now propose to show that there is substantial ground for believing that Presbyterianism was introduced into our Valley at a date earlier than is generally supposed, and at a point nearer to the mouth than to the head of the Opecquon.
In the records of the old Synod of Philadelphia for September 19, 1719, is this minute: "The Synod having received a letter from the people of Potomoke, in Virginia, requesting the Synod's care and diligence to provide them an able Gospel minister to settle among them; it was appointed that the Rev. Mr. Daniel McGill should go and preach to that people in order to settlement upon mutual agreement," etc. The next year, September 22, 1720, we find the following minute: "Mr. McGill reported to the Synod that according to last year's appointment he went to Potomoke, in Virginia, and after some months' continuance there, put the people into church order." And then it is added, "The said congregation of Potomoke, in Virginia, have sent a letter to the Synod, manifesting their approbation of Mr. McGill's whole conduct among them, and desiring his settling with them as their minister." This request was considered, but action upon it deferred from time to time, till finally it was referred to the Committee of Bills and Overtures, whose report, if any was made, is not recorded, and the name does not appear again in the minutes of Synod.
The question to which these minutes have given rise is as to the location of this "Potomoke in Virginia." This question is a perplexing one, inasmuch as the most diligent search has failed to find even the name anywhere else than in the minutes from which we have just quoted. Yet the discovery of its location is a matter of very great interest to the student of the early history of the Presbyterian Church in this country, and of special interest to us because of its possible bearing upon the early history of our own Presbytery, for at Potomoke-wherever that was-was organized the second Presbyterian Church planted in Virginia. Before this date we have an account of only "one small congregation on the Elizabeth River, "and "a few families favoring our way on the Rappahannock and York," while in the whole colony there was not a single resident Presbyterian minister. [See minutes of Synod, pp. 20 and 54, "Letters."]
No wonder, then, that the historians of the Church have sought very earnestly for some clue that would enable them to determine the locality in question. Some have tried to find it on the "Eastern Shore." Webster fixes upon Bladensburg, Md. Foote "supposes" it to have been in Fauquier or Loudoun County, or somewhere east of the Blue Ridge." Davidson says that "no part of Virginia at that period answered so well the description as the region west of the Blue Ridge;" and he "believed the people of Potomoke to be identical with the congregations of Falling Waters and Tuscarora." Gillett positively asserts that it was "near the present town of Martinsburg, W. Va." But most confess their utter inability to discover any clue whatever to its probable location, and some, in despair over their fruitless efforts, declare that every trace of evidence as to its location is lost, and the place must now remain forever unknown.
But a matter of so much historical interest should not be summarily dismissed ; and recent investigations have brought to my knowledge certain facts which suggest the possibility of still reaching a solution of this perplexing question.
One very suggestive fact is, that while "Potomoke in Virginia" disappears from the Records of the Synod after 1720, the expression "the people of Virginia" frequently appears in the Records for 1722, 1723 and 1724 ; and the minutes concerning these `'people" come in naturally as the continuance of the minutes concerning "the people of Potomoke in Virginia," making the conclusion almost irresistible, that the two expressions refer to the same people. In 1724 the whole affair touching these people was referred by the Synod to the Presbytery of New Castle. But the expectation which this reference awakens-that the Records of that Presbytery will give us the positive information we seek-is disappointed by the fact that those Records are lost.
In 1732 the Presbytery of Donegal was erected out of the. Presbytery of New Castle; and gradually the interests of our church in Virginia came under the oversight of the new Presbytery. And here we meet with another very suggestive fact,viz.,that in the early Records of Donegal the name "Potomack in Virginia" occurs as an established place of divine worship. The presumption appears a reasonable one that we have here another name for "Potomoke in Virginia," or rather a different, but correct, spelling of the same name. The striking similarity of the two words, their close resemblance in sound,the fact that the one is not used in the Records till the other disappears; indeed, all the circumstances known to us, strongly force upon us the conviction that Potomoke and Potomack are one and the same place. The slight difference in orthography is nothing against it, for first, the correct spelling of geographical names was not, at that time, fixed; and, secondly, even after the correct spelling had been determined, persons not familiar with the word, or to whom it was known only by sound, would be likely to depart from the fixed orthography, Even in these Records the word Potomoke is once written Patomoke. The word "Potomack" appears in six different forms, exclusive of the two now in question. The name of one of the oldest churches in the Shenandoah Valley, "Opecquon," is spelled in the Presbyterian Records not less than twenty-four different ways, while the pronunciation remains the same in all.
Now, as it is scarcely possible that a people, who displayed such persistent zeal in obtaining Gospel ordinances as did "the people of Potomoke," should allow them, when once enjoyed, to pass quickly from their possession, and as we can find no trace whatever of that early church, unless we find it in that Donegal Record to which we have just referred, and as all the facts in the case encourage us to look for it there, are we not warranted to conclude, not only that "the people of Potomoke, in Virginia," and "the people of Virginia" were the same people; but also that the church which was organized among them by the Rev. Daniel McGill in 1720, and which awakened so much interest and received so much attention for several years in the highest court of the Church, and was then transferred to the Presbytery of New Castle, is the same which, at a later date, reappears as the church of "Potomack in Virginia" in the Records of Donegal ?
This important question then arises-where was Potomack ? That it was a place distinct from the river of that name is evident, not only from the fact that in the Minutes of Presbytery it is mentioned just as other churches are, but also from the fact that in early official documents, other than ecclesiastical, there is a place of that name distinctly mentioned. for example, Governor Spottswood, in a letter to the " Council of Trade," London, dated July 26, 1712, speaks of "the return of Baron De Graffenreid from Potomack," and in his letter clearly distinguishes between a place and the river of that name. Now, can we locate that place ? The Records of Donegal Presbytery enables us to do so approximately. The frequent association of Potomac with Opecquon, Bullskin and Tuscarora, as a church to be supplied at the same time with them and by the same missionary, makes it evident that it was in easy reach of these well-known churches, and therefore, somewhere, in the northern end of the Valley of Virginia. The references in the Spottswood Letters (pp. 152, 153, 168) point in the same direction. De Graffenreid had evidently set out to visit " the fforks of Potomac," where, after his disastrous experience in North Carolina, he had determined to settle with a colony of his Swiss countrymen. Before reaching his destination he seems to have found a settlementcalled "Potomack" from which he sends back to the Governor a report of his progress; and the Governor sends to him a request that, when his destination is reached, he would prepare him "a draught of both those branches" which constitute "the fforks of Potomack." There is nothing in the statements of these letters that enables us to fix positively the location of "Potomack," yet the facts and circumstances that are mentioned make it difficult to resist the conclusion that the place was west of the Blue Ridge, and at some point on the river well up towards its "head springs." The testimony of these two witnesses, together with all the facts we have been able to gather, which bear upon the case at all, seem to point with singular clearness to the village of Shepherdstown-or to its immediate neighborhood-as the site of the place we are trying to locate; for
1. The name itself suggests its proximity to the Potomac
River.
2. The Pack-Horse Ford, by which the early emigrants crossed the
Potomac on entering the Valley, was at Shepherdstown, and naturally
an early settlement would be made at or near the ford.
3. Every mention of Potomack Church in the Minutes of Presbytery is
attended with circumstances which show that it must have been there
or in that vicinity.
4. The mention of it in the Governor's letter agrees with this
theory of its location better than with any other.
5. The fact is of no little significance that, as soon as the name
of Shepherdstown is introduced into the Presbyterial Records as
designating church, the name Potomack disappears.
6. But besides this strong presumptive evidence as to the location
of "Potomack," we have this further testimony that is direct and
positive: A gentleman residing in Winchester, Va., in 1891 and
nearly ninety years of age, but in full possession of his mental
faculties, whose youth was spent near Shepherdstown, testified
that, in his boyhood, the common name for the village, through the
surrounding country, was "Potomac."
These considerations and facts would seem to be conclusive in determining the location of the church called "Potomack, in Virginia." And if, as seems so probable, this name is another and the correct one for "Potomoke in Virginia," then it determines the long-mooted question as to the location of "the people" who in 1720 were reported by the Rev. Mr. McGill to have been "put into church order" by him ; and it also fixes the place where the second duly constituted Presbyterian Church in Virginia was planted.
But to this conclusion it is objected that any testimony that would locate "Potomoke" anywhere in the Valley of Virginia "is inadmissable, because there were no white inhabitants of the Valley anywhere along the Potomac or Shenandoah previous to about the year 1733" (Foote's Sketches, Vol. I., p. 357). If this statement is correct, our conclusion must, of course, be abandoned. But the statement not only affirms more than the facts will justify, but what the facts themselves actually contradict. The early historians of the Valley evidently thought that the first settlements made were on the headwaters of the Opecquon. And it is probably true that there were no white inhabitants there "previous to about the year 1733." But it by no means follows that there were none nearer the Potomac. It must be remembered that the emigration to the Valley was from the North, crossing the Potomac. And no sufficient reason has ever been given, and none can be given, why the first settlers should pass over the beautiful, fertile and well-watered lands of Jefferson and Berkeley Counties "the finest in the world"-and select lands fifty miles or more further south that offered no superior advantages in respect either to productiveness or beauty, if those more accessible and better lands were still unoccupied.
But there is authority for saying that these sharp-wilted men were not guilty of this folly. Evidence is not wanting that much of that land was already claimed. A considerable body of Quakers had settled about the Ross (now Washington) Spring, 6 miles north of Winchester, and had built the "Hopewell Meeting House" several years earlier than the settlement on the upper Opecquon. There has been preserved the certificate, or record, of the marriage of John Ross to Lydia Hollingsworth at the Hopewell Meeting House, Orange County, Va., October 11, 1735 ; and to this certificate are signed the names of 47 witnesses. This number is very significant. That there should have been so many present (adults, of course) as certifying witnesses to a marriage, indicates a much larger population than could probably have been gathered in one community in the space of only two years. Morgan Morgan and his company had made their homes on Mill Creek, in Berkeley County, not later than 1726. Norris, in his History of the Lower Valley, gives uncontradicted traditions of various settlements still nearer the Potomac before the immigration flowed over into Frederick County. It is certain there were settlers on the Maryland side of the Potomac as early probably as 1720. Dr. Cameron, of Princeton University, has the deed for mill property lying opposite Shepherdstown, purchased by his ancestors in 1726. The mill had been used for some years before the purchase was made. Of course, there were people there whose wants the mill was intended to supply. And with only a narrow and fordable river to be crossed we know of no reason why the settlement should have been confined to the Maryland side.
