History of the Big Spring Presbyterian Church, Newville, Pa. : 1737-1898

'>'<'"*'?,'' .".la ki&h 2— >> FHill SWOPE. "• • n c. ttit ®h(o%,v«| ^^ M!^^% ^^ttin PRINCETON, N. J. Purchased by the Mi's. Robert Lenox Kennedy Church History Fund. BX 9211 .N628 S86 1898 ''^^''^" Ernest, ^891: i860) History of the Big Spring Gilbert E. Swope, HISTORY OF THE Big Spiiiig PiesHylenaD CH NEWVILLE, PA. •737== '898. BY (Silbevt Ernest Swope, Author of '*A History of the S'wopc Family/' With an Introduction by REV. EBENEZER ERSKINE, D. D. NEWVILLE. PA., TIMES STEAM PRINTING HOUSE: 1898. II PREFACE. In presenting this little liistory of the Big Spring Presbyte- rian Church, we feel quite safe in saying that we are giving all that is obtainable regarding the congregation, and more than we expected to find when we began our work. Owing to the fact that there were no records in possession of the congregation prior to 1830 except an old trustees minute book, the prospect for ob- taining data was not very encouraging. However, by careful inquiry among the old families of the church and other means, we were enabled to find that herein given. Through the kind- ness of Miss Jennie W. Davidson, a great granddaughter of Rev. Samuel Wilson, we were given permission to examine a great mass of old family papers, the accumulation of more than a century. Among these papers we were fortunate enough to find much valuable matter, relating not only to the ministry of Rev. Samuel Wilson but also to that of some of his predecessors. No regular session books seem to have been kept by the early pastors, all the records found being on detached pieces of paper. The earliest record found bears date Dec. 12, IT68, and records a case of discipline. We are indebted largely for the matter contained in the sketches of the pastors of the church to the "Centennial Memorial of the Presbytery of Carlisle." We gi'eatfully acknowledge the interest shown and the assistance given by the pastor of the Big Spring Church, the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, D. D. We are pleased to api)end the address delivered by Dr. Erskine at the celebrati(m of the founding of Log College. It is valuable as an historic document, a,nd finds here a fitting place because of its treatment on the Presbyterian church in the Cumberland Valley. Our thanks are also due and very cheerfully given to Mr. John W. Strohm, editor of the "Xewville Times," whose interest in local history and genealogy is well known, and whose co-op- eration has made the publication of this volume possible. GILBERT E. SWOPE, Aug. IT, 1898. Newville, Pa. Ill IfntrobuctioiL Tliis brief and coin])rehensive volume may be very properly styled a documentary history of the Bif^ yprinjj: Presbyterian Church and congregation, and a genealogy of many of its families. Its author, Mr. Gilbert E. Swope, is an enthusiast on the subject of genealogy and an exjjert in the discovery and use of old documents bearing on the history of families and churches. As the result of his patient and laborious researches, the names of nearly all the families of this venerable church ami congregation have been rescued from an impending oblivion, and a list of most of its elders, trustees and families have been preserved. No sessional records are in possession of the congregation prior to 1830. It was the custom of many pastors prior to that date to keep a roll of members, of admissions to the church, of baptisms and marriages, and to make a record only of cases of discipline and to submit the same to presbytery for examination and a]>i)roval, then to consider it of no further value nor worthy of preservation. Mr. Swope, discovered paj)ers left by the Rev. Samuel Wilson, pastor from 1787 to 1799, stored away in an old trunk and found in the garret of one of his descen<1ents, and gained access to certain other papers which had been left by Rev. Dr. Joshua Williams, pastor from 1802 to 1829, and found in possession of some of his relatives in the dis- tant west. These documents have thrown a flood of light upon the history of this church from 177o to 18.30, more than half a century, and which if not <liscovered, would have soon been lost sight of forever. It is a great matter to have recovered thus the names of all the families of that period, many of them reaching back to the origin of the church, the divisions of the congregation into districts, the names of the parents and children, and members of the church in each district; and also the names of the elders to whose supervision these districts were assigned, and still more several lists of theological questions given out annually by Mr. Wilson for the careful study of the people, and for an examination on the same, by pastor or elder. IV The character of these questions indicate not only a high degree of religious intelligence upon the part of the minister l)ut also imply cor- responding intelligence on part of the people. These, in connection with regular examinations of the young on the catechism, and of the more advanced on chapters in the Confession of faith, go to show the modes of reUgious instruction and training peculiar to that period of the church and widely prevalent in other congregations of that day, and which in connection with the faithful preaching of the word on the Sabbath, had a most important influence in the way of awakening the minds of the people in relation to religious subjects, in the quickening of religious thought and inquiry, and in the development of well in- structed and stable Christians as to matters of doctrine and duty, all leading to exemplary and consistent Christian living. To trace the origin and progress of individual churches, whose history runs back to the hrst settlement of the country, to give the names, individuals and families which have composed the same, to put on record reliable accounts of the origin, lives and characters of the ministers, the distinctive characteristics of their faith and modes of conducting the worship of their congregations, and of their general pastoral ser- vices ; to give a true and reliable history of their growth and progress, as has here been done by Mr. Swope, is to render a very important ser- vice in relation to the foundation and character of the church in this country. The Big Spring Presbyterian Church, as indicated by the lists of admissions to its membership, has been blessed with revivals of religion from time to time, through all its history, giving increased vitality to the church as well as considerable accessions to its membership. Such seasons, of greater or less power have been enjoyed in 1794, 1822, 1832, 1833 and 1834. The revivial of 1877 was doubtless one of the most re- markable awakenings of the whole conmiunity in the history of the church, resulting in the admission of over one hundred and twenty members to the church of all ages, on confession of their faith, and of some two hundred more to the churches in the town. A careful examination into the origin of our early congregations, as to their ministers and people, and as to their standards of doctrine and form of government and modes of worship, as learned from their history and records, is of special importance, as throwing light upon the actual character of the church in these respects from the beginning. Whatever difficulty may be experienced in some parts of the country in this respect, none need be felt in regard to the churches of this valley, nor of the State of Pennsylvania. The settlement of the Cumberland Valley and the constitution of its churches, is directly traceable to that great providential movement which took place among the Scotch Irish Presbyterians settled in the province of Ulster, in the north of Ireland, which runs back to near the bepniiiiiii of tlio JNtli (viilniv, :iii(l wliii'li led to a steady and increasingr stream of emigration from tiiat Province to this country, and which added fjreatiy to tlie .strength and character of the Presbyterian Church in America. And this state of things in Ulster, was only a ]>art of that wider movement wliich took jdace in Scotland, England, France and Holland, as well as in Ulster. The history of Presbyterian colonization in America, is largely tlie result of pa[)al and ])relatic jjcrsecutions in Europe. By the act of uniformity passed in 16(52, two thousand Pres- byterian ministers were cast out of the Church of England. A considerable nundjer of wliom found refuge in this country, cliiefly in New England. By reason of the persecutions of the Reformed Cliurches of France, which were strictly Presbyterian in government and Calvinistic in doctrine, and which was consummated under Louis XIV. by the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1()85, two hundred thousand French protest- ants sullereil martyrdom, and about seven hundred thousand were driven from the kingdom, many of whom found tiieir way to this country. Two thousand churches, witli their ministers, were nearly ex- tirpated by that cruel and bloody persecution. " Modern history," it is said, " hardly affords a parallel to the cruelty an<l oppression under which Scotland groaned for nearly thirty years," under the reigns of James II. and of Charles I. and Charles II. and all in su])}iort of Fi)iscoi)acy and under the instigation of the Bishops.

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