But there is additional proof that there were " white inhabitants in this Valley previous to about 1733," Governor Spottswood, the ablest of all the colonial Governors of Virginia, signalized his term of office by earnest efforts to secure settlements on his western frontier, and thereby afford protection to Eastern Virginia against the incursions of the Indians. His success was probably not commensurate with his efforts. And yet his "Letters" show that as early as 1712, twenty years before Hite crossed the Potomac, there were settlers west of the Blue Ridge; and before the "Knights of the Horseshoe" crossed the mountains no inconsiderable number of people had made their homes along the Potomac River, and "in the mountains of the Northern Neck," and even in "the fforks -of the Potomac." The Baron De Graffenreid on his visit to "the fforks of the Potomac" had informed the Governor ( "Letters," pp. 152-3 and 161-2 and 8) that he had obtained important information as to the resources of that country from the people whom he met; and that one man particularly, Mr. Mitchell, a Swiss gentleman,who had traveled through all that country some years before, was convinced that it abounded in valuable minerals. The Baron himself, who had experience in mining, was persuaded that "The Forks," where he had intended to settle, was rich in mineral wealth; but he was discouraged from taking his colony there, by the conflicting claims to the ownership of the land made by the agents, respectively, of Lord Baltimore, the Lady Fairfax, and the British Queen. Moreover, in 1722, Governor Spottswood effected a treaty with the Indians, which, while imposing no restrictions whatever upon the movements of the whites, bound the Indians, under the severest penalties, not to cross the Potomac or the Blue Ridge, in either direction, without special permission. In the treaty itself the reason for making it is given. It was for the protection of " the AngloSaxon race," which, as Charles Campbell, in his History of Virginia, p. 433, says, had "gradually extended itself, like a vapor, beyond the western base of the Blue Ridge, and collisions with the native tribes had begun to ensue." Evidently there were white inhabitants west of the Ridge and south of the Potomac at that date. Further evidence is furnished by the Act of Assembly of 1738, forming the county of Frederick. In that Act, the reason explicitly given for the erection of the new county is, that "great numbers of people have settled themselves of late x x x on the northwest side of the Blue Ridge, whereby the strength of the colony, and its security, and its revenues are like to be increased." At that day, five years would not suffice for such a large increase of population as this Act acknowledges.
And there was a reason for this increase in the population of the Shenandoah Valley, even while the Cumberland Valley was still sparsely settled. The presence of the Scotch-Irish was not welcomed in Pennsylvania. They were regarded as a " pugnacious " people, and undesirable neighbors. In 1724, James Logan, secretary of the Province, wrote of them, " It looks to me as if Ireland is to send all its inhabitants hither; for last week not less than six ships arrived x x x The common fear is that if they thus continue to come, they will make themselves proprietors of the Province. It is strange that they thus crowd where they are not wanted. " Accordingly, while others were treated with kindness, these were often driven from their settlements, their cabins burned, and they told to move further on in the wilderness. Thus ejected, not a few of them moved southward, and found in Virginia that freedom from molestation which was denied them in the Province of William Penn.
But there is still more convincing evidence of an early settlement here. In the old graveyard on Elk Branch, 5 miles south of Shepherdstown, where, more than a hundred years ago, stood the ruins of a Presbyterian Church, is a tombstone, the German inscription on which, until within a few years past, was quite legible, though now, since the stone has fallen and been trampled over, the inscription is partially effaced. It was erected to the memory of Katarina Beierlin, a Christian woman, and states that she died in 1707. The correctness of these figures can hardly be disputed. The Rev. Dr. John A. Scott, pastor of the Elk Branch Church in 1869, says that, in company with three other persons, he had the old stone cleaned of lichen and washed, and was then able, very satisfactorily, to read the inscription and date of death, 1707. He further testified that three intelligent persons had previously examined the stone, and their reading agreed with his. Persons residing in the neighborhood have known of the existence of this stone for more than fifty years, and their understanding has always been that the date it gives of the woman's death is 1707. This must be taken as certain proof that white people resided there at least as early as that date. The grave of a woman, carefully marked, can mean nothing else.
Beyond all reasonable contradiction, then, there were white inhabitants in this lower Valley many years prior to the settlement of Hite on the Opecquon, or of the Friends around Hopewell Meeting House, or of Morgan on Mill Creek. These inhabitants may have been " squatters," they probably were; but they were there. And as this fact meets and removes the only objection that is offered to the conclusion we have reached, it is not unreasonable to insist that that conclusion ought to be accepted as probably correct. While we dare not affirm its absolute certainty, or claim that the location of " Potomoke in Virginia" is hereby established beyond all possible dispute; yet we do modestly insist that, as no other location has been found for it, and as all the evidence known to us is in support of the location we have given it, until its existence in some other place is positively proven, we must be allowed to believe that the " Potomack in Virginia," of the Presbyterial Records, is the " Potomoke in Virginia," of the Synodical Records; and that the long-sought-for locality in which, in 1720, " the people of Potomoke were put into church order," is to be found at, or near, Shepherdstown in West Virginia, and within the bounds of the Presbytery of Winchester.
Before concluding this discussion of an earlier settlement of this Valley than Kerchival allows, notice should perhaps be taken of the alleged absence of any documentary evidence of such settlement. Against our contentions it is claimed that there are no title deeds earlier than Hite's. This claim is disputed; but, if true, it amounts to nothing. It is based upon an entire misapprehension of the conditions then existing. For fifteen years after Hite came there were no land offices west of the Blue Ridge, from which titles could be obtained; and the early pioneers did not concern themselves about legal formalities, where no officers were present to enforce them. Without putting themselves to the trouble and expense of a tedious journeyto a distant Court House, or to the Capital, they just took possession of any unclaimed land that suited them, and attended to securing a title afterwards. For the present, what was called a " tomahawk right " was sufficient. This consisted in girding a few trees near a spring or stream, and cutting the claimant's name in the bark. This, of course, was no right in law; but it was generally respected by other settlers, and deeds were usually given for what was claimed. When a colony, like that of Hite, was about to migrate, requiring a large tract of land, the formalities of the law were complied with, and a special grant secured, either directly from the Crown or from the authorities at Williamsburg. But when the settlers were only a family or two, no such expensive procedure was thought of. In fact, the laws of the colony provided that many classes of people could, without any expense to themselves, claim a tract of 50 acres, and when that was " planted and seated "-i. e., when any portion of it was cultivated and a building erected-they were entitled to 50 acres more. Under these conditions no very early title deeds could be expected.
And now, conceding that we may date the origin of Presbyterianism in this region as far back, at least, as 1720, what has been its history since? For a period of about seventy years it is not possible to trace this history in detail with absolute certainty. Only this is clear, that the Presbyterian population, when once immigration began, rapidly increased; and the inference is fair, and, in fact, is sustained by such meagre records as we have, as well as by uniform tradition, that these early settlers brought their Bibles and Catechisms and Confessions of Faith with them; and no sooner was a settlement effected, than measures were taken to provide themselves with the ordinances of religion. The sacrifices which this required did not deter them. Commissioners were sent hundreds of miles, at great cost of time and money, " supplicating " Synod and Presbyteries to supply them with the ministrations of the Word of God. And both Synod and Presbytery were diligent in meeting, so far as their limited resources would enable them to do it, the appeals which came to them for help. These appeals came from widely distant points; indeed, the early Synodical Records, and those of Presbytery as well, show that almost all the ministers of that day were engaged about half their time in evangelistic work; their field of labor extending from the banks of the Hudson to those of the Savannah. A few years ago, while trying to get at the early history of our church in this Lower Valley, I was asked to help prepare the history of the church in which I was born and raised-the old " Wallkill " (now " Goodwill ") church, the oldest, but one, west of the Hudson in New York. While engaged in this work, it was to me a matter of much interest, and also of surprise, to find that many of the ministers who assisted at the organization, and were the early supplies of the Wallkill church, were the same who visited this Valley, and preached at Opecquon, Cedar Creek, Bullskin and elsewhere.
And here let me remark, that when the standard of our faith and worship was first erected here, the Presbyterian Church in America was yet in its infancy. It assumed its ecclesiastical form in the latter part of 1705, or the beginning of 1706, by the organization of the presbytery of Philadelphia. In 1716 this Presbytery had become so large that it was divided into four, viz: Philadelphia, New Castle, Snow Hill and Long Island, and the " Synod of Philadelphia " was constituted. Four years later the general statistics of the church, so far as known, were one Synod, four Presbyteries, and twenty-seven ministers. The number of churches and their membership cannot be given with any claim to accuracy.
From the time of its introduction the growth of our cause in this region. was steady, if not rapid. Two years after "the people of Potomoke" had been " put in church order," viz: in 1722, another representation was made to Synod, "of the earnest desire of some Protestant dissenting families in Virginia " for church privileges, " together with a comfortable prospect of the increase of our interests there;" and the Synod responded by sending three ministers to visit severally said people, and preach four Sabbaths each to them (p. 74). These ministers fulfilled their appointments, and the next year (1723) further representations were made from Virginia, and additional supplies were sent them (p. 76). At the same time " a Letter of Address" was sent by the Synod to the Governor of Virginia, evidently on behalf of these Presbyterian people.
Now, it is not said from what part of Virginia these early applications for supplies came; but from all the facts recorded it appears almost certain that they came from the Northern Neck of Virginia and possibly from this Lower Valley. They were evidently new settlements, rapidly increasing in population, and composed largely of people of Presbyterian faith, that sent the " supplications;" and these facts point almost unmistakably to the territory occupied by this Presbytery. But while we meet with some suggestive hints, nothing very definite-owing to loss of the New Castle Records -can be found after 1723, until about the time the colonies of Hite and Hoge settled in Frederick County. In the meantime (viz: in 1732), the Presbytery of Donegal was erected in the Cumberland Valley, and upon it, as territorially near, the supply of the destitutions here, principally, though not exclusively, devolved. This duty engaged the active attention of that Presbytery as early as 1736, though there is evidence that some of its ministers made missionary journeys through this region earlier than that. From this time, through a period of several years, distinct record is made by both Presbytery and Synod of supplications " from different societies of our persuasion in Virginia," being taken under consideration.
It is about this time, viz: 1737, that we first meet with that expression, which, after this date, becomes familiar in both the Presbyterial and Synodical Records-" a supplication was received from the back parts of Virginia." The expression, I think, has very generally been misunderstood. It has been supposed to designate chiefly, if not exclusively, the region now covered by our Presbytery. And as it is manifestly used with reference to people who have just settled, or are just about to settle in these " back parts of Virginia," I could not see how the theory of an earlier settlement of this Lower Valley, than that held by Kercheval and others, could, consistently with such a meaning of this phrase, be maintained. But there are certain facts in the Record itself which show conclusively that it is Augusta County and not Frederick, that the phrase is meant to designate. In the first place, "the people of Beverly Manor," which is known to have been in Augusta, are expressly located in "the back parts of Virginia." In the second place, the supplies, sent in answer to these supplications, are directed to preach at Bullskin, Opecquon and elsewhere on their way to "the back parts of Virginia." And in the third place, the ministers sent as supplies are men who are known to have labored at that very time in Augusta County. But twenty years before Rev. John Craig, their first supply, began his labors in the Upper Valley, Rev. Daniel McGill had preached at Potomoke and "set the people in church order;" and in 1722 and 1723 Rev. Hugh Conn, John Orme, William Stewart and the celebrated Johnathan Dickinson had been sent as itinerants through these lower counties.
The first Presbyterian minister, however, west of the Blue Ridge, of whose history and fields of labor we have distinct and unquestioned knowledge, was Rev. Samuel Gelston, who preached at Opecquon in 1735. Mr. Gelston was born in Ireland in 1692, came, a Licentiate, to this country in 1715, was ordained in 1717, and settled at Southampton, L. I. Ten years later he removed to Maryland, where he fell under the censure of his Presbytery (New Castle). Going into the Highlands of New York, evil reports of him came back to his Presbytery, and he was suspended; but the suspension was soon removed by a commission of Synod, and he came in 1735 to Virginia. The next year application for his ministerial services was made to Presbytery "from both parts of Opekan"- i. e., from Opecquon proper, and Cedar Creek, which two churches for nearly a hundred years were associated in one pastoral charge. In answer to this application, he was appointed to visit "the new inhabitants near Opekan." If he filled this appointment it was only for a brief period; for in the fall of the same year he was dismissed from his Presbytery. He died October 22, 1782, aged 90 years.
Mr. Gelston was followed by Rev. James Anderson, one of the most distinguished of the early Presbyterian ministers in America. Born and ordained in Scotland, he left there in 1709. After preaching for brief periods at different places, he became, in 1717, the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York; but difficulties arising in his charge, he, in 1726, accepted a call to Donegal Presbytery; and eleven years thereafter (1737) we find him visiting Opecquon. This visit was made memorable by the fact that either in that year, or within the next two years, he organized our "old Opecquon Church."
From 1735 the claims of the settlers on this side the Potomac engaged the attention of the Presbytery at every session. At first, however, a serious bar to its efforts was found in the hostility of the Virginia Government to the worship of the "Dissenters." East of the Ridge they were persistently persecuted; and west of it they were barely tolerated. Therefore, in 1738, the Synod, at the request of Presbytery, sent a deputation, with a letter to Governor Gooch, soliciting his favor on behalf of the Presbyterian interests of the colony. This action was taken at the instance of John Caldwell, a Ruling Elder of Chestnut Level, Pa., and the great grandfather of John Caldwell Calhoun, of South Carolina. The Rev. Mr. Anderson was deputed to bear the letter of the Synod. He was kindly received by the Governor, and his mission resulted very satisfactorily.
We can readily imagine, however, that a reason much more potent than the simple justice of the request, should have induced the Government to grant it. It would tend to the encouragement of immigration along the western frontier, and so contribute to the security of the older settlements. Those hardy immigrants would serve as a defense against the incursions of the Indians; and, therefore, no questions would be raised in reference to their ecclesiastical faith and order. As Gillett says, "If they could handle a rifle, or plant along the western forests a line of protection against the inroads of hostile savages, they were sufficiently orthodox. Their distance, moreover, prevented any umbrage being taken at a dissent that did not attract notice, or give offence." (Vol. I., p. 106. )
Presbyterianism being thus left to plant itself west of the Blue Ridge without serious molestation from the State Church on the tidewater, more earnest efforts were made to supply these western settlements. Rev. John Thomson, the pastor of Elder Caldwell, who had visited this Valley and preached at Opecquon, proposed to his Presbytery that an itinerant should be sent to this region; and his brethren appointed him to this duty. But he was afterward's excused "because of the severity of the winter and the scarcity of provender." The. same year (1738) "both parts of Opecquon supplicated for him;" and it was his wish to become their pastor, but his Presbytery would not consent. The next year (1739) another supplication came "from the back parts of Virginia" (i. e., from Augusta County) and five years later (in 1744) Mr. Thomson made his home in the Upper Valley; and, with Messrs. Black and Craig, was entrusted with the oversight of all missionary operations in that part of Virginia.
Meanwhile the interests of this Lower Valley were not neglected. Besides the services of Rev. William Bertram, Presbytery appointed, November 16, 1739, Licentiate John Craig " to supply at Opekan, the High (Hite ?) Tract and other societies of our persuasion in Virginia, at his discretion." He spent the summer in this region, and the next year was settled in Augusta as first pastor of the "Triple Forks of Shenandoah."
The Presbytery of Donegal, April 1, 1740, appointed Rev. James Anderson to "write to Upikin" (another of the multitudinous spellings of Opecquon) and the next day ordered "that Mr. Caven visit Bullskin on the third Sabbath of this instant, and at Upekin the Friday before." Rev. Samuel Caven was one of the most active and efficient ministers of the Presbytery. He came a licentiate from Ireland; his ministerial labors were given mainly to the settlements in the Lower Cumberland Valley in Pennsylvania, serving churches in Mercersburg, Chambersburg, Greencastle and elsewhere; but was often sent to visit the settlements and churches south of the Potomac. In December, 1740, we find him again at Opecquon, where he seems to have remain°d for a considerable time, and to have performed important work.
About this time we find the name of a Mr. Lyn in connection with Opecquon Church. On September 3, 1740, Presbytery "received a supplication from Opecquon in Virginia, after the manner of a call for Mr. Lyn." But " finding it impossible to gratify such a request at present, they appointed Mr. Craig to supply them one Sabbath as he goes to Virginia (i. e., to Augusta County) and to moderate a call for Mr. Lyn." At the same time " Mr. Lyn was ordered to supply several places in Pennsylvania and Opecquon by turns till the next meeting." Mr. Craig moderated the call, and it was in the hands of Mr. Lyn December 11, 1740. Meanwhile, Mr. Caven, while at Opecquon, was directed " to inquire into the grounds of Mr. Gillespie's information relating to Mr. Lyn, and make report of it to the next meeting." And with this minute the name of Mr. Lyn disappears from the records.
Mr. Caven was followed late in 1742 by Rev. William Robinson, an eminently devout and benevolent man, and one of the most vigorous and effective preachers of his day. Born in England and coming to this country in early manhood, he was ordained by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1741. In the winter of the next year, at the earnest request of the people, he was sent to visit the Presbyterian settlements in the Shenandoah Valley and further South. The results of his mission in the Valley could not have been very great, for soon after his arrival he was seized, near Winchester, by the sheriff, who started with him to Williamsburg, where he must answer to the Governor for preaching without a license from him. But before reaching his destination the officer became so impressed with the good sense and piety of his prisoner, that he released him and allowed him to continue his mission unmolested. His work, thus rudely interrupted in the Valley, was pursued with remarkable success in Eastern Virginia. His brilliant ministry, of less than five years, was suddenly terminated by death, in April, 1746. Dr. Archibald Alexander says of him, that " during the short period of his life he was probably the instrument in the conversion of as many souls as any minister who ever lived in this country." It was through his instrumentality that Rev. Samuel Davies was brought to Virginia.
Mr. Robinson, who made but a passing visit to Opecquon and to other points in this region, was succeeded by Rev. John Hindman, of whose labors we have no very definite knowledge. He was licensed by Donegal July 2, 1741; and the next year, June 16, 1742, " upon a motion that Mr. Hynman (Hindman) be ordained sine nulo, as a missionary to the back part of Virginia, in order to baptize, etc., the Presbytery agreed thereto and ordered that he shall, at our next session, deliver a common head, viz: whether preparatory or common convictions be necessary to conversion; and an homily on Psalm 37: Also that he supply in Virginia till our next in his way thither he is to preach at Opekon and a week day at Bullskin." He was ordained November 11, 1742, and was sent at once as an evangelist to Virginia probably to the Upper Valley. But the next year June 21, 1743, he was appointed to supply Opecquon during a part of July. There is reason to believe that, until the spring of 1745, his labors were given to Opecquon, Bullskin and other points in this region.
Rev. Samuel Caven, whose visits to this Lower Valley have already been so frequent, appears once more as a missionary here; and it is in connection with this visit that the name Potomack first occurs. On June 11, 1745, Mr. Caven is appointed to supply Potomack, Opecquon and Bullskin "at his conveniency," until the next meeting of Presbytery.
And now to go back a little. The year 1740 marks a period of new interest in the history of the church within our bounds. Before that time the attention of Presbytery and Synod had been given, south of the Potomac, to the Shenandoah Valley. But in December, 1740, Mr. Caven, then at Opecquon, was ordered to Supply at South Branch at his discretion; and within six months (May 30, 1741) a supplication was brought in for supplies " from the South Branch of the Potomac." This, we have reason to believe, was from Presbyterians in the Moorefield Valley. As early as 1734 or 1735, a settlement began there on lands for which John and Isaac Vanmeter had obtained a " warrant " from Governor Gooch, and in five or six years the settlers had become so numerous as to justify the effort to obtain a Christian minister. These early settlers were largely of Dutch origin, though many of Scotch-Irish descent were mingled with them. Their first supplies came from Donegal Presbytery; and yet very early in their history measures were taken to supply them by the Reformed Dutch Classis of New Jersey, from which colony many of them came.
From the year 1745 to 1759, we are cut off from our most important source of information concerning the progress of Presbyterianism in this Lower Valley, by the loss of the Second Volume of the Records of Donegal Presbytery, covering that period of fourteen years. This loss there is nothing to supply. The Records of the Synods of Philadelphia and of New York contain, it is true, a great deal of information, which is valuable as showing the activity and enlargement of the church, but, save in one or two instances, the minutes are so general in their statements as to give no definite information as to the particular places in Virginia that seek to receive, or that obtain supplies.
It was during this period-perhaps, in some cases, a little earlier-that settlements were made, and churches of our order were started at Falling Waters, and on Tuscarora, Back Creek, Sleepy Creek, " Cape Capon," and Patterson's Creek. While the name of " Tuscarora in Virginia " does not appear in any existing Ecclesiastical Records until April, 1760, it is the uniform and undisputed tradition, that one of the earliest settlements in this Valley was made on that stream; and that a Presbyterian congregation of considerable importance was established there as early, some allege, as 1740. Very nearly the same is true of Falling Waters. Although in the Records to which we have access the name does not occur until April, 1762, there is scarcely a doubt there was a church at that place prior to 1750. Local tradition, with some probability, fixes the date of the organization at 1745.
Of the other places named, no authentic dates for their organization for worship can be given; nor can it be determined by whose ministry they were supplied. But in the beginning of the Third Volume of the Donegal Records, these names appear as of places with which the Presbytery was familiar; and provision is made for their supply, as if it were an established custom.
The extensive and unhappy Schism of 1741, and which lasted for seventeen years, was seriously felt by the churches in this Valley, as well as elsewhere. Of the controversies which finally resulted in the division of the Synod, and which were attended with so much ill-feeling and unbrotherly conduct, it is not our purpose here to treat. Without stating the questions at issue, or attempting to discuss their merits, it is sufficient for the purposes of this history to say, that after four or five years of bitter contention and recrimination, the Presbyteries of New Brunswick, New York and part of New Castle withdrew and formed themselves into a Synod under the style of "The Synod of New York," holding their first meeting at Elizabethtown, N. J., in September, 1745. These seceding Presbyteries were called the "New Side," while those which adhered to the Synod of Philadelphia, viz., Philadelphia, Donegal and part of New Castle, were known as the "Old Side."
The Presbytery of Donegal was thoroughly identified with the Old Side, and yet some of its congregations south of the Potomac were in sympathy with the New Side. This was especially true of Opecquon and Cedar Creek. So far, however, as we can learn, nearly all the other Presbyterians in this Valley espoused, and with no little warmth, the cause of the Old Side. Without deciding whether their views of the questions in controversy were right or wrong, it must be admitted that it would have contributed more to their growth at that time, if their sympathies had led them the other way. The Old Side, while not weaker at first, failed to grow with the rapidity of their rivals, and in a short time found themselves unable to send supplies to the more distant churches that were asking for them. They were dependent largely for the increase of their ministers upon emigration from the old country. But at that time a sudden check was given to this emigration. During the whole period of the division very few ministers came to them from either Scotland or Ireland; the supply from New England was almost entirely cut off, and as their own churches did not furnish them with many Licentiates it was found at the time of the reunion, that more ministers had been lost by death and removal than had been gained by additions.
The New Side, on the other hand, had larger facilities for obtaining preachers, especially from New England, and so were in a much better condition to look after the outposts and new settlements; and as they were less scrupulous about intruding, they did not wait for an invitation from Presbytery or congregation before sending their missionaries. Virginia, in particular, engaged a large share of their attentions, and many of their ablest ministers visited this Valley on missionary tours of larger or shorter continuance. While that Schism lasted, the churches here, particularly Opecquon and Cedar Creek, enjoyed, at different times, the services of such men as Drs. John and Samuel Blair, John Roan, Samuel Finley and the two Tennents, Gilbert and William, whose fervent zeal brought them on evangelistic journeys to this distant region. Men, too, less distinguished than these, as Rev. Eliab Byram, Rev. William Dean and others, visited the Valley and preached for some time with acceptance and success.
Meanwhile, the Old Side did not relinquish its claim upon this field. The Presbytery of Donegal, whose jurisdiction extended over this Lower Valley, continued, as far as circumstances would permit, its oversight of the churches here. But the growing demand for increased labor in the older settlements, and the embarrassing scarcity of ministers, prevented the Presbytery from meeting, in any adequate measure, the growing wants of the newer fields. And as it soon became evident that the visits of its ministers were not specially desired in some of these churches, they gradually became less frequent, and before the division was healed their visits seem almost entirely to have ceased. With the loss of the Presbyterial Records, the last faint trace of them disappears until the new Volume of Records is opened.
The preponderance not only of numbers, but of zeal, too, was undoubtedly with the New Side; and for several years the missionary work done both in this Valley and throughout Virginia, was carried on mainly, though not exclusively, by the Synod of New York and the Presbyteries composing it. It seems, however, that while their ministers were zealous they were not always wise in their zeal. Some of them, in their heated discussions with, or about, their old Old Side brethren, had allowed themselves to use language of the most unchristian and abusive character. They did not scruple to denounce those whose views touching questions in dispute differed from their own, as "babbling, ignorant priests," "dry, sapless unconverted ministers," "the devil's advocates," "ministers of Satan and enemies of all righteousness." And in their labors in Virginia, some of them, in their condemnation of the formality and worldliness then prevailing in the established Church, were so intemperate in their expressions as to expose themselves to the censure of the civil authorities. Information was laid before the Synod of Philadelphia in 1745, that Governor Gooch had arraigned before a grand jury at Williamsburg certain Presbyterian preachers who had visited his colony. In his charge to this jury he accused them of being "false teachers, who had crept into his government without orders, or license, or any testimonial of their education or sect; professing themselves ministers under the pretended influence of new light, extraordinary impulse, and such like fanatical and enthusiastical knowledge, they were leading the innocent and ignorant people into all kinds of delusions; and in this frantic and profane disguise they treat all other modes of worship with the utmost scorn and contempt," even saying of the Governor himself, and of his fellow churchmen, that they " worshipped the devil and were damned;" all which offences, he concludes, constitute "an iniquity to be punished by the judges."
When these facts were brought to the knowledge of the Synod of Philadelphia, it promptly disclaimed all connection with the parties accused and all responsibility for "the conduct of some of the new party which had so highly provoked the government of that colony;" and they "judged it necessary to send an address to Governor Gooch, informing him of the distinction between this Synod and that separated party, that so their conduct might not be imputed to us, nor provoke that government to deny us the liberties and favors we have enjoyed under it." [Minutes of Synod of Philadelphia, pp. 181-2.]
While treating of this Schism, which produced such alination and bitter controversy, we should not overlook the fact, that it was during its continuance, that the church was visited with a revival, the most remarkable, perhaps, in the history of this country. It swept over all the provinces from Massachusetts to Georgia, and lasted through many years. The interest awakened everywhere was most intense. It reached all classes and conditions of people, and was confined to no church. Numbers of all denominations, and many who had no connection with any, were found among the penitent inquirers. And yet, outside of New England, it was in Presbyterian churches that the work prevailed most extensively; and Presbyterian preachers were the most active in promoting it.
But while this " Great Awakening" was so extended in its sweep, and so profound in its operations, and (as all agree) so gracious in many of its results, it is to be lamented that in many, if not in most, places it was attended with circumstances which exposed it to serious suspicion in the judgment of not a few of the wise and good of that time; and which now, in the historical review of the facts, will admit of no excuse. It was marred almost everywhere, by scenes of the most extravagant excitement. Loud outcries, and faintings, and violent and unseemly bodily agitations, and almost every possible form in which religious fanaticism can express itself, were indulged in; and with the approval of many of the eminent ministers by whom the meetings were conducted. It must be said, however, that very many of these friends and promoters of the Revival, who, during its early stages, fell, like Edwards, into the error of countenancing its delusions, afterwards severely condemned them, as Edwards himself did.
We learn from the testimony of Samuel Davies that the Revival was powerfully felt in Virginia; and that our churches in this Lower Valley were in an especial manner brought under its influence and shared in its blessings; while to a large extent they were exempt from its errors and its pernicious consequences. Dr. Hodge writes that "in no part of our country was the revival more interesting, and in very few was it so pure as in Virginia."
But giving our attention now to matters that more immediately concern us, it will be observed that until 1754 the churches within our Presbyterial limits were dependent for public worship upon such occasional supplies as they could obtain. In not a single instance had the pastoral relation been constituted, and so far as the Records inform us the supplies were in no case of very long continuance. Many attempts were made to secure the settlement of a minister at Opecquon and Cedar Creek, and also at Bullskin, but without success.
In the year 1754, however, Rev. John Hoge was called to the Opecquon field and remained there as pastor for eighteen years. Mr. Hoge, though not a resident of Virginia, until he took charge of the Opecquon Church, was yet closely related to that congregation by family ties. He was the son of John Hoge, who was the eldest son of William Hoge, who, in 1735, settled on Upper Opecquon and gave the land on which the meeting house is built. John Hoge, sr., was the only one of his father's immediate children who failed to remove with him to Virginia. He settled in Pennsylvania at a place afterwards called Hogetown, a few miles distant from Harrisburg, and where some of his descendants are still found. In all the old records the name is spelled "Hogg" or "Hogge;" but in using the name here we will conform to the modern spelling "Hoge," which the family seems now generally to prefer.
The Rev. John Hoge, jr., was probably born at South Amboy, N. J., but the date of his birth is not known. He was graduated from Nassau Hall in 1749, and was taken under the care of New Castle Presbytery (New Side) as a candidate for the ministry. After some time his Presbytery discouraged him from entering on his trials for licensure, " lest his genius should not be fit for the ministry." Persevering in his purpose, however, he stood his trials, and was licensed October 10, 1753. For a few months after licensure he preached in Pennsylvania, and then came to Virginia and began his long ministry in Frederick County. In 1755 he was ordained and "settled" over Opecquon and Cedar Creek. It would be interesting to know just how he was settled. In that early day there seems to have been no rigid observance of ecclesiastical forms. The organization of a church was a rather loose and informal act, and the installation of a pastor does not seem to have been attended with much ceremony. One of the Tennents went through the form of installing himself.
At the time of Mr. Hoge's settlement, Opecquon was the most important church in the Valley, and remained so for many years. For a number of years it was the only place of public worship within a large district. The nearest Episcopal Church was at Bunker Hill. There was probably no church of any faith in Winchester until 1753, when a Lutheran Church was organized. George Washington, while in command at Fort Loudoun, often rode out to Opecquon to worship.
Mr. Hoge's ministry was not without many discouragements. The churches grew in numbers, but the condition of things around them was unsettled and often alarming. His meagre salary was poorly paid, and on this ground he began, within six years of his settlement, to plead for release from his charge. He was promised £70 from the entire field, and yet in a few years his churches were in arrears to him more than a year's salary. Notwithstanding earnest efforts to remedy this evil, it continued. In 1759 his Presbyterial relations were transferred to Donegal. The next year (1760) Tuscarora was added to his charge. And here the Records become somewhat confused. It looks as if he had been at least temporarily released from his charge, for on April 6, 1760, Mr. Hoge is ordered by his Presbytery to "supply Tuscarora, Opecquon and Back Creek three Sabbaths at his discretion." At the same meeting Mr. Hoge requests the Presbytery to "send some member to assist him in some congregational affairs," and Mr. Duffield is sent to his assistance. In October of that year supplies are asked for Opecquon, Back Creek and Tuscarora, and in reply, Mr. Hoge is ordered to "supply three Sabbaths at adjacent vacancies." The next spring, 1761, supplications are made to Presbytery from Opecquon and other places, and he is appointed to supply at discretion.
Whatever may be the explanation of these rather confusing facts, Mr. Hoge, November 11, 1761, asked leave of Presbytery to resign his charge, and Presbytery ordered Mr. Roan to write to these congregations touching the salary in arrears. And now it appears that he was still in legal charge of the churches of Opecquon and Cedar Creek, for these churches, in consequence of Mr. Roan's letter, asked for the continuance of Mr. Hoge as their pastor, and promised to pay him what was due. He remained in his field. But in October, 1764, he complained to Presbytery that he would have to resign on account of the non-payment of salary, and Presbytery ordered that unless the churches reported payment to its next meeting it would release Mr. Hoge. The churches must have made a satisfactory report, as he continued his pastoral labors for several years without further complaint. In October, 1767, Presbytery assigned all its vacancies in Virginia to him. The next year he was accused before Presbytery by Joseph Colvil, a member of his church, for having fraudulently obtained a judgment in Lord Fairfax's office for a tract of land, but upon a full hearing of the case he was acquitted of all charges. In June, 1771, the old trouble about the salary again came up. The churches begged to retain their pastor; but the Presbytery, wearied with their delinquency; sternly ordered that the matter be satisfactorily arranged by the next meeting, or they should no longer have the services of Mr. Hoge. At the next meeting, October, 1771, the arrearages had not been paid; but on representation of the commissioners from Cedar Creek and Opecquon, the Presbytery consented to defer the removal of Mr. Hoge; but when it next met (April, 1772) he was finally released from his pastoral charge on account of nonpayment of salary.
Mr. Hoge enjoyed the distinction of having been the first pastor within our Presbyterial bounds. As such, we have thought him entitled to .the extended notice here given him. After his pastoral relation was dissolved he continued for a few years to reside in Frederick County, and served as supply to various churches in the Valley. When he removed to Pennsylvania he was appointed in 1775 to serve the Paxton and Derry churches, or rather those portions of these churches which, on account of their New Side sympathies, had separated themselves from the mother churches. Rev. John Elder, from whose churches these had seceded, and who was a rigid Old Side man, still claimed the entire field, and resented this encroachment on his rights. It is not known whether Mr. Hoge had been guilty of any indiscretion in fulfilling the appointment of Presbytery; but Mr. Elder did not approve of his presence in his territory, and at the next meeting of Presbytery complained of having been "annoyed by the rooting around of a Hog that had been turned into the field."
When the Presbytery of Donegal was divided, in 1786, into the Presbyteries of Carlisle and Baltimore, the Presbyterial relations of Mr. Hoge were thrown with Carlisle. And when the Presbytery of Huntingdon was erected out of Carlisle, April, 1795, he, as one of the oldest members of the new Presbytery, was appointed to preach the opening sermon and to preside at the organization, and was chosen its first moderator. Of his labors after this we have no definite account. He died February 11, 1807. It is said of him that he "was always highly esteemed as a minister and had an unquestioned character for piety." Through his whole life he was largely engaged in evangelistic work, for which he seems to have been peculiarly adapted. His grandchildren still reside at Watsontown, Northumberland County, Pa.
Of the other churches within our Presbyterial bounds, the authentic facts now ascertainable, are too few and vague to enable us to give a satisfactory history of any one of them prior to about 1770. That several churches had already been formed in this territory, and that some of them had attained a considerable importance, are well known facts; but none of them had yet been able to secure a pastor, and few of them could obtain supplies of any permanence. Potomac, Bullskin, Tuscarora, Falling Water, South Branch, Capon, and others had been in existence for a considerable time, and were continually sending their " supplications " to Presbytery and Synod; and in the bodies appealed to, commendable interest and zeal had been manifested in furnishing them with supplies; but, so far as the Records inform us, not one of them had reached that numerical or financial strength that could secure them the services of a settled minister. It seems to be true, that not only was Mr. Hoge the first pastor within our bounds, but that up to the period of his settlement there was no minister of our faith and order whose residence was here. As we have seen, our people were dependent for preaching not merely, but for all ministerial services, as marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc., upon such "supplies" as were sent them, or upon the occasional visits of those ministers who were passing through on their evangelistic tours. In those days the date of a marriage was fixed ordinarily, not by the wishes or convenience of the parties engaged, but by the expected coming of a "supply," or the providential arrival of an evangelist. And to this difficulty of obtaining ministerial service when needed may be traced that custom which prevails here still, to some extent, of having the funeral sermon preached at some convenient day subsequent to and sometimes long subsequent to-the burial of the deceased.
But notwithstanding their limited ability and the distance to be traveled, the Presbyteries were remarkably faithful in furnishing these people with Gospel ordinances. Besides the visits made by appointment of Synod and by ministers from New Castle and other Presbyteries, the Presbytery of Donegal, between 1735 and 1745, made large provision for the destitution here. As we have already seen, Rev. Samuel Gelston, who visited Opecquon in the summer of 1736, was the first one sent. The next year Rev. James Anderson and Rev. William Bertram came on a general mission, their services to be given without limitation of time and wherever occasion for them was found. In the spring of 1740, Rev. Samuel Caven visited Bullskin and Opecquon, and the next winter preached on the South Branch of the Potomac. Five years later he was again sent to Virginia, and supplied Potomack in Virginia, Opecquon and Bullskin. In the fall of 1740 Mr. Lynn visited these churches and received a call to Opecquon; but because of some unfavorable rumors he was not settled there. In 1741, Rev. Alexander McDowell was ordained sine titulo, and was sent to "itinerate sine tempore in Virginia." In 1742, Rev. John Hindman was sent here as a missionary, and the next year we find him supplying Opecquon.
From 1745, through the loss of the Presbyterial Records, a gap of fourteen years occurs, during which we have but little knowledge of the evangelistic work of Donegal. We only know that it continued to send supplies to these congregations as it had opportunity; while to some of them special attention was given by the New Side Synod of New York, whose missionaries found a heartier welcome among them.
But when we have access again to the Records of Donegal, we find, not only that the missionary zeal of that Presbytery had not abated, but that it had entered with renewed activity upon the supply of the territory south of the Potomac. New congregations had been formed in this Lower Valley, and also along the waters of Back Creek, Capon and the South Branch. In the next ten years their missionaries had crossed to the east of the Blue Ridge, and churches of our faith and order were beginning to spring up at numerous points between the Potomac and the Rappahannock, and many of these continued to grow in strength and importance under the fostering of those zealous men, who, at great personal cost and sacrifice, supplied them with the ministrations of the Word.
The ministers thus engaged in the planting and training of these churches, prior to the organization of our Presbytery in 1794, were about fifty in number, not more than ten or twelve of whom were settled here as pastors. Their work covered a period of perhaps seventy-five years. The names of nearly all of them could be given, but it would probably be without interest to record them here, as so few of them are known to us now.
A matter of more interest is the date and the chronological order of the organization of these churches. It would be difficult, however, if not impossible, to give these dates with any accuracy, as the data by which we would have to be guided are not altogether reliable. When "the people of Potomoke, in Virginia," were "put in church order" in 1720, the Synod, soon after, gave the oversight of "the people of Virginia" to the Presbytery of New Castle. But unfortunately the Records of that Presbytery, which would throw light on the early history of many of our churches are lost. When the Presbytery of Donegal was erected in 1732 nothing was said as to its relations to the new settlements south of the Potomac, and three years or more elapsed before any attention was given to them. In the meantime it is reasonable to suppose that the Presbytery of New Castle was not neglecting the people whose religious interests the Synod had committed to its care. Besides supplying "the people of Potomoke," it would give needed attention to adjacent settlements. And it seems highly probable that her missionaries had visited other points in this Lower Valley before this region came under the oversight of Donegal. There is certainly something significant in the way in which such places as Bullskin, Back Creek, Tuscarora and Falling Waters are introduced in the Records of Donegal as compared, e. g., with the first appearance of Opecquon. The minute for May, 1736, is "Mr. Gelston is ordered to supply the new inhabitants near Opekan in Virginia," showing on the face of the minute that this is the first minister sent there. Whereas in April, 1740, when Bullskin is first named, nothing is said to designate the locality, but it is mentioned as a place with which Presbytery is already acquainted and had probably supplied before. The same is true of Tuscarora, Back Creek and Falling Waters. When these names appear in the Third Volume of Donegal Records, they appear evidently as places which the Presbytery was accustomed to supply. We cannot affirm it as a fact, but the conjecture should not be too hastily dismissed as improbable, that Bullskin may be an older settlement even than Opecquon. For if, as seems most reasonable, the immigrants to this Valley first settled near the Potomac, on the rich and inviting lands of Berkeley and Jefferson, and then gradually, as these lands were taken up, made their way southward, it is not at all improbable that there was a settlement on the waters of the Bullskin, before Hite had come to the head waters of the Opecquon.
But while we are not able to give, with any degree of certainty, the dates of the organization of our several churches, we can, with tolerable accuracy, fix the time when most of them first became places of worship for Presbyterian congregations. In doing this we are guided mainly by the records of the old Synods, and of the Presbytery of Donegal.
Beyond all question, the place at which Presbyterian worship was first held within our original Presbyterial bounds, was at " Potomoke in Virginia;" for even should our contentions be disproved, which locates that church west of the Blue Ridge, it must still have been within the territory assigned to Winchester Presbytery at its organization in 1794. That territory embraced the entire Northern Neck of Virginia. But if, as we are almost compelled to believe, the "Potomoke in Virginia" of the Synodical Records of 1719, et seq., is the " Potomack in Virginia" of the Donegal Records of a later date, then unquestionably our earliest Presbyterian organization was at, or near Shepherdstown, now in West Virginia. " The people " of that place were " put in church order " sometime before September, 1720, and were served by supplies from the Synod of Philadelphia until September; 1724, when the care of these people was committed to the Presbytery of New Castle. But the loss of the Records of that Presbytery leaves us completely in the dark as to the history of that church for a period of nearly twenty years. In the meantime the Presbytery of Donegal was erected (1732), which gradually extended its jurisdiction south of the Potomac ; and in the last year of the period covered by the First Volume of its Records, a place called " Potomack in Virginia " appears, asking for supplies. This was in 1745. But the Second Volume of its Records, covering the next fourteen years, is lost, leaving us again in the dark. With the Third Volume, however, " Potomack in Virginia " reappears. Under date of August 31, 1762, Mr. McGan (a name I find no where else) is "ordered to supply Tuscarora and Potomack in Virginia the first two Sabbaths in March." After that date this name silently drops from these Records. But why should it be dropped ? In the absence of all positive evidence, we, of course, can give no certain answer to this question. But in view of what is known to us, the conjecture is at least reasonable, that the church had obtained a permanent supply, and for several subsequent years had no occasion to ask help from Presbytery. Certainly a church with such a history would not be likely to let itself die. There was everything in its situation to favor its growth. There is, however, an interesting fact that may possibly throw light upon the question. A few years after the name "Potomack" disappears, the names of Shepherdstown (October, 1768) and Elk Branch (April 11, 1769) appear for the first time, but as places of unusual importance. One of them, Elk Branch, is soon strong enough to call and settle Rev. John McKnight as its pastor; while the other, Shepherdstown, seems able to have procured its own supplies, until the Rev. Moses Hoge was obtained as its pastor. There is convincing evidence that Elk Branch had been a place of worship for some time before its name is mentioned in the Presbyterial Records. An old log church which stood in the Presbyterian graveyard near Duffields, and which had fallen into decay in 1792, must have been erected and used much earlier than 1769. A reasonable explanation, which meets all the known conditions of the case, is that Potomac Church, planted by Daniel McGill in 1720, continued to flourish under the fostering care, first of the Presbytery of New Castle, and then of Donegal, until it became advisable to divide it, which was done by effecting a separate organization at Elk Branch, which was already one of its preaching stations, and where a house of -worship already existed. In this division, which, if our theory is tenable, took place at some time between 1763 and 1767, the old name, " Potomac," was dropped, and the name " Shepherdstown," by which the village was now called, was given it. Of these churches we will speak hereafter, under their present names.
The church whose name appears next in the Records is " The Old Opecquon." The history of this church, so far as is known, down to 1772, when the pastoral relation of Rev. John Hoge was dissolved, has already been given with considerable fullness (pp. 18 to 28).
For the nine years which followed the resignation of Mr. Hoge, and which covered the exciting period before and during the Revolutionary War, the church was served by supplies appointed by Presbytery, or obtained from the casual visits of evangelists. Notwithstanding its difficulty in meeting its pecuniary obligations to their late pastor, no sooner had the church become vacant than great earnestness was displayed in securing supplies for the pulpit. Supplications were sent to Presbytery at every meeting. Mr. Hoge, who retained his residence in Frederick County for several years, and of whom his old parishioners were very fond, seems still to have been their main reliance for preaching. He was the one first appointed by Presbytery when the vacancy occurred, and almost the only one to supply their pulpit for the next three years, after which his name no longer appears in the minutes in connection with the church. But Mr. Vance, pastor of Tuscarora; Mr. McKnight, pastor of Elk Branch, and Mr. Thompson, of Kittocktin; with Messrs. Slemmons, Craighead, Balch, Linn and others from north of the Potomac, were sent to them, and some of them were sent quite frequently.
Of the evangelists who visited them, we have very little information. There is, however, one notable exception, that of Rev. Philip V. Fithian, a native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton in 1772. He was a young man of unusual gifts, who died three years after his entrance into the ministry. While a student of theology, he became tutor in the family of Councillor Robert Carter, of " Nomini Hall, " Westmoreland County, Va. He had a wonderfully clear and accurate insight into human character, and made good use of his opportunity in portraying what came under his observation. His letters, written during the year of his residence at " Nomini Hall," have recently been published, and' give one of the most instructive and attractive pictures of domestic and social life in Virginia at that period anywhere to be found. After his licensure in 1774, he, and Rev. Andrew Hunter, whose relatives lived in this Valley, were commissioned by the Synod to visit some of the frontier missionary fields. His diary of that journey contains many interesting facts about the churches he visited, and furnishes some racy reading about the people of that day. Some extracts from this diary will be given in connection with the places to which they relate. His visit to this Valley was made in the spring and summer of 1775. The War of the Revolution was then impending, and he found the whole country active with excitement and preparation. Of his visit to Opecquon he writes:
" Sunday, May 28. Opickon Church. A large and genteel society, mostly Irish. I preached two sermons; the people very attentive." x x He seems to have been the guest of Mr. Glass, of whom he writes:
" May 31. Mr. Glass was blessed while he was filling up his family, so far as to have eight daughters in continual succession and but three sons. I visited a brother of his a mile off at the head of Opickon Creek, a solid, lusty farmer. x x Several visits we made today, among others to one Colville. He is clerk for the Society, raises the tune and in the primitive genuine Presbyterian whine and roll, begins the first note of the music with a deep strained gutteral from the last word of the reading, without any intermissions. This, however, in these societies is universal. I am here under the necessity of close study, as the people do not allow of reading sermons.
" Sunday, June 11. [Opecquon.] A numerous assembly. Mr. Hoge present. He is a lusty, well-- made man. Capt. Holmes introduced me to him, and he received me kindly. Invited me to the session house, and home with him after worship. I proposed and strongly urged him to preach at least once, but he wholly declined it. Several storekeepers and people of note were out from Winchester, many members of the English Church, and all gave good attention. Sometimes, at particular sentences, I could observe every eye to be fixed, and the whole house in silence. Then when the sentiments cooled, one would cough, another would ogle some woman, a third would take snuff, etc. After sermon I rode home with Mr. Hoge. He is remarkably chatty, and in some cases facetious, has the reputation, I believe, justly, of a sound, well meaning man. I grieve for his present state; he has a large family, no way of supporting it, has been dismissed from this Society near three years. He is anxious of being re-instated, and is jealous of my having an intention to supplant him.
" Monday, June 12. The opinion of his politicks is blank. He rode with me to Mr. Glass'. Mr. Glass gave me for my sermons five dollars and many thanks. He proposed I should stay with them a year on trial, but I objected on Mr. Hoge's case."
For a church, however, as large and vigorous as Opecquon had become, it would not do to be dependent on the precarious services of Presbyterial supplies, or of traveling evangelists. A pastor became a necessity, and many calls were made. Among them, one was sent, April 14, 1774, to the Rev. James Waddel, " The Blind Preacher" of the Bristish Spy, then living in Lancaster County, Va., but beginning to feel unsettled, because of the ill effect of that climate upon his health. This call was declined. After several other unsuccessful efforts, a call was made in October, 1781, for Rev. Join Montgomery, and accepted. In this call, as we might expect, Cedar Creek united; but it is interesting now to find the name of Winchester associated with these old churches in their present call.
The Rev. John Montgomery, to whom this call was given, was a native of Augusta County, Va., and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His parents were Prominently identified with the New Providence Church. He prepared for college in a school which his father helped to found, and was graduated at Princeton in 1775. In the fall of that year he became, by appointment of Presbytery, the assistant of Rev. William Graham in that famous academy which has now grown into Washington & Lee University. He was received by Hanover Presbytery as a candidate for the ministry in 1777; but continued to teach while pursuing his theological studies under Dr. Graham. After his licensure, October 28, 1778, he devoted himself to the ministry. and was ordained by Hanover Presbytery April 27, 1780. The next year (1781) he was settled over Opecquon, Cedar Greek and Winchester, where he continued to minister, greatly beloved by his people and much blessed in his work, until 1789, when, much to the regret of his congregation, he resigned his charge and moved to land that he had inherited on the Big Calf Pasture River, in the western part of Augusta County, where he lived the remainder of his life as pastor of Lebanon and Rocky Spring churches. During the latter part of his life his increasing bodily infirmities greatly interrupted his ministry. He married Agnes Hughart, and was the father of eleven children-" about the canonical number in that day." He died in 1818, and was buried at the Rocky Spring Church. His numerous descendants to the fourth generation remain staunch Presbyterians, and many of them have been, or are, office bearers in the church.
With the call of Mr. Montgomery, it is important to observe that the names of the churches calling him disappear from the minutes of Donegal Presbytery. The exact facts which explain this disappearance are not distinctly known. In May, 1755, the Synod of New York (New Side) erected the Presbytery of Hanover, with boundaries not very clearly defined, but extending westward across the Blue Ridge, and providing "that any of their members settling to the southward or westward of Mr. Hoge's congregation shall have liberty to join said Presbytery." Mr. Montgomery, when called to these churches in Frederick County in 1781, was a member of Hanover Presbytery; but instead of having his membership transferred to the Presbytery of Donegal, the churches calling him-in some manner and at some time, of which we have no record-had their Presbyterial relations transferred to Hanover. When the Presbytery of Lexington was erected, May, 1786, it was ordered that it be bounded on the north by the southern boundary of Carlisle Presbytery, which was formed at the same time by the division of Donegal. That southern boundary, however, was not defined; nor the churches named that were to be embraced in Lexington Presbytery; but Moses Hoge, pastor of "Concrete," on the South Branch, and John Montgomery, pastor of Winchester, Opequon and Cedar Creek, are especially named as members. And when a successor to Mr. Montgomery was obtained he was dismissed from Hanover to Lexington Presbytery, which then asserted an undisputed claim to these churches.
The removal of Mr. Montgomery from this charge left it vacant for but a short time, as a successor was soon secured in the person of the Rev. Nash Legrand.
Mr. Legrand's ancestors were Huguenots, who came to Virginia in the latter part of the seventeenth century. He was a native of Prince Edward County and a graduate of Hampden Sidney College in 1788, under the presidency of Rev. John Blair Smith. He had entered college to prepare for the medical profession, but was converted in the great revival of 1787-8, and at once consecrated himself to the work of the ministry. He pursued his studies to this end under the direction of Dr. Smith, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Hanover April 25, 1789. Immediately he began a career of great success as an evangelist, preaching in many fields, but spending the months of March and April of the next year in the charge over which he was afterward settled. He was then employed by the newly appointed " Commission of Synod " as their first missionary, and labored under their direction from June 1, 1790, to the first of October following, when, though strongly solicited to continue in this work, he resigned his commission and accepted a call from these churches in Frederick County in which he had already labored, and to which he now removed in the fall of 1790. He was ordained to the full work of the ministry by the Presbytery of Hanover April 5, 1791, at a meeting held in the Briery Church, in his native county, Prince Edward; and the following October was dismissed to the Presbytery of Lexington. He was never installed in the Opecquon field, though he continued his labors there with distinguished success for nineteen years, when impaired health compelled him to resign. In October, 1809, he was dismissed by the Presbytery of Winchester to his old Presbytery of Hanover, within the bounds of which he continued to labor, as his health would allow, in vacant churches and destitute neighborhoods, but never again had he the stated charge of a congregation.
About the year 1794, Mr. Legrand was united in marriage to an accomplished lady, Margaret Holmes, a member of the Cedar Creek Church, and a sister of Governor David Holmes, of Mississippi; by this marriage he had five children, and was singularly happy in his home. Mrs. Legrand died sometime before he left Opecquon; and after his removal he married Mrs. Paulina Read, of Charlotte County, Va., on whose large estate he afterwards resided in the comforts of an ample fortune. He died in 1814, while on a visit to his old friends in Frederick County; and his unmarked grave is in the burying ground of his old Stone Church in Winchester.
Dr. Foote, in his " Sketches of Virginia," Vol. I, pp. 530-543, gives an extended and most interesting sketch of the life, character, and ministry of Mr. Legrand, to which the reader is referred. In that sketch he is described as a remarkably handsome man,with dark brown hair, high forehead, open countenance, expressive eye, and melodious voice; tall and spare, yet well proportioned, graceful and easy of movement, and preposessing in manner. While inclined to taciturnity, and sometimes to a gloomy reserve, yet, in company that pleased him, his powers of conversation were extraordinary, abounding in wit, and amusing anecdote. His preaching was unusually attractive, though not distinguished for superior learning, finish of composition, or force of reasoning. In these particulars he was far surpassed by many of his contemporaries, who yet fell far hehind him, both in popularity and usefulness. His comely person, graceful gestures, and especially the music and modulation of his voice, fitted him admirably for the pulpit, and attracted the attention of his hearers, without any special regard to the subject-matter of his discourse. But, in addition to this, the deep and allpervading impressions of godliness with which his soul was imbued, created an atmosphere about him which all felt. He lived near to God, and uniformly enjoyed his religion. He excelled in prayer, as one who lived near the throne. He was always conscious of the presence of his Saviour. And in the pulpit all these things imparted such an unction to his sermons and exhortations, that few could hear him preach without feeling more or less conviction of sin. No minister of his day was so much sought after by men, or so much honored of God as Legrand. No wonder, then, that under his ministry Opecquon saw its best days. Delighted crowds attended his services; and under his pungent preaching the waning piety of God's people was rekindled, inquiry was awakened, and rich spiritual harvests were gathered. It was soon found that the House of Worship was not large enough for present requirements, and the old log building, which had already supplanted a smaller one, was taken down and the commodious stone church, which was destroyed by fire in 1873, was built; and on pleasant Sundays was filled from door to pulpit.
In closing this account of the "Old Opecquon," it is interesting to state that in the early months of 1792, this church had another distinguished visitor, whose "reminiscenses," if not so spicy as the "Diary" of Mr. Fithian, are at least as valuable. I quote from an unpublished manuscript of Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., in which he tells of his work in this Lower Valley immediately after his licensure in the old Presbyterian Church in Winchester:
" After spending a week or two in Charlestown and vicinity, according to a promise made to Mr. Legrand, I returned to Frederick County and spent four weeks in supplying his place at Opekon, Winchester and Cedar Creek. x x In Opekon congregation a revival of religion had been in progress for some time. The good work extended also beyond the congregation to a populous but poor neighborhood called `The Pines.' Here at a mill I held many meetings in the evening, where crowds of people, more than could be accommodated, came out. x x x The weeks which I spent at Opekon passed pleasantly. Besides the services of the Sabbath, we held a meeting every Tuesday afternoon at Major Gilkeson's, one of the elders at Opekon, and I must say that such meetings I never attended any where else; I mean that I never felt the Saviour's presence so sensibly; and this seemed to be the general impression."
Next in order, in the Records to which we have access, is the Bullskin Church. The Bullskin is a tributary of the Shenandoah and a stream of considerable importance. The tradition is that this singular name had its origin in the fact that when the first settlers arrived there they found on the bank of the stream the hide of a buffalo bull of enormous size, stretched out to dry, the bull having been killed by a party of hunters, or possibly of Indians. The old church stood on the hill, about 150 yards north of the head spring of Bullskin, and on land now owned by Wm. M. Clements. Its ruins are still there, or were ar a recent date. This spring, which was jointly owned by the Reilys and Throckmorton's, is threefourths of a mile south of Summit Point, in Jefferson County, W. Va., quite near the Summit Point and Berryville turnpike, and the same distance from the old Charlestown and Winchester road; 5 1-2 miles southwest of Aldridge; 7 1-2 west of Charlestown, and 3 1-2 northwest of Beulah.
The first mention we find of Bullskin is in Donegal Records for April 2, 1740. There Mr. Caven is ordered "to visit Bullskin on the third Sabbath of this inst." This minute would seem to indicate that the place was one with which the Presbytery was well acquainted. It is not spoken of as a new settlement, and there is nothing even to fix its location in Virginia save that Mr. Caven was directed to preach at "Upekin" the Friday before going to Bullskin. It is mentioned as any other place already on their roll would be mentioned. There is reason to believe that Bullskin was not a new settlement in 1740, as Opecquon was in 1735-6. It was more than 20 miles nearer the fords of the Potomac, in a fertile and wellwatered country; and it is not reasonable to suppose that, if this country were still unoccupied, immigrants would have passed over it to settle on lands further away from civilization, and offering no superior advantages. It is difficult to resist the conviction that there were settlers on the Bullskin much earlier than these Records show. And yet in the Records themselves there is a minute which may throw possible light on this matter. In April, 1737, Presbytery "appointed Messrs. Anderson and Bertram to visit Virginia." The minute does not say to what part of Virginia they were to go, but intimations in other minutes seem to justify the belief that they were sent to the people of this Lower Valley; and if so, it is not at all improbable that they visited the Bullskin, and that their report to Presbytery prepared the way for those appointments of supplies, of which we begin to read in April, 1740, and which were afterwards made with such frequency. Before the long gap of fourteen years occurs through the loss of the Donegal Records, during which we are entirely ignorant of its history, Mr. Hynman (Hindman first, and Mr. Caven later, were appointed to supply this church. From 1759, through a period of more than twenty years, supplications for preaching "from various places in Virginia" were made at each meeting of Presbytery. Sometimes the name of the church supplicating is given, and that of Bullskin occurs quite as often as any other. And while Mr. Vance, Mr. Alexander and others were specially sent to supply it, we find that Mr. Hoge, while still pastor of Opecquon, etc., was several times charged with a kind of general oversight "of all vacancies adjacent" to him, and with the special duty of supplying Bullskin. It is particularly noted that in April, 1767, Bullskin and Tuscarora united, and made specific request for the services of Mr. McCreary and Mr. Craighead. These young men had just been licensed by the Presbytery of New Castle ; and it is quite probable that the specific request for them was made in the hope of securing the permanent settlement of one of them. Many years later, when Mr. McKnight had resigned the pastoral charge of Elk Branch, "Bullskin and Cool Spring (Gerardstown) made supplication for Mr. McKnight as a stated supply till the next meeting of Presbytery with a view to calling him as pastor." This was in April, 1783, and while the application was not successful, for Mr. McKnight accepted a call from a church in Pennsylvania, the minute is interesting as containing the last mention of Bullskin in our Ecclesiastical Records. Before this, for a dozen years or so, instead of the simple name of Bullskin, the expression "Head of Bullskin," or "Head Waters of Bullskin" is used when this church is referred to. The reason for this is not clear ; and, in fact, the whole history of the church is involved in a good deal of obscurity. Whether there ever was a properly organized church there is itself somewhat uncertain. The name does not appear upon any roll that I have seen, either of Donegal or Carlisle Presbytery. But if the people on the Bullskin were never organized as a church, they certainly were organized for worship; and whatever may have been the character of their organization, it was efficient in procuring for them, with great frequency, through a period of fifty years, the ordinances of the Gospel. It does not appear that a minister was ever settled among them, though on more than one accasion they made an effort to secure a pastor; yet they displayed such zeal in asking for supplies that they seem not to have been for any long time without the ministry of the Word.
That such a church should cease to exist is accounted for by the fact, that services began to be held at other more central points, which gradually drew away the members from the old place of worship. Charlestown, Smithfield, and perhaps Berryville, as growing villages, required stated preaching; and at length-we do not know at what datethe old place of worship at the head of Bullskin was abandoned, and the house crumbled into ruins.
Before this occurred, however, an event of great importance to the interests of our church in that whole region took place. This was the call and settlement, in 1791, of Rev. William Hill as pastor of Charlestown and Smithfield churches; who, during a part, if not the whole of his ministry in Jefferson County, continued to hold stated meetings at Bullskin. The history of Mr. Hill's ministry in the field will be given later in connection with our sketch of Charlestown church.
It is a fact of no little interest, that it was at Bullskin that the Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander began his authorized ministry and preached his first sermon after his licensure in Winchester, October 1, 1791. As he told the writer of this sketch, in his last interview with him only six weeks before his death, he had engaged to fill Mr. Hill's appointments for a few weeks; and on Monday, October 3, he left Winchester in company with Rev. Mr. Legrand, and late that afternoon reached the house of old Mr. Reily at the head Spring of Bullskin. He had been a guest there a few months before on his way both to and from the General Assembly in Philadelphia, of which Assembly he was a member as a Ruling Elder from Lexington Presbytery. At that time he had been treated with marked kindness by this family. They supplied him with a horse, when his own was foundered, and so enabled him to continue his journey. Though his coming now was unannounced, both he and Mr. Legrand were heartily welcomed; and Mrs. Reily at once insisted that they must have preaching that night. Notice was sent out and at the hour appointed the house was filled. To the utter surprise and consternation of the young licentiate who was then but nineteen years of age, when the services began, Mr. Legrand, without previous intimation, required Mr. Alexander to conduct them and to preach. At first he was overwhelmed with alarm and confusion; but when he recovered his composure he was enabled to preach with a great deal of comfort to himself, and, we can readily imagine, to the great delight of his hearers. The deep impression that incident made upon him was evident from the manner in which the old man related it to the writer sixty years after its occurrence.
Among the many surprises we meet in our inquiries touching the Planting of Presbyterianism within our bounds, none, perhaps, is greater than its early date in the Valley of the South Branch. In the Records of Donegal for December 11, 1740, mention is made of a congregation of our faith and order already waiting there to receive the ordinances of the Gospel. The minute reads, " Mr. Caven is ordered to supply at Marsh Creek (i. e., Gettysburg) and South Branch, at his discretion, till our next." The distance from each other of the two places here named is so great as to suggest at first that among the rivers of Pennsylvania was a stream called the " South Branch;" but all doubt on this score is dismissed, when we find in the minutes of the next meeting of Presbytery (May 30, 1741 ), that " a supplication "for supplies was brought in and read from " the South Branch of the Potomac. " From what particular part of the South Branch this "supplication" came is not specified, but the subsequent history clearly identifies it with that section above the " Trough," now known as the Moorefield Valley. That there should have been a Presbyterian settlement there large enough to claim the attention of Presbytery as early as 1740 is a little remarkable. That Valley is so secluded, and was so far removed at that time from other white settlements and, therefore, so peculiarly exposed to attacks from the savages, that it seems like an act of recklessness for people voluntarily to place themselves in such peril. An explanation is probably found in the fact that many of these settlers sustained specially friendly relations to such Indians as were in a position to molest them.
There is an old and undisputed tradition, now accepted as history, that long before settlers had gathered in any large numbers in the Shenandoah Valley, John Howard and his son penetrated these mountain solitudes and disoovered the charming South Branch Valley; then, crossing the mountains, they descended the Ohio and Mississippi, in a skiff of their own construction, and at last, after a thrilling series of adventures, they found themselves in London, and reported their discoveries to Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the Northern Neck. Sometime after Howard's visit, the tradition (or history) continues, John Van Meter, of New Jersey, who, as a trader, had ingratiated himself with the Indians, accompanied a war party of the Delawares on an expedition to the South, against the Catawbas. Their march was up the South Branch Valley, giving Van. Meter a fine opportunity to acquaint himself with that wonderfully rich and attractive country. Returning home, he described that Valley as " the finest body of land he had ever seen," and advised his sons to settle there. One of them took his advice. Visiting the country about 1736, he obtained a "tomahawk title " to the land immediately above the Trough, where Fort Pleasant was afterwards built, and returned to New Jersey for his family. When, after a year or two, he, with several of his friends and their families, came again to the South Branch, he found that its value had become known to others, probable through Howard's report, and that a considerable body of emigrants had already settled there. The name of Van Meter proved a protection to them ail, and the increase in population was rapid.
The Van Meters were of Dutch origin, as were probable all who came to the South Branch under their auspices. Their church affiliations were naturally with the Dutch Reformed; and very early in the settlement of that Valley the Dutch Reformed Classis of New Jersey sent its missionaries to them, and to others of their faith and order in the adjacent vallies, particularly to Patterson's Creek. It seems, however, that those who preceded the Van Meters, as well as those who joined them soon afterward, were chiefly of Scotch-Irish stock and, therefore, Presbyterians. And either because these were superior to their Dutch neighbors in numbers and zeal; or, which is most likely, because Donegal Presbytery possessed superior facilities for reaching them and supplying their spiritual wants, the Presbyterian Church was the one which obtained the earlier and firmer foothold in that Valley. We have no continuous history of its growth, yet some interesting data are at hand.
When, at the meeting of the Presbytery, May 30, 1741, supplies were asked for from the South Branch of the Potomac, we are not told who was sent; but at the next meeting, in October, we read that the appointments were fulfilled.
At that same meeting, October 9, 1741, we find this suggestive minute: " Pursuant to several supplications from several places of the back parts of Virginia, requesting supplies during the winter and, if possible, for an ordained minister, Presbytery agreed that Mr. Alexander McDowell should be ordained sine titulo, in order to itinerate sine tempore in Virginia." Now, while the expression " the back parts of Virginia," as found in our Ecclesiastical Records, undoubtedly means the Upper Valley as distinguished from the Lower, it is not improbable that in this case it is meant to include the South Branch, which was far to the west and south of those points, near the familiar fords of the Potomac, which the Presbytery was accustomed to supply; and as the itinerancy of Mr. McDowell was without limitation of time, he might very well have visited that congregation on his way to or from Augusta.
Here the unfortunate gap, from the loss of the Donegal Records, occurs. But in the Records of the Old-Side Synod of Philadelphia, for May 23, 1751, this important minute is found: " Ordered, that Mr. Craig [of Augusta County, Va.] supply x x x the South Branch, and places adjacent, three Sabbaths before our next." This minute is interesting, not only as showing (as just suggested) that the South Branch may have been reckoned as in " the back parts of Virginia," because it was those " parts " especially that the Synod was arranging to supply; but also because it informs us that there were then other places " adjacent " to the South Branch that were becoming Presbyterian centers.
Our next minute is of more interest, as showing growth and zeal among these people: " April, 1768, supplications were received from the South Branch of the Potomac; and for an ordained minister to assist in forming them into a regular congregation." In answer to this request Rev. John Roan was sent. While we have no report from him, it is safe to assume that his mission was fulfilled, and that we may date from this period (1768 ) the first regular organization of a church in that Valley; to which the singular name of "Concrete" was given.
From a minute dated October, 1768, it would appear that Presbyterianism was beginning to take root nearer the mouth of the South Branch, as " a number of places in Hampshire County supplicated for supplies;" and the next spring, April, 1769, " supplies were called for from various places on the South Branch of the Potomac."
From this time for more than a dozen years there is no mention of the South Branch in the Donegal Records. But this does not mean that the church had ceased to exist, or had lost its zeal for Gospel ordinances. For apart from the fact that during the stormy period that led up to and embraced the War of the Revolution, a general commission to look after and supply vacancies had been given to some of the ministers, particularly to Mr. Hoge after his release from the Opecquon field; it must be remembered that when Hanover Presbytery was erected by the Synod of New York in 1755, it was given jurisdiction over all the territory south and west of Mr. Hoge's charge. This included the Moorefield Valley, to which, however, Donegal, a warm adherent of the Old-Side Synod, never surrendered its claim. Hanover sometimes sent its missionaries to the South Branch, but its Records throw very little light upon its relations to that field. When the Presbytery of Lexington was constituted by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1786, this church with its pastor, Rev. Moses Hoge, was assigned to it.
A new era in the history of this church began when Moses Hoge was providentially led to settle among them. He had been licensed in 1781, and the next year, before going to Kentucky, or on his way there, he was induced to delay his journey for a time in order to preach for the people of this Valley. They were so much pleased with his services and importuned him so earnestly to remain with them, that after long hesitation he relinquished his purpose of going West, and concluded to remain with the South Branch people to whom he had become so strongly attached.
Having decided to stay with the people of Hardy County, Mr. Hoge remained in that field until the autumn of 1787; when, because of the effect of the climate upon his health and to the great sorrow of his people, he removed to Shepherdstown. He was devoted to his church and gave to the people of South Branch a ministry of surpassing ability and value, the power of which was long felt in all that region. His home was in Moorefield, and the log house in which he resided was standing within the memory of some now living. During his residence there he taught a school, which not only contributed to his support, otherwise inadequate, but secured to the youth of South Branch educational advantages of a very superior character.
After the removal of Mr. Hoge, this church was supplied for a time by the Rev. Mr. Jennings. Just when his ministry here began and how long it continued, we have no means of determining. While Rev. William Hill was engaged in the service of the "Missionary Commission" of the Virginia Synod, he visited "Moorefield, in Hardy County, and preached a few sermons there in the absence of Dr. Jennings, the successor of Mr. Hoge." This was in September, 1791, and this extract from Mr. Hill's Journal is all that we know of the ministry of Mr. Jennings on the South Branch. He was, we suppose, the Rev. Jacob Jennings, father of the distinguished Obadiah Jennings, D. D., who was pastor in Nashville, Tenn., and died there January 12, 1832. He (the father) was born in New Jersey in 1744, studied medicine and practiced his profession until about 40 years of age, when he turned his attention to theology. It is believed that he entered the ministry in connection with the Reformed Dutch Church. And this suggests the probability that he came to Virginia in the interests of that church to look after those of their own lineage, who were scattered in considerable numbers through these valleys, and not a few of whom were to be found on the South Branch. He resided for several years in Virginia, and we are inclined to believe that a large part of that time was passed at Moorefield. Some months after Mr. Hill's visit he removed to Western Pennsylvania, and in April, 1792, was received "from the Low Dutch Church" as a member of Redstone Presbytery, and died in its service February 17, 1813.
Of this church we know nothing more until after the organization of Winchester Presbytery, save that at that organization the "Concrete Church" was reported "vacant, but able to support a pastor."
This, by universal consent, is one of our oldest churches, .though its name does not appear in existing records until May 18,1768. In the Records of the Synod of New York of that date is this minute: "A supplication for supplies, and particularly for the opportunity of a probationer, from Cedar Creek and Opecquon was brought into Synod." There is a much earlier minute in the Records of Donegal for 1736, which says that application for the services of Rev. Samuel Gelston was laid before Presbytery " from both sides of the Opecquon." If this expression means, as we believe it does, Opecquon proper, and Cedar Creek, then, without the mention of the name, we have here a distinct reference to the Cedar Creek Church. Opecquon and Cedar Creek were closely associated for nearly a hundred years, and as they are situated on different sides of the Opecquon Creek, the two, when spoken of together, may properly be designated as "both sides of the Opecquon."
The location of this church, as the name indicates, is on Cedar Creek, an important tributary of the Shenandoah. It is nine or ten miles southwest of the Opecquon Church, and about seven miles west of Stephensburg, now called " Stephens City." Its earliest settlement was by some families that came to this Valley with Joist Hite in 1732, who were re-enforced after two or three years by others who came with Samuel Glass. Hite himself was probably not a Presbyterian, but several of those who came with him probably were, as their names indicate a Scotch-Irish origin. True to their religious and ecclesiastical instincts, one of their first efforts was to provide a church of their own faith and order. And as these settlers on Cedar Creek had intimate relations with those who settled on the Opecquon, they naturally joined forces 'n their efforts to secure for themselves the ordinances of the Gospel. Up to the time of the organization of Winchester Presbytery, and for many years after, these two settlements are invariably united in their church relations; so that the history of Opecquon, as we have given it, is substantially the history of Cedar Creek. They were the same race of people; had the same tastes; held to the same views, and the preacher that pleased the one was entirely satisfactory to the ,other. The " supplication " that was intended to obtain a supply for the one, always included in it a supply for the other. Their history runs parellel from their origin to the close of Mr. Legrand's pastorate; and for the details of that history, during the period covered by this sketch, the reader is referred to what has been more fully written about Opecquon. Of the Sessional Records of the Cedar Creek Church for nearly a century not a scrap can be found. There is, however, a deed given by Lord Fairfax in 1762, during the pastorate of Rev. John Hoge, " conveying 100 acres of land to William Vance, William Evans, James Colville, James Hogg, and Andrew Blackburn, elders of the Presbyterian congregation [of Cedar Creek] and their successors, for building a meeting house thereon," etc. The House of Worship subsequently built on that land, we may assume, was the second one erected; and that it was afterward replaced by the stone edifice in which the church worships now. This old deed is of special interest as preserving the names of the members of the Session at that date.
The first mention we find of this church in the Records of Donegal, is in connection with its failure to meet its obligations to its pastor-a failure which was shared by Opecquon. In their united call to Mr. Hoge he was promised an annual salary of £70; of which amount Opecquon was to pay £ 45 and Cedar Creek £ 25. These sums, we suppose, indicate the comparative financial ability, as well as the membership, of the two congregations. In November, 1761, Mr. Roan was directed to write to both churches, calling attention to the deficiency, and urging that it be paid. At the next meeting, April, 1762, we have a statement of their arrearages. That of Cedar Creek amounted to £ 41, 15s. 6d., while that of Opecquon amounted to £ 41, 19s. The churches promised to pay what was due, and yet their indebtedness to Mr. Hoge continued to be a matter of complaint in Presbytery for ten years; and at last, in 1772, his pastoral relation was dissolved because of their failure to pay his salary. And yet, as these people manifested the greatest reluctance to part with their pastor, and as Mr. Hoge retained his home among them for several years and frequently preached for both churches, we must assume that their long indebtedness to him was the result of their own straitened circumstances, rather than of their unwillingness to meet their obligation.
In the Records for October, 1768, appears a minute showing that unfriendly relations had arisen between Mr. Hoge and some of the most influential people in the Cedar Creek church, which may account in part for their arrearages in salary. The minute is as follows:
" Mr. Joseph Colvil accused Mr. Hoge before the Presbytery for having fraudulently obtained a judgment in Lord Fairfax's office, with respect to a caveat entered by Hoge against the claims of a certain Arthur McConnel to a tract of land; as also that Mr. Hoge had laid said McConnel under unreasonable restraints in an article of agreement for said land ; and that Mr. Hoge had unjustly debarred him, the said Colvil, from church privileges.
"Upon a full hearing of the case the Presbytery declared Mr. Hoge acquitted of all the charges."
It was during the vacancy in this church that the young licentiate, Mr. Fithian, paid his visit to this region and preached both at Opecquon and Cedar Creek. He spent several days visiting among the people, and noting in his famous Journal everything that interested him. Stephensburg he describes as "a small village, well situated. Four taverns in the town and one store kept by Captain Holmes, where I am to lodge." He met many prominent people of the neighborhood. "Major Stephens, the proprietor of the town." "Mr. Wilson, an Opecquon Elder, a plain able farther, very old and stout, a full and strong example that the place is healthy." "Mr. Whitehead, living on a lovely farm, a mile from town; an old, gray-headed bachelor and a Yorkshire Englishman." "Col. Isaac Zane, possessor of the noted Marlboro Iron Works ; a man of first rank, both in property and office ; and a patriot of fiery temper." Col. Hite, whose "general characteristics are wealth and honesty. He entertained us merrily with humor, toddy and music." But of the church itself he writes:
"Sunday, June 4. Cedar Creek Church, six miles from Stephensburg, northwest. All here are full Quakers. I preached twice; the assembly very attentive. I made very little use of my notes, which is a vast, almost essential recommendation here. Preach without papers; produce casuistic divinity; seem earnest and serious, and you will be listened to with patience and wonder. Both your hands will be seized, and almost shook off so soon as you are out of the church, and you will be claimed by half of the society to honor them with your company after sermon. Read your sermons, and if they be sound and sententious as Witherspoon's, copious and fluent as Harvey's, and read off with the ease and dignity of Davies, their backs will be up at once, their attention all gone, their noses will grow as red as their wigs; and ( let me whisper this) you may get your dinner where you breakfasted. `Please keep your seats,' said an old gray-headed gentleman when worship was concluded. He took off his hat and made a collection. Well, I must go home with this venerable prop of the church. His wife is old and flaxenhaired as he. Both are hearty, lusty and nimble. In this happy condition of life and friendship, by Hymen's blessing, they have lived together fifty-five years. They have three daughters at home, virgins, and well risen in years. Have some books, much poultry. Mr. Colville lives within four miles of the North Mountain on the bank of Cedar Creek.
"Monday, June 5. We breakfasted heartily and soundly on the richest products of a fat fa